Josiah's 6th Birthday

Josiah turned SIX on Thursday, March 11!

Isaac planned a scavenger hunt for Josiah on his birthday morning.  He wrote a poem asking him to go look in the playroom in a Lego bin.  

To: Jo-Jo, Sardjent, Chief, Josiah D. Rinn, Comander, J-J

with Love: Isaac Rinn

To the Frontiear Camp Champ.

He must do hiknees up the stairs.

and into the room where the Legoes are in.

and into the bin with coustoumes are in.  

YOU'RE going to camp

with us next Year!

There, Josiah found a Frontier Camp hat and a Frontier Camp t-shirt along with a letter telling him that he would get to go to the Father-Son retreat next year along with Dave and Isaac!  Dave had won the hat at Frontier Camp a few weeks before Josiah's birthday, and I had found the Frontier Camp shirt at Goodwill last summer!  Josiah was so proud to wear a Frontier Camp hat like Isaac for the day.  

 Joisah's birthday fell on Isaac's spring break week, and it worked out perfectly for me to take the boys to the zoo on his actual birthday while Emma was at school.  

We had such a great time at the zoo!  They just lifted the mask requirement at the zoo, and it was so nice and cool outside!  The boys loved looking at all the animals.  We packed a lunch and watched some heavy machines work on a new display at the zoo while we ate lunch.  Yes, you know you are with boys when you watch machines at the zoo!  We also rode the train.  Josiah loved his day at the zoo and said, "I wouldn't have missed the zoo for anything!"

Josiah received Ticket to Ride Jr. from Papa and Nana, so we played several games of that.  It's a lot of fun and perfect for his stage!  

Josiah asked for a triple layer cake this year!  He wanted one layer confetti, one layer chocolate, and one layer vanilla with chocolate frosting in between.  He also wanted cowboys on the top!  Emma baked all the layers!  

We had told the kids we weren't having any birthday parties in 2021, but Josiah enjoyed his birthday dinner with our family and Pop & Mom-o so much!  He asked for his three favorite foods: cantaloupe, cheese pizza, and cottage cheese!  And, of course, a triple layer cake!

 

Josiah Dodge: 6 Year Old Interview

1.  What is your favorite color?  green

2.  What is your favorite toy?  Legos

3.  What is your favorite fruit?  peaches

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  grilled cheese, Hat Creek, and also McDonalds 

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? those cereals with all the marshmallows

6.  What is your favorite thing to eat for supper?  pancakes, then he said, "Breakfast for dinner, get it, Mom?" (Pancakes always sounded good to me my first trimester, so we had breakfast foods for dinner often!)

7.  What is your favorite thing to drink?  strawberry milk

8.  What is your favorite snack?  cheese (Josiah says, "I am a cheese lover!") 

9.  What is your favorite show?  Paw Patrol

10.  What are your favorite clothes to wear?  Jengo Fett shirt 

11. What is your favorite animal?  Tex 

12.  What is your favorite song? "The Anchor...Christ the Sure & Steady Anchor"

13.  What is your favorite book?  Lego book (by this, he means the Lego direction manuals that show step-by-step how to put together a Lego set - he loves looking at these!)

14. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? help him on the new bridge

15.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  hug her and kiss her 

16.  What is your favorite thing to do outside? swim in the pool 

17.  What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas 

18.  What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you each night? Stripes 

19.  Where is your favorite place to go?  Altitude 

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up? a workerman on Rinn Homes 

a very tired Thursday afternoon after picking up Emma at school and waiting in the car during piano lessons - fell asleep almost as we were home!

At 6 years old, Josiah is 56.8 pounds (91.47%) and 48" tall (90.05%). 

Emma Victoria: 9 Year Old Interview

1.  What is your favorite color?  blue

2.  What is your favorite toy?  the bird that they gave me

3.  What is your favorite fruit?  grapes (purple)

4.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Hat Creek

5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Honey Nut cereal

6.  What is your favorite thing to eat for supper?  noodles

7.  What is your favorite thing to drink? Dr. Pepper

8.  What is your favorite snack?  yogurt raisins

9.  What is your favorite show? Paddington Bear 

10.  What are your favorite clothes to wear? shorts & a t-shirt

11. What is your favorite animal?  a dog

12.  What is your favorite song? "All Things Bright & Beautiful"

13.  What is your favorite book?  "Peter Rabbit" (This is a book in her classroom that she wanted to read so badly that she took it to the bathroom with her at school to read! Ha!  I had a hilarious e-mail from her teacher about this.)

14. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?  build the grotto

15.  What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?  bake cookies

16.  What is your favorite thing to do outside? play

17.  What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas

18.  What is your favorite thing to take to bed with you each night? Samson

19.  Where is your favorite place to go?  the Lego store

20.  What do you want to be when you grow up?  a Pet Smart worker 

At 9 years old, Emma weighs 49.8 pounds (5.73%) and is 49.5" tall (10.85%). 

Isaac's presentation on Great-Grandpa Tim Bailey

This is a transcript of Isaac’s presentation in his 5^th grade classroom at Coram Deo Academy from September 30, 2020.  Isaac impersonated his Great-Grandpa Tim Bailey.  Isaac wore a bomber jacket and aviator goggles during the presentation.  He gathered all his facts from Great-Grandma Bailey on September 3, 2020 when our family visited her in Iowa.

 

My name is Leslie Bailey, and I grew up in the 1930s during the Great Depression.  I had a dog named Buster, and I had to ride my horse 6 miles to school.  

 

So one day, it was a really stormy day, and I had to ride my horse 6 miles in the storm.  So by the time I got there, school was cancelled because it was so stormy and I still had to ride 6 miles back in the storm.  Can you imagine riding 6 miles in a storm and then having to go back?

 

I also liked playing jokes on people.  So, I thought it would be kind of funny because my older sister was going on a date with her boyfriend, and I thought it would be funny to pour a bucket of water on them!  So later that night I crawled up on the roof with a bucket of water, and as they both came out the door, I poured a bucket of water on them!  The boyfriend said, “I’m going to catch you and give you a whipping!”  So, then he crawled up on the roof and chased me around a bit until I said, “I know this roof better than you do!” and with that he angrily left!

 

So, when I was a little bit older me and my friend Russ went to the Air Corp.  I flew gliders, and he flew glider planes.  Well, what is a glider?  A glider is a light plane that flies really fast and doesn’t make a sound, and this is what one of them looks like this.  

 

(Isaac showed his classmates a picture of a glider that Grandma Bailey had given him and said, “My great-grandpa flew this.”)

  

During that time, I trained in Lubbock, Texas for two years.  During that time, my friend Russ was killed in Italy, and then I was shipped to Italy.  Then, I was assigned a rescue mission.  So, a Burmese soldier’s family was in Burma, and the Japanese were making raids on the village townspeople.  So, I went there, and I could not speak the language, so I had to beckon to them to hurry up and to get their stuff out!  And, I thought it was pretty funny that they carried chickens in baskets as if they were their pets!  They also carried bags of rice and other food items.  

 

After the war, in 1945, I was a farmer, and I worked for Burlington Railroad Shops. And I owned my own shop called Pumps and Well Drillings.  During that time, I had 3 boys and 2 girls.  Their names were Randy, Kevin, Ridge, Susie and Dinah.  The best part of my life was when I was 30 years old and I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. 

This is a picture of Grandpa Bailey holding Isaac at the Silent Wings Glider Museum in Lubbock, Texas!  David, Isaac, and I drove to Lubbock to meet Grandpa Bailey, Papa and Nana, Uncle Kevin and Uncle Randy for the World War II Glider Pilot Reunion in the fall of 2010.  Isaac was just a few days shy of turning 1!  

Isaac interviewed Grandma Bailey about Grandpa Bailey's life while we visited her last September.

Josiah, Emma, and Isaac on Grandpa Bailey's tractor (September 3, 2020)

Emma's 9th Birthday!

Celebrating 9!!

Emma remembered when I had hung streamers and balloons from her door several years ago on her birthday, and she really wanted to wake up to that on her special day! She left them up for over a week.

