Matthew

On Saturday afternoon, for quiet time, I told Matthew he could hang out in the play room and read or relax.  I came down an hour or so later and found him cashed out on the couch sitting up.  We have all felt like this around our place lately.  It was so much fun to come down and find him like this.  I love that kid.

Toothless Wonder

I told Matthew the other day that when I was little I remember learning at Mackinaw Island that one of the requirements of the soldiers in the early colonial times was that they had to have two teeth, one on the top and one on the bottom.  They needed these to open the powder for their muskets.  As you can see from the pictures below, Matthew is getting down to the bare minimum for those requirements.  He lost TWO last night, one when his brother hit him in the face and the other when I pulled it out.

Sharp Dressed Men

These boys are becoming young men before our eyes.  It is a wonderful process and one that I am thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of.

My Boys

TIMBER!

I was up early this morning.  I went out to the woods.  There are few things that I enjoy more than being outside.  There was a big dead old oak tree in our woods that I thought I should take down.  This is my first large tree felling.  With some videos on Youtube and watching John Parker do it last week, I felt pretty sure about what I was doing.  Cut the wedge, did the back cut and down it came.  When Matt woke up, he came out.  I showed him what I'd done.  "Awesome!," was the first thing he said.  It's good when I get that kind of response from one of my kids.

Matthew turns 7

Matthew, Matthew, Matthew!  You are still our fair haired boy.  We celebrate seven wonderful years of life that God has given you and look forward to many more.

You'd rather be outside than anywhere else.  You love your brothers and love to be with them.  But more than any of our other kids, you're completely fine with being by yourself.  Your sister is one of your best friends and she thinks you hung the moon.  I love being with you.  You are kindhearted and tender.  You're the life of the party in the boys room.  We often have to scream down the hall, "Matthew, be quiet.  It's time to go to sleep."

I am praying that God continues to draw you to himself and strengthens your desire to be more like him.  Happy Birthday, buddy boy.

First Day of School 2012

When mom is also teacher, it complicates things sometimes, especially when mom is recovering from a cesarean section.  It also simplifies certain things as well.  Getting all of the kids ready to start at the neighborhood school I think would have been pretty difficult over the last few weeks.  Today was the first day of school for us though.  Amanda started off slowly with just jumping into math today.  I will begin history on Thursday.  We'll see how things go.  

This year we added Molly, our fourth pupil to the Gammons home school.  She is very excited.  I asked her at lunch how it went and if she like it.  She said she loved it.  She said she has her own math book.

We look forward to another grace-filled year of educating our kids at home.  Amanda is amazing in her patience, strength and skill.  The class is full of great students.  You can see the class roster below.

Ben, almost 10-years-old, grade 5

Caleb, 8-years-old, grade 3

Matthew, almost 7-years-old, grade 1

Molly, 5-years-old, kindergarten

Lucy, 2-years-old

Nathan John, 3-weeks-old, diaper school

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ESV)

Vids Party

The vids party originated at Brad's house as an excuse for Brad to be able to stay up late and play video games.  The recurring parties have been highlights for our boys.  This time around they went to Gregg's house.  As you can see it included some retro Nintendo, Wii and PS3.  According to Ben they were up until 12:30 AM.  What's better than hanging with your uncles playing vids and eating popcorn?

Summer Sports Co-op

For the last three summers the kids have enjoyed a home school summer sports co-op. Every Thursday night we get together with a bunch of other families and play baseball and soccer. It's not very serious, but the kids have fun. Here are some shots from last night.

My Boys

Matthew the Fisherman

I love this picture of Matthew.  He caught this bass when we were down in Indiana visiting Tricia and Alex and their family.  Matt was very proud.  He had to man-up and grab the bass by the lip for the picture.  He did a great job.

The Last of Our Little Boys

As Matthew begins to lose his baby teeth, it reminds us that he is the last of our little boys.  At least for now . . . Amanda finds out what she is having in a couple of weeks.

Country Livin': The Coon

On Saturday Matt and I were going out to have a fire, just the two of us.  On the way, he stopped to feed the cats.  He ran out of the shed and said, "Dad, I think there's a coon in the cat barn."  So I went up and got the old 22 and headed out.  Two shells later, we were in the garage skinning our first coon.  It was a great adventure and another affirmation of why we bought the farm.  Our hope is to tan the hide and for Matt to eventually have himself a real coonskin cap.  Just call me Davy Crocket.

Run for the border

We had Taco Bell tacos for lunch today.  We bought the big party packs.  Every time we do that, I tell the kids this story.  Growing up in Alpena, we didn't have Taco Bell.  So every time we would take a youth group trip "down state", we would stop there for one of our meals.  Jeff Cutler and Jason Rensberry would order a 10 pack of tacos for themselves and sit down and plow through them.  They were two dudes who were both about 6' 4" and 150 lbs. soaking wet.  We were all amazed at the food they could put away.

My kids love that story.  As I began to tell it today, Matthew started his guttural giggle and said, "I know this story!"

If you've ever been a grade school boy . . .

then you've spent a few evenings like this.



The boys have been hoopin' it up in their room a lot lately. Joe and I passed lots of time on our Nerf hoop in our bedroom. The technology has advanced bedroom basketball ages. No more orange spongy ball with a cardboard basketball. The hoop the boys just got is plexiglass with a blown up ball and everything.

BONUS POINTS:
Can you name the sound track?

