Yesterday evening, we packed up our two cars and drove over to Muncie, IN.  We made a pit stop after Sabbath so the boys could carb up…at Taco Bell.  Then drove the rest of the way to the Signature Hotel where we would spend the night before the boys’ big day.

Jen, Manu, Ty, Bentley and I stayed in one hotel room and Israel, John, and Micah stayed in another.  We got in fairly late so we ended up going to bed around midnight.  The next morning, we woke the boys up, got the dressed and headed over to the Muncie TOUGHKids triathlon just a few miles away.  The boys were so excited.  This slideshow captures just a glimpse of this special day:

Next week, we are excited to spend a weekend in Indiana where our older boys, Imanuel and Micah, will be participating in their first triathlon race!  It is the Muncie TOUGHKids tri and they will be racing with other kids ages 4-6.  The race course will be a 25 meter swim in a pool, followed by a .5 mile bike, and then a 100 yard run.  They are so incredibly excited. 

After we mentioned the possibility of them doing a kids’ tri, they have made sure to talk to the Lord about it multiple times.  Micah told us that he’d be dreaming about the triathlon at night.  They began riding their bike around the grass trails in our backyard to “train”.  So, we had no choice but to sign them up.  We got them matching tech tee “uniforms” with their favorite colors – red for Micah and blue for Manu – and also some swimming Speedos.  They like to think that the Speedos also double as bike shorts.  Since we bought them their tri uniforms, they’ve worn them every day to train in our backyard. 

Aroe has been very supportive of the boys training outside.  He loves to get pets from them even when they are on their bikes!  Ty is currently potty training so he just runs around pantless and sometimes shirtless too.

Yesterday, we took the boys to the YMCA to work on their swimming.  Imanuel will be swimming by himself, but Micah will be wearing a life jacket during the race.  Unfortunately, their swim training was cut short when a child had an accident in the water which forced the staff to close down the pool for the rest of the evening.  We’ll have to try again this upcoming week!

This morning, we took the boys to Hawk Island park for a brick workout.  It was the first time Micah actually rode a two-wheeler on cement.  A couple weeks ago, we just took off his training wheels during campmeeting and he’s only ridden on the grass!  But he did great today.  All that trail training has paid off!  They rode for about a mile and a half and then ran for a quarter mile.  They were able to end the workout by cooling down at the kids’ splash area.  It was a fun morning and we are looking forward to next Sunday’s race!

Group shot before training.

Pep talk from Daddy. 

Cool down

Having too much fun!

Exhausted on the ride back home…and ready to eat!
 

Since the weather has warmed up, we have been doing a lot of yard work outdoors.  Most of the property was overgrown for over a decade and it’s been a huge task of trimming, pruning, and clearing.  My parents have been coming nearly every week and thanks to their hard work, things are really taking shape!  It has been amazing to see the transformation.  We have discovered so many little treasurers throughout the property.  The more we work, the more we are able to uncover what it must have looked like years ago.  As I was describing the yard to my sister, she said it reminded her of The Secret Garden.  It totally does…except there is no crying crippled boy locked up in a room.  But in many ways, spending time working in the yard is therapeutic.  It is mentally healing to be outside in nature and bringing order to the chaos.  I just love it.

The past few days, I have made it my mission to trim the pine trees by the side and front of the house.  I bought myself a brand new handsaw from a garage sale for $2 (since Israel doesn’t like me using the chainsaw) and I’ve been sawing away at the pines.  In the process, I’ve discovered 3 new bird nests!  Israel found one the other day, of all places, in our trailer.  So, the boys and I have been observing 4 nests and watching their progress from day to day.  We also enjoy watching and hearing the different species of birds that come to our feeders.  I seriously feel like we live at a bird sanctuary.  They are just everywhere so it probably isn’t safe to stand under any of our trees. 

The first robin babies we saw (and I wrote a blog about), ended up being a heart breaker.  A couple days after hatching, the 3 chicks were gone.  It was very sad.  The nest was just too exposed and close to the ground.  The nests we are following now are in much better locations so we’re more hopeful.

