Lola's first verse

If you have read my blog for a while, you know that my children have been learning Bible verses for a very long time now (one of my favorite ever videos on here is the one when Cameron recited the entire 23rd Psalm when he was just three years old.)

Lola has finally memorized her very first verse--and here it is!

Ephesians 6:1: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."



(Or, RIGHT!!!!)

She gets a little excited in front of the camera. *grin*

Our current verses

Yesterday, while we were swimming, Ethan took a break from the water to let me film him doing his two latest verses.

Not to be outdone, Cameron took his turn as well...

....and, voluntarily, Colin came over to do his!

Last week's verse:
John 1:16:
"From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another."

And this week's (not quite as familiar, but they are getting there!):
II Thessalonians 3:13:
"And, as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right."






Midway through, we {obviously} had an injury....so we stopped, regrouped, and then Colin finished...




So thankful to God that I have these boys to keep me consistent on hiding God's word in my own heart....

A chapter closed

From the time Ethan was a little over one year old, I knew that something was different about him.

Call it mother's intuition, or a gut feeling, or whatever--but I just knew that something was wrong somewhere.

Ethan wasn't progressing in some areas the same way that his brothers had. I knew enough from Colin and Cameron--who are polar opposites, in many areas--to know that children, even when they have the same DNA, can be very different.

But this wasn't necessarily a difference. It was something that I was seeing as more of a developmental issue, and I was concerned.

At 14 months, when most toddlers are eating straight from the table, E Ry was still only eating jarred baby food. As much as I tried to introduce new foods (things young kids love--cheerios, fruit puffs, etc.) to him, he would just turn up his nose at them and push them off of his tray. When I tried to spoon or hand feed him, he would get the food in his mouth and would either 1. spit it out (if I was lucky) or 2. gag on it and throw up on the table.

As much as this was a very frustrating and concerning situation to me, it was not where the bulk of my concern lay.

Ethan wasn't talking. At all.

Not at a year. Not at 18 months. And not even at almost two.

No 'Momma', no 'Daddy', no 'ball' or 'peeeeese' or 'dog' or 'bye-bye'.

I would discuss it with other people sometimes. Most of the time, they would say things like, "Oh, don't be concerned about it! He has two older brothers who do all the talking for him! He doesn't even need to talk. He'll talk when he's ready!"

Except that he wasn't. And I was concerned.

I am (unfortunately) one of those people that, immediately upon a problem, goes to the 'absolute worst case scenario' in my mind.

Shane's not home from work when he normally is and isn't answering his cell? He must have gotten into a terrible accident. Job market is becoming unsteady? We're gonna be on food stamps and in foreclosure soon.

See what I mean?

In my head, I literally had Ethan deaf, in a special school, and all of us having to learn sign language in order to be in communication with him.

I don't know why I do things like that. Geesh.

I digress.

Anyway....back to the place where I knew something was wrong but didn't yet know what....

Ethan wasn't sick. He hadn't had chronic ear infections or anything else that would lead me to believe that his ears were damaged--and I knew he could hear. I knew because I constantly "tested" his hearing on my own.

I would stand at the other end of a room and say very quietly, "Ethan." And he would turn his head to me. He could also follow instructions very, very well. I could say, "Ethan, go down to your room and put your blanket away, and then come back down here to Mommy." Three commands in one sentence--and yet, at not even two, he could do exactly what I was saying.

I knew that he could hear me. But he just was not saying anything in return.

I finally decided, just after he turned two, to voice my concerns to my pediatrician. She checked his ears, said she didn't see anything abnormal; but upon my insistence, she referred me to an ENT.

I was so glad to finally be going to a specialist. I knew we would get answers.

Except that we didn't.

The ENT (whom I did not care for, very frankly) basically laughed me out of the room. He looked in Ethan's ears and said that, though he did see a bit of damage (most likely from an ear infection that had gone undetected) he saw nothing to be overly concerned about. Then he stated that there was no reason that I should have been referred to see an ENT--just because a child wasn't verbal at two years old did not mean that something was wrong with that child.

But there was something wrong with my son, and I knew it.

I kept on.

