Uncle Joel

**This was supposed to go up Saturday morning. Apparently, I'm not good at those "scheduled" publishing times...

It's his birthday today... yay!  Happy Birthday :)

Here in the Virkler home, Uncle Joel is a super hero of sorts. He is idolized. He is mentioned at least once a day. Liam tries to fact check Aiden sometimes, but has kind of realized that it's impossible by now.

You see...

Aiden will tell just about everyone he meets, that his Uncle Joel eats squids.

And if you are reading a book about gigantic, colossal deep sea squids, Aiden will get all excited and say,

"Uncle Joel ate one of those!"

And Liam will correct him, and say, "No, Uncle Joel didn't eat a squid that big. It wouldn't fit into his belly." But it's in one ear and out the other for Aiden.

Because somehow this...

has transformed into this...

He would make a mighty fine fisherman storyteller ;)

And then, somehow that squid led to octopus... because you know, they both have 8 legs.

And Liam would correct him, "No, Aiden. Uncle Joel ate a squid, not an octopus." And he'll ask me to correct Aiden. And I will tell them that we did see him eat a squid, but we don't know for sure if he ate tako or not. But it wouldn't matter if I told Aiden he was wrong. He would argue until the sun went down.

And... Uncle Joel makes the best airplane noises.

And... Uncle Joel plays soccer.

And... Uncle Joel climbs really big, high, tall mountains.

And... Uncle Joel has a big tv that is the size of the house wall and lets Liam watch stuff on it.

And... Uncle Joel scowls, but is not really upset, because then he laughs.


And the latest...

we were shopping at Target one evening, and we saw a dark African American man, and Aiden got a big huge grin on his face and said...

... you guessed it...

"That guy looks just like Uncle Joel!"

It makes me wonder what Uncle Joel looks like in his mind now. :)

Missing Michigan

We miss Michigan. Everyday. Some days more so then others. Lately, it's been a lot. The boys mention it throughout the day. Lots of lonely hearts.

What do we miss most?

1. Our church family.
Hands-down, this has been the hardest. The boys constantly mention it. Although we were grateful for a few days with the Harmons, I think it made reality sink in a bit more for the boys that things aren't changing... at least for a year. Aiden is asking when Elijah and Jonah will be moving to North Carolina. Liam is telling Jesus that he knows Jesus is his best friend, but would Jesus mind giving him a little friend too?

A few days ago, he told me, "Mommy, the next boy I see that looks to be my age, I'm going to ask him how old he is. If he says he's five, I will tell him I'm five years old too. And then I will say, 'I moved here from Michigan and I don't have any friends. Will you be my friend?'"  Oh, how my heart aches for them. Please pray that they develop friendships while here.

Speaking of church, how about a church update... we have found a local church here that we plan on getting plugged into when we aren't able to make the drive to DC/Georgia. God has given us peace that this is where He wants us to be. Even Liam loves it and feels "at home", although there is no Sunday School for him, and he attends the service with us-- he actually enjoys this, as do we, but it hampers his ability to build relationships with children his age. A Sunday or two ago, they focused on the proverbs that speak of friendship, and how we crave relationships because we are imago Dei. It is really ringing true right now.

I think this is one of the reasons why he enjoys attending church with us. He gets his own little piece of paper to fill out. It helps him pay attention to the sermon, though admittedly, he will usually still end up creating his own math problems or coloring towards the end.

 

2. Fireflies.
At least that's second on Aiden's list. Something else he searches for almost everyday. Haven't seen any since we've been here (even in the dead of summer), so I don't think they exist in this area.


3. The Library.
I don't think I can even begin to describe the amazing-ness of the Farmington/Farmington Hills libraries. The boys loved them. Farmington was lovely in that it was one big room, so you could constantly keep an eye on your children (not to mention the tree house, activities, etc)... but oh, how the kids loved the Hills branch. I've never seen a library so kid-friendly, and don't have that high of expectations that I ever will. Since I'm homeschooling Liam, we've already visited a local branch down here, and my kids were ready to leave when I was. That never happened up there. I am asked when we will get to go back to "Bev's library" again (Bev B used to always take the boys there when she'd watch them for the day periodically for me). If you live in the area and have never been to the FH library, you should.


