Carcassonne

Crystal and I played a game of Carcassonne
with the kids (Purity, Charis & Emery) last night. I saw this played at our New Year's Party, so when the local game store was going out of business and had it on sale I grabbed a copy. The kids really enjoyed it...Emery particularly had a great time matching up the tiles to make the cities and roads (though it was a bit of a challenge to keep him from knocking around the rest of the tiles in the process of placing his current one). Overall, we had some fun family time together - it's worth trying it if you haven't played it before. Good strategy while still being simple enough for smaller children to play.

Getting Up - Week 2

So, we're on our second week of rising at 6AM - and its getting slightly easier. We'd both find it to be far easier if Nahum would sleep though the night :) but so far that's not happening.

We have really enjoyed our exercise / prayer time and our family worship time at 7AM (when we get the kids up) is going much better than when we were doing it in the evenings. We did decide to take the weekend off, sleeping in on Saturday (well, as much as is possible) and rising a little later on Sundays. I'm not sure I'm entirely ready to part with lazy Saturday mornings yet.

Actually, this Saturday I did get up a little earlier than usual. I told Emery that when he got up he could come wake me up and we would go on an "adventure", just him and Dad. Our adventure turned out to be a trip to Wendy's and the hardware store, and then a walk back from the ranch after we got the van stuck in the snow - but it was good to have some quality time together "just us guys".

Update - and getting up!

From 091218

So, I've been bad about ignoring this blog for some time. We had our sixth child and third boy, Nahum Joseph Hicks ("Nacho" or "Mr. Stretchypants" for short), on October 13th, 2009. We also made considerable progress on our homeschooling, saw Aunt Kate off to college, had a family vacation to Denver over Thanksgiving, a great Christmas, a fun New Year's party. There are many other things I should have posted about but haven't. Moving on...

Crystal and I have felt convicted for a while now about getting up in the mornings. Neither of us are "morning people"*, and especially after you've dealt with a fussy baby all night long it's hard to roll out of bed in the morning. However, we could see the necessity of getting an early start to the day for several reasons:

1. We need time to pray together and discuss God's word apart from the kids.


2. we need time to discuss our plan for the day


3. we both wanted time to exercise and keep in shape


4. we wanted a time when we could consistently do family worship with the kids


5. we wanted to get the kids started on chores and school before 11AM

While we were trying to do some of those things in the evenings, there were often too many interruptions. Even when there wasn't something else going on we often were too tired and worn-out by the end of the day to stay motivated enough to get it all done.

We've agreed several times to start getting up at 6AM before the kids, but it was always too easy to shut off the alarm or hit the snooze, but in the end we realized the toll this was taking on our family. So yesterday, for the first time, we both got up when the alarm went off. I know this may seem insignificant to you morning people out there (you know who you are...), but it was really difficult for us. We prayed together while we exercised, and then woke up the kids and had family worship together. What a great start to the day.

To be honest, the rest of the day was miserable. We were grouchy. The kids were grouchy. They doddled through their chores, they fought with each other, they weren't obedient, they barely got any schoolwork done, which made us even more grouchy. But, in the end, we're still glad we did it.

We got up at 6AM today again too. It was a little bit easier (not much, mind you), and so far things have gone a little bit better. I'm hoping this pattern continues...

It really is refreshing to get a good start to the day. While we're both rather exhausted, being able to spend time focusing on God (both as a couple and together with the kids) first thing in the morning really will change things. I'm looking forward to it (all but the getting up part).

* Emery, unlike his parents, is a morning person. Regardless of what time he goes to bed he rises early to greet the new day and cheerfully (and loudly) lets anyone who is sleeping know that it's time to be up!

2009 Christian Family Conference

We recently returned from the 2009 Christian Family Conference in Denver, sponsored by Christian Home Educators of Colorado (CHEC). The conference served as encouragement a chance for Crystal and I to re-focus on our commitment to develop in our children a passion to follow Jesus in every aspect of their life. As a parent, I can not see any other goal that is more critical to us at this stage in life.

To be honest, I'm finding it to be a big challenge. I realize the only way we can instill those values in our children is if they first see them modeled in us...and that just isn't as easy as it sounds. I recently had to face up to this firsthand when Crystal brought to my attention that I was allowing addiction to my computer to frequently usurp my quality time with her and the kids. I was resistant to give it up, but agreed to leave my computer at work over the weekend and instead focus on my task as a dad and husband. In hindsight, I'm really glad I did - but believe me it wasn't easy at the time.