(**Just a side note here: I did glean some important information that day at the office. Ear infections, in some children, present with absolutely no symptoms. No fever, no tugging of the ears, no crying, nothing--and that is what had most likely taken place with Ethan. I always have watched my toddlers for ear issues very carefully, after a nasty three-month ongoing infection when Colin was about a year old. I know what to look for--but you can't look for symptoms that do not present themselves!**)

I contacted a local agency to see if I could get Ethan a hearing test. Which, I did, and we went to.

He failed it terribly.

But here is the thing: Ethan's "hearing" was just fine. We just didn't know that at the time.

Over the course of the next nine months, Ethan took four hearing tests, all with the same results....a big, fat "F". He could hear some of the things that the audiologist was testing for, but it was discovered that he had little to no movement in his ear drums, due to fluid buildup.

Some kids just have a lot of fluid in their ears that comes and goes, and with our history of allergies and asthma in this family, we have kids like that. But Ethan's Eustachian tubes don't drain well--and the fluid that comes doesn't really go like other children's do.

When you have fluid in your ears, it muffles sound--making it very difficult to distinguish between consonants. Also, children certainly and primarily learn to speak by hearing; but secondarily, they learn by imitating what they are seeing their parents/others do with their mouths.

Say the following letters to yourself, paying attention to your lip movement: C, D, E, T, Z. Now G and J. Much of the exact same lip movement is in each of those sets, as it is with many other letters. When a child can't differentiate the movements and can not hear the sounds, it makes it very difficult to form the words!

After the first failed hearing test, I began exploring my options. We knew E was hearing some things, and thought that maybe some form of speech therapy would help him. He was seen by several people and then screened to see if his speech development (or, rather, lack thereof) was bad enough to qualify for therapy.

It was. At 27 months, he had the speech of a 15-month-old.

He went through nine months of speech therapy. We loved our therapist--she came to the house every Wednesday at 8:30 and worked with Ethan for an hour. However, what we really gained from those sessions was the knowledge that we needed to be able to work with him here at home.

There was much more to speech therapy than I ever could have imagined. That eating issue that I mentioned before? Turns out many children that have hearing/speech issues also have eating issues. After we finally got Ethan eating more than just soft foods like yogurt, applesauce, or refried beans, he began the oddest behavior: stuffing his mouth so full of food that he could barely chew. As any parent would be, I was concerned that he would choke--and so I would cut things up very small for him. It didn't matter. He would just stuff in more pieces if they were smaller!

It turned out that many children who don't speak or hear well have what is called "low mouth tone". The nerves in their mouth are not as strong as a 'normal' child, and so they stuff their mouth so full to be able to actually feel the food and chew it. Weird, huh? (Incidentally, he always managed to chew it all and swallow it--he never choked.)

During those nine months of therapy, E was still doing those hearing tests that I mentioned before--and failing them. However, he was showing tremendous progress each week at his sessions, so we pressed on--not knowing how much or how little E was really hearing.

Fast forward to January, 2010. Ethan graduated from speech therapy, scoring at a 36 month level. He was 36 months old. *tear* It was a wonderful, wonderful day for us.

We followed up at another--different--ENT two weeks ago. Ethan had another hearing test, and passed this time with flying colors.

Most likely, what we believe was happening was that all the other times he went for tests, he was failing because of that pesky fluid--not because of some other, more serious, damage to his ears. We were so excited! Though we originally thought it was a certainty, there was indeed no need for the dreaded tubes after all. He was just, as the ENT put it, "one of those kids with fluid issues. No need for any further treatment." At least, for now.

I think it is important to note here that if you think there is an issue of any kind with your child, no matter how big or small it may seem, do not give up until you get the answers you are looking for--and are completely satisfied with those answers. It took us over a year to get closure on this particular situation, but I am so glad we pressed on. As a parent, YOU are your child's advocate--and sometimes their only voice. If you don't fight for their benefit, who will?

There were and still are many side effects to all that we went through with this, and we deal with them everyday--but the important thing is that E is now a very happy and very, very talkative little boy. I find at times wanting to say "Ethan, you need to be quiet!"--but those words rarely escape my mouth. There were too many months that I was just praying for him to say one word, anything. I think about that....and it sure is hard to discourage him from talking now.

Especially when he is saying things like this:

Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Ethan's first real verse....hopefully, the first of many.

Did I mention how good it is to hear him talking?