To incorporate this as part of school, I’m having Manu and Micah make a nest observation picture journal.  I’m also trying to tie in as many object lessons as I can think of.  It is such an amazing experience and in the boys’ minds, I want it to be associated with spiritual and practical lessons that they will never forget.

This is an enormous nest.  She decided to take advantage of all the room.

Bird Nest #2: 
As I was sawing off a fairly large branch of a tree, I heard really loud flapping and it scared me.  I jumped away from the noise, and then I saw a mourning dove hopping around with its wing extended.  It totally looked injured, and for a minute I thought it was.  It was very convincing.  Until I had a thought that it must have babies nearby!  As much as I know how stressed that bird was, it was exciting to see a “broken-wing feign” live.  As I looked around the tree, I was in for a treat.  Two fairly large mourning dove chicks were sitting in a nest right above my head.  I knew they would be fledging soon.  They could barely fit in the nest.

Today when we went to check on them, they were gone.  The nest was empty except for a ton of droppings.  I think I can say with confidence that they have fledged! 

Bird Nest #3:
While I was trimming the trees where the doves were, I discovered that there were metal wires wrapped around each of them.  From the looks of it, you can tell it had been years because the trunk had tried to grow around the wire.  It was totally choking the trees!  I had to pry them open with pliers and it wasn’t an easy task.  I was trying to save the last poor tree, when I looked right below the wire and saw a nest with 3 perfect robin eggs in it.  Unfortunately, a couple days later, the egg count was down to 2.  But today when we checked on them, there was a hatchling in the nest and the second egg was cracked!  It was time!

Bird Nest #4:
Yesterday, we discovered this nest.  The pine trees by our mailbox were so overgrown so I was trimming the bottom of the trunk when I heard a bird take flight very close to where I was.  I looked around, and to my amazement, there was another robin’s nest with 2 eggs and a new hatchling!  I’m sure it had hatched that same day.  We, once again, had to postpone this trimming mission until after the babies fledge.  But, I don’t mind. 

Mama Robin faithfully sitting on her nest. 

I’m sure there are dozens of other bird nests in our backyard that we just can’t see.  But I’m so thankful that we’ve found these four that are low enough so we can quietly watch from afar.  I just can’t imagine how many bird nests, animal homes, and babies are destroyed when entire forests are taken down…especially in the spring.  Well, we are looking forward to watching the progress of each bird family as time goes on.  So many lessons to be learned.  We are praying for special protection on these families. 

This post is definitely to be continued…!

Micah checked out a couple of books from the library on police officers that we read to them.  For school, I had planned on having a mini music lesson because Manu wanted to learn how to play the harmonica, but then Micah begged to learn about police officers.  In fact, this morning, he came into our bedroom dressed (as far as he was concerned) just like a mounted police officer (one on horseback).  So, I told them that we’d do both.  After our normal school routine, I taught them some basic music theory and then it was time to learn about the police.  One of the books had a small section in the back about fingerprinting and what detectives do.  It was quite clear that today the boys would be police detectives.

Here’s the plot:  In the early morning, someone had passed security and managed to steal a train from the Ramos Train Station.  They weren’t sure who it was, but one thing was for sure.  There were lots of fingerprints left behind.  The crook obviously was an amateur and didn’t wear gloves.  Detectives Manu and Micah were on the case.  They arrived to the crime scene and began dusting the fingerprints (with baby powder and their mom’s cosmetic brush).  One brushed the prints while the other repeatedly relayed through their radios, “There’s too much baby powder!”

They transferred the clearest print (using scotch tape) and began to narrow down the suspects. 

In this court system, you’re guilty until proven innocent.  We all turned ourselves in and got fingerprinted. 

First suspect:  Imanuel Alexander Ramos.  Detective Micah took his prints.

Next suspect:  Micah Christian Ramos.  Detective Manu took his prints.

Finally, Mama was the last suspect, but it seemed highly unlikely.  Why would she steal a train that she herself bought?  Was that even technically stealing?  The boys analyzed the data and compared all of the fingerprints.

