Kids, Critters, and A Little Chaos

About Pippin...

2012-01-28T10:15:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, we had to send our beloved cat, Pippin, to a new home. It was becoming more and more apparent that he would not be safe around our new dogs, especially Frosty. Monte was raised around cats, so he was mostly just interested in finding Pip's hiding places, barking at him, and trying to get him to come out and play. Pippin was less than thrilled with Monte's arrival into our family, but we just hoped they would learn to get along.

Frosty, on the other hand, was not raised around cats, and he viewed Pip as a furry critter to hunt down and attack. We had a very close encounter between Pip and Frosty a couple weeks ago, and were glad Pippin survived. So... after raising Pip, and loving him being a part of our family for the last 6 years, we knew we had to send him to another home for his own safety and well-being.

Pippin is now living with family friends on the other side of town. He is doing well there and is being spoiled rotten! We miss Pip, but it is a blessing to know that he is now safe and happy. :-)

Various Goings On

2012-01-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

Life continues to be busy around here! :-) Here are a few pictures and videos from recent happenings:

Chloe began swim lessons at Swim America a couple weeks ago. They have a heated, indoor pool and teach lessons to all ages. Chloe loves to swim, and we're hoping that these lessons throughout the Winter and Spring will help make her even more pool-safe in time for Summer.

A short clip of Chloe swimming. The parents have to sit behind glass windows:

Cousin Susannah spent the night at our house several days ago, and one fun thing we did was take the kids to Jamba Juice ("thank you" to Sarah's parents for the gift cards!) and then play at the park.

Silly Susie and Chloe!

James still LOVES airplanes. Sarah tries to spend one-on-one time with one of the kids every weekend (if we're not too busy!), so this past Saturday, Sarah and James went on a bike ride out to the University Airport. They talked for a while, watched a plane take off, and just enjoyed looking at all the different planes together. James was so thrilled! :-)

Frosty and Monte are doing so well together. They truly love each other! It's so cute to see them play, cuddle, wrestle, and act like brothers! They even get jealous when the other one gets attention from any person in the family. ;-)

They can NEVER get enough cuddles!!!

Poor Monte! He had his "man surgery" the other day (that's why he has the silly collar on).

More cuddles!

Ben thought he'd leave both dogs out of their crates the other day, when he left for work (Sarah was already gone). When Sarah returned home, less than an hour later, the window seat cushion was missing and pillows were scattered about. Hmmmm....

THIS is what happened to the window seat pad!!!! Yikes! The dogs had had a little, naughty adventure! Thus, they have not earned the privilege to both be let out of their crates while we're gone (Monte is trustworthy by himself... Frosty is not.)

The naughty boys were back at the pad before Sarah could clean it up:

Joshua decided to put a stack of his old school papers to work yesterday. He made a marble track, entirely out of old homework!

By the end of the day, Josh had expanded the track and made it even more elaborate! We were very impressed:

Meet Frosty!

2012-01-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are a two-dog family, again! 11-month old, Frosty, came to our family late last night all the way from Virginia. :-) He is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, just like Monte, from Massie Staffys. We had been seriously discussing the possibility of adopting another Staffy in the near future, since Monte is a very social, friendly dog who absolutely loves other dogs. We figured he would be happier and less lonely (when we're gone during the day) if he had another friend. :-) So when the opportunity arose to bring Frosty into our home, we jumped on it! He is the sweetest, most loving dog (besides Monte, of course ;-) ), and immediately hit it off with Monte the second he walked in the door from the airport! He already fits into our family well, and we look forward to him settling in and making our home his home.

Awww... look at that big smile (and long tongue!)

Monte was so happy from the get-go to have a new friend! Look at that huge Staffy smile!

The kids didn't meet Frosty until this morning. He liked giving them lots of kisses...

Kissy, kissy!

Monte was so tired and worn out this morning from all his midnight playing!

Cuddle time! They are already good buds. :-)

Hours of play time finally led to nap time...

The doggies crashed again while we ate dinner...

An Incredible Find!

2011-12-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

Sarah had been looking for an affordable copy of this children's book for a while. It has been out of print, so sellers were selling it online anywhere from $30-$140! After much searching, Sarah found a New York bookstore that was selling it for only $6.00 online! So she purchased it without hesitation.

The other day, we discovered that the author (Susan Seligson) and illustrator (Howie Schneider- the creator of the old comic strip Eek and Meek) had autographed this book with a little note for the previous owner! It says, "For Sid & Lucy with our warmest regards- Howie and Susie." Amazing! And Sarah can't believe she got it for only $6.00! Now we're wondering if it's worth anything. ;-) Well, this book will be kept in great condition, no matter what it's worth. It's a treasure for us to enjoy!

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-26T17:20:00.000-08:00

Our family had a lovely day on Christmas! We began the day with a yummy breakfast of Monkey Bread, scrambled eggs, and fruit salad, then let the kids open their stocking presents. In the mid-morning, we went off to church and celebrated the birth of Christ with the family of God! It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas morning.

After church, we opened the rest of our presents, let the kids play with their new toys, and then headed to Sarah's parents house for more presents and dinner.

The Living Room all decked out with gifts.

Joshua gave us a beautiful Christmas pillow that he made himself, in 7th grade sewing class!

Chloe received a Belle costume from Dad and Mom (and pink Belle socks from James!).

