Aaron Lee

More Christmas pics

2009-12-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

It was so fun having Aaron another year older this Christmas..... Of course it isn't all about the presents, but it was so cool just watching him get so excited about all his toys.

Lots of tools this year....

His blower is a big favorite. He happened to open it first, and after he played with it for awhile, Lee asked him if he wanted to open his other presents - he just said, "No, this" as he clutched it happily....

A "choo choo" from Gi Gi and Papa.....

It was also fun this year as Auntie Serina and Uncle Steve were in town from Wisconsin. Aaron loved playing with them and it was great to visit and see them, as we miss them a lot.

And I have to throw in a pic of my Christmas present, a brand new Specialized mountain bike....

Nuff said. It was a good Christmas. =)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T11:38:00.000-08:00

2009-12-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Like everyone else, we have been busy these past few weeks.... A little of this and that, and suddenly a few weeks go by and I know I need to post SOMETHING...

Anyway, in our present circumstances along with the season of Christmas, I have been trying to remind myself to find joy and thankfulness even in the little things that each day brings. I am reminded of the little miracle Aaron is and how grateful we are to have him in our family.

Here we are on a little hike up Falcon Hill near our house. Aaron has just learned this word "hike" and LOVES to go anytime we are willing to venture out. If we are driving and within eyesight of ANY mountain or pile of dirt, "Mama!!! Hike??"

I love how little boys invent ways to entertain themselves with virtually nothing....

And we celebrated some Christmas a little early as both of my bros will be out of town visiting in-laws this Christmas. Aaron is in absolute heaven with a mini drum set from Uncle Kyle....

Thank you for your sympathies on the noise factor. But honestly, they are really not that loud and he is so happy playing them..... Here's some video of him in action if you are interested.

Anyway, like I said a little of this and that - living in moments such as these, being thankful for all we have, and continuing to reflect that we have hope and joy because of that tiny baby boy born in Bethlehem.... God is so good! Merry Christmas!

Funny Conversations

2009-12-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

I have always looked forward to documenting the funny things Aaron would say when he hit the appropriate age, as I always get a kick out of reading about other kids' crazy talk.... I realized that this week I had a few....

*Unfortunately, Aaron has had a terrible case of the croup this past week. Poor little guy always cries and complains when he coughs that he has "owies" in his "hole" (pointing to his mouth).

*With the croup has come a decrease in appetite, so I have had to really encourage him to eat at times saying things like, "Honey, eating this applesauce will help the owies in your hole" (i.e. story above =) ) He went pee pee on the potty yesterday so I gave him a piece of candy and he said, "Mommy, candy help Aaron's owies" with a little grin.

*He loves to throw his little nerf football around but he is getting too strong to really do it in our little house without avoiding the danger of breaking something. He tossed it in the air the other day pretty hard and so I said, "Aaron, you cannot throw your football in here!" He then threw out his hands impatiently at me and tilted his head, "Mama!!! Football guys THROW footballs!"

Looking forward to a very funny future with this little man.

2009-12-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

In preparation for Christmas, I am continuing the tradition from both Lee's and my family of advent. So everyday as soon as he wakes up, Aaron says "Addent?". We then hurry and open a little door corresponding to what day of the month it is for a Bible verse of the Christmas story and a piece of chocolate....

It has been fun teaching and talking to Aaron about Baby Jesus and I love the fact that some things are starting to click....

And this is just a random shot that I walked in the door upon that cracked me up....

Looks like the life, doesn't it?

Big Boy Stuff

2009-11-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

I'm constantly amazed at how much these little ones quickly develop and grow up right before our eyes. Aaron has been doing lots of "big boy" stuff these days and never ceases to surprise me with a new activity....

He discovered these miniature rock walls at different parks that we go to and loves to scale up to the top....

Just posing for mom....

Trying to encourage "poo poo on the potty", I bought a mini garbage truck and told him we could open it if he was successful....

Look at him longingly gazing at the packaged truck as he sits. So pitiful.

He even tries to push.... Such focus.

One thing I love about this age is getting Aaron to say words and repeat whatever I say. It's the little things like this that keep me entertained throughout the day....

He does really like oranges by the way - we live in the right state....

Someone gave us a little bike with training wheels that is super nice. Aaron loves to ride this big boy bike and is slowly getting the hang of it....

