Whirlwind of Catching Up.

Blog-delinquent. Guilty as charged. Yes, had a lot of stuff happen around here and nobody to be my personal blogger to chronicle my life in photos and pithy sayings. So, I'll try to catch up.

Let's see, we left off at Lydia's birthday. Oh yes, okay, so the NEXT day was Philip's birthday (we're already going at lightning speed to get us up to the present!). Philip turned 5. He learned to ride a two-wheeler the day of his birthday. That was pretty cool. He's a fun little guy. When you ask him what he'd like for breakfast he often says, "Oh, I don't know. You decide." I like kids like that--they help balance out the more...particular ones. He and I have been enjoying some extended time doing his kindergarten work this fall. My mom usually teaches him twice a week, but given her heavy travel and guest schedule, I've been doing it. He's making good progress.

He's somewhat obsessed with dressing like Kevin. Simeon is obsessed with wearing his pajamas as day-clothes.
My mom's travel schedule took her to Hawaii in October, and took me to Fayetteville. I'm pretty sure I didn't get the good end of that bargain in regards to the scenery. I helped keep my dad company (because if you show up anywhere with 4 children, it's automatic company!). We did a few fun things like visit Yates Mill Pond (our favorite grist mill), and played in costumes.
Then we trooped off to the State Fair for my dad to get his farm-fix. He grew up on a farm.
And, in another farm-related activity, we took a hayride. Very fun!

Then we moved on to November and we had a break from school. That was nice as we got to visit with friends and take things a little easier. We had several car woes during that month, so that got expensive. And I began Operation Cookie baking. I volunteered to coordinate the cookie baking and gathering for my dear young friend's wedding on New Year's Eve.

Let's see we needed a few dozen, hmm, oh yes, 180 dozen cookies. I think we will end up with 172 dozen. But I think that will be sufficient. And then it sort of morphed into me helping coordinate the rest of the reception as well. So, that has been a real source of satisfaction for my bent on organization and project development. I am eager to see how things go on Saturday, 31st, and am praying for the Lord to bless the many hands that are making light work!

We shared Thanksgiving with my family down in Fayetteville. My parents have a young friend from their church who is basically like family. Or at least he considers my parents to be his own. And we just treat him like family: no playing favorites. He was there for Thanksgiving as well.

Also in November, I had the really fun experience of having an unplanned, but quickly planned visit with a dear, high-school friend who was in our area for a brief visit. We had a wonderful time of catching up. It was great!

December brought my sister-in-law Emily, and her boys Calvin and Owen and her sister Bethany, for a visit from Hawaii. Gareth is deployed again to Afghanistan, so it helps shorten the time for her to come to the mainland to visit. We enjoyed their company for about 10 days or so. And during their visit, Aunty Chris blew in with the west wind for her visit.

Here's a picture of Gareth during a training exercise. He's the guy in the back. I'm awful proud of him.

Calvin turned 4 in September.

December 20th was Aunty Chris' 70th birthday (although you would seriously doubt that she was a day over 58--really hoping I got those genes, but I'm thinking that 4 children has some subversive effect). Anyway, she was born during WWII and never had very elaborate birthday celebrations. So, she asked for a 7th birthday party. Boy, what a day.

We took her to the (free) student performance of the Nutcracker in Raleigh. We dashed out of there and went to my nieces' and nephew's school Christmas concert and then we popped over to Nicola's house for the 7th birthday party. The pictures tell the story.

And here we are, on the cusp of Christmas and a New Year. Life is so full, so rich. But as the children and I have been talking about in devotions, it is so broken by sin. We are walking alongside friends' whose father is dying of cancer; we have prayed after reading the blog of a little 7-year old girl named Lydia who died in November of brain cancer; we mourn with acquaintances in our town who, on Monday, buried their 17-month old Trisomy-18 baby. And we pray daily for God to enliven our hearts and make us flee our besetting sins. The brokenness of the world is crushing. Praise God for Christ who has undone the curse, and through whom, all things are being made new! Merry Christmas.

