Van, Vacation, and book...

Car for Van swap
We finally made the switch from regular car to Minivan.  It has been needed.  My Uncle Bob hooked us up with their family's old Toyota Sienna for a great price.. we had been looking around for a while and I was pretty sold on either a Honda Odyssey or a Toyota Sienna.  We also considered the Kia Sedona and Chrysler Town and Country.  Ultimately, we could not pass up this great opportunity from my Uncle.  We spent some time cleaning up the inside and got new tires and that was about it.  We cannot believe how nice it is.

Here's a video of two cranky boys and the 'Swagger Wagon' aka Toyota Sienna.


I was a little sad to see my lil Corolla go.. I got this car the same week I got engaged back in June of 2004!  I got a good price for it and here's my good-bye pic with the buyer.

Joel's III
The vitamins have been treating us well as Joel seems much healthier nowadays. We are teaching him to memorize scripture and have started with Colossians 1:14 - 19

He does a pretty good job quoting it in this video.



Judah update
Judah is much more emotional these days. He cries hard when Joel steals his toys, he likes to be held and cries hard and loud when we put him down or leave the room.  He has always been so laid back so this is a shock to Mommy and Daddy.  However, in some ways it is good.  He has never been a great nurser and now that he is more emotional he likes the comfort of nursing and seems to like it more than before.  Which is really really great because otherwise he would be completely finished. He is eating like crazy and consistently eats 2-3 times as much as Joel for each meal! (This along with Joel being home more has made the grocery bill escalate considerably!)  He is also getting quite large.  Most babies slim down during this time as they are moving around so much, but strangely enough since Judah enjoys table food so much (more than nursing) he is getting much fatter now than he was in his younger months.  He has two little bottom teeth, and he smiles and drools almost constantly.  He consistently gives high fives now and turns pages of a book.  very exciting.

Here's a cute pic of the boys at Steak n Shake all you can eat pancake breakfast that daddy took them to while mommy was at kickboxing.

The Book is almost done!
We are in the final stages of the book and super pumped about it.  The plan is to give this book away for free to all teens that come to Joel and Ryan's evening concert.  This is so exciting to us as we were always a little uneasy about just a 1 time gospel presentation and then leaving.  This book will give students something to take away from the concert that is tangible and helps them to know and remember the gospel.

Vacation in Michigan
Yeah, I know it sounds crazy that we went to Michigan for a vacation.  But it was actually quite nice.  Lake Michigan was warm and very clear, the beach was gorgeous, and best of all.. the air was nice and cool in the mornings and evenings.  I think that a long, hot summer being pregnant with Judah just last year (and in the 3rd trimester)  has made me appreciate cool, dry air much more than I used to.
Joel had a blast with his cousins. Here's a video of him eating breakfast with Ethan Crummey (3) and Noah Spath (4)




Joel and I had a great time as well.  I enjoyed a few days with naps, a couple good workouts, and some time to read.  Joel worked a little bit and read a little bit.  We both ate quite a lot!

7 out of 8 of the Penton cousins..do you know who is missing?

Joel's Birthday
On June 26th we celebrated Joel Jr.'s birthday.  We got the impression that Joel III thought it was his birthday.  I wonder why...

Yeah. I caved in and got a tractor cake.  I knew Joel would be happy (both of them).  We enjoyed a messy meal and lots of cake.  Judah enjoyed it the most I think.

A May of Many Firsts!

Judah ripped off his sunglasses precisely 2 seconds after this was taken.

it was a May of Many Firsts..

-Judah got his first tooth

-Joel got his first set of stitches (see below)

-Judah said his first word (see below) 

-The Hollidays had their first baby (see below)

-Joel III was in his first wedding (see below) 

-We managed to finally get out our first draft of Joel's newest book, "7 Lies Almost Every Teen Believes" (see below)

Around the time that Judah was learning to crawl and therefore getting himself into more trouble, Joel was having some troubles of his own.  First, he was having a terrible time getting over a bad ear infection.  Second, he got pinkeye in both eyes. and then Finally, He split his forehead open in the back of his grandad's truck. He did very well with the 3 stitches (with the help of some oral versed;) and so far it has healed up well.  We did have a close call 3 days later where a large hard and heavy swing hit Joel so hard that it forced him to the ground.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was literally 1 inch away from his stitches? Thank the Lord we didn't have to deal with those opening back up.  At that moment we began to wonder if 'natural selection' was  trying to eliminate our clumsy toddler.

