Happy Birthday Josiah!

Happy Birthday Josiah!

Josiah turned 3 years old on November 9th 2008 and I cannot believe it. He is so little that most people think that he is Andrew's age, and I would think that too if is wasn't for his extensive vocabulary and incredible coordination. Atleast they would seem extensive and incredible if he was in fact Drew's age, but they are normal for a growing man of 3.  Tyler and I have tried to make birthdays special for our boys.  As a result Josiah has known that his birthday was "next" ever since Andrew's birthday was over in March. (Not counting Caleb's because we didn't know what day he would be here) 

Auntie Ali gave Josiah a new corduroy for his birthday, can you guess what the very first thing he did to corduroy was?

So Josiah has been anxiously awaiting his special day for quite a few months now. Part of me felt that he might think we are deceiving him because it took so long, but it came and that is good. On Josiah's birthday we had a small breakfast celebration featuring apple pancakes with a couple of friends before church.  The day was fairly normal other than every once in a while saying "hey Josiah today is your birthday... yay!".  On the evening of his big day we had the grandparents over for dinner and cake.  Overall I would say that Josiah's birthday was a huge success. It was a special day with friends and family, but it was also quiet and normal enough to not contain a lot of stress. All that I can say is that I am very glad that we have this little blonde boy in our midst. 

All of the Smith boys except for Ben (Tyler's brother). From Left to Right we have Blake holding Caleb (Blake is Tyler's brother), Andrew, Isaac (Tyler's brother), Tyler, Elijah, Randy, and Josiah. 

Can you tell that Josiah had a wonderful day?

Ego Trips for All

I love that song by the Newsboys called "Fad of the Land". There is a line in that song that says "I'm packing for an ego trip".  Now I came to a realization this week that made me think about this song, well mostly, about that line in the song; and I'm not talking about keeping up with the Jones' (you should listen to this song if you don't know it). Well let me start at the beginning and show you what I am talking about. 

Last Week I watched Tyler and two other men mill some pine and oak from our land. They had a sawmill here that was attached to a trailer. The mill did most of the work, or at least that is what it seemed. The only thing that the guys had to do was run the blade and move the cut lumber off of the mill and onto a pile. Now Tyler and these other gentlemen would take turns pulling the cut 1X's and 2X's off of the mill and carrying it over to the pile. These boards ranged from 10 -14 feet long and were between 4 and 11 inches wide. Not that big in comparison to beams and such. While building the house we would use boards this size in trim work and framing and such. Sometimes these men would take two boards at once and it didn't seem to be that difficult to them. (Are you starting to see where my ego trip came?).  Overall, the men did a great work and I am very thankful for them and the lumber that came out of their day of work. 

They stacked the wood in two places and one of them, unfortunately, is in the way of some stumps that I want Tyler to remove with the excavator, and thus needs to be moved. Thankfully this is the smaller pile and only contains about a third of the wood. Monday during my 30 minutes of all boys napping I decided to go outside and move some of the wood to help Tyler and lighten his load at home.  Let me just say I never realized how much heavier wet lumber is to kiln dried seasoned wood that you buy in the store. I had a hard time to move even the smallest board out there. When all is said and done I only moved about 3 1X6 12 footers. I could not have lifted anything larger. These are some heavy boards! I have no idea how those guys lifted all of these boards for the entire day of milling.  Tyler is not any larger than I am; as you probably know we are about the same height and normally weigh about the same. (although lately I average a higher weight than him, shhh! don't tell anyone).  But man let me tell you he is a lot stronger than I am, and I am no dainty woman. I can lift with the best of them ( at least I used to be able to). I spend the whole day lifting kids and I can paddle a canoe all day, and hey, I can leg press 160 lbs; but I cannot stack that lumber in my backyard.  Thus I have gained a new respect for the physical strength that God seems to have bestowed on men rather than women.  

Don't get all girl power on me ladies! I respect the strength that men have, but I know that they would practically die if they had to go through the pain of childbirth. Thus, the equal balance that God has created: Men are physically strong to lift heavy objects (their wives when they are in labor) and women are physically strong to handle the stress before, during, and after childbirth.  Hopefully my blog has not set you up for an ego trip; please do not go hurting yourself by trying to prove that you can lift more than some guy. It isn't worth it! After all he cannot prove that he is as strong as you by having a baby, so stop pushing your unfair advantage on the guy!

Back to the Daily Grind

Caleb is now 3 weeks old and he is adapting very well to our all boy family. The boys still adore him and love to sit and talk to him or poke him in the face.  Overall I would say that the adjustment period has gone well and we are now into what the boys would call normal days.  It feels as though he has always been a part of our family and I have a hard time to remember the days Before Caleb. Of course, everything was easier...  I could sleep at night, we could go outside to work during the morning time even if it was only 30 degrees outside, and I could eat dinner with two hands. But that doesn't mean that I ache for those long lost BC days, no rather, I am enjoying this time of having yet another newborn child. A beautiful child made by God, and I am daily reminding myself that this time is short and in just a few years all of the boys will be outside helping me with our "mini arboretum".  In fact, life continues even as it starts.  It is amazing to see that even though I am always tired; it is not always time to sleep, and even though we just had a new baby and are in a slowed down atmosphere the world continues to speed by us with their clocks and schedules. I was reminded of this very fact when Caleb was only 1 week old and suddenly we found a skidder in our yard...

You see, BC, Tyler and I had started planning to turn part of our backyard into an open farmland area for fruit trees, maple trees, christmas trees, blueberries, bees and anything else we wanted it for. We talked to a few loggers about selling the wood that we currently had so that we could pay to rent an excavator and turn the land into basically a field. If their is anyone looking for work you may want to consider logging, because if anyone is working right now it is the loggers. These men that we have contacted have been so busy that they had not been able to start working out back. Then one day we drive home from church and low and behold there rests a very large skidder right behind our house.  Nat (the logger) started work on our "field" the very next day and finished this past week. Now we have a very many things to do before winter and suddenly find ourselves very busy with the land. So as you can see life has not stopped, but continues to blaze by as I watch. In fact, the whole household had a blast watching Nat fell trees, and load logs onto his pulp truck. Needless to say I am excited to put on some chaps, use the chainsaw, and help clear up the field area in preparation for Tyler's little arboretum.  

 This activity that seems to go on all around us as we sit dazed in new baby nation has, I believe, helped our family transition into a 4 boy family easier.  The boys have been able to find entertainment in the activity even as they are not able to go outside for very long due to the weather, and it has also brought a sense of normality back to our days.  All things said and done this great new baby season has brought a little less outdoors time, but a lot of great entertainment and the start of something yet to come.