A Decade of Lydia

Lydia turned 10 today! Wow, we've been at this parenting job for a whole decade. That means I've been officially been out of the workforce for 10 years (woohoo to that one!). We praise God for this very diligent and purposeful first-born child, who has taught us so much more about ourselves than we knew before she arrived ;0)

The girls have a "bank" of "free days" which they earned prior to our school year beginning. Lydia asked if they could use a free day today which meant no school. I was kind of thankful myself!

We started our day with her present-opening, so that Daddy could be here too. She is really, really into dogs right now. She and Abigail have a (quite lucrative!) dog-sitting business in the neighborhood, which they take very seriously. So, we bought her an AKC kids book on dog breeds (one she has pored over from the library) as well as the AKC breeds poster (which she has pored over at the vet's office.

She and Abigail are also really into making duct tape wallets, purses, pencil decorations, etc. Three rolls of duct tape was quite a catch!
A fun book of poems by A.A. Milne from Aunty Emily and Uncle Gareth. I'm looking forward to reading some of them aloud to everyone.
And some folks just aren't morning people.

We went to the nursing home to visit an elderly church friend--that was a true delight for us, and she seemed to enjoy our visit as well. Then we went to a local school supply store for Lydia to spend some of her birthday money. When we went in, they asked if they could help us find something and I explained it was my daughter's request to go there on her birthday. They were thrilled and completely spoiled ALL the kids with freebies. Lydia selected some craft kinds of items and we hit the road again. Next we went to the pet store for dog food. They all enjoyed watching the "day camper" dogs through the glass--guessing their lineage (I think Mutt, was the major breed!). Next we went to the mall for lunch and for me to buy a new dryer ;0) We dashed home, threw Simeon into bed for an hour's nap, I got the crock pot going, the pizza dough thawing and we made a hasty welcome home sign. We got Simeon back up from his nap, threw him in the car and got on the highway, making it to the airport the minute before my parents exited the International Arrivals gate. We looked as though we'd been standing there casually all day ;0)

After a dinner of homemade pizza (for the kids) and chocolate cake, it was time to wrap up the day. Well, at least start wrapping up Philip's presents for his birthday tomorrow. Whew.

Life Cycle of the Butterfly

I take the boys to a monthly nature class at a local park. Recently it was on the life cycle of the butterfly and even Simeon was able to recite, "egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly!" Soon thereafter, the girls found a caterpillar eating our parsley (which happens every year ;0). They captured him and kept him in our amazing Dollar Store bug box. And amazingly, he wasn't killed, stepped on, knocked over or anything else! They fed him lots of fresh parsley and he seemed quite content. They were then very excited to discover he had formed a chrysalis and we moved him to an better safe-spot (after I found the bug box out in the middle of the yard on a 90 degree day!) Anyway, a few days ago, I walked past the box and saw some movement. The kids were thrilled to see that he had come out of the chrysalis and was trying to get his wings to dry. They saw him stretch out his proboscis in preparation for drinking nectar, and flutter his wings to get them to dry. We then just sat at marveled at his beauty--his colors (their vibrancy and exquisite design). Then we marveled at how much he no longer looked like a caterpillar--unrecognizably so! And HOW did it happen in that squished up space of the chrysalis? Where did all his caterpillar legs go to? How did he have a single fat body, and now has a 3-part body? What about his eyes--from simple to compound? It was really, really amazing to marvel at the transformation which God designed for the humble parsley-eating caterpillar.We looked up his species on the computer. As I was looking, Abigail said, "He must be rare because he's so beautiful." I found it. Common Eastern Swallowtail. We concluded there is nothing "common" about God's creation!

