Our First Little Launch

Well, we made it through what my aunt dubbed as our "first little launch". You'll have to excuse me for not blogging about each little event leading up to Joe's first day of school (believe me, I could have!). Matt has switched from fourth to third grade this year and has been on the computer a lot this week working through all his new plans.

On Wednesday, Joe and I met Matt at school for a meeting with his teacher, the loving and capable Ms. Crissinger. The purpose of this meeting was for students to get all their supplies in place and parents to get an idea of classroom routines and procedures. On the way to the school Joe, being Joe, was very nervous and even had a stomachache. Things went well, though, and as we left the room Joe said, "I'm so happy about how that went that my eyes are watering!" I looked down, and, sure enough, he was crying tears of relief! We thank the Lord for helping Joe to have this sense of peace. The verse he's been memorizing in conjunction with starting kindergarten is Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You." How awesome God is that He shows His faithfulness to those who trust in Him.

Earlier this week Joe also received a card from a very dear lady in our church. In it she wrote,

"...You'll learn how to read. Then you can read the Bible all by yourself! You will learn about animals and birds and insects. Then you can see how awesome God is in the creatures He made. You will learn how to make new friends. Then you can tell others about Jesus and how He made all the creatures and gave us His Word."

These words brought a smile to Joe's face and they spoke to my heart as a mother. I was reminded that Joe is not really my own. God has created him with a larger purpose in mind, and I'm just one tool He will use in shaping Joe into the man he's going to be. We are convicted that for right now the public school is another tool the Lord will use in Joe's life, so while it would seem comfortable to keep him always at my side, that's not what he was made for. He was made to glorify God! It is so good to be able to trust God's purposes for Joe. While the sentimental part of me shed a few tears watching him head off on Thursday for his first day on his own, deep down I am rejoicing at the privilege of knowing God and marveling at His good and wise plan.


As for how the rest of the day went...Ellie asked about every ten minutes if it was time to go pick Joe up yet (and I was thinking the same question in my mind!). When 3:00 finally rolled around, he gave a glowing report. He told Ellie, "Kindergarten is really fun! You should go there as soon as you can!" When we were each reporting our daily highs and lows at the supper table, Joe said, "My high was going to school, and my low was coming home,"...and so the next stage begins. We have lift-off!

The Zoo Without Diapers

I'm home from church with a coughing, feverish Erin. I have 30 "Dora minutes" to blog.

We went to the zoo on Friday morning for our best visit yet! No diapers, cool temperatures, and we splurged on one of the rental strollers which are so much better to get around with. We're learning. Friday morning was cool and overcast, and we got to Columbus early enough that we could see many of the animals before they got heated up. Of course, our first stop was to see the baby "elfant" (always Erin's favorite). We've been watching this little guy grow up. He was born the same time as Erin which makes it fun. (I didn't take any new pictures of him because we already have way too many. I'm learning there, too.) We got a really good show from the sun bears, lions, orangutans, and tigers. The kids especially liked watching the gibbons where a baby was playing chase with the adults.

After lunch we found some monkeys (can't remember the name) which are native to Uganda, so Joe wanted us to get this picture for Aunt Martha and Uncle Eric. (Their habitat also featured the native Ugandan sun.)

Then for a final treat, everybody...

rode...

the carousel.


Well, the Dora minutes are up. Dora "did it" again..."Hooray!" We're off for a walk now.

Cute Stuff

I just snapped this cute picture of Erin with the "Essential Blue Elephant". (Do you still call it "snapping" when it's digital?) Since birth she's only spent two nights without him...and those were two long nights! Lately, he's her baby who came out of her tummy. Just tonight she called me into her room and didn't want me to leave until I had helped her baby stop crying. I have to give her credit for thinking of a new stalling technique with that one.


Other news from here is the "cozy hideout" Ellie found in the pantry after the new flooring was installed (before the clutter was moved back in). "Cozy hideouts" are all the rage around here this summer. She was pretending this was her doghouse and had so much fun with it, I may try to find another place for my pantry floor junk.

My Days Lately

This is a great picture of my days lately.


Unfortunately, so is this...painting kitchen cabinet doors!