4. Our Home and the Parks.
I love where we live and I feel so blessed to be at this house. But, besides two swings and one little slide right down the road, there aren't any parks nearby. And the sidewalks tend be only on one side of the road, if that... the next nearest playground to our house does not have sidewalks to get to it, and barely even a shoulder off of a hilly road. We miss the two parks so close to our home!

Although I don't miss my kitchen, the boys do miss the old house, our neighbors... and the lawnmower man, Brian, who was never ours to begin with. Liam often wonders whether he is sad and hungry, because he doesn't have our baked goods filling his belly, and whether his house was flooded by the rains. He actually worries about that last part with all his friends after seeing pictures of the forklifts taking vehicles out of flooded portions of the highway a few weeks ago.

5. The Food.
So silly, huh? But every once in a while we get a craving for Tunisian... something that was easily appeased there with lots of food for a great price (if you visited us, I'm sure you experienced it!). All the sushi places out here are B1G1, but they are a bit overpriced, and we are saddened that you don't get the free soup and salad with it. Not to mention Aji-shin's noodles. Thankfully there is a breakfast place in Raleigh that can make up for the loss of a couple of really nice places in Michigan we'd frequent! Joel hasn't had too much time off lately for anything, and I've been a great meal planner (and yes, it has worked well for my stress levels, though I keep remembering living with the Eisenmanns and will probably one day make a whole schedule like theirs!), but I may need to learn how to make some shawarma

... and then Sarah invited me to the cider mill with her kids... don't even get me started on the fact that all I dream about now is unpasteurized apple cider and fresh cider donuts. Sigh.

 

 

So there you have it. Except for the first, they are pretty frivolous things we are missing, but we are just being honest. :)

Governor's Cup

What better way to be "American" on 9-11 then to go to a triple A baseball game and celebrate 'America's favorite pastime'?  Joel wanted to go to the Durham Bulls game since they made it to the Governor's Cup, a championship series for their league. Somehow it became a Triangle orthopedic fellow outing.

And he wanted to make it a "family affair" (versus taking the older two like he normally does). I was a bit iffy about this, because Callum has never been to a game, and I didn't think he could handle it. And I forgot to bring my camera. Yay for cameras on the cell phones.

And well, I was wrong about Callum. He did better then the older two. Especially with his own hotdog and French fries...

 Apparently Thursdays are $1 concession days (popcorn, hotdogs and French fries)... we took advantage of that :)

 

 Liam and the Perez boy continually goofed... and shared a seat, they had to be that close.
Actually, their daughter tried to then sit on one of their laps, because she wanted to be close too. :)

 

 I stole Aiden's Bulls hat (given to Joel by Triangle)... there was this massive ceiling fan above us that made me feel like I was riding in a convertible going 60mph...

The Sun

... has mostly been hidden this week. Not that it means the weather is cool, but that the 90+ days with super humidity are exchanged for full cloudy ones with a little bit of a lightened effect where you know the sun most likely is hiding.

Perfect timing to be doing our unit on the sun for homeschool, right? :)  Tell that to the grapes that are still fully grapes and not raisins chilling on the window ledge. Or that I need to use artificial lights to teach my child about shadows. And nevermind attempting sundials...

That's what I get for procrastinating.

Least we don't live in Alaska or other places way up north where the sun is either always present or practically nonexistent. Counting my blessings... ;)

But once upon a time it was sunny. And we had to combat it somehow. And I was reminded of it when I was looking through these pictures...

 Trying to drink the water spout.

 The best water slide they could create here in the Virkler yard.

 And what is a water slide without getting to ride a flotation device down it?! But the head of the whale wouldn't fit through the slide entrance, and he couldn't ride it's tail down...

 ... nor could he face forward and still have control. I'm actually surprised with it's three foot ride that he attempted it many more times.

Here you can take note the first signs that our giraffe pool might have a leak somewhere...

 You know you are a Mommy that carries a camera when your 16mo old will randomly walk upto you and say "eeeeeeee" with a big grin (I'm guessing he means 'cheese'). So I obliged him and snapped his picture. After I show it to him, he smiles and then runs off to play. :)

 In case you didn't believe me about leaks. This is how it is by nightfall. Still fun for the toddler (who rarely ventures it's waters when inflated), but it needs to be re-inflated each day to appease the older two. :)

 

I see the moon...