Andrew painted a wonderful ceramic tile for us in 2nd grade! It is a picture of Monte and Pippin in front of the fireplace. :-)

James created an adorable angel decoration with his face on it! He made it in his 4th grade class.

All four of our kids received guns for Christmas. Chloe got a pink pop-gun, and the boys each got rubber bullet guns, Red Rider BB guns, and rubber band guns (those were from Sarah's parents). :-) The boys also got real army helmets!

Chloe is showing off her new pop gun in this video... and then Monte colored the air...

James is using his new compact ax in this clip, and explaining what it is used for and what it is NOT used for:

Cousin picture-- our four with the Loscutoff girls, Kate and Maggie!

Agee Christmas Gathering

2011-12-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

We spent yesterday at Sarah's aunt and uncle's house in Sacramento, for our annual Agee Family Christmas gathering. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Our four kids with Gigi (Great-Grandma Agee)

Chloe and cousin Kate

Waiting to open Gigi's presents!

Chloe and Kate both received really neat and intricate pop-up books from Gigi. Chloe got The Wizard of Oz, and these cool glasses came inside the book!

Andrew and Chloe reading The Wizard of Oz. Andrew wanted to try on those green glasses...

Josh was studying the juggling book and kit that Gigi gave the boys.

James enjoyed the Star Finder from Gigi, too.

Mommy and daughter pose! :-)

Awwww... Ben and Sarah. :-)

Little Artists

2011-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Chloe and James (4 1/2 and 9 1/2) spend a lot of time coloring pictures these days. The pens, paper, and scissors are constantly all over the Dining Room table! :-) Here are some of their recent creations:

"This is Mommy with her hair and skin color." By Chloe

"This is Daddy when he was a little boy. See his rosy cheeks?" By Chloe

"A campfire and our tent." By Chloe

"A flower." By Chloe

"Mommy, Christmas trees, our house, and a cage for Monte." By Chloe

"Me with braids, red snow at Tahoe, and the cabin." By Chloe

"Mary and baby Jesus in the manger." By Chloe

You can tell what James is really excited about by what he draws:

For the Christmas Card

2011-12-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

The week of Thanksgiving, the six of us went to Old Sacramento and had an "Old Time" family photo taken. It was a lot of fun! The boys were thrilled to not have to smile and to hold guns! :-) James even said it was the best family picture we ever had taken! We decided to use one of the pictures from our photo shoot for our annual Christmas card:

Dancing At Christmas Time

2011-12-16T15:54:00.001-08:00

Chloe had three of her friends (Susie, Jiana, and Katie) over today. Within minutes of the girls arriving at our house, they all came out of Chloe's bedroom dressed up in ballet and princess costumes, and plastic high heels. They informed me that they were going to dance class. Here is a clip of how they dance to Christmas music in dance class (and listen to Susie explain how princes dance with princesses-- hee hee hee!) :-)

http://youtu.be/K00ZiOVxRQs?hd=1

(For some reason my video is not uploading onto my blog, so you will just have to click on the link above to watch it.)

Chloe, Katie, Jiana, and Susie

Eating snack outside... and dealing with hair in the face

Princess Play Time

2011-12-09T19:13:00.001-08:00

Chloe and her good friend, May, were dressing up and pretending to be princesses the other day. Don't you like their beautiful outfits? ;-)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-05T20:07:00.001-08:00

Ben took these pictures of Monte posing by the Christmas decorations in our house. I thought they were blog-worthy. ;-)

Ben couldn't resist getting Monte a Christmas sweater and Santa hat! Monte was NOT impressed! Haha!

"Are you kidding me?"

"This is so humiliating."

A Day with Aunt Judy!

2011-12-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Chloe had the privilege of getting to spend the morning with Aunt Judy (Ben's aunt) a couple weeks ago. Judy works in the rose fields at UC Davis. She took Chloe out to the fields to pick some roses, to check out the GIANT refrigerator, and then back home to her house for a special "Aunt Judy" lunch! Chloe had a wonderful time with her loving great-aunt. :-)

Picking beautiful roses!

The BIG fridge!

Eeewww! A big bee!

Making lunch... and one of Judy's cats is wanting to help.

Drinking hot cocoa with the other cat...

All the lovely roses Chloe picked and brought home to share with the family! :-)

Andrew's Piano Recital

2011-11-21T08:45:00.001-08:00

Andrew had his first piano recital last Saturday (Nov. 19th)! He played two songs: "He Is Lord" and "Old MacDonald Had A Farm." Unfortunately, Ben didn't realize that Andrew was going to sing his own verse of the second song after he played, so Ben turned the camera off... then tried turning it back on as fast as he could. So... there is a little blip in the clip. :-( Andrew's own verse went like this:

♫ Old MacDonald go to sleep

Snore, snore, snore, snore away ♪

Andrew has been enjoying his lessons for the last few months. It is especially a blessing that Mrs. Doris Gallemore is his piano teacher. Not only did she teach Andrew's Gramma (Sarah's mom) in elementary school, but she has been a faithful servant and lover of Jesus Christ for many, many years, and is still going strong! We are privileged to have our son as one of her students. :-)

Monte In Love

2011-11-19T21:14:00.000-08:00

Monte made a new friend and fell in love this morning! :-) Friends of ours have a Terrier Mix named, Guinevere (Gwen, for short). Ben and these particular friends set up a doggie play date at the dog park this morning. The two dogs hit it off so well and instantly liked each other. In fact, it was love at first sight! Haha! ;-) The video posted on here is of Monte crying and pining for Gwen when Ben drove him home after the play date. So funny! We definitely see many more doggie dates for Monte and Gwen in the future!

