Summer 2010: part one

Despite my best plans to document our days, a whole summer of them have slipped by without my even realizing it. So in order to catch up, I'll devote a series of posts to all of the moments and events that have kept me from the computer in the first place. Here's a snapshot of who we are and what we've been up to over the past few months....

~ The end of May found us in Jackson, Ms celebrating the wedding of our niece Hillary and her new husband, Chris. We were so thankful to get to be there with them and their sweet boy, Lawson. Hillary graciously allowed me the privilege of photographing their day, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
While there we stayed with Michael and Christina Dukes, good friends from our Belhaven days. With nine kids between us it was a party, for sure. Michael took us on a tour of our old school and it was great fun to be able to show our kids where our family got it's start.





~ We were able to take advantage of the Deadwyler family lake house in Jasper, Ga. for Memorial Day. It might be hard to imagine, but even with 9 kids, nine and under (10 if you count little Abigail who was still 6 weeks from being born), it was quite a relaxing and enjoyable vacation. There was boating, fishing, hiking and rock-skipping by day and plenty of dessert-eating, Ticket to Ride playing and laughing by night. I can't think of better activities to kick off a summer! We were even able to avoid an ER trip after Ben's elbow got pulled out of socket, thanks to the internet and Jimmy's brave doctoring.











~ With June came our annual Summer With Ashleigh (Smashleigh, Trashleigh, Crashleigh, Do-The-Ashleigh...). Unlike previous summers where Ash and I have tackled some project or another (quilts, cooking, scrapbooking, etc), our project this summer was "keeping everyone alive". We were successful (despite even letting Ashleigh drive our whole car-full of kids around a parking lot!). As usual, we played a lot of games, ate a lot of yummy food, embarrassed ourselves by racing through WalMart in search of unusual items in our scavenger hunt (girls won!), issued a lot of teasing in regard to Ash's love of texting and laughed a bunch. I take every opportunity to remind her that she's not allowed to get too cool for our summers. You've been listening, right Ash?




~ For science this summer we've been working through Exploring Creation with Astronomy. It's been incredibly enjoyable for everyone involved and I've been astounded by all that has been learned, understood and retained. It's really broadened some horizons around here made our whole family more aware and even more amazed by the creations of our great God. I could go on and on about this wonderful curriculum, but I'll save that for another day. We've all loved focusing on just science for the summer and it's provided us with a lot of great memories. We finished up our study this morning, just in time for the yearly Perseid Meteor Shower tonight! We've all been anticipating a night of star gazing to finish off our study. The trick is going to be getting everyone to wake up....



 ~ Our Friday nights were spent at the softball field  cheering for our favorite team. Go Redeemer! You can believe that Travis and Sam watched every second of every game in awe of their "super fast" dad. Going on to win the championship was an awesome way to end a fun summer of softball.



 Stay tuned for Summer 2010: part two!

Father's Day

A few weeks ago, the kids and I were wandering through Target when they happened upon a display of various Father's Day gifts. There were the usual picture frames, golf tees and balls and travel mugs, and then there were the things that made the kids stare in awe. Trophies. As soon as they saw them they declared that a trophy would be just the thing for their own daddy. The first two that caught their eyes were the "Best Handyman Dad" (with a hammer, saw and screwdriver) and the "Best Sports Dad" (with various balls). Caroline immediately grabbed the best handyman trophy, making her case for it by reminding the boys of how hard their daddy worked building houses to take care of them. All three boys had a hard time even considering anything other than the sports themed trophy because, well, it was just plainly obvious to them that their dad was the best when it came to teaching, playing and winning most sports! For many reasons, not the least of which being that they were spending their own money, I stayed out of the process and simply watched as they worked together to determine which award best represented their own dad. After a few back-and-forths between the two, Travis spotted a third award. It was a simple, gold stand with a globe on top that said, "Dad. Always There For Me." He picked it up, read it for the little kids, explained what it meant when it said that he was always there and that was that. No discussion needed. They immediately agreed that it was the perfect gift. And they were right. (There's no reason to mention or discuss the tears in my eyes or lump in my throat as I watched this scene play out.)