The evidence was quite clear according to the detectives.  The print matched identically to that of Mama Ramos.  They couldn’t decide whether to handcuff me or not as they took me to jail.  Detective Micah insisted that we didn’t have to handcuff.  Then, as they were about to lock me up, once again Detective Micah erred on the side of grace and said, “Okay, we’ll give you one more chance!”  Detective Manu concurred.  In fact, they told me they’d give me one hundred more chances!  I don’t see a very bright future ahead of them in the field of justice.  But, it was fun pretending for a day!

This was my things to do list for today:

- do laundry
- go to the bank
- drop off recycled goods
- take boys to the library
- buy pet food
- go grocery shopping
- fill the bird feeders
- read to the boys
- go running (in the backyard)
- tidy up the yard
- clean the house for Sabbath

And all this was on top of the normal daily grind.  I’m thankful that we were able to get everything done.  It was more difficult because I had to bring the boys with me everywhere since Israel is out of town.  Once we left the house to run errands, they had to get in and out of the car 5 times.  I must say that they were champs today.  After the final errand, I decided to treat the boys so we picked up some dinner and headed over to a local park.  After two hours of playing frozen tag (-and according to the boys’ rules, somehow I am always “it” no matter what), we spent some time by the rushing river, and then headed home.  We had worship and then spent some time talking with Israel over the phone.  (He is in Colorado for GYC Board meetings.)  I put the boys to bed and then I took the most magnificent shower.  Now, I am ready to fully embrace the Sabbath and all that it entails.   

After six days of truly legit work and labor, I can see how someone would be inspired to write an entire song dedicated to one day of the week.  I completely can resonate with these words:  

Today for school, the older boys and I did 2 science experiments using a great book we checked out from the library.  It’s called Backyard Science. 

The first experiment was called “Worm Sounds”.  We took a large worm from our worm farm, put it on a piece of aluminum foil, and listened to the sounds of its setae (- the bristle-like parts of the worm used to grasp) as it crawled around.  We used a paper cone to help us hear better. 

The other experiment was called “Ants on a Log”, except it didn’t have to do with the snack kids like to eat.  It was about what snacks ants like to eat.  The boys had lots of fun choosing what types of food to use in this experiment.  Here’s what they decided:

At first, we had a hard time attracting the ants.  We placed the plate next to an ant home, but every time an ant would come onto the plate, it seemed that it would always happen upon the garlic first and then flee for dear life.  We learned early on that they DO NOT like garlic.  We waited a couple hours and when we came back, we were in for a surprise.  The ants were throwing down!  First things we noticed the ants were going after were the lettuce and the pistachio.  After those were nearly exhausted, they were gorging themselves on the veggie meat.  They hardly touched the tostada, cheese, fruit snack and chocolate.  Oh, and of course they stayed away from the garlic.  We left the plate out over night and we’ll see if they ended up gathering the rest of the food eventually.  But it was clear what they preferred to take first from our ant buffet.

The boys were surprised with the results.  First of all, they totally thought they were doing the ants a favor by giving them the pieces of fruit snack and chocolate.  They couldn’t fathom how the ants would not take full advantage of the free sugar.  Secondly, we watched one ant drag a huge chunk of pistachio clear across the plate to its home.  That was pretty amazing.  So, the conclusion was that ants not only are crazy hard workers, but they are also healthy!  I, personally, was inspired by their self-control and temperance.  I guess there is a reason why they are so strong. 

Recently, the Adventist Review put out an article called “Help!  My Child Can’t Sit Still in Church.  What’s a Parent to Do?”  After reading it, it got me thinking about the evolution of my experience sitting through church with my babies. 

When Israel got a call to pastor in the U. P, our firstborn, Imanuel was 6 months old.  Prior to that, both Israel and I would sit with the baby (if he wasn’t preaching).  Now, Israel was preaching every Sabbath…and 3 times at that.  It was fine with one baby.  Newborns are actually pretty easy.  It’s when they become toddler age and are incapable of reasoning (and whispering), and when you’re in your last trimester with another one, when things get difficult.  There were some difficult times, especially since Israel left to preach at the first church before 8am.  I not only had to worry about getting the boys ready to go to church, but I knew Israel would be unavailable for pretty much the whole rest of the day.  After church, he had prison ministry and sometimes more visits. 

