Why 7 is BETTER Than 6

For the most part, David and I have the final say in our household. But, occasionally we let the kids experience the democratic process. For example, yesterday our family was discussing whether or not we would cut down our Christmas tree or put up our fake one. We didn't own a fake tree until moving to Texas. Our feeling was if we couldn't cut it down in a beautiful mountainous setting, we wouldn't do it. So, being back in CA has changed things.

We put it to a VOTE.

Fake Tree got 3 votes (James, Justin, David)

Real Tree got 3 votes (Kirsten, Steven, and Me)

Six months ago we would've been at a stalemate, but we now have Dave-o to break our ties. But how could we get our gibberish speaking baby to do this?

Kirsten came up with a clever solution (although there are 3 individuals who call it unfair).

She held up 2 toys in front of Dave-o and said, "This one is 'fake' and this one is 'real'. Which one do you want?"

Dave-o picked the "real" toy! Hooray! Real tree wins fair and square.

Family Portraits

Here are some pictures I took of our family on Thanksgiving day. Megan, my niece, took the one of David and I. I wanted to take a lot more, but the kids just wanted to play (as they should).

"All because two people fell in love..."

***A side note***
Justin was so mad at me for buying and forcing him to wear "nice" pants for our portraits. Up until dinner (3pm), all I heard were complaints from him. "I'm bringing a change of clothes to put on after you take the pictures...I'm never wearing these again...Why can't I wear jeans?" You get the idea.

Well, when we returned home in the evening, Justin approached me singing a different tune. He told me that he really likes the pants now. "I want to wear them all the time...They're so comfortable...Can I wear them to dances?"

Yeah! I won a battle!

Living in a PC World

What is it with boys and guns? They can turn anything into a pretend firearm. Justin, James, and Steven each have a fascination with guns and it started at a very young age. Sticks were the first items turned into weapons. Then they got more creative and turned linking cubes that I had bought with the purpose of teaching them counting and patterns into guns. As they grew older, Legos were fashioned into the weapon of their choice. Then they became cub scouts and were introduced to the intriguing world of BB guns. A couple of years ago, the fad was air soft guns. They still enjoy playing with them.

Their dad shares this same fascination. He's even built potato cannons that can shoot potatoes over 150 yards!

Since moving to Montana, my nephew Mark's interest in guns has grown to a whole new level. He also loves watching war movies especially ones about World War II.

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law scoured the toy stores looking for a toy gun for Mark to play with while he is here. She came up empty handed (not a huge surprise since we live in PC California), so my father-in-law came up with the great idea of using PVC pipes to build guns. Their modular nature enables boys with enough creativity to add their own personal touch to their arsenal. Mark and the boys took this idea and ran with it. They have spent hours making and playing with their creations, from simple handguns to intricate multipurpose machine guns with laser sighting and powerful grenade launchers. Ahh...the power of imagination.

Kirsten even made one.

****Update
Bryan's surgery was a success! He is now recovering and building up his strength for the next step, which will be open heart surgery. When examining Bryan, the doctors discovered a birth defect. He has a vein that is not attached to his heart the right way. As a result, one side of Bryan's heart is enlarged. This, of course, is damaging his heart. His cardiologist said that it is an easy procedure to fix (thank goodness). As a family, we are thankful that this was discovered now before his heart was damaged beyond repair. If this thoracic duct problem had never manifested itself in Bryan, he would have never found out about his heart defect until it was probably too late.
God does work in mysterious ways.

Friday's Life Lesson

Oh, Christmas Tree
By David Zinn

Now that Thanksgiving is over, and the Christmas season has official begun, I think it's the perfect time to reflect on some of my favorite childhood Christmas traditions. One of the first items on all self-respecting Christmas-lover's agenda is the acquisition of the family Christmas tree. This year, like several of those preceding it, said acquisition will occur when I brave the cobwebs of the deep, dark recesses of our garage, and gingerly remove the heavy-laden cardboard box in which lay the dismantled portions of our well-worn, prelit, 6 foot tall artificial Christmas tree. This is a relatively new tradition for us. My childhood Christmas tree tradition was actually quite different.