Lucky 32

September 11 is our wedding anniversary. This year was our 12th, so on our 2nd anniversary was the fateful 9/11. Since then, our anniversary has been somewhat difficult to celebrate and consequently, we rarely celebrate it on the day. This year was no different, but since I'd been in the hospital the day before we were supposed to go out and celebrate, we moved the date to this past Monday. We were very excited to be going to one of "only special occasion" restaurants, The Angus Barn, in Raleigh. We were enjoying our conversation, reflecting on God's providences in recent years, and going about 80 mph (with the flow of traffic) on a very busy highway. All of sudden, the car lost all power. It basically shut off. The dash remained lit, and thankfully, the brakes still worked, but it was off. Kevin slowed us down and steered us onto a shoulder. I immediately called AAA and in the background Kevin kept saying, "We have to get out, we have to get out and walk to somewhere safer. We're going to get hit!" So, as daylight rapidly faded, we started walking along I-40 to get to an area that was more expansive so we weren't in the direct line of someone reading to answer their cellphone and swerving into us. It was quite, quite terrifying! We got over the guardrail and walked in this 2 ft. wide strip of grass, holding onto a cattle fence. Long story short, a tow truck came and picked up the car, we flagged him down and he picked us up as well. Then he did 80 mph down the other side of I-40! That was pretty terrifying as well. He dropped off our car at a mechanic and Kevin asked him to drop us off at Lucky 32 (a nearby restaurant). I suggested we just get a shake at Chick-Fil-A right next door. Kevin was still going to celebrate ;0)

We had our dinner (I brought it home--I was a little jittery) and asked for a cab to get home. Thirty minutes later a cab came. That sweet man could only see half of his speedometer as only half of the dash lights worked in his cab. He drove us at least 60 mph down local roads. I had on no seatbelt and was just envisioning the headlines from many different angles. Anyway, I was never so relieved in my whole life to get into our own house! And thankful for a wonderful date night swap-sitter who puts up with all my kids' "idiosyncrasies"!

In the morning Philip said, "Well Mom, at least you got two treats on your birthday: you got to ride in a tow truck and a taxi!" Silver linings, I guess ;0)

The car can be repaired...at a price. A serious price (think a few house payments). And our dryer quit today! But, praise God, He will provide ;0) And He has reminded us of His everlasting love by keeping us safe along busy roads, and on quiet ones too!

Colonial Williamsburg

Although I put up a bunch of photos on facebook from this trip, it well deserves it's own blog spot, hopefully so I can remember the good information for future trips! Let's see: 1. it is GOOD to stay at the Woodlands Inn and Conference Center because a) you get a suite (kids in one room, closed door and parents in the other), b) you get free breakfast (and not just dry cereal!), c) it has an outdoor pool (with towels) and free mini-golf, d) they gave a very gracious extra 4 hours to check out late to accommodate a napper, and e) it is close to the bus to get you into Wmsburg. 2. It is GOOD to have good walking shoes at Wmsburg (lots of walking) 3. It is GOOD to go and do morning events and see trade shops in the town and then have lunch, come back to your hotel, take a nap and then catch the bus back into "town" to see a parade (each day) complete with drums, fifes and guns. 4. It is GOOD to keep a bag of Skittles in your purse to get you through a candlelight organ recital at 8 p.m. with 4 children who have been walking for 8 of the last 12 hours ;0) 5. It is GOOD to give thanks to the Lord for letting you run into friends from Charlotte who you never planned to meet in Wmsburg, but who "happened to be there" right at the same time you were ;0) Here are some photos.Oh yes, also GOOD to have a stroller--for everyone ;0)
Here we are waiting for the bus: the boys' favorite part.
I really loved the late afternoon light you get in Williamsburg. Something about it makes the whole places seem very "authentic" (if that makes any sense!).
The Governor's Palace. We had a very knowledgeable, but somewhat dry tourguide. By the very last room, Lydia looked at me imploringly and whispered, "Mom, this is BORING!" Agh well, she was sort of right.
See what I mean about the light? My camera doesn't really do it justice. I came home and looked up jobs at Colonial Wmsburg--a girl can dream ;0)Here are Joyners and Snapps intermingled in George Washington's pew at Bruton Parish Church. They spruced up each other's enthusiasm for Wmsburg ;0)
Simeon not so successful at hoop rolling with Daddy. He did actually have some fun although his face doesn't look that way in this photo.

