Thanksgiving Day Sickness

This year we stayed in the area and went to my grandparents home on Thanksgiving Day. Little did we know that this would be the beginning of a very sick weekend. My sister's 1 year old threw up on the table as we were all eating. Yuck! Anyway from that episode 17 of the 22 of us got the flu by Saturday.

It hit our family with a vengeance in the early morning hours of Saturday with Alex, Collin and Will all taking turns. Josh's parents were staying here and they, along with Glenn and Elizabeth, hit the road Saturday morning for DC in hopes of making it home before they got it. They made it home without trouble and I think they are still healthy.

Matt got it sometime Saturday night because when he came in to our bedroom Sunday morning he was caked with it. Disgusting!!!! Some of you know how well I deal with throw up:) To top this all off Josh had to preach at Westview on Sunday morning and was worried he would get it just in time for this. Thankfully he did not and was able to do the whole service.

Josh and I have not gotten it yet and by now I would say were are not going to get it. Thank goodness! We should not be contagious anymore and the only thing left to do is sanitize our house from this awful bug!

FIRST Lego League

Collin and Alex have been participating in a Lego Class this year where they have to build a lego robot, program it to do certain missions and give a presentation. This is their presentation and trial run from last week.

The theme this year was Climate Connections so the robot had to do a bunch of missions related to climate and the research project had to do with this theme. Their team's project had to do with potholes.

My Personality Test Results

What do you think? Does it fit me?

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Josh took the test too and was a INTJ. I guess opposites do attract.

30th Birthday Party

Yesterday was my sister's 30th birthday. I joined a group of friends at the bar around 9pm. It was amusing that we were the only ones there at that point. We joked about how old we all were. I told Rachel that it was wierd to think that 3 of the 4 of us siblings were in our 30's now and that it would be really weird when we all were...because then I would be almost 40. Yikes!!!!

As we sat at the bar and watched the younger people flock in, the servers kept coming back asking if we wanted another drink. Cherith asked if they had root beer and the server looked a little surprised at the request...I can only imagine what was going through her head as she processed the request. She told Cherith that they did not have root beer (I can't think of anything that root beer would mix well with, can you?). I'm not sure I've ever been to a bar where someone has asked for root beer. We all laughed at how ridiculous the whole conversation went.

The longer I sat and watched the people around me, the more thankful I was that I am not a part of the bar scene. I am so glad that I am married to my best friend and don't have to worry about impressing any guys.

As Josh would say...You are so Old!

and I would say...Old is Good:)

Math or Boys?

I had the privilege to hang out with a sixth grade girl tonight. We went across the street to the coffee shop where we had tea and hot chocolate. She' s always been really quiet when I've talked with her in the past but tonight with just the two of us, she talked and talked...about high heel shoes, flowers, marshmallows, Halloween costumes, pacifiers, gym class, brothers, math and of course, boys. All the great kinds of things that I never get to talk about with my own boys.

As we got on the topic of boys, I asked her if she liked math or boys better. With no hesitation, she said math because boys stink, throw their clothes all over the floor and leave the toilet seat up.

Spoken like a true woman.

A Sunny November Day

We have been enjoying the warm, sunny weather this week.

Hunters

At our family day, Collin and Alex went with the big guys out in the woods. Of course, they never saw any deer but as Alex says "I saw lot's of things, but Grandpa was sleeping." Oh Deer!!

A good roll in the leaves helps with not stinking. Imagine that...I don't know if Collin smelled better or worse with the no scent and deer pee spray.

Deer Hunter or Taliban?

The Coolman Band

The Coolman Band performs live for a very large

crowd at the Pavilion's Fall Festival.

After the mic readjustment and a little more confidence

It's been awhile:(

So it's been a little over a month since my last post, sorry about that...October was a very busy month. With 8 soccer/football games (not to mention all the practices), both the oldest and youngest boys' birthdays, and various other commitments, it's been crazy busy.

Anyway, I'll try to post more regularly now. Enjoy the pictures!

Matthew's first haircut. We made it until he turned 2!


Alex started the night out as a mummy, then became a zombie, and finally was nothing at all.

Our group of all boys on Halloween night.

Busy Saturday Games

Alex's first soccer game was Saturday and he scored the first goal!

I had a bit of a dilemma this week at Collin's football game because it was the Eagles vs. the Rams. I wasn't sure where my loyalty should be...but of course I had to side for Collin's team "GO Eagles!"


Collin played center a lot during this game.

A Heavy Heart

I have a heavy heart right now and I know a lot of you do too. There is so much suffering in the world right now.... even in our own backyards and I suppose this is nothing new. We are a broken people. This morning at coffee break many stories of pain and suffering were shared among our group. Sometimes it's really hard to see God's goodness and love amidst all our sadness but I know it is there.

On Sunday we went to a church where they are doing a sermon series on the Shack. This week's topic was "the Great Sadness" (which if you've read the book is what the main character struggles with in his life situation) and the text was from John 11 about Lazarus death and resurrection. Anyway the pastor did a great job showing the painful emotions that Martha and Mary were experiencing with the death of their brother and how Jesus also experienced great sorrow over the loss of his friend. Jesus invites us to give him our sorrows which will free us so that we can experience God's perfect love toward us.