taken after stitches were put in.. very relaxed boy!

scar has healed nicely.. less than 2 weeks later

Judah said his first word "da da" at the beginning of the month.  Since then he has picked up two more.. "na na" for me (Ma Ma). and "ahh da." for all done.  I know it sounds like I'm making this up but when you are around him all the time (like me) its easy to distinguish purposeful words from babbles.  I also think we are just more in tune this time around and not as dumb surprised to how fast they learn things!

This kind of messy results in...

This kind of cleaning!

Ryan and Emily had their sweet baby girl, Whitney on May 10th.  Emily's labor went extremely well and Whitney is just a beautiful baby!  Whitney has very LONG fingers and arms and big feet.  She is a great sleeper and eater and the Hollidays are pleased with how well things are going.  Whitney came over the other evening and Judah was obsessed with her.  He kept staring at her and trying to grab her and stuff.  Whitney also had a reaction about the new surroundings.. each time Joel III yelled or cried or did something loud Whitney would stop whatever she was doing, open her eyes and look around with a strange look on her face like.. 'Wow. I haven't heard noise like that before!' It was cute.

Is this perfection or what? Baby Whitney rests and looks pretty.

on May 14th my brother Mike and his fiancée Lindsey got married! I was honored to be a bridesmaid and Joel III was also a part of wedding!  He was very excited about 'playing dress up' to get into his cute silver vest, hat and black pants to be a ring-bearer.  BUT, walking down the aisle was a disaster different story!  He was a little hesitant and upset at the rehearsal... however after lots of practice and some jelly bellies Joel performed very well at the actual ceremony! 

you can see the video of Joel III with his cousins, Indy and Justin as ring bearers below

The wedding was actually a ton of fun for us.  Joel and I were able to stay out two nights in a row without kids!  Michael and Lindsey had some nice touches including a chocolate fountain, planted herbs as favors, handmade programs and invitations and fresh hydrangeas everywhere! My dad put together some videos and they were a hit! (as always) All in all it was a great time and we are especially thankful it was in Columbus!

It takes a lot of effort to get a family pic these days.. this was the best we got!

 We finally got out Draft #1 of Joel's 2nd book "7 Lies Almost Every Teen Believes."  The book will take the non-Christian teen all the way from Relativity/Pluralism to obeying your church elders. (yeah, crazy I know!) As with many of our projects together (Main Event '06, Main Event '08 and Stand Your Ground) it was so awesome to spend so much time together and work on such a huge task.  It is much more fun around this time though, I must admit, when the project finally comes together.  Right now we have a large (around 25 people) 'editing team' that will serve to mostly comment and give overall feedback on our arguments, stories, scripture illustrations, etc. We are really excited to see what they have to say! 

Joel's mega C trial Day #3

amount of 'vitamin C candies': 16 plus 1 emergen-c packet
dosage: 9,000 mg
results: we didn't get any C into Joel until around 11am. Also, Joel hit his max of 17 'candies' by 4pm yesterday so he had gone a while without any C. So, Joel had a runny nose this morning BUT it was mostly clear. There was 1 wipe that was green.  Still, a massive improvement compared to Amoxicillin or Z-pack or any other antibiotic that he has been on.  The amount we gave yesterday seemed like a good number since Joel has not had any diarrhea since.  His nose seemed to run consistently throughout the evening.  But the drainage was clear and not copious by any means.  He has had a wet cough for months and that has not gotten much better (if any).

conclusion: high dose vitamin C seems to help clear up Joel's sinus infection.  It has not eradicated all of his issues (wet cough remains, clear drainage from nose persists) but has definitely helped.  Most of the anecdotal stories I am reading seem to indicate dropping to a 2,000 - 4,000 mg 'maintenance' dosage after the 'mega C trial.'  (this shouldn't be too hard with the 1,000 mg emergen-C packets and chewables) I will start that tomorrow even though his symptoms aren't fully gone.

