One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed...

My youngest monkey fell off her bed tonight. She screamed for a minute, but as soon as I got in to her room, she smiled and seemed happy to have time outside of her bedroom (it was bedtime). I think that she was jumping on her bed and ran into the dresser which is at eye level right beside her bed. Wouldn't you know it, we were going to get family pictures tomorrow! We will see how she looks in the morning.

The Stuff that Memories are Made of

After a week of suffering from an awful head cold which included a continuous headache for the past 3 days, I was feeling good enough to head to the bank today. Mind you, when we head to the bank, we go through the drive through! After going to the bank, I decided to surprise the kids and drive down to our local arena, where Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town for the weekend. I thought it would be neat to show the kids the Circus train and all of the tents...maybe even see some animals. As we were getting closer, I noticed that there were police officers lining the street as well as people sitting on the sidewalks. I got so excited as I realized that we could see the Elephant parade in action! I have heard of this parade for the past 10 years, but have never witnessed it! We found a parking spot and got out the stroller. I soon realized that we had some issues. Remember how I said that we were just heading to the bank (drive through)? I had not planned on getting out of the van! Alex, Maddie & Will had no shoes, none of the kids had their hair brushed, Will had a long sleeve turtleneck on (with shorts)! (that was HIS choice!), I was in desperate need of a shower after being sick for so long. Yes, we were not a lovely sight. I didn't have any snacks or drinks to get us through the hour that we waited. Luckily there WAS a store with a bathroom right there. We survived the wait and we were SOO excited to see the elephants and horses as they paraded to the arena. What beautiful animals they are! Of course, I didn't have my camera since I didn't grab the diaper bag! Katie made my day though when she looked back at me and smiled and said "Mommy, this day has so many memories! I love this day". It is a good reminder to not worry about how we appear to everyone else all the time, but to concentrate on our kids and yes, it is about the memories!

A Tweet So Sweet

We headed out towards Princeton, IL tonight to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree weather and find a new letterbox. Along the Hennepin Canal feeder line, the Green River intersects the Hennepin Canal (the Green River goes underneath the Canal). Where these two intersect, QuestStar has place a beautiful stamp named "A Tweet So Sweet". We were able to take all of the kids out for this box, but were glad that we had the stroller. I can guarantee that one of the twins would have been wet if we didn't!
Notice all of the trees/branches from the flooding...Also notice the bridge behind the cement supports...Now notice where the girls are. I was happy that I didn't see this picture until after the fact!
Next we headed to Princeton to find Shorty's "Books in a Box" at the Princeton Library. We made it in time and the kids had a good time coloring and playing with the toys while Matt stamped in. On the way to Princeton, we came across this very cool swing set. It is rather Flintstonesque!

New Letterbox placed by Skeeter (Katie)

One of Katie's school assignments is to write in her journal a few times a week. I usually give her a general topic, but she did her own writing today. Here it is: (with her permission)

Go at night and dress up like a astronaut. Hurray! Hurray! Clues to I Am Going to the Moon. Look for a big oak tree. If you find the big oak tree, walk 16 steps until you see the moon above you and fly up to the moon but don't talk or then other people will hear you even though they're six miles away. Look under a rock buried above a acorn tree. The stamp will have me on the moon. Katie Hart to Mom & Dad "Have fun!!", I say.

Maybe some day...

PS - she did mention that she wants to work on the stamp next.

Breakfast on the Veranda...I mean porch

We have had some beautiful mornings the past few weeks. The kids love to take their breakfast outside and sit on the porch to enjoy the morning. Here is Maddy & Will before the girls woke up one morning.

Stickers

This is the reason I don't buy stickers too often...if they aren't on a face, they are on a piece of furniture or window! What is worse is that this is one of the packets that I bought for Matt to take to Jamaica to hand out to the kids there!

What is Letterboxing?

So, we have a new guy at work. I've had the pleasure of riding along with him the last couple of weeks to "show him the ropes."

One day we were eating lunch, just sitting there in a parking lot.

"So, have you ever heard of letterboxing?" Of course I knew the answer.

I took him to a park just down the road, explaining letterboxing as we drove. I took him to his first box, not really kosher I know, but I figure what's better than hearing an explanation than to actually see a box in person.

Over the next several days we spoke more on letterboxing and stamp carving. I was thrilled when he told me his trailname and that he had an idea for a stamp. I gave him a sheet of PZ Kut (http://www.atlasquest.com/marketplace/stampeaz/)

Yesterday, "ZRALTIK" (zer-all-tick) proudly showed me his very first carving -- his signature stamp. I must say it was spectacular!! I'm not kidding folks . . . if he starts planting boxes you WILL want to find them.

Today (or was it yesterday?) Becki was telling me of a conversation she had with one of her relatives. She had found our blog and loved reading through it and was curious and wanting to find out more about letterboxing . . . thus this post :-)

Atlasquest.com explains the addiction, er hobby, like this;

"Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with "treasure-hunts" in parks, forests, and cities around the world. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by cracking codes and following clues. The prize: a miniature piece of art known as a rubber stamp—usually a unique, hand-carved creation.

