dave & janet horsman ::: keepin’ it real since 1998

I feel like I’ve misplaced the first part of May!  Seriously, where did it go?  I’m really having a difficult time grasping that the kids have only a couple weeks of school left, our much anticipated road trip will soon be upon us, and my baby will soon be one.  Crazy!

I’m not entirely sure how often I’ll be able to blog this summer.  From our vacation in Canada, our whole family is headed to IHOP in Kansas City for an entire month.  Exciting!  We’ll be taking part in something called “Commission,” a month long school, if you will, consisting of one part teaching on eschatology and the other part time spent in their prayer room.  We’re especially excited about their “Children’s Equipping Center,” that the kids will get to be a part of.    It’s really cool. 

As for now, I may have to neglect blogging a bit so that I can focus on getting my house in order.  I share my mother’s somewhat “OCD” drive to have my house thoroughly cleaned and in order before I leave it for any length of time.  Weird, I know.  But who wants to come home to a messy, disorderly house after a couple months on the road? 

So, I guess I’ll say an official “Bye” for now.  (Sniff, sniff)  I hope all you and yours have a fun and relaxing summer!  And to friends and family in the far reaches of eastern Canada, (and, to be honest, who this blog is mostly meant for) see you soon!

A piano recital, a fever, an “orchid breeze,” a new niece (!!!) and a 15 person dinner party…all in one weekend!  Phewf! 

Phoebe, Noah and I just came back from a quick visit to our pediatrician.  Phoebe ran a temperature and was just downright ornery all weekend long.  I was relieved to find out that it wasn’t an ear infection and Dr. said to watch for the fever to break and a rash to come out in the next couple of days, as she’s seen a lot of Roseola in the past couple weeks.  Fun fun.  I must say, though, that I don’t think I have a right to complain…besides the flu that made our lives miserable for about a week in February, we had an exceptionally healthy winter here in Horsman-ville.

Elijah had his third piano recital on Saturday and he did AWESOME!  He has so much natural musical talent.  I hope we can continue to cultivate this without pushing him too hard.   He’s at a place now where he would quit if we let him.  And probably never give it a second thought…until, of course, he’s 31 and, like Dave, he’s wishing he had continued with piano when he was young.  (By the way, Dave is getting better and better at piano these days, and even leads from it occasionally!)

We painted our kitchen this weekend too.  “Orchid Breeze”…otherwise know as, ummm, pink.  Dave and I are known for our outlandish paint colors, but I have to say, this tops them all.  We love it.  It’s bright and fresh, and …well, pink.  I guess Phoebe and I were outnumbered, and we needed a little more femininity in our house!  :-)  Let it be known, though, that I was leaning a little more towards a mossy green colour, and Dave gave the final word on the pink.  Now there’s a guy who’s secure in his masculinity. 

I also became an Aunt all over again this weekend!  My sister, Jill, had a baby girl named Nevaeh on Saturday (and I’ve just realized that I don’t know her middle name!)  Hooray!  Can’t wait to see you, Nevaeh, on our way through Toronto.  (Now only 17 days away!)

And it’s not officially spring around here until the cookouts begin.  We had a good ol’ kabob cookout on Sunday afternoon with the BHOPers and a family visiting from IHOP in Kansas City.  Oh, so good.  Mmmmm….

Every so often I’m caught off guard by a question from a person that leaves me wondering, “How do they know that about me?”  For just a fraction of a second, of course, and then I remember that I do indeed have a blog and, suprisingly, most of my readership comes from right here in the Twin Cities.  (I have a Google Analytics account…oh yes, I know about all you lurkers!)  So, in case the rest of you are laying awake at night with these same questions (;-))…here are the answers…

This one is from waaay back: remember, after Elijah’s first week of school this year, how he came home with strep throat?  That - miraculously I believe - was the last we’ve seen of it since then!  An answer to prayer for sure.  After getting a case of strep throat with the Chicken Pox at the beginning of first grade, he just couldn’t seem to kick it.  I was so afraid second grade would be the same, and am so thankful that it was not!