I am going to keep the cabinets stocked with Vitamin C chewables and emergen-C drink mix (which, he LOVED, by the way, oh and only 6 mg sugar in each).  I am very pleased with the results. So much that I have started taking lots of C myself in the hopes that my every-other-month sinus infections will cease or become once-a-year sinus infections.  We will see!

update: I have kept Joel on 4,000 mg of C for 2 days since the trial, honestly bc he just keeps asking for it and it seems to really be working.  His mucus is not totally cleared up but each day is noticeably better.  Also, he has become MUCH more talkative this week since we started the C.. more singing, more sentences, more conversational.  This could totally be coincidental bc I know toddler's brains develop at such rapid rates.. however, it does make me think that some sort of congestion was affecting his ears and that has cleared up as well with the C.

update 10-30-11: Joel has not seen the Dr. once for a 'sick visit' since this introduction of Vitamin C.  (6+ visits from January - May 2011) He has been sick and also had symptoms of an ear infection.  However, these illnesses actually go away in a reasonable period of time and typically do not turn into something worse, like an ear infection and/or wheezing.  We keep Joel on 500 mg - 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per day when healthy. When sick that usually increases to around 4,000 - 6,000 mg.  I also give Joel niacin in his yogurt when sick and restrict his milk and allow him to eat as much fruit as he wants.

Joel's mega C trial Day #2

Posts I have read about this say to 'titrate to tolerance.'  The indicator: diarrhea.  Joel III experienced some bad diarrhea this morning and for his nap (his usual poop times). So we decreased the dosage.

amount of 'vitamin C candies' : 17
dosage: 8,500 mg
results: Joel woke up without any snot and very pleasant.  Pretty soon though, the green snot showed up again and man it was plentiful! I was disappointed.  But quickly I noticed this snot was different: it was MUCH THINNER. Which explained why it seemed to be more plentiful and more frequent.  I continued to wipe and wipe until nap time.  Joel woke up from his nap and played (did not cry).  This is very rare.  I am pleased.  I go in to get him up and notice something else weird: no snot.  I am very pleased.  The evening continues on with minimal nose-wiping.  I literally wiped his nose only 1 time and it was clear!  Joel said he did the same thing in the evening. Now we are talking!

Joel is wearing an orange tank top to honor his "Mega C  Trial"

Tomorrow I am excited to try a new drink called Emergen-C that supposedly does not contain as much sugar as regular vitamin 5 chewables.

Joel's mega C trial Day #1

After 6 round of antibiotics, 5 months of green snot (this is not an exaggeration), wheezing, and 2 very persistent ear infections Mommy decided it was time to try something new for Joel.  I just wasn't sure what it would be... a few days ago.. at the grocery store.. I got my answer.  Vitamin C.

Why Vitamin C you say? Well.. I'll tell ya..

Joel III and I were shopping at ALDI and I picked up some lemons for Joel to squeeze into his water (I'm such a great wife, I know).  Joel III immediately said "see those lemons! see those lemons!" not an uncommon thing.  I handed the mesh bag of 4 lemons to him.  A few minutes later I noticed something strange.. silence from a toddler! Wow. Why was he so quiet? oh...  only because he was sucking and chewing on a lemon rind (through the mesh bag) so hard that he was drooling all over the cart! It was as if he was thinking to himself  "Oh if only I could actually eat one of these..!"

Thats when I started to think to myself....  Perhaps he is deficient in Vitamin C!! Duh! you think?... every thing that has C in it he woofs down immediately: strawberries, citrus fruits, berries.  We never give him juice.  We give him a vitamin gummy bear in the morning.. he loves it and never forgets about it.. sometimes he sucks on it so that it lasts even longer!

So I decided to go with a Mega Vitamin C trial for Joel.. a few days of high dose vitamin C and then a maintenance dose or taper.. depending on the results.

I realize this might seem crazy to you.  However, the toxicity level of vitamin C is remarkably low.  The benefits could be amazing.  I have read some crazy good testimonies. And (here) Also, we know that having a child on 6 courses of antibiotics in 5 months isn't good... Yeah, I'm gonna give it a go.


amount of 'vitamin C candies' - appx. 20
dosage appx. 10,000 mg.
results: by the end of the day Joel was very happy bc he was high on sugar.  I noticed that the total amount of thick green snot he was having decreased a little bit.  But not enough to get me excited.