The conference trip also doubled as our anniversary getaway. Mom and Kate kept the kids, except for Emery who wen't with Grandpa "Wiggy" to California to work on airplanes (both their favorite!). It was nice to have some quality time to spend together without the kids....we don't get it very often. Our friends Brian & Jenny Jarrett were able to escape for four days too, and we had an enjoyable time discussing what we were learning at the conference over meals with them. Brian will be blogging about some of his observations on their family blog if you're interested in taking a look.

I'm hoping to do some more blogging here myself over the course of the next few months. Things have been far to bare around here for a while.

Long Time, No Post...

Sorry for my lack of updates recently. During the month of February a lot of my spare time was consumed rehersing for a performance of Guys & Dolls, and therefore I didn't have much time to spare to update this blog. On the upside, I was able to work with a lot of great people among the cast, and I'm looking forward to being able to work with Upstage Shows again sometime in the future.

I hope to have some new content (more than just links) posted here soon, so stay tuned via the ATOM feed if you're interested.

Aloha Purity

Purity is on her way back tomorrow from a two-week trip with Wiggy, Nana, and Aunt Kate to Hawaii and Santa Barbara. Here she is standing in front of the USS Bowfin at the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Train Ride

One of the things I like best about homeschooling is the ability to be flexible with the schedule. We take advantage of this often to get out and show the kids the world first-hand. On Thursday Kat and Crystal took the five oldest to ride the narrow-gauge railroad in Georgetown (thanks to Nana for generously buying the tickets!). Enjoy the slideshow:

Rained Out

So, we had a picnic planned for our church group down at the ranch Monday night instead of doing house church on Sunday evening, but heavy rain off and on all day Sunday and Monday put an end to that idea. Maybe we will try to picnic again this upcoming Sunday if things dry out before then.

In other news I drove to Denver over the weekend to pick up our new 12 passenger van (well, new to us anyway). It is so much more roomier than our mini-van! We put the kids at opposite ends of each bench seat and proceeded to have the quietest ride to church ever since they were too far apart to poke at and annoy each other :).

Eden Sleep-Dancing

We took this movie of Eden a few weeks ago. He had fallen asleep in his jumper and was dancing in his sleep to the music we were playing. We experimented playing several different styles of music (everything from rap to country) and he kept jumping in time to the music regardless of what was playing. It gets really good toward the end of the video....take a look.

Movies

Back from Tepee Camp

So, the lack of posts for the past week was due to being at Tepee Bible Camp for the week. I served as chief while Crystal was the nurse. We had nineteen 8th and 9th grade campers (a small camp). The theme of the week was discipleship, and despite some problems it really seemed God was at work in the lives of some of the kids. If any of you campers or fellow staff happen to read this drop me a note to let me know how its going.

As always, our children had a blast playing in the dirt and enjoying being at the camp. Purity even did the "big hike" (7 miles) with us for the first time (at least the first time on her own legs) and didn't complain once!

We have our first official house church meeting at our house tomorrow night so today was spent unpacking from camp, doing laundry, preparing food, and getting things in order around the house.

Quilts

Our church (Heart of Junction) makes a beautiful quilt for each new baby. We were fortunate that this tradition started with the birth of Purity a little over five years ago, and each of our five children has one of their own. You can see them all on the HOJ Website.

Joint Birthday Party

Last night we hosted a joint birthday party for our son Emery (turning 3) and Kennedy, the daughter of our friends Kat & Kyle Wolfe (turning 4). Crystal and Kat decorated with a safari theme and Kat face-painted the kids up as animals. Kyle made an excellent batch of stir-fry for us to enjoy and a great time was had by all. To top it off we got to enjoy an amazing thunderstorm from the front porch!

Crystal has a tradition of making a special cake for each of the kid's birthday's and last night was no exception. Crystal and Kat made two cakes (a tarantula and a turtle, pics below), one for each of the birthday kids.

All the kids:


Painted faces:


Tarantula cake:


Turtle cake:


Birthday boy Emery:


Birthday girl Kennedy:

A Vision for Families

My wife and I attended the CHEC conference last month, and since then God has really laid it on our hearts to share the vision he has given us (and others) about family and children. I believe he may be leading us to start a family-integrated church fellowship in our area! I'm not quite sure what direction this vision will take, and to be quite honest I find it a bit frightening....it has been some time since I have served in any leadership position within the body of Christ (since 2001 when Crystal and I were first married).

I'm keeping in mind Joshua 1:9:

This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (NLT)

Tomorrow I am meeting with both the pastor of our church Heart of Junction as well as with another local minister who is working to start house churches in the Colorado River valley (see River Churches) to discuss this further. I'm excited to see what God will do! If you read this please be praying.