But my overall church experience has always been so positive because of Grandma Karen.  I’m so thankful that she decided to invest so much in my 3 boys.  And that’s where I had an epiphany.  I realized that in order to help our kids love the church and to be active participants, it takes investment.  To be honest, at first, I thought it was a little over the top that Karen would switch out books and toys every single Sabbath from the Sabbath bag – for a 6 month old.  I mean, she even switched Sabbath bags from time to time because she thought maybe the boys would like the pockets on them.  She put in countless time, money, and thought, not only into teaching them for Sabbath School, but also into ensuring that the boys sat quietly and were engaged and happy during church.  Even when the boys were babies, she observed them and knew what each of the boys preferred to play with and what they struggled with.  But Israel and I truly appreciate what that was worth.  They responded to her.  With calm, loving-kindness, she taught them to not only be quiet, but to be reverent, which is essential to church.  Over time, she taught them how to participate in all of the preliminaries before the actual message.  She taught them to be active worshipers and most importantly, to love church.

It got even crazier when she would give a friendly reminder to the pastor when sermons would just go too long.  She would say, “Pastor, you need to think about the children…your children!”  I would just laugh.  Why should the pastor modify the message just for the children?  He should think about the other church members.  But it’s true.  I realized that church should be just as much for the young mother and her children as it is for the middle-aged members whose children are out of the house.  Church is a place for members of all ages and it should consider the growing families as well.   

While we are nowhere near perfect, I thought I’d share where we’re at in our family’s church experience.  I definitely feel blessed, and I’m thankful that my boys are at a place that allows me to actually hear the message too.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to look back on these days with fond memories of when our boys learned how to give and gain the most in the Church.

Here’s the weekly grind:

-  Friday night, I gather everything I need to bring to church for me and for the kids:  Bibles & SS lessons, tithe & offering, diaper bags, quiet activities/books, water/snack etc. 
-  Upon arrival to church, distribute Bibles & offering and give pep talk about reverence – even in Sabbath School.  When they behave, I try to make it a point to affirm them for making Jesus happy.
-  Sometimes we pray before church starts if they need extra reinforcement.
-  Boys and I go to the bathroom before church starts.
-  The babies always sat on a lap during church until they were ready to sit on the pew by themselves. 
-  We’ve always had them sit on the pew and face the front.  No playing on the floor or walking around.
-  Church is always a quiet time with only whispers when necessary, even when waiting for church to start.
-  Sabbath bag had only quiet toys and books and were different each Sabbath.  (I included a list of the boys’ favs below.)
-  To encourage participation in service, Sabbath bag doesn’t come out until after children’s story and when sermon starts.  They never know what’s in the bag, so they look forward to the surprise. 
-  We encourage them to stand/kneel/sing when the church does.  No exceptions, even with pregnancy or with a newborn.  Karen had a mini-hymnal for the boys that she would always bring.  They loved using the hymnal when it was time to sing.  Once they got the hang of it, they knew when to stand, what to sing, and when to kneel.  After time, they were able to sing along with all of the doxology/call to worship songs.  Sometimes we practiced the songs at home. 
-  No playing with any toys during prayer.
-  As the boys got older, they bring their Bibles to church and I help them find passages in the Bible at least for Scripture Reading. 
-  If Israel is preaching, it’s nice when we know what he will be preaching about and which songs will be chosen for opening and closing song so the boys can know ahead of time.  That makes church more engaging. 
-  The boys didn’t do it often, but there were a couple times when they participated in special music with a children’s group.  Manu has been practicing a song on the ukulele for over a year now and he hopes to play and sing for church. 

Ramos Boys’ Fav Sabbath Bag Items (through the years):
- lift-the-flap books
- little flashlights
- connecting toys with magnets (when they stopped putting everything in their mouth)
- stickers/markers and notepad – they like making cards for someone
- silly putty with plastic animals or stamps – by far their favorite. 
- Bible activity notepads:  dot-to-dots, puzzles, coloring pages

Imanuel is slowly weaning off of the Sabbath bag activities.  I find him listening to the sermon more and more as he gets older.  When I see this, I try to talk to him about the message and get an idea of what he is hearing.  Sometimes he likes to fill in the blanks if there is a sermon worksheet.  And when Israel isn’t on the road preaching, he is sitting right there with us.  Added blessing is his lap makes Ty narcoleptic.  Before, Sabbath was such a stressful, tiring day.  Now, it is our happiest day.  If any of you have any of your own Sabbath tips, please feel free to share.  Sabbath can never be too happy. 