Jimmy is the best dad that I could ever imagine for our kids. He makes everything that we do a whole lot more fun, he's patient when I am not, he disciplines with wisdom and grace, and he definitely does not take himself, the kids, me, or life in general too seriously! He is willing to show both his strengths and his weaknesses, which works to create an environment where it's safe for them to be imperfect, too. And through all of this imperfection, he gratefully points them to the One who is perfect. And that by itself would make him the best daddy in the world. I'm so glad that he is mine. And theirs.

I am also thankful for my own dad, who provided me with many MEMORIES (right, dad?!) and continues to serve as an excellent example of what it means to love others above yourself. And for Jimmy's dad, who raised an amazing son and then gave him to me.

Caroline's future

"There's a really fancy door and then there's tall, winding stairs that go to the upstairs. And then there's going to be in the girl room a really tall bed with covers and sheets and a pillow. And then there will be a little baby bed where her little sisters can go to sleep in there. And there will be a dresser with a pink, lacy skirt around it. Then the boy room will have a dresser painted brown and there will be two beds (bunk beds) and there will be a little toddler bed for the littlest brother. And in the girl room there will  be a little thing you pull down and it turns into stairs that lead up to the mom and dad room. If you take different stairs downward from the mom and dad room you can see that you will end up in the kitchen. There will be a door leading into the dining room and there will be a dresser with pictures hanging over it of me getting married. In the playroom there will be a  kitchen for my little daughters to play with. And we'll have bins with toys in them. The family room will have little tables with lamps on them and there will be two blackish-brownish couches. We will have a tv and lots of books. The front of our house will be big and white and there will be a porch with a roof on it.. We will have beautiful gardens and a fence. I hope I have nine children, 3 boys and 6 girls, and I hope my husband is nice."


                                                                          

~ Caroline, age 5

The luckiest mommy in the world

Yep, that's me. My sweet family, who love nothing if they don't love a reason to celebrate, always make days like Mother's Day special. Jimmy started the weekend by bringing these home on Friday afternoon.


Eleven for me, the mommy, and one for Caroline, a future mommy. I beamed at his thoughtfulness towards me (and melted at his thoughtfulness towards Caroline). Caroline positively glowed.

Then yesterday morning I came downstairs to find this Mothers Day banner from my wonderfully clever children.


 With Silly Bandz being all the rage, I felt quite honored that they would offer their prized possessions up as a gift for me, and even more so when I realized that they had specifically chosen each one and written me a little note telling me why.




These might be my favorite Mother's Day gifts to date. See, I told you I was the luckiest.

What we didn't know then

 One week old

One year ago we had no idea that...

~ You, sweet little Jack, would capture every single heart in this family the very second you entered the world.
~ We really didn't need to put much thought into a name for you. You've been "Booba" since you were 2 hours old and I think you think it's your given name.
~ Your siblings wouldn't be able to get enough of you. Ever.
~ You would sleep in our room longer than any of the other kids ever did as babies. Partly because I couldn't figure out where to put you in the midst of this crazy house and partly because we just liked having you there.
~ You would give us your first smiles pretty early on (around 3 weeks), much to the delight of the whole family.
~ Your big, beautiful blue eyes would smile right along with your mouth.
Four months old

~ You would start "low crawling" at around 6 months and maintain that as your preferred mode of movement until just recently, even though you were perfectly able to crawl on all fours all along. Daddy thinks it has something to do with the little bit of Marine in you.
~ For a long time, as soon as you were turned loose to explore, you would head straight for the foyer table where  bookends of  Homer and Aristotle live on the bottom shelf. You would pull them both face-down on the floor and then "leave them there to die", as Travis would say. You became knows as Booba the Assassinator .