Monte is trying to get Gwen to chase him with the ball in this pic.

Not Monte and Gwen, obviously... just Monte and Ben. ;-)

2nd Grade Railroad Museum Field Trip

2011-11-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

Andrew's 2nd grade class took a field trip to the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento yesterday. Sarah is their History teacher, and they have been studying Westward Expansion for the last couple of weeks. This is always a fun field trip for this age group, because everything is very hands-on... and they get to have a day without school uniforms, for they dress up in cowboy/prairie costumes!

The pictures are uploaded to Photobucket, so here is the link to check them out. Use the password bimsonpics, because we do not have a public account:

Railroad Museum Field Trip

GVCA Apple Hill Field Trip!

2011-11-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Our boys' school, Grave Valley Christian Academy, took an all-school field trip last week to Apple Hill. The students got to ride in charter busses and spend all day touring a couple apple farms, playing games, and picnicking in the beautiful mountain air! It was a wonderful day for all involved! Ben chaperoned the trip and took some pictures:

Andrew and a few of his classmates

The younger students playing a game at High Hill Ranch

Nature hike!

Ordering apple doughnuts!

Checking out the fish...

Boxes and boxes of apples!

A giant refrigerator

Hay ride!

While the big kids and several parents got to go to Apple Hill, the younger siblings (infant-Preschool) enjoyed a Fall Festival back at the church. Chloe and Sarah joined the fun in the afternoon.

Local firemen came into the Preschool to talk about fire safety and let the kids check out their fire trucks!

All our "mini firemen" couldn't wait to get into the truck!

Chloe's friend, Livvy

Chloe! :-)

One of the fun activities in the gym was a plastic pool filled with big wood pellets. The kids had a blast... and the gym kind of smelled like a hamster cage. ;-)

Friends Are A Blessing

2011-11-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

What a blessing friends are! Chloe was born right around the same time as her good friends, Thomas and Jiana (twins), and Katie. Andrea, Laura, and Sarah took a picture together at the end of their pregnancies, and they have been getting the 4 kids together for a group picture, once or twice a year, ever since. :-) It's amazing to see how much they have grown, and how their God-given personalities have not changed! Jiana hasn't wanted to get her picture taken every single time... and it shows in each picture. It's hilarious! :-) It's a blessing to see these kids growing up together:

Going back in time (present-2007)...

Fall 2011-- 4 1/2 years old

Summer 2010-- 3 years old

Fall 2009-- 2 1/2 years old

Christmas 2008-- 1 3/4 years old

Late Summer 2008-- 1 1/2 years old

Spring 2008-- 1 year old

Christmas 2007-- 9 months old

January 2007-- a month or two away from delivery!

Joshua's 12th Birthday!

2011-11-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

Joshua turned 12 on Monday (11/7)! It's hard to believe he's almost a teenager....

Joshua's special day began with him waking up to find his bedroom door decorated and covered in balloons and streamers. :-) After donuts for breakfast, it was time to run off to school.

After lots of homework and dinner, we let Josh open his one big present from Mom and Dad-- an air soft, remote controlled, tank! He was thrilled!!! :-) (This thing weighs over 7 lbs. and is 2 feet long!)

Later in the evening, we had a little bit of family over to celebrate. A tank-cake seemed appropriate for the occasion (ordered from Nugget).

The tank is a Transformer robot!

Another item Josh specifically asked for for his birthday was Perplexus Epic. It's like a labyrinth maze, but inside of a sphere. He already mastered the basic Perplexus, so now he has a new challenge in trying to beat the Epic. It was so funny watching Sarah's dad (who is an engineer through and through), and Joshua (destined to be an engineer, himself, one day) both trying to figure out the Perplexus mazes! The next several pictures show their concentration and determination. :-)

Papa then moved on to see something James wanted to show him from the NASA website.

Uncle D.J. and Chloe did a swap of head gear-- he's got her barrette on, and she's wearing his Oregon hat. :-) Don't they look good?

Reformation Day!

2011-11-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Reformation Celebration yesterday! Our three younger kids dressed up for the occasion, but Josh was old enough to help with the games and activities in the church gym, so he did not want to dress up. ;-) Chloe dressed up as a queen (we decided to call her Queen Victoria), James was an army man (big surprise), and Andrew was Davey Crocket!

The evening began with a puppet show out at church. Ben and Sarah were both puppeteers in the show this year. (See this blog post for that info.) The show was a huge success, and God definitely blessed all the details! We had a great turn out, and the gospel was powerfully preached. After the show and service, all the kids and their families got to go to the church gym for games, activities, and yummy treats. It was a great night! :-)

Sarah had fun giving Chloe a queen hairdo. ;-)

Queen Vicky all ready to visit her subjects!

Queen Victoria (Chloe), Army Man (James), and Davey Crocket (Andrew)

Benjamin (a friend), and James, being tough army guys

"Impossible Bromance" iMovie Trailer

2011-10-26T08:43:00.000-07:00

Monte wants to be Pippin's friend SO badly, but Pippin will have nothing to do with him. Sarah made this little movie trailer (from iMovie) showing the way things stand between our cat and dog. Check it out! :-)

Definition of the new urban term, bromance: Describes the complicated love and affection shared by two straight males.