Psalm 23

We don't have an AWANA program at our church on Wednesday nights, but for quite a while now, we have done a Bible Memory program.

Our Pastor's wife, Kathy, (who also happens to be a dear friend and one of the most wonderful women you will ever meet in your life--and that's no exaggeration) takes all the young children downstairs and listens to them, one by one, recite the memory verse that they have worked on for the week. Then they are rewarded by getting a 'prize' from the prize basket.

If you have followed this blog for a while, you would know that Colin and Cameron have been memorizing verses for a long time. {Side note--you must stop reading here and click that link before continuing on in the post...oh, my goodness--how little they were! *sniff, sniff*}

As great as they do with verses every week, I knew--this, even for them, seemed like a huge undertaking:

We decided to memorize the entire 23rd Psalm.

Yes, even Cameron. Yes, he is only three.

I know their ability, and I believed that with some hard work, they would be able to do it.

We learned verse one the first week; verse two the second week; and then, on the third week, we put verses one and two together. Then, the next week, we learned verse three; and the following week worked on verses one through three.

We continued in that pattern for a couple of months, until we had learned, or re-learned, as the case may be, the entire Psalm. (The great thing about teaching the kids these verses is that it is a wonderful refresher for me, too!)

Colin can say the whole thing through as well, obviously--but he wasn't here for me to be able to record him today. *sniff*

(Cameron, by the way, made me CRACK UP at the end of this video. In order to ever get him to do anything for the camera, he always makes me promise to let him see it--picture or video--as soon as I am done taking it. I told him that I was going to put this video on the blog, for Aunt Deanna and Uncle Alan, Grandpa Danny and Amy, and Grandma 'Nette and Grandpa to see, and he finally agreed to do it. Immediately after he is finished, you will hear him say, "Can I see it on the blog now?" I just found it so, so funny--a three-year-old saying the word 'blog'. That kid never ceases to make me laugh, and his little lisp never ceases to put a smile on my face either!)

Enjoy!

Psalm 23:
"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 119:11 and Romans 6:23

These verses actually were from last week and the week before....I am sooooo behind! This computer trouble is giving me absolute fits, let me tell you!

So, in the time I have today, here are Cameron and Colin doing some verses! (Cameron is soooo cute doing these verses....he has 'ways' of making them his own! In this one, he turns around the words might and not. I'll correct him later--for now I think it's adorable!)

Psalm 119:11: "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee."

Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Ephesians 6:1-2 and 1-3

Poor little sicklings....mommy is still making them get their Bible verses on camera!



Ephesians 6:1-3--"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with you, and you may live long upon the earth."




And, just for fun....Cameron's funny version. Apparently, he thought I was getting upset with him when I asked him to 'look at the camera and hold still', or whatever I said in the video, so he proceeded to turn on his 'sad face'. (This face happens frequently in our house....basically, whenever something is said that Cameron doesn't really care for.)

Notice just how quickly Cameron can turn on said sad face; just how far his 'sad lip' pooches out; just how believable this 'sad face' is (he doesn't fool us anymore, however); and then just how FAKE 'sad face' actually is by how quickly he can turn it off! Then, imagine living with a child who is able to do that! :-)




Is he too much, or what?!?

Ephesians 4:32

Ephesians 4:32 "Be ye kind, one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."


For some reason, Cameron decided to say the last 2/3 of this verse with a duck mouth. I have no idea why he did it, and actually filmed him saying the verse again (the right way) after he was done saying it this way. So, I have two versions of him doing this verse. I was going to put up the regular version, but decided at the last minute to do this one instead.....it was just too funny to pass up!

Remembering

Today, I am writing for the benefit of me only....so that in 10 years, I will be able to look back at all the different posts from when the boys were little, and be glad that I didn't neglect to post anything.

Though this post is strictly for my remembrance purposes, I hope you enjoy it too.

There are a few more funny things that Colin has done/said lately:
1. "I want Guhnola cereal mommy." (I think that mispronunciation is so cute.)

2. Today, he asked for 'teeter-totters' for lunch (that would be tater-tots).

3. Colin has had a 'snotty' nose for a couple of days now. As we were sitting in a relatively nice restaraunt on Saturday having lunch, Colin proudly proclaimed, "Look Daddy!" He had blown a snot bubble out of his nose, and it was just sort of sitting there, right above his lip, just glaring at all of us. (For Jason and Roger who are dying to know--it was about the size of a quarter.) While Cameron and Shane were laughing hysterically, I was mortified and quickly asked Shane to "take care of that!" What does he do? Shane proceeds to try to blow it off of Colin's nose, I suppose in hopes that when it released itself, it would fly away into the air like regular bubbles do....