"Letterboxers stamp their discoveries in a personal journal, then use their own rubber stamp, called a signature stamp, by stamping it into the logbook found with the letterbox, perhaps writing a note about the weather or their adventures in finding the letterbox."

And here is a link to the FAQ page at Letterboxing.org -- too long to include here; http://www.letterboxing.org/faq/faq.html#001

One more link for your viewing pleasure, I saw this a while ago, then again on another bloggers website brought it back to mind, so here it is; http://bayareabackroads.com/RecentShows/April562008/tabid/92/Default.aspx

While looking for pictures to include in this post I stumbled across Lone R's website http://www.angelfire.com/planet/lone-r/links.htm I was surprised and humbled to scroll down and see a picture of myself, and a link to my carving tutorial.

Lone R's website appears to be one of the best, most complete compilation websites I've seen yet. With links to every aspect of letterboxing, stamp carving, logbook making, box making, etc. Thanks Lone R, for doing such a great job on your web site.

Well, its past midnight, the hunt for pictures will have to wait another day. I hope this spurs people on to finding some boxes of your own . . . with hopes that will turn into planting some of your own boxes for others to find ;-)

Olympic Fever

Yes, we have been watching too much tv - namely, the Olympics. Once every 2/4 years, we watch sports that we would never sit and watch on any other day! There is something so amazing about the Olympics.
This leads me to Katie's future. She informed us one night, while watching swimming, that when she gets older she is going to be in the Olympics as a swimmer. She also told us that she will not dive (like everyone else) (because she doesn't like to dive) but will jump in feet first. After she is in the pool, she will swim along the gate (the lane ropes) - holding onto them. We had a good laugh - who knows, by the time she is old enough maybe that will be a new sport!!!

Swartout Reunion

The Swartout reunion was held last Saturday at Aunt Fran & Uncle John's house. We had a great day with lots of wonderful family, yummy food and fun yard games. It was discussed that we may head up to Wisconsin next year in hopes that more of the Wisconsin family would be able to attend. Thanks for the picture Laurie!

Komakozi Emu

This video shows the Emu as we have NEVER seen them (at the zoo). They are usually very docile and would rather be in the corner away from everyone...

Will...WILL...WILLIAM!!!

If we turned our heads for a minute, Will got into trouble! Here are a few pictures of him - climbing over the fence in the petting zoo, getting wet in the fountain, climbing into the safari car (and having a fit when Matt picked him up to leave...), playing with the food machine (notice the diaper butt!) and we ended the night by him climbing on to the train (which was out of commission for the night)!

Member Appreciation Night

Tonight we headed back to the zoo (we actually do other things, it just doesn't seem like it!!) for Member Appreciation night. It was a special night for members only. Due to the threat of rain, the zoo was deserted! We saw (maybe) 20 other people - including workers! What a blast! We took the stroller, but never used it for the twins. That is unheard of in our house. Maddie & Will were in 7th heaven!! We got lots of great pictures, so I am going to share them with you.

The zoo with friends

Kari organized a day at the zoo two weeks ago while her mom was visiting. We had a great time with friends from church (6 adults, 14 kids...oldest being 6!, picture shows the majority of us).

Halfway through the zoo, a storm came in and we ended up playing in the rain. The girls are still talking about it! After the rain let up a bit we headed up to see the monkeys...we saw the giraffes as we walked by and noticed them huddled under the overhang, trying to stay out of the rain. What a cool picture!

BOOK IT! Letterbox

The past few weeks have been crazy with Matt's on call schedule at work, the major wind storm, Church VBS & visitors. We haven't done much letterboxing - one reason, because there weren't any new boxes in the Quad Cities! Matt was very excited to see a few new boxes show up last week so we headed out one evening to find the boxes. We found Butterfly Garden Duck Creek Park (what a great place to hide the box! We loved the walk and the big "lovers" trees) and then headed up to BOOK IT! in Eldridge. It was a beautiful garden setting behind the Eldridge library. Maddie & Will were even able to get out! Notice that they are in their jammies...and Maddie has her jammy pants pulled all the way up! It looks like our letterboxing is done for a few more weeks as Matt is on call for the next 2 weeks. Maybe Labor Day weekend will prove successful!

Switch-A-Roo

Instead of napping one afternoon, our children decided to play switch-a-roo dressup! Will was wearing the read and yellow outfit...which Maddie is wearing in the picture. Maddie got a new outfit for Will to wear. (he IS wearing a diaper!). Maddie than used her outfit to dress up her doll...

Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Hart

We had visitors two weeks ago! We were excited to see Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Hart. We ate lots of good food and even visited the dollar store - that is the kids favorite store! Of course, our favorite store was visited also...Whiteys! A visit from the Harts is not complete until we have visited Whiteys! Here is a picture of the Alex & Maddie with Great Grandpa Hart...