Getting Ready for Reformation Day!

2011-10-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Our church, and thus our family, celebrates the Protestant Reformation every year on October 31st. That was the date, back in 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, sparking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

We begin the evening with a puppet show, and then have games and refreshments in the gym. Ben and Sarah are both puppeteers in the show this year. :-) Here is the flyer from church:

These next few pictures are ones that were taken for the local newspaper. In this picture are the fortune teller (played by our friend, Dave), the prodigal son (played by Ben), and one of the filthy pigs (played by Claire and Sarah). There are lots more characters in the show, too! :-)

Josh and James, pretending to watch the show

We are praying for a good turn out and lots of visitors, and we pray the gospel goes forth powerfully and effectively! May God bless this show/event and outreach! :-)

Monte Moments

2011-10-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Monte is fitting in well with our family! He definitely has more energy than Gimli had, and he has a bit of a mischievous side, but we love him, and he seems to love us, too! ;-)

Monte loves his belly rubbed! He doesn't care who does it, just as long as they are willing to oblige him.

He can jump so high!

A good game of tug-of-war. It took Andrew and Josh to pull the toy away from Monte!

Monte loves sleeping on his back! I guess that is typical for his breed. It's pretty funny!

Sitting in the window like a cat! He was trying to see the boys off to school. :-)

Monte absolutely LOVES to nestle down in some pillows or blankets!

Begging for a car ride from Ben. He jumped in the car and didn't want to get out!

Sunbathing upstairs. He has claimed Sarah's old nursing chair as his own (which is fine with us, since we don't use it very much anymore).

One day we left the windows open upstairs, because the weather was so pleasant. We came home to find that Monte had pushed the corner screen out, and was greeting us by standing in the window! Yikes! We won't be leaving that window open anymore!

Awwwww... :-)

Licking some yogurt off his nose.

Impossible Acres with Cousins and Friends

2011-10-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

Chloe and two of her friends, Katie and Livvy, met up with Auntie Mel (and cousins Kate and Maggie), at Impossible Acres this afternoon. All the girls had fun climbing on hay bales, playing in a corn patch, and visiting the baby barn animals. Here are some highlights:

Livvy, Katie, and Chloe being silly!

Goofy faces!

Chloe helping cousin Kate up the hay bale hill. There's a fun tunnel underneath, too!

Kitten cuddling

Livvy with one of the adorable baby goats

Kate liked the baby goats, too. :-)

Katie had enough of the toe-nibbling piglets...

Petting the young calf

Brushing the old pony. He sure is patient with the hundreds of kids that come to see him all month!

"What is this weird brush?"

Playing in the corn!

Can you see Chloe somewhere in there?

Cornflower fairy

Kate liked playing in the corn, as well. She's doing the model pose in this pic. ;-)

More silliness from Chloe and Katie!

Apple Baking Time!

2011-10-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

In my last blog post, I talked about our family trip to Apple Hill and the 80 lbs. of apples I bought. Those apples have now all been used in dumplings, pies, applesauce, and just for eating! :-) I bought some apples at the grocery store today, and it's just not the same. :-( Oh well... maybe we can make another trip up the hill for fresh picked apples! (Yeah right...)

The 80 lbs. of Golden Delicious, Gravenstein, Jonathan, and McIntosh apples

I used a combination of Gravenstein, Jonathan, and McIntosh apples for the applesauce

Mmmmmm... it smells SO good cooking on the stove! After eating some, and giving several jars away, we now have 5 half-gallon sized jars of sauce left. It will be gone before we know it, with all the kids we have! :-)

One afternoon while making the applesauce, I filled up an entire sink with apple peels. The garbage bag with all of that probably weighed at least 20 lbs.!

The two pies I made for my dad's birthday-- they tasted delicious with homemade cinnamon ice cream!

Apple Hill!

2011-09-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Our family loves to take a trip to Apple Hill every year. Despite the hot weather and the crowds, we always enjoy the scenery, the doughnuts, caramel apples, arts and crafts, picnics, etc.! But most of all, we enjoy the family time. Monte came with us for the first time, as it was also his first trip anywhere with us outside of town. :-)

Monte was watching the DVD in the car, too!

YUM, messy cotton candy!

Andrew, the cotton candy monster!

Josh didn't want to show off his blue teeth.

Here we were, at Apple Hill, and the kids chose to have cotton candy, rather than caramel apples or something! James actually had apple doughnuts... but Andrew didn't want to finish off his cotton candy, so James kindly helped him out. :-)

Ben chillin' with Monte

The boys play on this old tractor every year!

These animals must get fed ALL DAY LONG.

James in the stocks, looking miserable. :-)

Ben actually let Sarah buy something at an arts and crafts booth! ;-) She had been wanting a cute clock for the kitchen nook for a while, and this clock caught her eye. It has a handmade, miniature, old-fashioned kitchen scene in the bottom! It's adorable.

Apples, apples, and more apples!!! We bought 80 lbs. of apples (McIntosh, Gravenstein, Jonathan, and Golden Delicious) for making some delicious homemade applesauce (with LOTS to freeze for later!), pies, and dumplings... maybe even a crisp or two. ;-) Sarah has her work cut out for her!!!