What I knew vs. What I didn't know

oh my. This school year has been a tough one.  However, in a lot of ways, I knew what to expect this time, but of course I had some surprises as well.

Things I knew
Judah would be easy the first 5 months, then start to get busier.
Joel's travelling schedule would involve many nights away from home.
To survive I would need to step it up - do a better job of taking care of my relationship with Christ, my body, my home, and my husband. (kids? somehow they do a good job of never being fully neglected, the other 4.. not so much)


Things I didn't know
Joel III would potty train so easily. (yeay!)
Going from 1 to 2 was much easier than going from 0 to 1.
Joel III's attachment to his parents would continue at varying levels.. sigh;)
Judah's personality would be a pure joy.
I completely lack organizational skills.
I have an inability to comprehend and focus on what I'm reading in the Bible.
Having 2 kids cry at the same time is extremely emotionally exhausting.
Going on a date with my husband would become a luxury but also a necessity.

Yeah. So I think Joel would say that he was surprised at how exhausting traveling can be.  He was also surprised at how well the assemblies and concerts went this year in states so far away.  This is encouraging, but still another reminder of the struggle of balancing his family life and work/ministry life.  I know every family has to deal with that... but there is something different about it when you have someone else to blame (i.e. boss/company you work for).  Joel works for himself, so it is up to him to be a good steward of our ministry's resources, but he also needs to be a good husband and father at the same time.  A lot of times I wish I was a guy (ok, think leader of the home, more respect from culture, etc.) but this is not one of those times.  I am happy I do not have the burden he has.

While we are on the topic.. Hawaii was awesome for us.  It made us realize that we haven't had a date since Judah had been born! (6 months) So, we made a commitment to have 2 dates a month and honestly, even the first month was a huge struggle to get that in.  We really only had 1.5 dates in April.  The second date involved a dinner with just the two of us (woo hoo!) and then a ministry commitment. However, anytime I'm out and about without the kids feels like a date so I was happy!

After being a Christian for almost 10 years (June, 2001) I finally gave in and decided to have my "quiet time" in the morning.  I have been against this for various reason but mostly bc I treasure my sleep.  I finally got to the point where my daily readings (yes, I was actually still managing to cram them in on a daily basis.. trust me, they weren't a quality time in the Word by any means) were so pathetic that I surrendered to the Christian  cliche of having a "quiet time" in the morning. I figured I'm already getting up earlier than I want to, getting less sleep than I would like and drinking more coffee than I should.. I might as well get up just a tad bit earlier to get some quality time with the Lord.  To my stubborn dismay it actually has been awesome for me.  Yes, my mind wanders to the extent that I have no idea what I just read. Yes, I sleep in occasionally still.  Yes, I've been super tempted to use that time to do other things ("Wow, Judah is awake, I could sneak in a feeding right now and it might actually be a good one because he wouldn't be distracted by Joel") But, for the most part things are going well.

Joel III and Judah 

People are saying Judah is looking more and more like Joel did when he was a baby.  Here's a great comparison of the two at the same age - almost 7 months. Check out the expression on their faces!  Even I can say they look alike here!



Judah has loved his new found mobility (in April he was not crawling yet but able to get anywhere he wanted somehow) and the freedom to play with big brother Joel.  He laughs constantly when Joel plays with him.  He is extremely flexible.  He sucks his toes all the time.  He falls forward into a straddle split and he pulls his leg up to his side while on his belly to push himself up to a sitting position.. while passing through a side split. Here's a video of one maneuver he has mastered, skip to 1:15 to see the gymnastics.



Judah has done well with finger foods.  He loves cheerios, bananas, and most of all, graham crackers.  I remember being annoyed with how messy this stage was with Joel but I did not appreciate how quiet it kept him for so long! Now, of course, I do.  Sometimes Judah sits in his highchair for 45 mins at dinner trying all sorts of different finger foods.  He is extremely content.  He wakes up around 7:30 and will roll around and suck his toes for an hour until I am ready to nurse him. 

Judah doing almost complete straddle split!

Precious Judah - 6 month pic

he's just so cute, my friend Crystal Jo did an awesome job!

Joel III spent most of April sick.  He had a horrible R ear infection that took 3 weeks to go away and 3 different antibiotics. You can see in this picture the ear infection was so bad that it caused his eye to have discharge and swell. gross.

