Sing to the Lord a New Song.

Ever since Luke was about four months old, he has had a specific bedtime routine. 

 It all starts with bath time.

 Then there is story time (added once he got a little older).

The last and most essential part of the routine has always been rocking and singing to him for a few minutes before putting him in his bed. We started out at 4 months singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him every single night. Even babysitters and grandparents knew to sing a few rounds of "Jesus Loves Me" before putting him down. After many, many months of the same routine and same song, Phil decided he was tired of singing the same song over and over and over. He started singing some of his favorite songs instead, like Coldplay, Weezer, and Death Cab for Cutie songs. I have always stuck with "Jesus Loves Me", because I love the message and also because it is a song that I know so well that I can sing it over and over while simultaneously thinking about what I am going to make for dinner or what chore awaits me the minute I walk out of the room or which of my TV shows is on tonight or whatever (hey, a mom's got to multi-task). A few months ago, though, Phil started singing a new song to Luke. It is a song by our good friend, Ryan Kiesshauer (pronounced KEES-ow-er), who released his first album last January. The song is our favorite song on the album and is sung in Globalscope ministries around the world. It is a praise song called "King Forever", but Luke just calls it "Kee-OWWW-er". It has become his most favorite song to date, and he asks for it at every nap time and bedtime. In fact, it's the only song he will let us sing at those times. He asks for it all the time in the car, too, and when the next song on the album comes on, he says, "No. I wan' kee-OWWW-er gen!". We've tried explaining to him that all the songs on the album are Kiesshauer, but he refuses to believe us. While it is a challenge for me, one of the most musically disabled people in the world, to sing "King Forever" a cappella and not sound like a howling dog, I love the song so much that I don't mind. (I just pray no one turns on the baby monitor downstairs while I am singing.) My favorite line in the song can bring me to tears at almost any given moment:

Never again will I ask the world to tell me who I am
For I know I am Yours.

So good. And such a good message for the Stinker. Not to mention every other line in the song is totally awesome too. So I am not sad that Luke has chosen to 'sing to the Lord a new song'. It's a darn good song. And I can't wait till he starts singing it in his own words. I'm sure it'll melt this mama's heart.

Since I want you to be able to hear Luke's new fave, here is a link to our friend Ryan (yes, the real deal!) singing "King Forever" on YouTube as part of a contest to win the opportunity to have his song played on the radio in Atlanta. Unfortunately he didn't win, but he should have. I hope you like it as much as we do.
(and if you do, buy it!)

Helping Daddy Out.

After Luke stole his hat the other day, Phil decided to get out the camera and take advantage of some free marketing for Globalscope. I'll let you know when the billboards go up.

Burrrrrrr....

Unless you've been hibernating all winter, you've probably experienced some really cold weather lately. All our peeps down south have been miserable and stuck inside for days due to the recent frigid temps (to which we say, "Welcome to our world, friends"). We up here in the Midwest (some of those same peeps would call it "The North") have been lucky not to have had nearly as much snow as the East Coast, but we've had our fair share. I do have to say, though, that being a Florida native and much preferring the heat to the cold any day, I have had zero point zero zero zero interest in sledding or playing much in the snow the whole time I have lived here. Phil hasn't had much more than I, but the other day he decided he wanted to take Luke sledding for the first time. When Phil told me where he wanted to take him, I reminded him that that very small hill led right into a very busy road and that it might not be the safest. He thought about it and then decided it was too late in the evening anyway, and that maybe they'd try it another day. Instead, he decided to take Luke to one of his all-time favorite places, especially now that it has been so off limits because of constant snow. Where might this awesome place be?? Well, if you guessed the shed in our backyard, then you are the winner! Yes, the shed, or the "barn" as Luke calls it, is a beloved place in Lukeland because it houses the almighty lawn mower...and visiting the lawn mower is AWESOME. Duh.

Here is the journey in pictures. I know you can't wait.


All bundled up sausage style and checking on how the swing has been doing all winter.


Zoning in on the beloved barn...


...and taking off!


Daddy runs to catch up.


Unlocking it together.


The anticipation is just killing you, I am sure, but wait for it....





THERE IT IS!!!
THE LAWN MOWER!!!


So exciting that he lost a mitten and didn't even notice or care.


Daddy had had enough of the freezing cold and took off.


Wait? What do I do now?


Daddy come back!!


Oops! Face plant.
Now was the time that he realized he had lost a mitten and totally freaked out when he saw his bare hand completely covered in snow. It was hilarious, but I couldn't get a good picture.