Joshua the Chef

2011-09-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

Now that Joshua is in 7th grade, he is taking elective classes... meaning Sewing and Home Ec. Surprisingly, he is loving these classes and can't wait to show us what he has learned each week. This morning he made us all breakfast-- Eggs In A Basket. It was scrumptious, and he really did a great job with all the prep and cooking (Sarah did the clean-up... it only seemed fair.) ;-)

First Day of Autumn!

2011-09-23T07:45:00.001-07:00

Chloe and Monte

2011-09-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

These are just some cute pictures from today that we thought were blog-worthy. ;-)

We just got our sectional cleaned this summer, because Gimli was allowed to sit/sleep on it, and it was very dirty! :-p So when Monte arrived, we decided we would let him on the couch... with limits. See the green blanket in the left-hand corner of this picture? Yeah... that is supposed to be Monte's corner, but he decided earlier today that he wanted to sleep on the rest of the couch! We put the pillows on the other side of the sectional to prevent him from going over there... but he just wiggled himself right UNDER the pillows! Haha! Doesn't he look cozy?

It's hard to be mad at him with that cute lil' face... ;-)

Chloe LOVES Monte, and he loves her! See how happy they both look?

Chillin' on the kitchen floor

"Pew-weeee, Monte! Your breath stinks!"

Getting To Know Monte

2011-09-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

Monte arrived yesterday! We fell in love with him right away. He is such a good, lovable dog, and is friendly, loving, and happy! :-) We couldn't be more pleased with him, and we are thanking God that he arrived safely and is settling in quickly. He is going to fit into our family perfectly, and we look forward to spending many years to come with him as a part of our family.

The boys had quite a surprise waiting for them when they got home from school yesterday. Monte was originally going to be flying into Sacramento today, but plans needed to change for various reasons, and he came a day early... but we didn't tell the boys. Monte got home around lunch time, so when the boys arrived later that afternoon, they were SHOCKED to find Monte already here! The funny thing is that Ben and I expected them to react pretty dramatically, but Andrew came in the door first and just said calmly, "Oh. Hi Monte," as if Monte had been here every day of Andrew's life! It was hilarious! :-) James came in with big eyes and an open mouth, and Josh had a similar reaction to Andrew. All in all, they were and are VERY excited and they love Monte to bits already!

Check out the fun movie trailer we made of the kids coming home and playing with Monte, and these few pictures:

Monte's Coming!

2011-09-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

We are getting a new dog, and member of our family tomorrow! Monte, a 1 1/2 year old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, will be flying into the Sacramento Airport from Virginia. We are so excited to meet him and add him to our family. We still miss Gimli tremendously, but we hope Monte will help fill that void. He sounds like he will fit in perfectly!

He comes to us from Massie Staffys. Here are some pictures from them:

Monte as an adorable little puppy!

More recent pictures of Monte:

I'll definitely be taking our own pictures when Monte comes to us tomorrow! More pictures to come! :-)

Andrew Urkel

2011-09-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Remember the character "Steve Urkel" from the 1990's T.V. shows, Full House and Family Matters? Andrew was pretending to be Andrew Urkel the other day. :-)

"Steve Urkel" from the early 1990's:

Memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism

2011-09-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Our family (along with members of our church) is working on memorizing all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The catechism (written in the 1640's during the English Reformation) is rich in Christian doctrine, clearly explaining what we are to believe, what duty God requires of man, and how to be saved from our sin and misery! From Wikipedia:

"The catechism is composed of 107 questions and answers. The first 12 questions concern God as Creator. Questions 13-20 deal with original sin and the fallen state of man's nature. Questions 21-38 concern Christ the Redeemer and the benefits that flow from redemption. The next set of questions, 39-84, discuss the ten commandments. Questions 85-97 teach concerning the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. The final set of questions, 98-107, teach and explain the Lord's prayer. This organization mimics the earlier Heidelberg Catechism of the continental Reformed churches."

It has been a tremendous blessing to study the catechism, but memorizing it is no easy task, especially for common, everyday people like us. ;-) A songwriter, named Holly Dutton, has put together 4 CD's of catechism songs, with the questions and answers. We are working on learning the songs from the first CD:

Holly's music is very catchy and the songs are easy to learn. Here is a video/audio clip of catechism question #1 (with a few pictures from our Russian Gulch trip). Enjoy!

This is one of my favorite songs so far-- Question #4, about "What is God?" I added pictures from our Yosemite trip. :-)

Blogger's Nasty Lil' Secret

2011-08-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Those of you who check out my blog frequently can see that I redesigned my blog template. I like the changes! I hope you do, too. :-)

But... as I was working on the changes, I discovered that every picture I ever posted (since September 2009) was being saved in Picasa Web Albums. I had no idea! I had WAY over 1,000 pictures in there! Well, using Blogger is free... storing pictures in Picasa is free ONLY until you reach a certain limit. Then they want you to PAY to store more photos! There's no way I wanted to pay, especially since I am now paying $3 a month to store pictures in Photobucket.com (that's free, as well, unless you pay to not have their distasteful web ads).

So, to make more room in Picasa, I began deleting pictures out of my web albums. But that actually DELETED pictures OFF my blog! Urgh!

