Fall Days

 Someone (not me) bungee strapped a ladder to a tree so the kids could jump into our humongous leaf pile at this house.  I told this person the same thing I tell him everytime I think an activity is too risky:  he can explain the injury to the ER doctor.  Any guesses who he is?  My kids think he is the fun parent. 

 Shane did a flip into the pile!

What do you do for fun at your house in this lovely fall weather?  If you are up for some adventure head our direction! 

Eight Months Have Passed

 I look back over the past 8 months and I really do wonder how time seems to disappear.  It really does feel like we just received a phone call about a tiny little girl that needed a family.  And yet 8 months have passed?  Impossible, right?

 I love everything about this little girl!  Mark and I sit with her almost every night after everyone else is tucked in bed laughing at all the funny little things she does.  We would be happy to laugh at them earlier in the day if she decides to start going to bed earlier.  She has been pretty content to just scoot around on the floor and play until recently.  As soon as she hears my voice or sees me she starts yelling and doesn't stop until I scoop her up. 

She is one busy little girl too!  Moves pretty much non-stop which is actually good since pretty much every other child in this house is active.  She isn't crawling in a normal fashion yet but that doesn't slow her down.  For a while it was just an army crawl but her legs are now involved.  She does literal push-ups over and over trying to figure this whole crawling thing out.  It is really funny seeing this  tiny little peanut doing a push-up while yelling in frustration! 

Some of the things I love about this her at this stage:  when I am holding her and she is on the brink of falling asleep I cannot make eye contact with her.  She immediately starts giggling and squirming.  I can't unload the clean bottles from the dishwasher without her yelling.  As soon as she sees her bottles she thinks she should eat.  If I lay on the floor she moves away from whatever toy she is playing with and crawls over to me to slobber on my face.  She lights up as soon as she sees Heidi!  Must be from all the snuggles Heidi gives her when she climbs in her crib.

We love this little girl more than we thought possible!  She has the sweetest spirit about her that you can't explain until you have met her.  Happy 8 months Naomi!!

His Call

I have been thinking over the past few days about how we as people tend to classify and categorize things so quickly.  Including children.  It starts almost immediately with the question, "Is ______ a good baby?"  We put them into a category depending on how they sleep, how content they are.....you know the drill.  Before long we start comparing our children to our friends' children.  Are they getting better grades?  Are they as athletic?  Playing as many instruments?  We either start feeling superior or inferior based on our children's performance. 

Actually, I take that back.  It starts while they are in utero.  You wait with bated breath, watching the sonographers face for any sign that something is amiss with your growing child.  People say, "As long as they are healthy......"  But, what if they aren't "healthy"?  What if something shows up that we deem "special needs"?  Immediately, your child is categorized and given a label.  Without thought to the intricacies and beauty that is within your child waiting to be found. 

Part of what has made me think more this week than some weeks is the fact that my cousin and his wife are embarking tomorrow to Armenia to meet their newest daughter.  You see, their biological daughter born to them a few years ago was given the label spina bifida.  Was it scary?  You bet!  Was it unchartered territory?  Absolutely!  Has their daughter grown and thrived!  Yes and yes!  When you are forced to walk a journey you wouldn't maybe choose willingly you learn something important.  God meets you completely and graces you daily.  I am not speaking from personal experience but am pretty sure that if you are walking beside your child who has a special need and you feel God's grace you may think it is possible to love and care for another with His help.

This week they will be meeting their daughter who has a different special need.  She is blind.  Something my cousins wife said really struck me.  She said, "We don't really know anything about her except that she is blind.  But we didn't know anything about ________ when she was born except that she had spina bifida."  Do you see what has happened?  Trust.  Trust in a Father who has not left them to walk this journey alone.  Trust that if this is their daughter than anything else is really inconsequential.  Trust.......something I have much to learn about and allow to settle deeper in my heart.

Would some of you pray this week for them specifically?  I didn't ask their permission to divulge their names or their story.  But you can contact me and ask for their names if you would like.  Or just pray since God knows exactly who they are.  I have already been praying specifically that their newest little girl, who is 5 years old, will somehow know immediately that the arms that hold her are safe.  And that God would already be whispering to her heart that her momma and daddy are coming.  Isn't He awesome?! 

The Wedding

 The long anticipated wedding finally arrived this weekend.  Mark's sister Hannah got married on Sunday and Eden was going to be the flower girl.  She was so excited!  I was a little nervous since it was only the second week of school and she also was very sick last week.  We thought she had strep but when her strep screen came back negative the doctor was pretty sure we had a nasty case of hand, foot and mouth.  Poor girl was miserable!  She came home from school Friday,went to bed at 5:30 and slept until Saturday morning!  Saturday afternoon found us at the beauty salon getting her hair done for the wedding.  It was so fun watching her.  There were 3 other African American girls getting their hair done at the same time she was and she was watching wide eyed.  Her favorite part was when they straightened part of her hair!  She desperately wants straight hair and her eyes just sparkled.

 My sweet kids minus the baby.  How I love them!

 Mark's sisters are simply beautiful!  Every.single.one!  Beautiful inside and out!  Hannah, Joyce and Grace - the younger three.