Our two families on the steps outside the Mental Hospital/Art Museum (you know, building efficiency and all that).

No heartbeat.

On Labor Day, I took my parents to the airport and surprised them with the exciting news that I was 9 weeks pregnant. I had yet to go to my first doctor's appointment (scheduled for the next day) but I wanted to tell them before they headed off for a 3-week trip to the UK. We were waiting for our first ultrasound before we told the children. My parents were thrilled, surprised (Mum) not-surprised (Dad) and excited.

The next day I went in for the appointment while Kevin kept the children. The doctor took one look at the ultrasound and told me there was no heartbeat. It was as though someone had squeezed all the air out of me and a little child's voice came out of my mouth, "There's no heartbeat???" I couldn't believe it. It appeared that the baby had passed away late in the week before. I burst into tears, so desperately wanting that baby I could see on the screen with arms and legs and a head and a tummy to have a beating heart. But the Lord, who had seen fit to let us carry this child for 8 weeks, had now taken His child to be home with Him. It was crushing to bear that weight as I put my clothes on and left the office. I met the children with Kevin right outside the office and we had to explain to them immediately what had happened. It was so, so sad. But I told the children of God's goodness, and His sovereignty in all of life and encouraged them in knowing that one day they would meet that baby in glory. Psalm 57:2 says "I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me." There certainly was crying out, but I did take comfort in knowing that this is part of His purpose for me, for Kevin, for Lydia, for Abigail, for Philip and for Simeon. And it is a good purpose.

Wrightsville Beach

We made it down to the beach for a daytrip, the Saturday before Labor Day. I posted some of these pictures on facebook because well, it was quite an unusual trip. We managed to get everyone in the car by 6:50 a.m. (okay, they slept in their bathing suits) and on the road just before 7 a.m. We got a great parking spot at the beach a few minutes after 9 a.m. and the beach looked pretty much like this.
I was down at the water with the children when Simeon came back up to our tent and to see Kevin. This is the scene:
"Who's that guy??" I asked Kevin. "Shhh, he's sleeping," was his reply. I was confused but Kevin indicated it was fine--the guy just wanted to rest in the shade.
He was there for 3 hours!!! He only moved to get further UNDER our tent as the sun got hotter on his face. His friends appeared after lunchtime and sort of kicked him awake. He got up without so much as a thank you! I think he was pretty blitzed.
I thought for sure the kids would crash on the way home. They didn't. So, we ended up getting some milkshake-type things to complete a day at the beach.

Simeon's 3rd Birthday

Simeon turned 3 in mid-August. He managed to get under the wire on potty training at 2 (like, um, the week before he turned 3!) I waited by far the longest with him to potty train (after trying unsuccessfully in June) and I have to say, I really liked it! He had zero accidents, and in fact was very over-zealous in getting himself to the potty (even if he didn't have to go). He still wore diapers for naps and bedtime, but I cut out the naptime diapers and he transitioned well. Then I noticed that he is dry all night as well in a diaper, so tonight I'm cutting that out as well! He is a very verbal little fellow; loves to blow and whistle and direct his siblings; loves to call them "children" (e.g.: "Children, put down your spoons. I am going to pray for our breakfast...[sigh] 'Pray Thather, thank you for this great day, and for mommy and daddy's car breaking down...and...for this food. Jesus' name. Amen.'") Philip corrected him because a) the day hadn't started and b) we weren't thankful that the car broke down. [see later posts on that one.]

Anyway, enough of the posterity-post. His birthday: he celebrated twice. First, on the actual day we went to my parents and he had his very own chocolate cake complete with chocolate buttons. He enjoyed the day. We went to a local produce/small animal farm in the sweating heat. My camera died (although I later revived it), so I have very few photos.

My mother, the original recycler, gave him a card which had been given to my dad. When you blow out the blinking lights on the cake, it plays a jazzed up version of Happy Birthday (to which my dad said, "What song is that????") Anyhoo...
Here he is blowing out his candles. He had a fun day. Later we celebrated with Kevin's dad (birthday 3 days later) at another party and Simeon was more than willing to blow out more candles and eat more cake!