Anyway, I had to delete many of my old posts, because of the missing pictures. :-/ Oh well. Now I know how Blogger and Picasa make money.... and now I know I will not be able to store so many pictures! ;-)

Summer Project Completed!

2011-08-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

There was one big project that I wanted to accomplish this summer: Putting up all the kids' old portraits in our Master bedroom stairway. I only had a few of the pictures in frames already, so I knew I was going to have to purchase several more frames (like almost 20!). I didn't know where to start. I had been dreading and procrastinating this project for over a year, because I had no idea of how to organize so many frames on a wall! I wondered if I should buy all matching frames, but that seemed tacky and too magazine-like, so I decided to buy frames of different styles and colors (nothing that clashed, though). An interior designer may say I made a major faux pas, but I don't care. My pictures are all up on the wall now, in chronological order! It feels homey and cozy to us, at least, and we LOVE looking at our kids' pictures every time we ascend and descend the stairs! :-)

Putting the pictures in frames...

The plain, white stairwell before my little project

The final product!

Little Miss Maggie Loscutoff!

2011-08-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Sarah's sister, Melissa, gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl on August 23rd! Her name is Margaret Grace, but we all call her Maggie. :-) We only have a couple pictures of her so far, but we need to take more... especially with her big sister, Kate!

(Melissa actually took this picture, and Sarah copied it off of facebook) ;-)

Chloe with her new cousin!

Russian Gulch Camping Trip

2011-08-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Last week our family went camping up in the Russian Gulch State Park (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=432) , which is a few miles north of Mendocino, CA. We had a wonderful time, despite the constant cold and fog. ;-)

Camping was quite an adventure for us, as it was our very first family-vacation camping trip (outside of our annual church retreat every June). We enjoyed it, even though camping always has its discomforts and... dirt. We enjoyed the beach access, several beautiful hikes through the redwood/ fern forests, and coastal bluffs, right outside of our campground.

Since we took so many pictures and videos, we uploaded all of our media onto photobucket.com. Click on this link to check out our Russian Gulch album, and use the password bimsonpics:

http://photobucket.com/4kidsadogandacat

Enjoy!

Little Mommy

2011-08-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Chloe loves her babies...

Camp Gramma Highlights, Part 3

2011-08-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

The boys learned how to make their own solar ovens. They cooked hot dogs, apples with cinnamon, and s'mores. The ovens worked well, and the kids said the food was tasty! :-)

Shooting off James' rocket with Papa

Waiting for the show...

Ready to push the button!

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

BLASTOFF!!!!

Parachute open... coming in for a landing.

Camp Gramma Highlights, Part 2

2011-08-12T13:42:00.001-07:00

The second field trip Sarah's mom treated the kids to was NASA Ames. Here are some highlights:

A real tire from one of the space shuttles

James is in there somewhere!

A midget space man...

Hanger One

The kids got to go into a special room where military men played with trains. :-)

Andrew liked the name on this one...

A real moon rock!!!

A model of a wind tunnel

The REAL wind tunnel...

Camp Gramma Highlights

2011-08-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

The theme of Camp Gramma this year was The Solar System and Space Travel. Sarah's mom took the kids on some amazing field trips, and had them do fun and educational activities.

Here are some pictures from their first field trip at the Chabot Space and Science Center:

They all loved the Black Hole...

A huge kaleidoscope!

Notice their nice Camp Gramma t-shirts, specially designed by Auntie Mel!

Looking at the sun...

Gramma!

Sputnik!

iFLY Camp Gramma Field Trip

2011-08-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

Sarah's mom treated all our kids (and Sarah) to a flight session at iFLY in Union City last week. It was one of her very special Camp Gramma field trips. (This year's camp theme was space flight.) iFLY is an indoor skydiving facility, and it was loads of fun!!!

Waiting for our flight session, and watching the session before us.

The indoor wind tunnel

Our skydiving instructor, Jacob.

"When I do this signal, lift your chin."

Josh and James, learning what the hand signals are. The wind in the tunnel is SO loud, that the instructors have to communicate with you by hand signals.

Getting ready to put the flight suits on

Andrew, almost ready to go!

Andrew... just being silly

Even Chloe got to fly! iFLY allows children as young as 3 to participate (but she's 4, of course)! ;-)

James, contemplating what he is about to do in that tunnel...

Sarah, looking nervous, and not really believing she is about to do this!

Josh wasn't nervous one bit!

More silliness from Andrew :-)

Putting in ear plugs

Time for helmets!

All ready to go!!!

Andrew skydiving! He did so well!

Sarah, with her flapping cheeks!

Flying Chloe!

Joshua, making it look so easy

James never wanted his feet to leave the ground, but Jacob was very patient with him, and let him just walk around in the wind tunnel!