Emma loves donut holes, and Dave asked our favorite donut shop to make a special #9 donut for her! Dave rotates taking Isaac, Emma, and Josiah out for donuts each Saturday morning, and it worked out perfectly that Emma's Saturday for donuts landed on her birthday!

We had a wonderful FaceTime call with Linda, Emma's birth mom. It was so special to talk with her on Emma's birthday!

Emma had said for weeks that she wanted a dog cake!  

Emma really, really loves Tex!

She worked so patiently with me on all the aspects of the cake - cutting the cakes to make a dog shape, making frosting, and decorating. Emma loves working in the kitchen and is a tremendous help!

For her birthday dinner, Emma asked for all her favorites—Domino’s pizza, rice, noodles, iceberg lettuce, and a dog cake! Love her so!

Birthday pancake - a few weeks late!

a wedding celebration!

On Saturday, March 6, we attended Whitney Stonecipher and Andrew Master's wedding!  The Stonecipher are our dear friends, and we were so happy to celebrate this day with their family!  We admire Whitney and Andrew so much, and it has been special to see them get to know each other, get engaged, and now get married!  

When we walked into the church for the ceremony, Josiah immediately said, "Where's the cake and punch?"

Emma was a flower girl in the last two wedding we attended, and she was on the edge of her seat watching the wedding ceremony.  She kept track of the order of service printed on the program, and during the processional wanted to know who was coming next!  

There was a children's table set up in the reception, and Emma loved working on this wedding party sticker project.  

During the toasts, Emma wanted to be up at the very front to listen.  She asked me, "Help me get to the front!"  She got there and didn't move! It was sweet to see how interested she was in everything about Whitney and Andrew's wedding!

Bryan, youngest brother of the bride, and Isaac - such great friends!  

And my great friend, Jennifer!  This is her second round of being mother of the bride in less than two years!  

Baby Rinn!

11 weeks - Wednesday, January 27

13 weeks - Wednesday, February 10

15 weeks - Wednesday, February 24

Cravings:

anything cinnamon

raspberries

orange juice

lemon Noosa yogurt 

One day, a hamburger, and then since that day I can barely stomach the thought of hamburgers.  During the  now/ice week, I was craving a hamburger so much, and Dave found that Whataburger was open!  Whataburger was one of the few places open during our ice/snow week, and the line was out onto business 114. 

  I was so excited about my hamburger and only ate half of it so I could look forward to the next half the next day.  But, the next day, I could barely look at it, and Isaac ate it for me! I haven't been able to eat a hamburger since then.

I've found another great use for masks - wear one when you're too nauseous to smell cooking meat but need to feed your family! 

Picture courtesy of Dave :) - I can't believe how tired I am and how quickly I tire out.  I'm not sure if I felt this way with Josiah, because I was on bedrest and wasn't active.  I am so thankful to be able to be up this pregnancy!  When I attended Isaac's basketball games and also when I walked Emma into school with 144 donut holes to celebrate her birthday stand out to me as moments when I couldn't believe I was able to be up and living "normal life" during pregnancy.  I don't take this for granted and am truly so thankful to be up and moving!  

We heard baby's heartbeat (176) for the first time on Tuesday, January 19.   Dave was able to come to the sonogram portion of this appointment with me.  Dr. Bradford walked into the exam room and said, "I can't wait to hear this story!"  Our initial appointment was delayed because we had Covid, and I was almost 10 weeks before we went to the doctor!  This has been such a different experience that Josiah's pregnancy, where at that point we had already had several sonograms.  

Baby measured 10 weeks, 1 day, and by my calculation I was 9 weeks, 6 days.

At my next appointment on Tuesday, February 23, baby's heartbeat was 154.  Emma had asked if she could come to the appointment, and when I explained that she couldn't, she asked if I'd record it!

One more quick funny story...the other night my back was feeling awful.  Josiah said, "Mom!  Just think, everything will be back to normal when the baby is born!"  Emma said, "Mom, you're just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and feeling worse and worse."  Ha!  

It is so sweet to share this with older kids!  Yesterday, Josiah came up to me in the garage, kissed my bump, and said "Are you a boy or a girl?"  

What a miracle!  We are so thankful for this little life and still can hardly believe this is happening!