 Christine and Suzanne are the older two sisters.  Both married and both have 2 sweet children.  I feel very blessed to have married into a family where I gained a bunch of sisters. 

 Hannah with my sweet Eden.

 Eden's cousin Jacqueline was the other flower girl.  Aren't they so cute?!

 Hannah was such a beautiful bride! 

 Classic beauty!

 We tried our best to get a family shot and this is about as good as it got.  I love this crew!

 Proof that Naomi was at the wedding.  She was loving her daddy and leaning in for kisses.

 Mark's siblings, parents and the new brother-in-law who is also named Mark.  Beautiful family!!

The happy couple with the littles in the wedding party.  Eden told Mark that her favorite part of the wedding was holding "that boys" hand.  Oh good grief!

We survived the weekend, all the kids woke up bright and early Monday morning even though I told them they could sleep in and off they went to school. 

We are so happy for Mark and Hannah!  People will often somewhat flippantly say people are good for each other but these two really are good for each other!! 

And once I recover completely and get caught up on life maybe I will find a way to make this blog a priority again.  Just maybe. 

First Day of School

 We woke up early to a bunch of nervous energy!  Breakfast was hardly able to be choked down past the lump in the throats and food felt funny on the jittery stomachs.  Half-eaten bowls of cereal were deserted and shoes were put on.  Backpacks were worn proudly and children declared they were ready to go.  Twenty minutes before we needed to walk out to meet the bus.  So the waiting began.  And last minute bathroom visits.  Judah left first since he is now in middle-school.  Where has the time gone?  His bus cruised on past our driveway but the driver noticed a waiting young man so hit the brakes!!  One on his merry way!

 Is it possible that he is in 4th grade already? 

 Tristan proudly saying he is in first grade.  He was the only one that about made me come unglued.  During good-bye hugs his chin started quivering and the tears started welling up in his eyes!  I pulled him as close as possible and whispered how proud I was of his bravery!  He nodded his head and turned to walk with Shane, Eden and his dad to meet the bus.  I know I would be a blubbering mess if I was the one putting them on the bus which would only make things worse. 

 And Miss E!  She could hardly wait!  She bounded out of bed, got dressed and was ready to go.  She was so ready to finally get to ride the bus.  I find it so hard to believe that in the four years she has been home she has grown from Naomi's size to a young girl ready to venture off on her own. 

This is where I found Heidi after the photo shoot with her siblings!  Little turkey!!  She loves climbing in the crib to snuggle.  And as you can tell Naomi doesn't mind.

The final verdict as everyone piled out of the bus this afternoon:  awesome!!  Everyone had a great first day despite the nerves.  Judah survived figuring out his locker combination, changing classes.....and everyone else came home full of stories! 

Did We Get A Puppy??

This looks very much like the work of a very playful puppy but we don't have one.  Who needs a puppy to tear books and magazines apart when you  have a little Naomi scooting around the floor?  We have learned the hard way to keep books and magazines off the floor and out of her sight or she will figure out how to get to them and start the shredding, mangling process.  Oh the joys of a partally mobile baby!!!

Get Away To Our Favorite Place

The story goes that when my grandfather was a young chap he and some friends bought a little plot of land along Pine Creek.  This is where we camp every summer with the big extended family.  It quickly has become the highlight of the summer for my kids much like it was the highlight of my summer when I was little.  There is something so wonderful and familiar about returning to the same place every year.  Nestled in between huge mountains and along a creek all seems right with the world upon arrival.  When it came time to try and do some sort of vacation with our kids they wanted to head to the mountains.  While there are plenty of beautiful mountains we have an affinity to the ones found beside Pine Creek.  Fortunately for us we know some kind hearted folks who have a cottage a few miles south of the cabin we go to every year and they said we could take our brood and hunker down for a few days!  Oh the excitement when we told our kids!  It was wonderful!

 Last week we spent the better part of 4 days along the creek with the kids and wrestled with the possibility of staying an extra night but knew we would be pushing the limits with the younger ones.  To say it was wonderful would be an understatement!! 

 Yahtzee was played in the early mornings until it was "warm" enough to venture into the creek.  They usually thought 68 degrees was plenty warm.

 Heidi liked to sit on the stool and look out the window as the creek passed us by.

 She spent most of her time on the shore watching everyone kayak and swim.

 My little loungers!

 I sat myself down numerous times a day to just watch the action from the shore.  Not a bad view, huh?

 Kayaking was the preferred activity.

 Awesome climbing tree!

 Lots of time on the swing!

 Serious snuggling happening while they slept.

 And to be honest, we hardly saw Judah the whole time we were there.  He was out on the water before I crawled out of bed and spent the entire day fishing.  He would come in to eat and that was about it.

 Night fishing with his dad!

 See Shane's rod in the kayak?  Up and down the creek they paddled, would pull up onto some rocks and fish.

 Checking out the action from a distance.

Look at this place!!!  Would you want to leave?  Everyone agreed that we should sell our place, ask if we could buy the cottage and move! 

Thank you Craig and Kate from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness in letting us use your cottage!  So many memories made and hearts filled!!