Here are more pictures from our flight session, if you would like to check them out. There were other people in our group, so you'll also see their pictures:

http://iflysfbay.smugmug.com/201108-August/2011-08-01/110000/18325464_MNz2Qf#1411031395_RNPXh85

We had a blast at iFLY, and hopefully we will get to go back sometime... maybe for Joshua's 12th birthday in a few months. ;-)

After skydiving, Sarah's mom treated the kids to lunch at Chuck E. Cheese. Here are some pictures from our time there:

Morley's Swim Lessons

2011-07-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Chloe took her first swim lessons class (with her good friend, Livvy) at Morleys' Swim School in Woodland. Mr. Morley (and his instructors) has been teaching kids how to swim in his backyard pool for over 40 years. We have been very pleased with the program over the years, and Chloe loved every minute of it. She was extremely motivated to learn how to swim, and even started teaching herself before her lessons began! Here are a few short videos of some techniques Chloe learned:

Each day at Morleys', every child gets a jelly bean after the lesson, but on the very last day of the class, the kids get to go off the diving board (a huge accomplishment for some of them), and then they enjoy a yummy jelly bean:

Tahoe Time

2011-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

We spent a relaxing five days in Tahoe last week. We didn't take very many pictures, but here are some we took while on a hike to Eagle Lake:

Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe in the distance

Andrew, James, and Joshua

Chloe did really well on the hike! She just about made it the whole way to Eagle Lake (Ben carried her back on his shoulders). She enjoyed running whenever she could, too!

Rock climbers (not us... we're not that crazy).

Josh at the lake

Eagle Lake was beautiful! There is no beach area, which is fine, because the water is freezing!!! Right off to the left of this picture, the water in the lake rushes out into rapids, eventually becoming Eagle Falls (which empties into Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe).

This is just Sarah being silly. She was exclaiming, "I can actually breathe here in Tahoe!" The air is always so crisp, cool, and clean, and the mountain smells are sensational! Sarah was just enjoying every bit of it. ;-)

An Evening with the Perry Cousins

2011-07-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

The other day, we had the Perry cousins over for some play time, roasted hot dogs, and s'mores in the backyard fire pit! The kids had a great time.

Susie especially enjoyed the s'mores...

Cousins!

2011-07-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken out at church, after our annual GVCC Sports Camp. Sarah thought it was a good photo opportunity to get all the Bimson and Perry cousins to pose for a picture. :-)

Back row, left to right: Timothy (5 1/2), Andrew (7), Joshua (who is on his knees and looks short, age 11 1/2), and James (9)
Bench: Chloe (4), Beth (8), and Susannah (3 1/2)

Silly pose!!!

RIP Gimli

2011-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

We had to say goodbye to our wonderful, beloved dog, Gimli last week. :-( Sadly, he bit a friend of ours, and we had to put him down, because of the nature of the bite. He was a perfect dog for our family, though-- very loving, loyal, funny, goofy, sweet, cuddly, playful, etc. etc.! We only got to have 3 1/2 years with him as a part of our family, but we are extremely thankful for the time God gave us with him. We just wish he had been more social and friendly with people outside of his little world!

We are also very grateful for our last week with Gimli, from the time of his bite, to when we had to put him down (we'll spare you all the reasons and details about why we had to wait a week), but it was a blessing to have an opportunity to say goodbye and to take extra pictures and videos. Here are some from Gimli's last week:

Gimli was extremely licky the last week of his life, and we all let him lick us crazy, since we knew it would come to an end. :-(

James taking advantage of some head-rubbing. Gimli had the best head to rub! :-)

Since we knew our time was limited with Gimli, we took pictures of everyday things we would miss about him, like his cuddles during our morning Bible reading.

Gimli was always right there on the red carpet, every time food was being prepared... just in case something fell onto the floor! :-)

We called this the Gimli Hug!

Tug-of-war with his orange ball was one of his all-time favorite activities.

Gimli LOVED Sarah's brother, Daniel. He would get super hyper whenever Daniel would come over, and would wrestle and play rough with him, until Gimli was panting for air!

Gimli also LOVED Mr. Guly (a dear friend from church, whom we bought our house from), and Mr. Guly LOVED Gimli. :-)

Kisses!!!

"Come down here and give me a smooch, Mr. Guly!"

Our kids also LOVE Mr. Guly, and think of him as another grandpa. :-)

G with Ben's mom, Joyce. Gimli acted like a true "granddog" whenever she came over. He was just as excited as the grandkids! :-)

"Want another kiss, Granny?"

Beefy-head! Sometimes we said Gimli looked like a cow.

Andrew and Chloe are best friends!

He's trying SO hard to make his tongue reach!

Begging for Ben's banana... one of Gimli's all-time favorite foods.

Ben was getting a kick out of tormenting him. :-)

Awwww... what a cutie!

Our bed is not made in this picture, obviously, but Gimli loved sleeping on our bed, every night and all throughout the day! If he didn't greet us at the front door when we came home, we knew he was snoring away on our bed.

Another Gimli hug!

Ben and his boy

Sarah's mom gettin' her Gimli love! She would never let Gimli lick her before, but since it was his last week with us, she splurged and let him lick her all he wanted. ;-)

Josh getting his Gimli licks.

Josh and G-Man

James and G-G

James couldn't get enough head-rubbing...

Chloe and Andrew lovin' on G-G

MORE kisses!!!

We love this picture. :-)

Our last family picture with Gimli :-(

He was such a beloved dog... and we will miss him terribly for a long, long time. :-(

Getting Ready for Independence Day!