Annie's Bridal Shower

Last Saturday a very dear young lady (who I have known since she was a wee lass of 11) was showered with blessings at a lovely event in her honor. It was also a big day for us as it was our girls' first time attending a shower. Believe it or not, I think they were nervous. It was a delightful time to be hidden away on the 3rd floor of an historic building in a quaint downtown. We could see the skies open and the rain slash the windows, but the chattering and laughing drowned whatever thunder rolls attempted to intrude on our time. Here are some photos (taken by Lydia!)Annie and her fiance are musical (specifically she's a violinist and he's...hmm lots and lots of other instruments). I thought these were lovely themed figurines!
The shortbread was our contribution. I was taking some pride in them, only to be humbled by my daughter who told me that overnight they had become soft and tasted stale!
Here's a bevy of gifting!
A fun shot which Lydia captured of the decor and beverages. Everything was just lovely.
One very excited and cheerful bride-to-be! We can't wait for the wedding on New Year's Eve!

Catching Up.

So, here we are in the very last week of our first quarter of our school year. I'm ready for a break! It has been a good first quarter, although there are always things I wish we did better. But since it has been brutally hot, we've at least been productive with our indoor time! We did have one week off, during which we attended VBS at another local OP church. The theme was "A Dangerous Journey." The oldest 3 attended and I took Simeon off to a friend's house each morning for him to have some solo time. The oldest 3 greatly enjoyed themselves, although I'm not sure on Philip's level of comprehension! But it was fun, and they looked forward to going each day. We concluded that week with an impromptu trip to the NC Art Museum. My parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary by going there and also staying for dinner. Since we were so close by at VBS we met them there on the Friday afternoon. Abigail and I spent a good deal of time looking at an oil painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder. She has studied the work of his father, Peter, this quarter and so to see a painting by his son was a real treat. Interestingly, Peter Brueghel had 2 sons--both of whom became artists (as did some of their sons), but Peter died when his own sons were 4 and 5.

Here are some random July photos: Tomatoes from the garden (which is almost completely dried to a crisp now)!
Simeon appeared one day saying, "Look at me, I'm PeeDee the Pirate!" A reference to ECU and also attributed to his lack of toys and dress-up clothes that he found a metal clothes hanger to play with. NOT!
The great Pollywog failure. We collected frogspawn from the creek behind the house and vigilantly watered and watched it grow into many, many pollywogs in our garage. Then, I had the bright idea of moving them to a larger space (a green turtle pool) in the backyard. Only a couple of hours of 100+ temps fried the poor things! Abigail, in a magnanimous way said, "Well, we all had a part in the death of those poor pollywogs."
Kids piling on each other. Lydia, 9, Abigail 7.5, Philip 4 and Simeon 2. Birthday season around here is August and September, so we'll soon have changing numbers!
We went to celebrate the 93rd birthday of a church friend at her nursing home. A couple of other church families joined us. In this photo our friends, the Conlons (2 boys, 2 girls) joined us to smile with Mrs. Annaveldt.

4th of July

We spent the majority of today down at my parents' house. We hardly ever get a day to just go and hang out leisurely with them, but today we could. It was really nice. My mom does a nice job of keeping color around their home despite the beastly hot temperatures we have in the summer.She set out a moving truck blanket and a bucket and gave the kids corn to shuck. Keep helping me with their work ethic, Mom! We ate out picnic on their back deck where their thermometer told us it was 102 degrees. Nice.
The children each made an American flag and we had a few recitations of patriotic poems we've been enjoying. Lest you think we overachieve, I did the recitations (not from memory!) while the kids waved their flags.
My mom purchased sparklers and Lydia & Philip were eager to use them. Despite it being 102 degrees, and despite it being daylight. Anyway, we brought a few boxes home to use later. Abigail stayed seated, manning the water bucket--where you drop your used sparklers!

Happy Independence Day!