~ You would bury your sweet face into the right side of Daddy's and my neck and suck your thumb every time we hold you. You've done this forever. We adore it.
~ You wrap your left arm completely around my right one when I hold you and pinch the inside of my arm. Always. And it hurts like crazy and cracks me up at the same time.

 Eight months old

~ You would always hate diaper changes.
~ You would take your legs and wrap them around our arms from the outside and then use your feet to get our arms out of the way so that you could squirm away from the torture of being changed. It made us crazy, especially when you were poopy.
~ You would stop doing it and then we would miss it. (kind of)
~ You would be an amazing sleeper from about 8 weeks old. You would sleep for 10 or 11 hours at a time and I would often have to wake you in the mornings. I only know that this is true because I remember telling people about it.

 Nine months old

~ You would not be the most gentle teether ever. Getting your first teeth pretty much wrecked your great sleeping habits and we would wait a long time to recover them.
~That you would be so sweet and snuggly in the middle of the night that it would be hard to care that we were missing sleep.
~ You would point your finger and grunt. Often. We're not sure what it means but we love that you do it.
~ You would have wild, light blond hair with little curls in the back.

 Ten months old

~ You  would love to be left alone to explore.
~ Everything you touch would go right into your mouth.
~ That would make you an awesome eater. You've devoured everything we've ever put in front of you, even the few things that wound up making you break out into hives after eating (eggs, yogurt and an accidental cashew that you discovered on the floor).
~ That you would be our most adventurous climber so far. You've been very adept at going up -and down!- the stairs for a while now.






Twelve months old

But what we really didn't know was how much joy and delight you would bring into our family. Little Boo, you are a heart-melting, smile-inducing boy and you couldn't possibly love you any more. We are so grateful that God chose our family for you and look forward, in a bittersweet way, to watching you leave your baby days behind. You've got a lot of people to keep up with and they are ready for you to join them! Happy first birthday, precious Jack. You are loved and adored!

He is risen!

Easter is a very special day in it's own right, and one that we look forward to celebrating as a family every year. But this year it became even more special as we watched our oldest child publicly express his own faith in Jesus and His work on the cross on behalf of him.

Over the past few months, Jimmy and Travis have been working through Redeemer's children's membership guide after Travis expressed his desire to become a member of our church. Upon completion, he met with one of our Pastors and good friends, where they discussed his understanding of the gospel and its impact on Travis personally. A few days later he met with a few of the elders and expressed his faith and his desire to be a communicant member of the church. They went over the vows of membership with him and then welcomed him with prayers, handshakes and hugs (and later a very precious letter).

The following Sunday, Easter Sunday, Travis celebrated the Lord's Supper with us for the very first time. With Travis just ahead of us, we saw Grant give him a little wink as he served him. But what Travis didn't see were the happy tears that followed, both in Grant's eyes and in ours. We are thankful for the work that God has started in Travis' heart. So very thankful.

I can't think of a better addition to an already wonderful day of celebration.

Brotherly Love

Two days after a very unfortunate "robbery" (as Caroline calls it) where my purse was stolen out of our car, I found myself at the dreaded DMV with all five munchkins replacing my drivers license (I was only that on-the-ball because I couldn't replace my library card without a drivers license. It was the theft of the library card that really ruffled our feathers!). So, we're sitting there in the crowded waiting room filling out the application when a nice gentleman sits next to us and starts chatting with the kids. He goes down the line (after telling me that I sure have my hands full!) getting each name and age, when he finally gets to Ben. Ben tells him his name and that he has a birthday soon and will turn three. He then, very protectively, goes to the stroller where Jack is sitting, puts his arm around him, narrows his eyes suspiciously and says, "And dis my son, Booba.*" The three big kids and I cracked up laughing, even if the kind man had no idea just how funny it was.

Brotherly love is  a powerful thing.

* "Booba" has been Ben's name for Jack since he was less than an hour old. "Booba Jack" was his attempt at "Baby Jack" and it stuck immediately. He answers to Booba more readily than he does to Jack!