Who Needs Teeth Anyway?

On Christmas evening, Carter was doing some pull-ups on the pull-up bar at my folks house. This did not concern me in the least. He is always hanging from the pull-up bar in our basement. But I guess my folks pull-up bar wasn't 100% stable, and somehow Carter managed to pull it down, knocking his front teeth on it, and then falling back and hitting his head hard enough to give him a goose egg that made his hair stick out. Not the best way to end a fun Christmas day. Fortunately, he recovered relatively quickly, though he is missing a large chunk out of one of his front teeth. Dr. Stephensen is going to take care of that tomorrow.

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Not to be outdone by his big brother, Owen decided to do some damage to his pearly whites this morning while sledding with the Skow boys. On his second trip down the hill, he hit the ice and semi-dislodged one of his lower front teeth. Not a pretty sight. I left the other boys with Marti, (check out her sledding video on my facebook page), and Owen and I headed to the nearest dentist in Ankeny. They got him right in thanks to a cancellation (thank you Lord for that provision), and fixed him right up. He now has a wire glued across his front teeth, stabilizing the "injured" one. It's soft foods and no rough-housing for him for a while, but he should recover just fine. His body is accustomed recuperating. It has had a lot of injuries to deal with in his seven years on this planet.

Jean Jacques

Thirteen years ago, I met Jean Jacques. He lived in a small two-room house in Cazeau, Haiti, with his parents and 5 siblings. He was five years old. Their front door was a fabric curtain and inside the home was one bed and a few other furnishings. I did not grow up in a wealthy family by U.S. standards, but when I stepped in this boy's home, and thought of my home, I was struck by the huge disparity. Why did I have so much, when others had so little?
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The time I spent in Haiti working with a medical team, a construction team and a VBS team, was life changing. My eyes were opened to a people and a country that have not left my heart since I left the island. And I have had the opportunity to watch Jean Jacques grow up. The picture below is one I received a couple months ago. He is now 18 and has graduated from high school. I have been sponsoring him and corresponding with him for 13 years, so it was bittersweet to find that he is no longer in need of a sponsorship. But I am looking forward to getting to know another little boy after I receive my new sponsorship info.

Meet Billy Bob

Meet our wintertime lawn ornament, Billy Bob. It took the boys a while to muscle the gigantic snowballs across our yard. Corey helped them stack them on top of each other, and then we added Clementine eyes, a mulch nose, a wire pipe, a scarf, a hat and some rocks for buttons. We'll see how long the big man lasts.

The Night Beneath the Tree

The boys love their night under the Christmas tree with their dad. It's a tradition he started a couple years ago. Next year, maybe we'll add the crazy little guy to the mix.

Basketball

For the next couple of months we will be found at the 3Cs on Saturday mornings. Between Owen and Carter, we have a lot of basketball games in our near future.

The Joy of Being The Third Child

Maybe it's because it's harder taking two young kids on outings, maybe it's because Carter and Owen entertained each other so well that we didn't have as much of a need to get out, or maybe it's because I'm not too cheap to spend a dollar on a train ride anymore. Whatever it is, a trip to the mall to ride on the Christmas train is not something I did with Carter and Owen, but Lewis sure enjoyed it. He also enjoys much more frequent trips to the McDonald's playplace, and sometimes I buy him candy at the checkout at Walmart, but his big brothers don't need to know that.

Harms Family Christmas Cookie Adventure

My two children with serious sweet tooths helped me make Christmas cookies tonight. To my surprise, the one who is always wanting to "make" something, had no interest in helping.

I had forgotten what a joy it is to make cut-out cookies with a three-year-old.

The Dreaded Tree Picture

One of Those Days

I was a little grumpy when one of my children woke me up this morning an hour before I wake him up on school days, but I made some coffee and dealt with it. I was a little more grumpy when my van decided it did not want to go to church. You see, 75% of the time, Corey leaves for church over an hour before we do because of his various responsibilities. That leaves me to get the kids ready and out the door by myself. It's really not a big deal. I do it Monday through Friday too, so we have the routine down, but today, their clothing all matched, their hair was washed, and they weren't fighting as we headed out the door. So when I had to leave my van on the side of the road down the street and head back home instead of to church, I was a little irked. And then my husband did not get the message to pick us up for Sunday School because his phone was in a room behind the stage, so though we were ready to be picked up, it didn't happen. That made me kind of grumpy too. I thought maybe if I took a little nap, I could get rid of my grumpies, but no more than 10 minutes after I fell asleep, the doorbell rang. I ignored it. (Corey and the boys were watching the Vikings downstairs so they couldn't hear it). A minute later, it rang again. I ignored it. Another minute passed and it rang again. I was fuming when I went to the door. I JUST WANT TO SLEEP!!! I wanted to yell at whoever was crazy enough to keep ringing my doorbell. Instead, I listened to a well-meaning man try to convince me to sign a petition for close to a half hour. I understood his frustration, but I didn't sign it. I just couldn't stop thinking, "I could be sleeping right now." After that conversation, I was even grumpier. So, I've pretty much been grumpy all day. But tomorrow I'll have a fresh start, so I think I'll go to bed. Just beware if you are thinking of ringing my doorbell multiple times in a row on a Sunday afternoon. I may just let my inner-grumpies out next time!