The next best thing to the lawn mower, in Luke's opinion, is the snow blower. He has quite the love/hate relationship with it. At this point he was begging to turn the snow blower back on (Daddy had already cleared the driveway while I was bundling Luke up). Knowing that Luke would hate the loudness of it once it was turned on, we tried distracting him by taking pictures.


Luke's lisp captured on camera. Adorbs.


Mommy looks like a giant stepped on her head, and Luke can't take his eyes off the snow blower.


Sooooooooooo....we finally obliged and turned it on.

This was the result:



The hate part of "love/hate".


Poor little scaredy cat!

Like {Grand}Father, Like Son.

Phil and his dad, Stan, are very handy and good with tools, which is something that I love about them both. Luke seems to have inherited at least some of those genes, praise Jesus. Ever since staying with my parents in Tampa while we were in Thailand, he has been crazy about tools and goes around the house trying to "fits" (fix) things with his very own tools. Last week Phil tried fixing our very obstinate light in the kitchen. He brought in a step ladder, put on his head lamp, and broke out his tool bucket. Luke was enraptured. He insisted on climbing the ladder himself and using Daddy's tools to help "fits". Little did I know, a new obsession was born that day, and now all Luke can talk about is "ky yadder", or climbing a ladder.

Well, Tuesday, as I was getting home from grocery shopping, Luke met me in the garage and was begging to climb the ladders that were leaning up against the wall in there. Needing to get back in the house and put away the groceries, I had an idea. I brought in the step ladder (safer than a regular one) and put it right smack in the middle of the kitchen. I let Luke climb up and down and play with his tools while I unloaded groceries right there next to him. He loved it and was so cute that I had to get it on video. I also took advantage of his brief moment of cooperation by asking him to say things that I have been wanting to get on video for a while but haven't been able to because whenever I pull out the camera, he just wants to sit in my lap and watch old videos of himself. Anyway, the video is really long, but really funny. If you have the patience, stick with it and watch it to the end, because that is where he sings and declares himself a good basketball player.


**Sidenote: After watching the video, I figured out that when Luke says what sounds like "bop screwdriver", he is saying "Bob screwdriver", meaning that it is like Bob the Builder's (a new hero) screwdriver. Smart little Stinker.**



Last week's helper:


Observing and evaluating Daddy's work.


Giving Daddy pointers on how to do it right.


Giving up on Daddy and deciding to take matters into his own hands.


"Geez...I have to do everything around here. You just can't find good help these days."

Now I just need the weather to warm up so I can get Luke to cultivate those gardening skills that I am hoping he inherited from my dad. With Luke's help, I'll have this place ship shape in no time!

A Tractor Kind of Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas early with Phil's parents at their mountain house this year, and it was possibly the highlight of Luke's year. PopPop has so many motorized toys that Luke thought he had died and gone to heaven. He was SOOOOOO excited. A few days before we left Indy, we told Luke that we were going to go see Grammy and PopPop soon and that he was going to get to drive PopPop's tractor when we got to their house. Well, he has the memory of an elephant and talked about this for days. The morning before we left, this was how he greeted me when I went to get him out of bed:

Me (opening door, walking into his room): "Hey, sweet boy..."
Luke: "Grammy PopPop soon!"
Me: "Yep, we're going to see Grammy and PopPop soon."
Luke: "Ride tractor!"
Me: "Yes, you're going to ride the tractor with PopPop."
Luke: "Two days!!"
Me: "No, now it's only one day. We're going tomorrow!"

He never quite understood the countdown of days, but he understood very well that we were on our way to PopPop's as we made the TEN hour drive on Friday. He must have said "PopPop!!" at least 400 times during the drive and "ride tractor" 300 times. We spent the entire time reassuring him that yes, we were still headed to see PopPop, and yes, he was going to ride the tractor. It was a very long drive.... Once we got to the mountain house, we parked in the garage where the regular riding lawnmower (mowing is another obsession), the John Deere riding mower, and the 4-wheeler live. He was so excited to see them and immediately climbed up on the John Deere. Later as we were unpacking, he disappeared for a few minutes, and we found him out in the garage back on the John Deere. He run down the hall, through the laundry room, and let himself out into the garage. Needless to say, we were vigilant about dead bolting the doors after that. The next day Luke finally got to go for a ride. In typical fashion, he wanted to DRIVE, so PopPop got the John Deere going and let Luke stand in between his legs and steer. They just kept going in circles. It's a wonder PopPop didn't get sick. Later PopPop got out the big, refurbished Massey Ferguson. He drove Luke on the road all the way down the mountain and back up. It was the cutest thing and Luke absolutely loved it. When it was time to put the tractor up, he started to pitch a fit, but we told him that the tractor had to go nigh-night, and he was okay with that. The next day he got to ride on the 4-wheeler once with PopPop and once with Daddy and kept calling it a motorcycle. I guess it does kind of look like a big, fat motorcycle. By this time we had opened Christmas presents and Luke had received some lovely camouflage overalls and a hoodie from PopPop. Perfect 4-wheeler riding attire. We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the whole family (minus JoJo and Brian--boo hoo), but you'd never know to look at our pictures. They are all of Luke on some sort of machine. Oh well. Those are the only pictures he'll care about when he's older anyway.