Family Pictures

2009-11-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Most of you probably caught these on facebook, but our dear friend Rilie miraculously captured some great family photos for us a few weeks ago.... I say miraculous, because..... well, Aaron was grumpy that day (shock! What kid isn't on family picture day) and we just never seem to capture even one decent shot of the 3 of us. Anyway, here are a few of our favorites....

Weekend Events

2009-11-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

We had a fun weekend - Aaron's Gi Gi and Papa came in town from Florida to visit us and see Harvest in action for the first time. Gi Gi was only 9 days out of a fairly major surgery to remove a large cyst in her abdomen so we were especially grateful that all went well so she could make the trip! We borrowed a wheel chair so that we could get out and do a few things, like go to the zoo...

Aaron loved having constant activity and attention, and having his grandparents around to pay him lots of attention. Monday morning is going to be rough when it's back to normal with just mom.

With willing and able free babysitting in the house, Lee and I also rode last minute in a local small 14 mile mountain bike race. It was so fun to do it together!

How can I say this nicely..... The course and the competition weren't..... hmmm..... very hard at all. We happened to each get first place (me for the women's division) but we don't quite feel like we can really brag about it.

What I would like to brag about and point out though, however, is that my award is on the right and Lee's is on the left - notice that mine is much bigger. Yep. Because I'm cool like that.

Anyway, all in all - it was a fun weekend! Thanks Glenda and Tim for the great visit!

Halloween pics

2009-11-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Aaron is fascinated when we have taken him to a few local high school football games by the "football guys" (as he calls them), so we of course had to go with this idea for the costume. This little football player and his cousin the cheerleader had a great time getting all the free candy walking from house to house....

Aaron would have nothing to do with the helmet, the little stinker.

Cousin Noah also came along....

It was a fun and busy day, as it was also Lee's birthday. And still plenty of candy in the bucket. =)

Also, a random story - a few days ago, we had Sesame Street on and Elmo was talking about violins. Of course, Aaron doesn't have a violin. But he has a guitar. And a drumstick. So he improvised and was very serious about it....

He cracks me up.

Safety Latches my foot

2009-10-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

My son, the little engineer, has figured something out this week....

So much for child-proofing.

October days

2009-10-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blogging delay - between lack of inspiration, the busy-ness of life, and a crashed computer, I have been out of the swing of things on here....

We have had lots going on these past few weeks. One highlight was meeting and welcoming in a new family member for our good friends, Micah and Bethany - they brought home their 3 year old daughter, Mikayla, from Ethiopia and it was a very exciting time.

This is Aaron, Mikayla, and Micah and Bethany's other son, Eli. I fortunately caught this cute moment of all of them playing together just before Aaron tossed sand in Mikayla's face making her cry..... Sigh. Such a boy....

I also celebrated my 31st birthday and looking back, I think Aaron has benefited more from my presents than I have.... A new hand-held vacuum,
and a huge bag of sour patch kids that he "picked out" seems to have mostly been eaten by him as well....
Some slightly cooler weather has allowed us to plant our yearly flowers and Aaron loves to help plant and take care of them all....

Also this past month, he has taken off in his bike-riding ability. Here's some footage of that....

Watch out - he'll be on the mountain bike trails with us in no time!!! =)

Random pics

2009-09-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah.... We don't get much personal space with this little boy.

Not sure why Aaron resumed this position with my oven mitt for his pillow.

Coloring with his second cousins Noah and Caleb

Discussing life over goldfish in their underwear.

The cousins. And yes, it is what it seems; Owen, at 3.5 months, IS almost as big as both of these two year olds.

"Movie Church"

2009-09-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Something that I have gained new perspective on GREATLY since becoming a parent is the childcare provided at a church; It is a huge bonus for a parent to feel comfortable dropping their child off somewhere where they will be cared by others and out of their immediate sight, which I'm sure you all can attest to!

Aaron has always had difficulty being dropped off and staying in nursery in his short little life and it is always something we seem to be working through, esp. the last few months of transition out of R.M.C.C. and into Harvest. (Many of you have gotten to witness and experience the brunt of his wrath in childcare) It was a point of stress for me, because really, we don't have a choice - with the responsibilities Lee and I have on a Sunday morning, Aaron just HAS to stay put in there. And not only stay put, but be happy so I'm not stressing about how he is wearing out the children's workers!!! =)

Fortunately for us, Harvest has an awesome children's pastor in Brian Baker who has established an amazing group of volunteers for Sunday mornings.