It usually occurred a week after the Saturday following Thanksgiving. This was a Saturday we all looked forward to. It marked our first official Christmas-related act of the Christmas season. As kids, it was in our best interest to ensure early tree retrieval, because it gave us extra time to study and analyze our Christmas gifts. We knew that the gifts would not begin to accumulate until the tree was up and ready to house them, for who could bear to see a decorated Christmas tree sit too long without presents underneath?

Our day would begin like all Saturday mornings – get up, get dressed, bowl of cereal, and family prayer. Our usual 4 hour workday was replaced by a 3 hour trek to and from the Christmas tree farm. Our family would pile into the car and listen to Christmas music as we headed deep into the Santa Cruz mountains. Upon arrival, the search for the perfect Christmas tree would begin after my dad received the ceremonial Christmas tree saw-sickle thingy. Searching for the perfect tree was always an exhilarating experience. It seemed we were in a race with everyone else to find the one and only tree that would be the centerpiece of our lives for the next month. I remember carefully inspecting each one, looking for a crooked trunk or an uneven distribution of branches. I would try to imagine how well the tree would accommodate our decorations, determined to make sure everything would be perfect. I felt like I had the weight of the whole world on my back as I contemplated the ramifications of an imperfect tree on the happiness our family. The good trees always had markers on them already, meaning they were “taken” by individuals whose only purpose, it seemed, was to thwart my plan.

Of course, we would eventually find the perfect tree. I was never really satisfied with it, however. My dad would cut it down, haul it to the dudes that prepared it for transport, pay for it, and off we would go. After arriving home, the preparation of the tree would begin. This is when my mom would prune and shape it. It was only after then did it turn into the tree I had envisioned. Every year, year after year, imperfect as it was when we cut it down, it always seemed to become the tree our family deserved – one that perfectly displayed our lights and decorations, and helped make our memories of Christmas ones full of happiness and joy. It's funny how moms seem to find a way of removing the rough edges and helping others see what they saw all along.

Thanksgiving Day

What's Thanksgiving without a little football...


Fun riding Grandma and Grandpa's bikes...



Pretending to be a model and striking a pose...


Grandpa, Megan, and Melissa holding Dave-o



Carving a turkey...David's thinking, "What's that 'foul' smell?"


And eating the yummy food (kid's table)


The adult table. (Notice that my plate in the empty spot has been licked clean.
The food was so yummy!)


We enjoyed our time with family, but Bryan's presence was greatly missed. After dinner, David and his dad drove to the hospital to give Bryan a blessing. He is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow. The surgery will accomplish two things. One, to find and seal his thoracic duct (which is not in the same spot for each person). And two, to scrape and seal the lining of his lungs. We are praying that this will stop the fluid from seeping into Bryan's lungs once and for all.

Then we made the 30 minute drive back home, changed into comfy clothes, put the baby to bed, and watched "Miracle on 34th Street" (a Thanksgiving family tradition of ours.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Zinn family!

Gobble Gobble

GOBBLE...GOBBLE
Happy Thanksgiving!

***Artwork by Steven and Kirsten

Six Months

Six months old today!

Dave-o's personality is really starting to shine through now. For the most part, he is good natured with a streak of stubbornness.

Dave-o's feet seem to be in constant motion. They rub against each other so hard that he has scratches on the back of his lower leg if I fail to put socks on him.

There is more blond hair on top of his head. (Just in time to keep him warm for winter.)

Dave-o can sit for a long time now before falling over. When he does fall, he goes down slowly.

He's learned to shake things like keys and basically anything that makes a sound.

He's also showing a preference with who's holding him. I am his number one choice with David as a close first. Dave-o will let the kids hold him as long as I'm not in sight.