He asked if he could go out and watch the moon after he was done with dinner. He sat staring at the moon for fifteen minutes, ran in, grabbed his binoculars and headed back out so that he could see it better. Not sure how much better he saw it. (He says he would be able to see it better if he were at the Bahr's home or his Auntie Katie's with their telescopes... I don't disagree). But it was still bigger, and he was happy, gazing on it for another half hour or so before bedtime, relishing in it's brightness and deciding what shapes he could see on it's surface.

It reminded me of one of his favorite poems he'd recite from a bedtime poetry book when he was younger...

 

I see the moon,

And the moon sees me.

God bless the moon,

and God bless me.

 

 

 

In the chaos of our lives, the mess of our homes, and the volume that comes from my children on a daily basis... it's the quiet, serene, simple moments like these that I treasure.

Book Review: Simplify.

Simplify. The book showed up on my doorstep as I was surrounded by boxes and junk, packing for our interstate move. Simplify. It sat on our counter amidst the crazy schedule of our last month, the goings and comings, "last" dinners with friends, celebratory meals with coworkers, tearful farewells. Simplify. It travelled with me as I begrudgingly left my children behind and flew to an earthly paradise with my husband who attended conference seminars while I read and explored. Simplify. It lingered on my nightstand through all those first lonely, emotional nights in our new home.

I think this book took me the longest to read of practically any book I've read recently. And it's not because it was not good or applicable. It's because it was. A little too much. From time management to friendships, God gave me this book in His perfect timing to gently whisper to me and constantly remind me of what I need to do: Simplify.

In his book, Bill Hybel focuses upon ten aspects of a person's life, and how we can simplify and declutter these areas, leading to a richer, fulfilled life with our family, coworkers, friends and most importantly, God. By becoming more discriminate with our lives, we are able to better fulfill God's calling for us, rather than sacrificing the intangibles for the non-essentials that will deplete us.  Each chapter ends with "Action Steps" to give you ideas and help you accomplish the chapter's objective. At the end are two appendices dealing with seeking out a life verse (as a supplement to one of the chapters of the book). The book is filled with practical, applicable tips and one-liners that got me thinking...

• How would I spend my time if I truly believed and lived as if God were in charge of it?

• Knowing that simple decisions have generational legacies, what investment of my time am I taking with my husband, my children and those I love?

• Am I living my life in light of this, with the knowledge that I will one day stand before God for the actions taken in this life?

• Are my excuses really just the surface of underlying character issues that need to be dealt with?

• Am I living my life as though God's current provision for me is not enough? Am I joyfully living within this provision?

• Am I so filled with the grace and love of God that I am not easily provoked when the minor irritations of life beset me? Are they first world problems? Am I in need of a reality check? Am I prioritizing people over convenience?

• Am I fearful and deceived, or am I allowing Christ to reign fully within me, his hand steadying me as I walk on the waters of life?

• Am I thinking in terms of the years for this present life, or in the immensity of the eternal?

• What is God wanting to teach me in my current season of life? Is Christ enough for me?

So I read and reread it's chapters. Underlining. Jotting notes and prayers in the margins. Starring sections. Silencing myself from the voices of the world, listening for the whispers of God amidst my tears. No my life still isn't perfect. No, I still have a long way to go before it's bare-bones and only for Jesus. Yes, I've heard some of this information and advice before, but this book helped to keep things in the forefront of my mind. Yes, I will probably mess up again, and need reminders like what this book offers. But I'm on the right course for this race. And for that I'm thankful.

 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book by Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest, personal review.

Eno River Labor Day Hike

One of the lovely things about North Carolina, or where we live specifically, is that I'm always driving by signs that state that there is a road turn-off for a rec area, or a state park, or such. So since Liam has been begging to go hiking in the mountains, we went to a hilly state park (Eno River) to appease him for now.

I forgot the big camera, and haven't used the small one in a while, so the combo of that and the shaded areas meant for some grainy photos. Sorry!

The one good thing, is if any one of my boys got lost, all I would have had to ask is if the hikers had seen anyone wearing orange. :)