You can't really see Aaron in this pic, but this is a shot of Aaron's "Clubhouse Kids" classroom at "Movie church" (his title for Harvest). He has come to LOVE his time in this class every Sunday morning and I can't say enough what a relief it is to see him have fun and be happy, as well as hear and learn about the Bible.

Here is a picture of Aaron with one of his teachers named Kathy, who he has grown quite attached too:

Um... let's try not picking our nose for the nice picture, Aaron...

There. That's better.

A few weeks ago, they talked about Daniel and the Lion's Den and made lion masks....

Aaron had to carry his mask EVERYWHERE with him for the next several days. He was so proud of it....

These children's workers minister directly to my son, but in effect, they minister to me at the same time because they take such great care of him. I am so grateful for them!

Choose to Obey

2009-09-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just a little brain-washing tactic that we are not afraid of.....

He LOVES to recite this frequently, even umprompted. And in the meantime, we are continuing to work on backing this simple statement up with our actions. =)

Labor Day in Pinetop

2009-09-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

We decided at the last minute to take a quick trip up to Pinetop and escape the heat after church on Sunday..... It was so nice to get out and enjoy cooler temps.

Our friends, the Emeneckers, had the same idea so we got to meet up with them also. Aaron loved having a little friend in Kailey....

My grandparents also stay up there for most of the summer so we had a good visit with them.

And now..... Back to the heat and back to reality. =)

That's MY boy

2009-08-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Notice the left-handed swing. Yup. Mommy knows to teach this young.

Harvest Grand Opening

2009-08-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to so many of you for your prayers and support today as we had the official grand opening of our new church plant, Harvest Community Church.

Pictures won't do the whole experience justice obviously, but it was a great morning....

(Aaron, with Aunt Sarah, giving our children's pastor a very serious look)

(one of my jobs, other than being a trophy pastor's wife =) , is to handle child check-in)

To get to this day, it's been a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and tons of advertising....

But a lot of fun too. Our team has already experienced some awesome and amazing things, and we are so excited to see how God works in and through this church in the months and years to come.

And one more thing from this past weekend - To advertise the church we handed out free movie tickets in front of the IMAX theater, so thought you all would appreciate some pics from that....

This is my bro (as Napoleon Dynamite) and Lee as Darth Vader.

Lee was such a hit with all the little boys..... I think he sweat only a few gallons inside the costume. Not joking, when he took off his shoes, quite a LARGE puddle of sweat poured out. MMMMM.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!!!

Drummer Boy

2009-08-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

This had become the new favorite activity.....

Then the guitar broke from the abuse and that made us quite sad. (Don't worry, Papa Bob fixed it) So we decided that Aaron needed a drum with his birthday money that hadn't been spent yet. Aaron is quite happy with this new purchase. Very loud, but very happy.

The Prodigal Son

2009-08-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

A story that has always been very close to my heart has been the story of The Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-32. After reading Henri Nouwen's Return of the Prodigal Son (read it if you never have!) in college, I got a copy of Rembrants' painting depicting the scene and have always had it hanging in my room. I was really happy when my Aunt Nancy gave Aaron a book that we all read when we were little that had this story in it. Aaron has really enjoyed these books lately and it has been cool to begin teaching him what it's in the Bible.

For some reason a few weeks ago, when I got to the climax of the story where the boy returns back to his Father, Aaron sweetly and heart-breakingly began to sob. I have never seen him cry out of empathy for someone else and I began crying along with him - it was just so sad and I was not sure why he got so emotional. Lee was gone at the time so I had him read it to Aaron a few days later, thinking it might help that his own daddy was not "bye-bye." Again, lots of bitter tears. A few days later, I tried reading another version of the story from a different Bible story book not sure if he would equate the two. He did and again, sobbed hard in my neck as he clutched me....

Needless to say, we will probably avoid this story for at least a little while.... We don't know exactly what causes his tears when reading this story - as much as it breaks my heart to see my little boy so upset and sad, it also gives me much joy and hope to see a tender heart forming within him as he views sin and our need for reconciliation with God. I pray and desire so deeply for this little heart to know the Lord and live for Him....

Anyway, that being said and to close on a lighter note regarding Bible stories, Aaron also likes talking about the "NO NO apple" that Adam and Eve ate. =)

Pre-Launch activity

2009-08-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy the past few weeks with the coming grand opening of our chuch plant. This past Sunday, we met in the IMAX theatre where we hold our services and began practicing setting up and tearing down....