Dave-o is very interested in our food now. He gets upset if we don't give him what we are eating.

We love our little guy!

Autumn Baby

The kids had previously raked up this huge pile of leaves. I knew I had only a few minutes before the tractor would make it's way down our street to scoop it up. So, I quickly grabbed Dave-o and my camera and took a few shots. As you can see, he didn't really enjoy it.

Now That's a Rock!

I don't know how "junk drawers" got it's name, but I would like to change it. It would make me feel a lot better about having about 6 of these drawers. I'm really not a disorganized person...Well...Maybe I am. I do try to find a home for everything. But if I can't, I have my "misc drawers" to fall back on. The items in these drawers aren't "junk". If I am frantically looking for something really important, I will almost always find it in my so-called "junk drawers".

Just the other day, for example, I was rummaging through the drawers when I came across this treasure of mine that I thought had been lost.
Isn't it beautiful? A couple of Mother's Days ago, the kids and I were temporarily living in Helena, MT waiting for our home in Texas to sell (David was in CA working). My in-laws were kind enough to let us stay at their ranch for as long as we needed. James, Steven, and Kirsten found this ring on the property and picked out the perfect stone to affix on top. That was the best Mother's Day present I had ever received. Every time I look at it I smile. I can just picture them making it.

So, you can imagine my joy when I found this ring. Maybe the junk drawer should be re-named the "treasure drawer".

Mercedes

Lookie at this thing of beauty that joined our family on Saturday evening.

David got a call from his parents earlier on in the afternoon. They explained that they were at a car dealership getting my mother-in-law a new car and wanted to know if we would like her old one.

Uh.....Yes!

Isn't she beautiful? And she drives beautifully too. This makes commuting to and from work for David just a little bit nicer.

Thank you Mom and Dad Zinn!

Preparing to be a Father

Steven gave a wonderful talk today in Primary. The topic he was given was, "I Will Prepare Now to Become a Father". I am so proud of him for writing it by himself (with the exception of me finding a scripture to go along with it). Here is what he said:

"Mosiah 4:14-15 : 'And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.

But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.'

When I am a father I'm going to play with my kids or help them with school. I will go to work and pay the bills. I can make dinner, take out the trash, or pay for a sport they love, and cheer them on. I'll take them to church and spend time with them. And I will make sure they go to bed on time.

I am thankful that I have a father who does all of these things for me. I want to be just like him."

Hypnotizing Toy

Dave-o is in love with this spinning, light-up, vibrating toy (don't know the name of it). It was given to him at the NXT Robot Tournament by a lady named Laura who happens to belong to our church. This toy seems to hypnotize Dave-o. He's absolutely fascinated by the spinning lights and the feel of the vibration against his mouth.

NXT FLL Competition

For months, James and Steven have been painstakingly building and programming their robots for the NXT First Lego League (FLL) Competition. Today was the day to see the fruits of their labor.

James's team, the "Mindstormers", consisted of five boys who are all homeschooled (Jason H, Jason T, Elliot, Aaron, and James). Their robot, "Kitty Kong", was the most consistent of all the robots (according to the refs). Out of their three runs, their best score was 230 (out of 400 possible points). Only five points kept them out of the playoffs. They would have also made it to the next round if they had completed a project. As a team, they chose not to do one because they were overwhelmed with everything else (they were all rookies). I am so proud of James's part that he played for the team. There were a few boys who seemed to constantly fight and argue, but James showed that he could get along with any of them. James was the main "programmer" of the team. The other boys were the "mechanics". He did a great job writing the program. The judges were impressed with the "Technical" part of the judging. James's team is already gearing up for the next competition which will be in the spring. You can watch the Mindstormers in action here.