2011-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things about our new house is that it decorates very nicely for the holidays. Sarah couldn't wait to spruce up the front of the house for 4th of July. :-)

James' Pre-Birthday and Papa's Pre-Father's Day

2011-06-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

The other day we had Sarah's parents and her brother, Daniel, over, to celebrate James's 9th birthday (a little early, since we will be in Tahoe on his birthday), to see Sarah's dad before he left for a 2 1/2 week trip to Thailand, and to celebrate Father's Day early (since Dad will be gone in Thailand!). Sarah made a triple berry pie with fresh-picked berries (from Impossible Acres), and homemade vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy, and Sarah's dad said it was the best berry pie he had ever eaten! :-)

James opened a couple gifts, one being a lunar lander from Gramma and Papa, and the other being a SIG 552 Commando air soft gun from the Agee grandparents and from Ben and Sarah. He was SO excited about both gifts, but especially about his new air soft gun, because his gun from last year's birthday broke.

Here is James' reaction to the gun:

James trying it out:

Josh with his AK-47 air soft gun, and James with his new gun:

Papa giving it a try:

Gimli kept getting in the way of the target... so he was banished inside the house:

Andrew and Chloe having a blast with fun Uncle D.J.:

Josh and James pouring over the catalogue that came with the gun... finding all the accessories they want!

What the target looked like after everyone was done with it.

The remnants of Sarah's pie!

Squirrel-Hunter Sarah

2011-05-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

We've had squirrels (and rats!) eating out of our bird feeders. Ben used a pellet gun a few weeks ago to try to get rid of a particular squirrel, but it ended up being messy and... disturbing. So we decided to use the boys' air soft guns, instead, hoping to sting the squirrels with the little air soft bullets, and scare them away, without all the... blood and grossness. Sarah had some success with James' air soft pistol, but the squirrel kept coming back!!! So we thought we would put Joshua's air soft automatic AK-47 to good use. :-) Unfortunately, the squirrel has not yet returned so we can use that fire power on it! Haha! Come here, lil' squirrely-squirrely... Sarah's ready for ya!

Silly Cat

2011-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Sarah caught our silly cat, Pippin, sitting at our kitchen table the other day. He looked pretty cute, so she took a few pictures... :-)

Old Schoolhouse Field Trip

2011-05-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Andrew's 1st grade class, from Grace Valley Christian Academy, went on a fun field trip last week, to the Old Schoolhouse in Old Sacramento. All the students dressed up in prairie costumes and got to experience what it was like to attend school in a one-room school house, just like in 1865! After "class," we all had a picnic out on the grass, and then got ice cream cones at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor! It was a great field trip. :-)

HAPPY EASTER!

2011-04-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Christ has risen! He is risen, indeed!!!

Andrew (7 years old) drew this picture the other day at school. See the angel atop the stone in front of the empty tomb? :-) "There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightening, and his clothes were white as snow. The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.'" Matthew 28:2-3, 5-6

Trip to Oakland

2011-04-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

Sarah, Chloe, Auntie Mel, and Kate had a lovely trip to Oakland yesterday. First, they all stopped by to visit with Grandma Agee (Gigi). It was wonderful to see Grandma and chat with her! The girls enjoyed looking through her photo albums and having a special See's Candy Easter treat. :-) Sarah is wishing she took a picture of Grandma with the girls, though! :-(

After their visit with Grandma, they walked across the street to Fairyland. The girls had a blast, and Sarah and Melissa took many trips down memory lane, remembering all the trips they had there as children! Here are some of the pictures from their fun outing yesterday:

Chloe the Good Witch of the South

The Crooked Man's house

Chloe and her good friend, Snow White

Pinocchio and Gepetto's house


Kate loved playing in Pinocchoi's house! She kept saying, "Tunnel!"

Chloe liked watching Gepetto working in his shop

Pinocchio, himself!

Rub-a-dub-dub three men in a tub!

Peter Rabbit and a friend are sleeping way in the back...

Silly girls! :-)

Just chillin'...

Peter Rabbit's lost clothes

Mary, Mary, quite contrary...

The San Francisco Zoo

2011-04-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

The kids are on Spring Break this week, so we took a delightful trip to The San Francisco Zoo yesterday, with Auntie Mel, Kate, and Gramma. The weather was perfect and the crowds were minimal. Here are some pictures Sarah and Andrew took with their separate cameras:

This giraffe was enjoying scratching himself on the palm tree!

South American penguins

This rhino was ENORMOUS! We even got to see him give himself a bath.

All the cousins!

Warthogs are incredibly ugly...

Oh no! James grew some huge ears and horns!

Tarantula Chloe

A bald eagle

Grizzly Bear!

This cute polar bear would not take his head out of that yellow can! We couldn't tell if he was eating a snack or just being shy. :-)

An anaconda... YUCK!

The kids got to take a train ride (thanks to Gramma). Joshua was being poopy about getting his picture taken.

Auntie Mel and Kate!

A VERY strange-looking, enormous bird from Australia

A napping koala... do they ever do anything else???

A very sweet sight, indeed! A mother koala cradling her baby while they both sleep!

Monarch Andrew

Mommy and Chloe watching the giraffe eat from up close.

A chillin' gorilla

More of the anaconda...

GUY TIME!

2011-04-06T13:36:00.000-07:00

James' friend, Ben, spent the night at our house a couple weeks ago. The boys decided to try to be "twins," because they are often getting mistaken for the other in school (it's been that way since they were toddlers!). So... the boys traded clothes, and James made himself a brown paper "mole" to look like Ben's. It was hilarious! They do sort of look alike! :-)

Andrew wanted to flex his big muscles with Daddy... hmmm, I wonder whose muscles are bigger? ;-)

The ultimate guy moment-- ALL the boys showing off their muscles with Daddy!