Katie's Welcome Center

I helped the girls put up this fort/tent a few weeks ago. They also got out their sleeping bags to sleep in the fort. A few nights later, Katie informed us that she had made a Welcome Center under the fort. We didn't know what to expect, but were very much impressed when we took a look!

Jamaica Bound

In 1993, I was told of a missions trip to Jamaica and instantly I knew I was going. Looking back on it now, I wonder how much of my eagerness to go was stemmed from the Holy Spirit or my desire to go overseas.

In 1994, I signed up to go to Tinidad & Tobago . . . a week before we were to take off I received a phone call informing me that not enough people had signed up for Trinidad and that my group was to join the group going to Jamaica.

I skipped 1995's trip to Jamaica, however, in 1996 I was living on my own (you know, the 18 y/o hiatis) in Houston when I got a surprise, Gordon Dexter who led our group to Jamaica in '94 tracked me down and extended an invitation for me to join . . . I accepted and that year we finished the school started in 1994!

Years have passed, I went overseas a few times since 1996. The last trip I took was in January 1999 . . . just months before my wedding!!

Since 1999, trips have come and gone and I've had no interest whatsoever in going. I couldn't imaging leaving Becki for a week or two, not to mention once children started arriving on the scene.

Last year our church, Harvest Bible Chapel, went on a trip to Jamaica . . . Becki leaned in and asked, "would you like to go on that?" I quickley retorted, "no."

That was last year.

Earlier this year our church announced we would be going to Romania, details were given on that trip. Then the announcement came that we would be going back to Jamaica, instantly I knew -- it was as if God himself were sitting next to me giving me an elbow to the side.

This was the same feeling I felt back in 1993 (15 years ago), now I know it was the Holy Spirit's prompting.

I brought this up to Becki and she was open to the idea.

To confirm this feeling, God has graciously given me "sign" after "sign" to hammer home that this *is* His will. A few weeks ago I wrote down a list of confirmations that this is the right decision;

>>> This is the first time in 10 years I've felt the Holy Spirit prompting to leave the U.S.

>>> A Few weeks after this prompting, Becki and I got to church service a little early and took our seats. There were empty rows of seats behind and infront of us, and only one empty seat between me and the aisle. A man who was born and raised in Jamaica chose to not sit anywhere else other than that one seat next to me.

>>> Katie has a handful of foreign currency, perhaps 5-10 pieces in all, she never looks at or plays with the coins. One night I came home from work and there was a nickle from Jamaica sitting by itself on our coffee table.

>>> I was asked, if possible, to put down 20% of the cost of the trip -- $300 dollars that we just don't have. The week after letting the church know that I was interested in going I earned enough overtime to cover the $300.

>>> One big concern was leaving Becki home alone for a week with 4 kids, we got news earlier this year that her sister and family are moving back to the Quad Cities (and now are in route). So Becki will have more people to call on for help.

>>> Option Care, the company I work for, is up for our once-every-three-year-accredidation. We were expecting it anywhere from September to the close of the year. NO time off was going to be approved from Sept. on. I went ahead and asked for the 6 days off in October and was told it wouldn't be approved. The next day my supervisor came up to me and said that the owner approved it anyway!!!

>>> The first informational meeting we had at Church last month fell on my on-call weekend. I made it through not only the meeting but the whole day without being paged out once.

>>> The day I wrote the above list down, I ate lunch with a co-worker and he brought up to me that he was thinking of getting into missions -- something we'd never talked about before!

>>> The day after I wrote this list, I told Becki of it. I came home from work and Becki said, "I've got something else to add to your list, go down to the basement." I went down stairs and saw this

Its a towel, one I had never seen before . . . how in the world did we get a towel like this without me knowing? A few weeks earlier was Katie's birthday, she got a Moses basket for her doll, her Aunt Fran stuffed this towel in the bottom so her doll would rest comfortably, the girls removed the towel and spread it out at the base of the stairs -- so you walked down stairs and saw what is shown in the picture above.

Its been absolutely amazing in the last 3 months to see how God has put to rest all my doubts and worries. God has confirmed at every corner that this is what HE wants me to do.

Of course, my passport expired in May of this year. I submitted my form to get a new one with slight worry that I would be waiting until the very last minute to get my new passport . . . well, it showed up in the mail last week -- 2 weeks after I filled out the forms -- 2 weeks!!

Please be praying for us, this is a big step . . . me leaving Becki with the 4 wee ones for 9 days. The dates of this trip are October 10 - 19th.

I will be needing to raise support also, first and foremost prayers are the most important aspect of this trip and if you can't support financially worry not . . . we need your prayers more!!

However, if you are able and willing to support monetary, no matter the amount, please Email me at Mathw613@aol.com and I will get the information for you to make a tax free gift on my behalf for this trip.

Thank you so much for reading this. God bless you for your prayers!!

matt

P.S. To all my letterboxing friends, this is why I can't make the "WI Letterboxing 10th Anniversary Gathering" on October 4th in Door County!