the kids
-
amie turns 14.
Can you believe it? Here is David’s birthday Facebook post, which says it all: “Amie turns 14 today. She is beautiful inside and out. She loves animals (4 chickens, a lizard, Guinea pig, dog), art (watercolor), baking (see cakes of late), and the outdoors. She radiates Jesus, seeing those others don’t see, giving in ways others don’t know, generous to the point of making me uncomfortable, buried in Philippians all summer, and will confess her sin quicker than anyone I know. The Lord bless you and keep you, Ams.” We didn’t do a big party for this year (well, we never do big parties if I can help it.…
-
the quiet week and camp pick-up.
David and I arrived home from Mexico at midnight Monday (well, technically Tuesday). The three boys didn’t come home from camp until Saturday. Which meant the three of us had a very quiet five days at home without them. It’s the first time I went two weeks without my three boys since Gabe and Noah’s adoption, eight years ago, and it felt so strange to me that it prompted some reflection. The most surprising thing of all is that I wrote a blog post every single day. Oh my goodness, I had so much mental space! Amie and I finally finished painting my hall built-in bookcase. Do you…
-
camp drop-off, 2023.
Well, I discovered Sunday that if there’s anything more bittersweet than dropping a beloved child off at summer camp for two weeks, it’s dropping three of them off. After an extremely long, busy week — a week that threatened to make my brain explode — of preparing myself and our four kids to travel in different directions, we loaded the van and drove up to the mountains on Sunday. David and Amie stayed home for church and for Amie to leave for her own trip to North Carolina with some friends. Our packing week was so full that I actually found the three-hour drive to Cashiers, NC, restful. I’d chosen…
-
gabe turns 12 (by david).
Gabe turned 12 this weekend. He’s the kindest person I know. A math and Latin whiz, he loves doing Rubix cubes, Sudoku, and Calcudoku (don’t ask). He’s a voracious reader. He is our resident splinter remover and has even removed stitches for me (YouTube). His heart is tender toward Jesus. He sheds tears over his sin and over his friends who don’t know Jesus. He is a generous forgiver. Happiest of birthdays my son.
-
ten.
My last baby turned double-digits on Saturday, December 31st. I have to laugh (or else I’ll cry) because as I sat last week attempting to write a very short blog post, I kept getting interrupted by a clash of wills with him. Finally, I closed my laptop in exasperation and went to have real talk with him. So I’ll paste David’s birthday Facebook post and show you a picture of our Noah with his birthday gift, a spiny-tailed lizard (Uromastyx). “Noah turns 10 today. Our baby. Adventurous, high energy, kind, enormously generous, comes alive outdoors among insects and rocks. Snake handler. Part Ishmael with no problem talking over and against…
-
july.
I reread Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series in its entirety this summer, and decided to go out to breakfast to celebrate. You were invited if you’ve also read the entire series, which is no small feat considering there are 17 books (with one due out this fall, hooray!). Linda, Cheryl, Beth and I met at Small Sugar for cafe au lait and croissants and spent a solid hour and a half talking about the series. It was blissful. Nina’s Retirement Party My Mom (known to her grandkids as Nina) retired this month from working at CIU for 24 years. She started out in Residence Life then spent the bulk…
-
may.
We started off the month by finishing homeschool co-op for the year, playing the last game of the soccer season, and coming down with Covid. Most of us had a fairly mild case — congestion and fatigue — but David had flu-like symptoms for a whole week. Jump Off Rock Half Marathon Judah and David had finished their training program right before they got sick (actually David realized he ran the 12 miles while he was sick), and we were all a little worried they wouldn’t be able to get their strength back one week later for the race. They drove up to Hendersonville the night before, and…
-
audiobooks.
One of my kids recently informed me that we have over 100 audiobooks in our Audible library. I was so surprised. I’ve added to our collection over the last eight or nine years, mostly just one title a month. A few times there’s been a sale on classics, and I’ll buy several books for under $5 (for instance, the Green Ember series by S.D. Smith is currently on sale for $4 a book). I know I’ve mentioned audiobooks often on the blog, but I thought I’d give you an update of how we use audiobooks in our house by answering some of the questions I get regularly. Years ago, I…
-
7 years.
Gabe and Noah have been apart of our family for 7 years. It simultaneously feels like the time has flown and also that they’ve been with us forever. I thought to celebrate Adoption Day, I’d tell you about what they’re each like, right now, in spring, 2022. Gabe. He’ll be 11 years old in a month. He has endless questions about the world and the way things work. He wants to know the details of machines and appliances and any technology. He shines in math, Latin, and science. He’s not a bookworm in the way some of the rest of us are, but does enjoy reading nonfiction, especially…
-
march.
March is one of my very favorite months, because it’s the month of Daylight Savings time, and typically the month when I can start wearing flip flops again. We had a great New Members’ class and the trampoline miraculously held up yet again with a dozen or so kids jumping (this is always a fear of mine when we have guests). Here’s what else we were up to: Celebrating Kelly’s birthday with charcuterie, wine, and gluten free cupcakes. Noah has been asking me to teach him to iron. I have a great ironing hack. Actually it’s a great make-your-husband-wear-all-his-work-shirts hack. I only iron once a month or so,…