There is no question as to which of these activities I enjoy more, and it's been hard to be diligent and stay balanced. What I've been thinking about lately, though, is that these activities (or any others) don't amount to a hill of beans if they don't help me know and display Christ more. "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (I Corinthians 10:31) The Proverbs 31 woman had this down. As for me, I'll keep leaning on Psalm 90:12, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Soliloquy

Most people who know Joe know that he has a Betta fish named Littlefin Betta ____ (last name, the same as ours). They also know lots of other things about Littlefin because as soon as Joe feels comfortable with a person, he launches into what Matt calls his "Littlefin Soliloquy". Joe's very fond of the soliloquy, in general, a trait which he gets honestly, I'm afraid. (My nicknames as a child were "Jabberjaw" and "Motor Mouth".) Joe loves to tell how he got Littlefin for his birthday because the Betta fish Aunt Martha gave us died after five days. He goes into some detail about this tragic event and does a pretty good impression of how the fish looked when it was floating belly up. He then goes on to describe in great detail, how much Littlefin has eaten recently, if he's been "active" (one of his favorite words) or not, what particular shade his fins are, how dark his spots look, etc.!! Anyway, I was so encouraged today because Joe gave his soliloquy twice. Normally this isn't unusual but today it was special. We were visiting Matt who was working on setting up his classroom, so we took a little walk around the school. Now I had this in the back of my mind all along because Joe has some serious jitters that need to be eased. On our little tour we bumped into two of Joe's future teachers who struck up conversations with him and, before we knew it, the soliloquy began! It was hillarious to hear him ease into it. He'd say, "You've probably never met my fish, Littlefin..." And the connection was made! So he's feeling much better this evening, and we are already thankful for those wonderful teachers! Since birth we have been praying for the people who would come into our children's lives in various ways. I'm seeing, again, that God gives so wisely and so abundantly what we need, when we need it.
The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
Psalm 145: 8-9

Cicadas

Joe wanted me to take this photo for Aunt Martha in response to her blog post about the huge grasshopper. Joe and Ellie have made a hobby of collecting these hollow cicada shells. They think it's great fun to stick them on things like their clothing...or my hair. I think they're pretty gross. My kids must think I'm joking when I say that because it only makes them try harder to stick them on me. Matt's going to have to be the one to teach them to appreciate that kind of nature.
Here they are up close...enjoy!

Out, Out, Out with the Old!!!

For those of you who don't know, we live in a charming old house that's just loaded with character (a.k.a. a fixer-upper)...I mean lots and lots of character!! Over the past four and a half years we have worked diligently to mold the character of this somewhat grand old lady into all that we envision. We've had positive results, but the process has been arduous to say the least. This summer the main project has been the kitchen and today marked a turning point in the long road to my dream kitchen (or at least my kitchen that doesn't give me nightmares). For today...our new floor arrived! Now as lovely as this old floor looks in this photo, let me assure you that it's ten times worse in person. (Note that I also got some of the gross brown cupboards in there, too. My Grandma Boyer would have had the perfect word for that color, but I don't seem to have gotten that gene.)
So when the floor guy called this morning to say that they had a sudden opening and could they possibly come today instead of tomorrow, I had to bite my tongue to keep from yelling into the phone, "I've been waiting for you for four years! By all means, get over here!" The project turned out to be like all other projects in our house: much more than anyone bargained for. Fortunately, this time we weren't the ones bargaining, and I only had to listen to the frustration of our two capable installers rather than that of my husband. After removing three layers of old vinyl and a 1/2" layer of plywood, the original linoleum was revealed in a stunning shade of black...interesting choice. By 5:00, we had a floor that looks like this, and your feet don't stick to it.
Just your typical vinyl kitchen floor, but I couldn't be happier with it. Choosing a floor like this, some of you may know, involves looking at approximately 3,000 samples of vinyl that all pretty much resemble one another. Then one must bring home at least half of these samples to examine how each variation of beige-ish tan appears in the lights of the room in which the floor will be installed. Besides getting the color right, I wanted a pattern that had a "strong diagonal line". (I worded it like this, so I would seem artsy and knowledgeable to Don, the friendly salesguy, who never laughed at me - to my face, at least - even when I returned our fourth set of samples.) Anyway, the floor is in and it's just right, so we're rejoicing tonight. I always thought the new kitchen floor couldn't get here a day too soon, but, whaddya' know, it actually did!

Before the Throne

This song is one that we've recently been singing at church. It brings tears to my eyes everytime! It talks about the work Christ has done and continues to do for those who trust Him as Savior. I believe it's an old hymn. I know the words were written in the 1800's. I find it very eloquent and moving, so I thought I'd share it.