Joel III's ear infection was so bad that it caused a conjunctivitis in his eye!

He has also had a lot of sinus infections.  He hasn't had much wheezing since he was a baby but when he has fevers the wheezing returns.  He had 2 days of fevers with this ear infection.  His Dr. thinks he has some seasonal allergies causing the frequent sinus infections.  We are now on singulair (read: expensive asthma/allergy med, chewable daily pill) and we will see if that helps.  Honestly, for $140/mo I think I might be able to deal with wiping his snot 20 times a day! But, if it will prevent other problems then it will be worth it. Joel is slowly learning how to poop in the potty now with very special rewards. here's one of our most favorite videos of him cheerfully drinking chocolate milk!


At the very end of March, Joel III built a snowman with his Daddy. He has been obsessed with snowmen all Winter and we never built one with him and thought that we missed our chance! here's a video of the final product!





Easter was a fun time.  Joel and Judah both slept well at Gamma and Papa Groskopf's house,  Joel and I were together briefly and had a chance to eat some amazing strawberry pie, and Joel enjoyed sneaking bites of Easter candy from Papa! Here's a video of Joel's basket from Gamma and Papa.


We are excited for May.  My brother Mike is getting married, The Hollidays are having their baby girl, and Joel will be home much more!

My confession...

I officially 'resigned' from my job as an RN at Nationwide Children's Hospital.  Sigh;)  A couple of months ago when I spoke to my manager about the job I said to her, "you'd have to be crazy to not do this job. it's just perfect!"  Well. Foot in mouth.. I guess I'm crazy.

So here come my rationalizations.. er.. list of reasons..  Joel and I are in a weird place right now in life.  It seems as though all of a sudden time is more valuable than money.  This is a hard concept for me to get used to but honestly, its true.  In this situation, 1 16 hour day a month would give us a substantial cushion in our checking account.  but it would also pull away me from the kids, from getting any work done around the house or for the ministry, and it would also take away the opportunity for Joel to get any work done that day at all as well.  (Joel is unable to get anything done at all when having both kids for a full day. I can usually get 1-3 things done.)  I am already falling behind drastically on my ministry responsibilities.  I just realized the other day that I only have 4 free hours a day to accomplish what I need to accomplish.  I have started to keep track of those 4 hours in order to be a better steward of my time.

Here's how I spent my 4 hours yesterday -

1pm - 3pm nap during kids naps (we stayed up until midnight the night before doing taxes and I felt like if I did not nap I would be snapping at Joel for silly things by dinner time)

8pm - 10pm 10 min shower, 20 mins cleaning up house to an acceptable standard (being able to walk from 1 room to another) 1 hour eating dinner while reading chapter 3 of Joel's book and commenting, 20 mins phone conversation with Joel, 30 mins plugging in support data for ministry, 15 mins surfing web about starting solids and skin related issues in babies (Judah having rashes like Joel did at this age)

yeah it doesn't add up, I went to bed late.

Yeah, so I know everyone is busy.  We are just finding ourselves at the height of a lack of free time and that is forcing us to look at our priorities and cut what is not a priority.  Working at the hospital just isn't right now for us.  Also, then there are the added variables of the stress involved the day before and day of for me .. it's not as enjoyable when I seriously don't know what I'm doing because I work so infrequently.

Another manager of mine spoke to me about the decision and the family.  She agreed with me that at the rate things are changing at the hospital it is very hard to keep up with only doing 2 shifts a month, she admitted that sometimes she doesn't even feel totally comfortable working only once a week.  She also let me know that if things ease up a bit I can be rehired at NCH within the next 3 years without having to go through full days of hospital orientation and paperwork.  That conversation was comforting.

Would I like the extra money? Of course. Would I love the cultural admiration and value (from others) that is placed on being a pediatric nurse? Big time.

This is a great reminder for me.  I need to find my significance in Christ.  My fulfillment is in Him.  Teaching my sons according to His word glorifies Him.  Serving and submitting to my husband glorifies Him.

Making more money really only glorifies myself.

Plus, I know my husband is a man of the Word. He will provide for the family (1 tim 5:8) and I trust that the Lord will provide.