I wasn't there for this and am wondering if PopPop really let him drive the John Deere out of the garage. Surely not.


He did let him steer, though!
Here is circle #374. And he only turned left, like a true race car driver. If this is a glimpse into his future, I'm in big trouble....


He insisted on "mowing" with this fertilizer thingy.


Overall-ed and 4-wheelin'. Yeehaw!


Headed down the mountain with PopPop.
(Luke absolutely had to have his hoodie up, even though it covered half his face.)


It was a long way down....


And they're back!


Riding the tractor is serious business.
Two hands on the wheel, and get out of my way!

Watching begrudgingly as the tractor goes nigh-night.

Thanks, PopPop and Grammy for making Luke's Christmas so special. He won't soon forget, which means neither will we!!

THAILAND.

One of the perks of Phil's job is that he gets go on international trips every once in a while. This time I got to tag along, and we went to Thailand. What an experience it was...traveling on numerous planes for a total of 32 hours straight, arriving to 90 degree heat and tons of humidity in DECEMBER, smelling and tasting the freshest, most delicious Thai food we've ever had, meeting the people and understanding while the country is called "The Land of Smiles", spending time alone together for the first time since Luke was born, and visiting some of our missionary friends and seeing how God is moving amongst college kids in Bangkok. It was an exhausting trip, but we are so glad we did it. Here are a few pictures of our adventure...


Testing out the rickshaw. It wasn't made for Americans. Phil barely fit.


Bikes, bikes, and more bikes at Thammasat Univeristy.


Photo-op on the side of the road in Phuket.

Beautiful fishing boats on the beach.

Phil's favorite part of the whole trip. The motor bike we rented for 3 days while at the beach.
If it weren't so incredibley cold in Indy right now, he would have left me and taken the bike home instead.

Making memories.

Tuttle's Orchard.

As promised, here are the rest of the pictures from our trip to Tuttle's Orchard last weekend. It was so much fun this year, now that the Big Man is big enough to enjoy it. We'll definitely be going back!

First things first, we had to go say hi to a real Llama Llama Red Pajama (one of Luke's favorite books) and a random baby goat. Luke wasn't really that impressed. Apparently the book was better.

We headed off to the kids' area where there was a very cool hay maze. Luke was very good at finding the dead ends.

Eventually he made it to the center of the maze.
Very anticlimactic.


"What the heck? How do you get out of this place?"


"I've got an idea! Follow me, Daddy!"


Free at last.


He spotted the big red tractor and was not at all concerned about its maximum capacity.


I guess the kiddos saw him coming and got scared. He ended up having the whole thing to himself for a few minutes until a brave little boy came and joined him.


He was very serious about driving.


Mommy forced him and Daddy into one of her favorite things in the world-- a field of sunflowers. Heaven will be full of sunflower fields, don't you think?


The tractor-pulled hay ride went by while we were there and Luke was mesmerized.


Once the trance lifted, he found a sandbox with several big trucks. Of course he wanted to ride on them all. Poor guy doesn't realize that not all cars/trucks/tractors are made for riding.


Thankfully we found a tractor that was made for riding!


And then the big tractor passed by again and nothing else mattered. (It just so happened that Luke's friend Jackson, the one in the middle, was there with his friend. Jackson is the one who is 3 months older than Luke and half his size, but in every other way is SO much like Luke.)


Finally it was our turn to go on the hay ride!


Then we headed to the orchard to pick apples. They were out of little red wagons and Luke is way too heavy to hold for long periods of time, so the stroller saved the day.


"Huh. They really do grow on trees."


Later, as we walked out to the pumpkin patch, the tractor passed by yet again, this time much closer. So cool.


Luke quickly found the perfect pumpkin.


And another. And another.

Mommy was so excited about all the cute pumpkins.
Daddy and Luke not so much.

It wasn't long before they both gave me an "all done" and started heading home.