If you are unfamiliar with the term "Family Integrated Church" I recommend you check out the National Center for Family Integrated Churches for more information. The key concept behind family-integration is that it is the role of the parents (specifically the father) to disciple their children, and it is the role of the church to support and encourage the parents in that goal.

Family News

On Saturday my Dad got out the boat and we wen't to Harvey Gap for the day (a small reservoir not far from here). We tried to teach the kids how to fish without much success (my first time fishing in about 5 years), but had a great time with the family on the lake.

Crystal's twin sister Brandy met us at the lake and spent the night with us. On Sunday we traded her for Purity and Charis' friend Isabel (from church) who has stayed the past two days with us. Crystal took them all back to Grand Junction today to go to a beekeeping presentation at the library.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Hicks Family Blog! This post serves as an introduction to our blog and our family. We're glad you stopped by! We are a family of seven (currently) living in Parachute, Colorado (which is about an hour away from Grand Junction on the western end of the state - up in the mountains).

Our desire is to serve Jesus Christ through our words, lives, and actions. Because of His sacrifice upon the cross and resurrection from the dead we are no longer slaves to death but are free to live!

The purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends informed of what's happening with us, to encourage dads and moms as they attempt to parent and disciple their children, to share what God is teaching us, and occasionally to serve as a political soapbox when the need arises.

In the past few years God has really impressed upon us his passion for children, and as parents we have a huge responsibility to demonstrate God's love to them. We don't always get it right (in fact some days I'm not sure we get it right at all) but God has revealed to us two key "tidbits" of wisdom that probably seem pretty unconventional to most Christians, and certainly to non-Christians:

1. Children are blessings. God loves us and desires to bless us. When we take family planning into our own hands, we potentially rob ourselves of the blessings that God wishes to give us.

2. Dads and Moms have a God-given responsibility to disciple their children. Parenting and discipling your children is likely the most important thing you will ever do in your life. In order to be effective in this calling, parents (not the government) must take full authority and responsibility over their children's growth: physically, mentally, and (most importantly) spiritually.

Now if either of these concepts sounds foreign or offensive to you I ask that you grab your Bible and find out what God really has to say about the issue. I think you'll be surprised. For those of you to whom these concepts seem radical, I hope to include a deeper discussion of these and related topics in future posts.

Now that you know where we stand, allow me to introduce the family!:



My name is Roger Hicks. I work as the IT Department for my father's company, The Avsource Group, which provides a variety of aviation related services to airlines and leasing companies that own large jets. That's me in the back-middle. Nickname: Pidge or Pidgel.

My wife Crystal is (in my slightly biased opinion) the best wife in the world. Her daily work includes being mom, teacher, and maid, which is certainly a big task. Were that not enough she is both a licensed CNA and Cosmetologist and provides hair cuts, colors and perms to a growing list of clients in her "spare time". We are presently working on installing a dedicated salon for her in our basement. She is the one kneeling in front of me. Nickname: Blushious.

Purity (blue dress in the middle) is our oldest at age 5. She's got a strong will and a gentle spirit. She loves to sing and color and does a good job of helping Mom and Dad with the babies. Nicknames: Squirt and Peanut.

Charis (purple dress on the left) is 4. She's very sensitive and loving and is a great cuddle-bug. She also works hard to be a good helper around the house. Nicknames: Carebear, Two-shoes, and Peach.

Emery (being held on the left) will be 3 later this month. This guy literally has more energy than the rest of us combined. He's very observant and loves to fix broken things. Nicknames: Em, Buddy, Mr. Fixit, and Juggernaut.

Veronique (pink dress being held next to me) is 20 months old and has no problems asserting herself! She tackles each new learning experience with much gusto and excitement. Nicknames: Nique, Insta-party, and Weasel.

Eden (being held by my wife) is our latest addition. As of this post he is a little over 4 months old and does a much better job of holding his head up now :) He's quite the talker and will happily coo and caw with anyone who will give him some attention! Nickname: Smurf.

Also pictured with us here are my parents, Barry & Jan Hicks (on the right) and my grandmother Nancy Stover (on the left). My sister Kate (who recently turned 18) somehow escaped this picture. Also not pictured is our dog Schnitzel and our two cats: Prince Jester and Thumb.

Thanks for stopping by to visit us. I will be updating this blog on a semi-regular basis so be sure to bookmark it or subscribe to the ATOM Feed for updates. God bless!