Being the only girl in a house full of boys is hard some days.

4. Colin and Cameron have been learning Ephesians 4:32 this week (video to come soon): "Be ye kind, one to another; tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." They both had some difficulty remembering the last phrase, so for a few days we just kept repeating it over and over....."Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

Saturday, we went to the mall for a family outing (they have a great indoor play area at a mall about 30 minutes from us) and eventually we all needed to take a trip to the 'family' bathroom. Colin had to do some business ('nuff said, and gross in a public bathroom, but what do you do?) and when he was done, Shane walked over to him to.....let's just say to do the honors. Colin was on one of those really tiny kid potties, and when he was bent over, he was dangerously close to the floor.

Shane noticed this, and said to him, "Colin, do NOT touch the floor."

(By the way, I would like to take this moment to say that I am so glad that my hubby is as germ-phobic as I am.....)

Anyway, Colin said, "Okay Daddy." He was quiet for a second, then started repeating, "Do NOT touch the floor. Do NOT touch the floor. Do NOT touch the floor.....even as God for Christ's sake has NOT touched the floor."

Shane and I looked at each other and almost died. What this child comes up with....

But I am thankful his memory verses are in the forefront of his mind!

Verses of the week

Several people have inquired what I am doing to teach the boys their verses, and I will share with you a tip (that was given to me by my friend who is a mother of seven) that has worked wonderfully for us. We put our verse for the week on a 3x5 card, and I fold the card to make a 'tent' (the verse is just written on one side, so the entire verse is facing you when you look at the card). Then, I set it on our dining room table. Since the verse is always in plain view every time we are eating, it is a perfect opportunity to work on learning it! The boys and I work everyday at breakfast and at lunch. At dinner, when daddy comes home, the boys show him their progress by reciting what they know so far--so, really, we are working on it then, too!

So far, the plan is working. Cameron is going along at about 1/2 the speed of Colin (which is to be expected, of course); Colin has 5 verses memorized now, and Cameron has 2. They know some short phrases of some other verses as well.

It is so amazing to see how quickly a 2 and a 4 year old can learn a verse, and I am continually fascinated at how well Cameron and Colin are doing! I am keeping a chart for each of them in my office, and each time they master a new verse, they get to put a sticker on the chart, and I write the reference and the date they learned it. Stickers, it turns out, are big motivators! I am also keeping a sheet for each of them that has each verse they have memorized, along with the reference, typed out on it. That way, I have all the verses they have done in one place, so it easy when it comes time for review!

Now, for your viewing pleasure.....




Psalm 34:8 "O taste, and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him."





Deuteronomy 6:5 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

The newest of tricks

It's finally happened!







He usually laughs like crazy, hold his arms out in front of him like Frankenstein, and falls down about one step before he reaches his goal (as evidenced in the videos) but as of Tuesday, Ethan is officially walking! It is absolutely the cutest thing to see!

In other happenings around our house, the boys are all sick right now. Cameron is the worst off (Ethan and Colin are tying for a close second). The poor child coughed so hard last night in church that he threw up! Yes, my fear of one of my children throwing up in church in the middle of a service has now become a reality. All over me, all over him, all over the pew. Shane came to the rescue (as well as a couple of other church members) and we got everything taken care of. It was so cute--I didn't witness this, because obviously I was cleaning up throw-up, but apparently after the opening prayer (right after we left with Cameron) Colin raised his hand and said, "Pastor? Cameron just threw up and Mommy and Daddy took him out to clean him up, but could we pray for him to feel better?" :-)

Luckily, Cameron had an extra pair of jeans in the diaper bag (since we have been potty training, I take an extra pair when we go out 'just in case') and was wearing a zip-up hoodie over his shirt, so we were just able to strip that off and change his pants. It could have been a lot worse!