About a week and a half ago, I was outside pruning the blueberry bushes when Imanuel and Micah started yelling excitedly.  Imanuel ran over first and told me that they had found a birds’ nest.  Then Micah caught up and was crying, “Look Mama!  An egg!”  He was holding a perfect little blue egg in his hand.  He was so overwhelmed with excitement that when I realized that it was a real egg, I had to do all in my power to not panic, show excitement, but then explain the importance of leaving the egg in possession of its mama…in its nest.  They showed me the nest and I had Micah gently put the egg back.  I said a little prayer asking for restoration of the egg, in the event that Micah had shaken it too much as he ran to me. 

From that day, we’ve checked on the eggs, briefly, every day.  Mr. & Mrs. Robin are on vigilant watch and we have been trying not to cause too much stress on them.  But nonetheless, we are thankful that Mrs. Robin decided to nest in our backyard – and so low to the ground so we could be a part of this miracle.  (Even Ty can walk up to it and see inside.)  And we thank Jesus that He has kept our robin family safe thus far.

The nest is securely situated in a little wedge of the apple tree, just a couple feet from the ground. 

This is when the boys first discovered the nest and the beautiful eggs.

Watching Mama & Daddy Robin take turns sitting on their eggs with binoculars.

A few days ago, I sent Manu to go check on the nest and he brought word to us that the eggs were starting to hatch!

This past Friday, two of the three baby robins had hatched!

I was a little nervous as to whether the third egg would make it.  Couldn’t help but think that maybe this was the egg that Micah had picked up.  After church yesterday, we went to check on the nest and the third chick had hatched!  I was thankful.   

You can hear Mama Robin going nuts as I came close to her babies.  But just couldn’t resist taking a short video!  What a blessing to be a witness to God’s power and love.

This was definitely a labor of love from a grandfather to his grandkids.  You’re the best, Dad!

My dad found all of the materials including 2 play sets and lots of extra lumber on Craig’s List over the course of a few months.  We picked up the first play set way back in December while my sister was home.  My dad, my sister, my little brother, and Israel went to the house and had to first disassemble it before fitting it into our cars and driving it here.  The second play set and other materials were gathered last month on different trips with my dad and Israel.  But it wasn’t until last week that it was finally completed.  It was assembled with some changes and adjustments to the original, and my dad finished it off with a fresh coat of paint.  The boys love it!  For them, it’s even better than brand new.    Special thanks to my awesome siblings for all your help over Christmas.  We owe you!

Nearly finished…

The boys new play set!

And my dad made a swing for me too. 

Total cost for this as well as supplies for a tree house Israel is working on:  $100.  We’re working our way towards self-sufficiency. 

A few months back, Dad found an ad on craig’s list for a few hundred patio bricks for $40.  The owner no longer lived on the property and he was looking to completely strip the home, so he gave us permission to take whatever bricks we could pull up.  We made a few trips over there with various members of my family and we ended up hauling nearly a thousand bricks…all for $40.  To give you an idea of how crazy this is, if you were to buy these brand new, each brick would normally cost $1 per brick.

This past Wednesday, I ordered a few yards of 2NS sand to use for our patio renovation and some extra for the boys to play with.  The truck came within half an hour to drop it off and we got right to work.  Israel was at work, but my parents were there to help me.  We started by leveling sand over our existing concrete patio, and then we began laying the first bricks.  Yesterday and this morning, I finished laying the brick and brushing sand to fill in the gaps.  It definitely isn’t professional quality, but for using materials that cost approximately $60, I think it was worth it.  It was a lot of work, but I learned a lot throughout the process and it was rewarding to see the final product.  I now have a seriously legit farmer’s tan. 

The before shot.  You can’t see it very well, but the concrete has some major cracks in it.

Sand delivery

Dad leveling the sand with his ingenious homemade contraption

Laying brick

After filling in the gaps with sand…the final product!

Our first meal on our newly renovated patio.  It was extra delicious.