First Skate at Providence Pond

The boys tried out the pond for the first time last weekend.  We are excited for what the winter will bring.

New skis

When my mom was here this fall, she got cross country skis for all the boys.  Today was our first day out.  It was great.  We are so thankful to live in a place where we can do this just outside our door.  The boys started on the driveway and once they got that down they headed into the back to break some trail.  When I watch the boys in situations like this, their personalities all stand out so prominently.  Matthew is our natural athlete.  He looked as if he had been skiing all his life, very fluid and effortless.  Caleb is quiet and determined.  He put his nose to the grindstone and got to work.  Ben started out complaining about the cold until he made it into a race with the other two.  Then his competitive side came out and he was off.  Molly, our sweet little girl, came out and stuck right next to Matthew.  They are best friends and it's fun to see how much she loves him.

We look forward to many more days of skiing at Providence Farm.  Thanks, Mom, for the skis.

The race is on.

And Ben is the winner.

See all the skiing photos here.

December

Tender Hearts

There have been tender hearts lately at our house.  The tender hearts are mostly in the men of our home.  When Ben had his birthday, I took him out for breakfast and when I was telling him all of the things that I loved about him and my hopes for who he would become, out came his tender heart.  Red eyes.  Little tears.

His tender heart came out later when we gave him his gifts.  He loved the little camera we gave him.  He said to me, "Dad, thanks for my camera.  It was my best gift."  Then red eyes, little tears, "Actually, my best gift . . . was you."  I hugged him hard, real hard.

Matthew's tender heart comes out all the time lately: when we were at breakfast together, when he told Gigi thank you for his 6 trip, when I thanked God for him at the dinner table, and many other times.

Caleb's heart is different.  His tender heart is out more when he's happy.  It looks like kissing me, telling me he loves me, and sitting close on the couch.  He longs for control, so it usually doesn't get too far down the tears road.

I just read Molly Piper's post about still missing her dead daughter Felicity four years after she was stillborn.  Tears welled.  I am glad when my tender heart peaks out.  It helps me know I'm still struggling.  When my heart becomes hard and there's no emotion, I know I need to get back in the fight for my soul.  I pray that each of my kid's heart remains tender.  It is a tilled soil that is ready for the gospel of Christ.  God promises to remove our hearts of stone and give us a heart of flesh.  A friend used to ask "When was the last time you cried?"  He used it as a measuring stick for how we were living.  I know tears come easier for some of us than others.  My grandma used to cry over Hallmark commercials.  I'm not sure I ever remember my dad crying.  More than the tears, I hope for the tender heart.  There are things in our world that should hurt us and things that should overcome us with gratitude.  I'm thankful for both and the tender heart that responds to each.

Matt's 6 Trip

My mom has made a special tradition of taking each of her grandkids on a special trip when they turn 6-years-old.  For Matt's 6 Trip, they went to the local water park hotel and then to the Vikings game.  They had a great time and memories were made . . . even if the Vikings lost. 

My Hope For My Boys

I have been very limited over the last year or more in my times of uninterrupted thought, times when I have energy to vision for myself and my family, to hope and ponder what God has for our future.  With life beginning to settle down, I am once again finding this gift.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my boys and what I hope for their growing up years to be.  Ben is about to turn 9-years-old.  There's no turning back.  We're about to get in the thick of it.  Ben will remember everything from here on out.  Amanda is reading a book that my mom sent entitled Boys Should Be Boys by Meg Meeker.  I pulled the following from Amazon which said it was on the back cover.

* Why the most important factor in shaping your son's behavior isn't "peer pressure" (it's you)
* How to preserve your son's innocence (and why it's essential to help him grow up)
* Why boys need less, not more--whether it's computer games, organized sports, or lessons
* How to talk to your son--the pitfalls that moms and dads face
* Why it's not normal for teenage boys to be moody and rebellious
* Why teaching your son about virtue isn't an option, it's a necessity

Pretty much the gist of it is (from what Amanda has told me) that what boys need most is their fathers and to be pushed to be adventurous and given the time and freedom to take those risks.

I was talking with a good friend last week about this topic and about how when I was younger I had many fun and memorable experiences. Many of them were us getting into trouble. For instance, we used to drive around town with one of us on the roof of my parents Olds 88. They would lay across the roof and hold on. Anyone of us could have fallen off there and died. Probably not the best idea, but it was a great story to tell afterwards. I told my friend last week that I hoped that my boys would live lives that would lead to great stories that would also honor and glorify God.

I think one thing that has happened in the last four or so decades is a shift from fathers being the primary early influences on boys to mothers be that influence. Mothers naturally are more worried about the personal safety of the boys. How many of us have heard mothers (and even fathers now) say to their kids at a playground, "Johnny, careful or you're going to get hurt."? I want my boys to be put into situations where the worst thing that could happen to them is that they might get hurt or die. I think that boys are put and putting themselves into situation where the worst thing that could happen is for them to lose their souls.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Mark 8:36

If your boy is downstairs on his computer all day, he's probably not going to get hurt.  But there's a good chance he could lose his soul.

One of my new favorite artists is Andrew Peterson.  The song below talks about boys living lives where there is a tale to tell.  This is the kind of life I hope for my boys.  This is why we moved to the farm.  This is why I push them to work.  This is why I push them to read amazing stories.  This is why I pray for them.  "The joy in the journey is enough to make a grown man cry."  Ben, Caleb, Matthew, I look forward to your telling the tales.