This is Lee bossing all of us around. He's pretty good at that. JK =)

It's a lot of work and a lot of details, but we were super excited to see things come together and everyone in their "role." We have a great team!!!

Aaron wasn't quite too sure of "Movie church" at first....

But I think he's going to like it. Actually, come to think of it, he doesn't have much of a choice because we are going to be stuck there for awhile. =)

Lee's brother was also in town last week and Aaron had fun playing guitar everyday with him. I was bad about taking pictures but did happen to snap one with my cell phone.

We celebrated our successful practice run with our Harvest Launch team with a pool party.

Aaron loved jumping off the diving board and is such a little fish in the water.

It's been a tiring but good couple of weeks. You will hear more and see many more pics I'm sure in the weeks to come.....

Birthday Celebration

2009-08-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Lots of pics on this post - after several days worth of celebrating this little two year old's birthday. Aaron helped make cupcakes. Notice the chocolate on the face =) And don't be fooled by the big boy Elmo underwear - Sometimes we "practice" and Elmo always ends up wet.

We also took an evening to have a joint bday celebration with Cousin Brynn who will also be two in a few days....
My house cannot handle many more birthdays with all the toys that end up coming with... But the excitement of it all is so fun - Just look at these faces =)

Officially, a Two Year Old

2009-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

In honor of the occassion, a poem:

The little baby we brought home
Has now become two years of age
A blessing and gift from the very start
Who has brought us much joy in each stage

I can’t believe you are two
It seems to have gone by so fast
Though I must say
There were many days
That simply seemed to last
So very loooooooooooong….
I think this is because your personality and will are so strong
I’m told it’s a good thing if I learn to cultivate it right
Which no doubt would be easier if you let me sleep at night

You are so much fun to watch each day
As you explore and learn in your own little way
Pointing out everything in the room that’s “BLUE!”
Trying to avoid me after you go poo poo

Tools, firetrucks, Papa’s garage, and guitars,
Seem to bring such joy to your soul
Wanting to know how everything is made and works
Inquiring often how Baby Owen came out of Auntie Tanya’s “hole”

Your made up words for people and things
Are always a challenge to translate
Going into the nursery at church
Seems to always be something you will HATE

Training and discipline seem now to be
The constant focus of our days
Lovingly teaching and correcting you
In our own imperfect state

Words can’t describe the depth of our love
That we have for you inside
And all that we have learned about ourselves
As we overcome selfishness, fear, and pride

For you we have prayed and God heard our prayer
And gave us you to raise
Thank you, Oh Lord, for this little boy
We offer You our thanks and praise

Happy Birthday Aaron! We love you!

Wicked

2009-07-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, Lee and I got to go see the musical Wicked with some of my extended family. This is not a usual thing for us to get to do, and we REALLY enjoyed having the time out and the musical itself. I think I enjoyed it more than any other show I have ever seen - it had a great element of humor that I was pleasantly surprised by.

Aaron got to stay back with his favorite babysiter, Papa Bob. They had a big project to work on that evening in the backyard.....

Doesn't Aaron look quite manly with his pink shovel? =) My parents were given this awesome jungle gym by some dear friends whose kids are grown up. It is about all together and has provided yet another reason for tantrums when we have to leave Papa Bob's and Grandma's house.

Two sides

2009-07-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

We had one of those weeks that could be summed up as follows:

So in summary, lots of unhappiness as well as continuing to refuse to stay in the nursery at church (what kind of pastor's kid is he???), waking up and staying awake in the middle of the night, etc. This is just a stressful season in the life of our little family with our church plant and I also realize that someone is definitely about to turn two. But it was just one of those weeks where you wonder if you are going to make it and if you are doing anything right as a mom....

Fortunately, it is a new week and we've already squeezed in some happier moments....

If he becomes a Christian soon, maybe he will be a future worship pastor??? =) Anyway, SO grateful that God's mercies are new every morning, and for the gift that this little boy truly is. STILL. =) Though he could work on a few things.... =)

2009-07-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

I took a quick somewhat last minute trip to meet up with some of my old Biola softball buddies, Krista and Jen, in Palm Springs. It was the first time I have ever left Lee and Aaron alone overnight, and though I missed them, it was very nice =) It was great to catch up with them face to face and have some girl time. I have been so grateful for their friendships over the years and love them dearly....Lee and Aaron had lots of fun together too.... I think leaving them alone together made them extra onery.... Aaron has a new trick now....

Or he is just being a typical almost two year old =)