This morning, I discovered that Cameron had some 'dirt' on his face. Not so unusual for him.....anyway, when I got a washcloth to wipe it off, and discovered that it wasn't coming off, I looked a little closer and found that the poor thing actually has broken capillaries all over his face and around his eyes from coughing so hard! It is pitiful. You wouldn't really know he was sick, if it weren't for this terrible cough--he is in really good spirits! But, say a prayer, if you would, for poor Cami to feel better soon!

Here is some video of him, telling you of a few accomplishments of his:







If you didn't recognize the verse, it was Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." It is so cute listening to him say that.....

And, I think Cameron is officially potty-trained, which is such an exciting thing for him (and me!). He hasn't had any accidents in several days, and I believe he really does understand what is going on. He knows when he needs to go, and will certainly let me (and anyone else that happens to be standing within earshot) know too! As you can see by the video, he LOVES wearing 'big-boy pants'! (By the way, if you didn't understand what he was saying about the diaper, he was saying that he wears a diaper at night....)

Now, onto Colin, who is quite the little memorizer!





Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

He is doing so well with letters, numbers, and writing. He is getting so big, and smart, and is such an amazing help to me!

There is a lot going on at our house, as you can see! Hope you enjoy this quick peek at the boys!

He's really getting it

Last night, one of the best things since I became a parent happened to me.

I have been working with Colin, just a little bit here and there for the last few months, on learning simple Bible verses. He of course knows the all-time standby favorite, "Children, obey your parents in all things." We use that one pretty often.

And he knows a few others:
"Be ye kind, one to another" (that's a frequent one when you have two brothers!)
"And the child grew, and became strong...." (our children's church verse of the week--complete with motions!)
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."

We're big on those obedience ones. If you couldn't tell.

I have always wanted to start helping the boys learn memory verses, but never really knew quite what to do or how to do it...they are still young, and I didn't really know if the capabilities were there for that quite yet.

Until Cameron started quoting entire verses to me.

"The tile gew, and 'came stong." "Be kine one to 'nudder." "Tilden, obey your penents in all tings."

That's little people talk for "the child grew and became strong" and " Be kind, one to another" and "Children, obey your parents in all things."

That's when little Cameron taught me a very big thing: if he has the capability to memorize verses, then Colin certainly does.

And, it's not like I don't think Colin's smart. I do, very much. As my family has known for some time, he is my prodigy. :-) He knows a lot of things, and I am constantly teaching him more, as I believe it is my job as his mother to do so.

He knows his ABC's. He can recognize about 80% of them, and can identify about 50%. He is also starting to write them as well. He knows his numbers, up to twenty. He knows all his shapes, colors, and lots of concepts. He knows lots of songs....you get the idea.

I don't know why I thought he wasn't ready to do verses.

Anyway, once I realized that both of them were ready, I needed a way to keep verse memorization in the forefront--something to remind me to work with them on it each day. Someone gave me the idea to do a little 'table tent'. Take a 3x5 card and fold it in half; write the verse on one side, and the reference on the other. Then, leave it on your table, where you are at least three times per day. It will be right there and ready for conversation when you sit down.

What a great idea.

So, Thursday morning, up it went. And, we started working on it. Where did we start? In the very beginning.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1.

Thursday and Friday we would say it, over and over....but Colin never really said it all the way through by himself. He got lots of bits and pieces, and threw in as many words as he could, but wasn't completing the whole thing. I thought, "Well, it's only been two days....I have to give it some time."

Jump ahead about a few hours. Shane and I came home from our date night last night, and were putting the boys to bed--doing the whole nighttime routine of brushing teeth, washing faces, going potty, getting drinks, etc. Cameron was done and in his bed, and Colin and I were finishing up. Out of nowhere, he turned to me, and clear and complete as could be he said:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genet 1:1. (That's not a spelling error--he didn't quite get the reference--but it was really close.)

I looked at him and just absolutely LIT up. I smiled, and grabbed him, and hugged him, and congratulated him on how well he had just said the verse. Of course, then, he said it again, just as well as he had said it before. It was a great moment for me.

Then came something even better.

I said to him, "Colin, how did you do that? Did you work with Grandma on your verse tonight?"

And he said, "No mom.....God helped me say it!"

Unbelievable. Beyond learning his ABC's, concepts, and numbers, his realization and understanding that God was helping him learn his verses was the greatest thing he has learned in the short four years he has been on this earth.

And I couldn't have been more proud of him.