Before the Throne

Before the throne of righteousness
I have a strong and perfect plea:
a great High Priest whose name is Love,
who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands.
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in heaven He stands,
no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
upward I look and see Him there,
who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul is counted free,
For God, the Just, is satisfied,
to look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there, the Risen Lamb!
My perfect, spotless Righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of Glory and of Grace.
One with Himself, I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood.
My life is hid with Christ on high,
with Christ my Savior and my God.


Ephesians 2:12-13 tells us that when we are joined to Christ we receive all the benefits of God's chosen people. The only way a holy God can do this is because we are IN Christ; HE is the righteousness we need. This is just an awesome thought to me!

The Fair

In my world, the summer isn't complete without a trip to the Champaign County Fair. This place is so wrapped in nostalgic memories for me, and now being able to share it with my family is a thrill. We pretty much covered all the bases yesterday, from the food to the rides to the livestock. We started out watching a dairy cow show, where Erin clapped enthusiastically for all the winners and yelled, "Yay, cows!" Dinner consisted of a pulled pork sandwich from Grumpy's BBQ and some Bailey's Fries. I look forward to these fries all year, and they did not disappoint! We rode the merry-go-round with the kids a couple times. (It was pretty fast, so a couple of times was plenty!)


Then we watched them ride some kiddy rides.



The best part for me was touring (of all places!) the chicken barn. The look on the kids' faces when the roosters crowed was priceless! As a child, I woke to this sound every morning, and it made me realize all the things I take for granted, having grown up in the country. There was a petting area with some baby chicks, where a little boy held up a bird for Erin to pet. But instead of petting it, she kissed it! (I guess we don't worry too much about hygiene on days like this!)


We topped everything off with milkshakes from the Rotary Dairy Bar...the same Rotary Dairy Bar where I would get a shake after I finished showing my sheep each year. How comforting it is to have a place in your life that is virtually unchangeable. Some of the buildings are different now than they were in "my day" and the kids with the animals are a new generation, but the simple pleasures that make up a county fair remain the same. I know my sister will be reading this in Africa and will agree with me when I say that it's a very good thing.

The Boy

"(T)he skinny kid with dreams in his head..." is a line from a children's book called Barn Dance, and that's a really great way to describe our boy. Joe is a thinker and a planner (and rather on the slim side of skinny)! Most recently he has been onto this idea of getting a lava lamp...don't all six-year-old's want that?! So he prays every night, "God, if it's your will, please let me get a lava lamp for Christmas. And if it's not your will, please help me to be OK with that."

He's off to Kindergarten in a matter of weeks and is rather anxious about this upcoming change. Anything new and different is difficult for him, but he has a great teacher and we know that after the first few days he'll be fine. It's going to be really different without him around here all day to run the "pretending games" and make sure everyone is imagining correctly. We often say, "He's just a piece of work!", but we know Whose workmanship he is, and we're so thankful!

The Girlies

These are the girlies of our house in one of my favorite pictures from the summer. The taller one with blue eyes is Ellen Rebecca (Ellie) and the "shortstack" with the green eyes is Erin Lee. We didn't intend to give them both E names, it just sort of worked out that way. Ellie is named for her grandmothers, and Erin has the same middle name I share with my grandmother. The name "Erin" was a whim. We always joke that we named her that because it means "peace", and as she was our third baby in less than four years, that sounded pretty good. The neat thing about their names (which we didn't even realize until Erin was a couple months old) is that their initials sort of spell each others' name. Erin's initals are ELY (Ellie) and Ellie's initials are ERY (Erin-sort of).

They are 4 and 2, both with February birthdays. I like to dress them like this. They call it "matching twins". My mom is hesitant about it since it will mean that the clothes Ellie hands down to Erin will be the same outfits she's already had...spoken like a younger sister. I don't do the matching clothes very often, but I really love it when I can.

The Zipline

We're headed to Matt's folks this morning. They live on the farm in Vaughnsville, Ohio, where he grew up. To our kids, it's almost paradise, what with the grandparents, the cousins, the pond (complete with beach and diving board), the hot tub, and Trix for breakfast! Matt and I enjoy it too, of course. After a full day outside, we'll probably end up playing cards late into the night. It is such a blessing to me to have married into this family!

This summer the new attraction at the farm was a zipline which travels over the pond. The older cousins (and some of their parents) have had a good time with this. This picture is just a beaut, so I had to put it in. Matt is dropping off the zipline after coming across the water upside down! In the foreground is one of the homemade boats from our 4th of July contests.

We are here!

OK - My sister and my cousin, Julia, have me inspired. I don't know how much I'll have to say, or how well I'll be able to say it, but here goes... If anything, I'll enjoy collecting my thoughts every now and then.