Steven's team, the "Flying Monkeys", consisted of seven kids (Fernando, Alisala, Steven, Ben, Jonathon, Franciso, and Braydon). Like James, Steven was the main "programmer" on his team. Out of their three runs, their best score was 195. For some reason, their robot did well in the practice, but not in the official run. Even though the Flying Monkeys took 14th place in the robot runs, they made it to the next round (which is in December) because they had an awesome project. It was on space tethers. They also impressed the judges in the "Teamwork Judging" round. In order to prepare for this, their next step will be to re-design the team robot and strategize how to get another 100 points. You can see the Flying Monkeys' robot run here.

I have to show off Steven's shirt that I made for the competition. It was a last minute throw together project, but I love how it turned out. I used glow in the dark fabric paint to create the moon and stars. The outline of a flying monkey flying in front of the moon was done using freezer paper, which works great as a stencil.

Friday's Life Lesson

My First Job
By David Zinn

Many who know me are surprised to find out that in my younger years, I had a brief career in construction. Yes, it's true. I used to dig pools with a Caterpillar tractor. Of course, I was three at the time, and my career lasted about 5 minutes; but it left an indelible impression on me. What is it about tractors and young boys? Or older boys (namely, men) for that matter. I can vividly remember moving the levers and watching the tractor's arm move in response. I had no idea what I was doing, or how long our neighbor would allow a small child such as myself wreak havoc on their backyard, but I had the time of my life. Even though my career didn't last long, I learned that a small act of kindness (in this case, by our neighbor) can create memories that last a lifetime.

Friday the 13th

I've never held much stock in all the superstitions that go along with Friday the 13th. Kirsten was born on this supposed "cursed day" and I can positively say that she has no horns. Her birth was miraculous, heavenly, and everything that is good.

My Grandmother Owens shares Kirsten's birthday. She hated the fact that it occasionally fell on Friday the 13th. During her last days on this Earth, she was aware that the dreaded day was approaching. Grandma Owens was determined not to die on Friday the 13th. And she won that fight making it to the 14th.

Today is Friday the 13th and for the first time in my life it has felt like it. This morning, my mother-in-law called to tell me that during the night we almost lost Bryan. His lungs were filling with blood. Throughout the day, the bleeding slightly decreased, but would not stop. Bryan was eventually taken to be operated on. Our afternoon was spent in prayer and contemplation.

Then, Justin came home from school telling me that a boy hung himself on the basketball hoops outside of his high school. How morbid!

The cloud of this cursed day hung over our home until evening time. I arrived home from picking up James from an NXT robot class to find the fireplace on in our living room. I immediately felt warm and at peace. David then told me that the surgery was successful for Bryan. His lungs were cleaned out and the bleeding stopped.

The day ended with me on my knees thanking my Heavenly Father for his mercy.

Fun With Cousins

The boys and Kirsten have been spending the week hanging out with their cousins, Melissa (17), Mary (11), and Mark (10). It's been so much fun having them stay with us; especially since we haven't seen them for a year and a half. Mark and Steven picked up where they left off. They have been inseparable.

Mark and the boys (and sometimes Kirsten) have spent hours playing with Legos.
Here is a tank they built.

We've played at parks.
Dave-o loved swinging with Mary.

Mary and Kirsten enjoyed swinging and performing acrobatic stunts on the bars.

Melissa took Dave-o on some of the playground equipment.

The rock climbing wall was a popular attraction.

Especially for Steven and Mark. They spent a lot of time on it.

Bryan is still in the hospital. The doctors have been able to reduce the size of his blood clot by 80%. The next step is to see if the fluid stops building up in his lungs. The doctors are also running tests on Bryan to determine why his body is forming blood clots. Right now they think it may be a form of Lupus. Lori spends most most of her time at the hospital with him. We are all hoping and praying that Bryan will be released as an out-patient by this weekend.

Everyone but Melissa will be staying in the Bay Area a bit longer. She will be greatly missed as she flies home tomorrow (Thursday). I have loved this time I've had with her. We have stayed up till midnight each night talking and watching chick flicks like "Jane Eyre". I am in awe with how beautiful she has become, inside and out.