And here’s another one from the fall:  back in November I was very seriously thinking about homeschooling for this fall.  I have (well, actually we - Dave and I), with a heavy heart decided that our family isn’t ready for that this fall.  :-(  This is sad for me…my heart is so there!  One of my best friends homeschooled her eldest this past year, and she is sending him back to public school in the fall.  She also has a two-going-on-three-year-old and she said it was really difficult to keep him out of her hair while she homeschooled.  Which is one of my very valid concerns.  Logistically how would it work?  I don’t know.  We are quite sure, though, that homeschooling is in our future.  Just not for this fall.  Which means that both Elijah and Zeke will be away all day.  Sad.

Here’s one from just recently:  remember when my adorable (then) two-year-old spent $50+ on Family Guy episodes from iTunes?  iTunes refunded all the money.  And Dave switched the settings and turned off one-click purchasing!

And from very recently:  our desire to spend time in the BHOP prayer room as a family.  We’re doin’ it!  For the past couple weeks, we’ve spent time in the prayer room on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  We aim for an hour and usually last about forty minutes or so.  On the whole it’s been a really good experience for us.  A big part of this, I think, is my and Dave’s attitude about it…we’re determined to make it work.  We want it to be normal for our kids to be quiet before the Lord; to listen to Him and to talk to Him.  (Which, of course can also be done at home, but corporate gatherings are also important.)  Children are so a product of the environment that they are in!  This morning Noah was singing, “The Spirit and the Bride say co-ome!” over and over again.  He heard this at the prayer room last evening.  (They were singing the scriptures…  “Harp and Bowl“)  Cute.  And encouraging.

Okay, so now spring is really here…

Shorts and T-shirts (in 50 degree weather!…they’re crazy.)

Ice pops in trees…

Catching bugs…

And finding my Tupperware at the park…

And this weather couldn’t have come at a better time!  Tomorrow (I’m writing this late Sunday night) marks the beginning of  National TV Turnoff Week, and were shuttin’ everything down here at the Horsman house.  Yes, even our computer… for the entire week.  I’m still debating whether I should check my e-mail midweek or not, but, honestly, I can’t remember the last time I got a really urgent e-mail.  And Daddy’s not even allowed to use his iPhone at home. (Yes, Dave has an iPhone.  What a brat, eh?) 

I don’t like that my kids are growing up in a world that, ever-increasingly, if you’re not staring at a TV, playing a video game or tooling around on the internet, there’s “nothing to do.”  I really think that creativity and imagination can be like muscles that don’t get used…if you don’t exercise them, they’ll wither up and get weak!  As a parent, I want to stregnthen my children’s creativity and imagination “muscles” and that’s why I enforce our montly TV Turnoff weeks.  It may not get me the popular vote, but one day they’ll thank me.  Hopefully. 

See you all next week.  And I challenge you… “Turn off the TV.  Turn on life!”

Bummer.  Here’s one tree that my boys can’t climb…only because it’s lowest branches are a few feet out of their reach.  Probably a good thing since the kite is really high up there!  I’m offering a reward of $8 dollars to whomever retrieves our kite for us.  Seriously.  But please…don’t hurt yourself trying!

I’m outa here…

Spring break was super! …Minus the twenty minutes that Noah went missing in “The Largest Indoor Water Park in America.”  Oh my.  Terrifying to say the least.  We finally found him in the arcade (of course) and later discovered that he had went in search of a bathroom.  What a kid.

Here are a some highlights in photos…

We crossed the continental divide.  Pretty exciting.  Really, it was.

I turned 31 in South Dakota and now think that it would be fun to celebrate each subsequent birthday in a different state for the rest of my life.  If I live to be 80 I could actually visit all the states.  He he. 

This photo was taken just minutes after we found Noah.  Notice his approprietly remorseful expression.

Now for some photos for all the Horsman relatives in far off places….

Our super-cute and very photogenic niece, Ruthie Mae.  Isn’t she adorable? 

“The Osbornes”

All the kids on the morning we left, bed-head and all.  Out of a couple of dozen photos, this is the only one in which everyone looks kind of normal.  Photographing seven kids is quite a challenge!