In choir we are learning a song that we will be singing in a few weeks and I can't get it out of my head. It goes something like this:

We worship You, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
We worship You for who You are and You are good,
So good, so good,
You are good all the time,
All the time You are good.
Lord, You are good and Your mercy endureth forever
We worship You, Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
We worship You for who You are.

This has been my theme song lately because I know He is Good all the time.

The Lively Center of Attention

So this was a personality test that Dr. Phil gave on Oprah and my result. So what do you think?

Your Result: The Lively Center of Attention -

Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not one to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

Big and Fat

A conversation I had with Will yesterday as we were shopping at Meijer:

"Mommy can we buy fruit snacks?"

"Sure Willy"

" When I eat fruit snacks and get big and fat, I will be like you, Mommy."

"That's great Willy"

Now I know what he really thinks of me.

I'm home safe

In case you received my dire email that I was stranded in Nigeria, please be assured that I have made it home safely. In fact, I never left in the first place. Sorry about the email...someone hijacked my email and got all my contacts.

The Collin and Alex Coolman Band

In case you missed Saturday afternoon's concert. Enjoy!

If you'd like information about the next concert please contact the booking agent Will.

A messy flood

Well the potty training has kind of gone to the wayside, eventhough I know he is really close. This morning I got Matt out of bed and went to change his diaper and it was dry, so I asked him if he would like to go potty on the toliet. He of course said no. So I (not really thinking) decided not to put his diaper back on as I was sure he would tell me that he wanted to go to the toliet in a few minutes. I left him on the changing table and went to my bedroom for just a minute. That was a mistake...as I came back into the room Matt was saying "Oh no"... my thoughts exactly. I took in the scene of a yellow lake surrounding him and flowing down the dresser to make a puddle on the floor (it also leaked into all the drawers to give me extra laundry for the day). I hope I learned the lesson that to leave the baby without a diaper and a full bladder is a recipe for a flood.

A Funny Thing

A funny thing happened the other day. Matthew took off his diaper, sat on the toilet and went #2. It was very exciting for me because it will be so nice to be out of diaper mode. He seems to be experimenting with all kinds of things. The other night when I went to check on the little boys before I went to bed, Matt was sound a sleep and naked from the waist down. It was a bit of a surprise for me as he's never done that before...but it was a funny sight.

The Rat Race

Have you ever seen a bunch of rats running around outside a building in the dark? I saw this awhile back in Washington DC and it was really disturbing to see. As I think more about it, I wonder how much we might be like these rats.

I've been thinking a lot about busyness lately. I have been trying to eliminate things from my calendar, but every time I think I have eliminated something...it seems that something else takes it's place. I'm sure most of you know what I mean. I ask myself "Why am I doing this?" and the things I come up with are: "I'm doing it for my kids, I need some personal time, I feel obligated to do this, I don't want to miss this great opportunity"... and on and on and on the list goes. I scamper here and there...and the image of a crazy bunch of rats pops into my mind. Yuck!

But do any of these tasks/activities really amount to much? Sure most of them are good things and are learning experiences, but I wonder if they are really that important. I am beginning to think not. The more I dwell on my own choices of busyness, the more I am seeing other things as being more important.

Over the summer part of a sermon I heard has stuck with me. The pastor talked about how God created us not as humans doing, but as humans being. I have found this to be a huge challenge for me. I want to do but am working more on just being...being with God, my family, my friends and neighbors. The point is that by being, we develop deeper relationships. The practice of presence is hard to do (especially with a full task list), but I've found that the more I do of this, the more I have come to appreciate the reward found in just being ( and I don't think rats just sit around). So even with the busy fall season just around the corner, if you see me sitting on my front porch, be assured that it might not look like I am doing much...but I will be being much.

I love where I live!

We've been home now for two weeks. It's been a busy two weeks with all the normal stuff to do after being gone all summer and re-adjusting to the hood.

Re-adjusting to the hood took a few days. All the noise, lights, people, dogs (mean looking ones-whether they are or not) is very different than where we were staying in CA. It's good though. I don't think it's good to get too comfortable in a certain setting.

Our neighborhood has changed some. I don't know if it's all happened while we were gone or if it happened more slowly over the winter/spring and we just didn't notice because we're in the house more. Anyway, it's changed (new people, more mean-looking dogs). It's exciting to see what's happening and to meet the new people in the neighborhood. There is a very young couple who moved into the once boarded up house next door. I've prayed a long time for whoever was going to buy this house. We are going to get along great! Jen is a runner (Yippee!!) and they have a 2 1/2 year old who likes Pooh and Dora- Willy's going to love her!

While I was walking the other day, I saw:

- a diverse group of young kids playing soccer in the street
- the beautiful stain glass windows of a nearby Catholic church
- a young couple near the river watching the sun set
- a family fishing together
- a huge, fat city squirrel in a large tree (they didn't have large trees where we stayed)
- flowers in bloom everywhere (I missed flowers out west)
- people everywhere

I missed being in my neighborhood. I love here!

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home last night. This ends our nomadic ways. Sophie was very excited to see us. The girls, however, were not quite ready for us. They were still packing and cleaning. I think we will be shifting stuff for a couple more days. Everything looks good though, even my gardens.

Collin and Alex went immediately to their bedroom to build legos. Will was excited about his Bob the Builder blankets. Matt didn't really care as long as he had his Nuk. Josh and I were just glad to be in our own home.