Too cute!!
Here’s a sneak peek at some of my favorite sweet spots on the wee one for the grandma who will be joining us next week (you know who you are)…
Those dimpled knees!
Chicken-wing legs.
The cutest booties!! (Thanks for passing them on, Valerie!)
Sleeping Fists.
The wisps of goldie-red hair.
That double chin.
Sleepy drunk eyes.
Now that Jack’s had a few days to dry out, we can see more what he looks like & all. He’s a cutie, but then again, we’re a little biased. So far, he’s got blondish-reddish hair & dark blue eyes, both of which will no doubt change before his first birthday. He’s very laid back like his Daddy, but with all the eager arms to hold him, what does he possibly have to fuss about? The kids are so much help with holding him & loving on him any time I need to do something else. It’s a whole other world having older kids & a baby than when everyone’s a preschooler! Heaven!!
We’re all getting along well. He was the easiest delivery – just when I thought Anders’ couldn’t be any easier. God is so good! John Mark’s working on switching his nights & days to the rest of the world’s schedule & coming right along there even. Anyway, there are some new pix for anyone interested over on the left in Flickr. Click on any photo to enlarge. If you want it bigger yet, click the “all sizes” button atop the picture. I’ll be putting more on over the next few days – I need one with Nate & Jack & one with all the kids together, etc. Stay tuned for those & much more.
A few belated birthday pix of Nate’s bash…
We got out the Huge Cube to test their archery skills.
Legolas wanna be’s.
Is that Merry in a tree?
My little Pippin.
We got tons of trading cards for cheap at tolkeintown.com & let the boys spend some time trading. This was perhaps the most popular activity, much to my surprise – eleven year old boys! Anyway, I got a kick out of the fact that after the flurry of trading, one lone card lay forlorn & unwanted. No one would claim this “kissing card” – EWWWW!!!!
Water balloon battle at Helms Deep.
Truly, the Lord of the rings!
Frodo & Samwise?
My Sweet Anders.
One year ago today you decided to give your great big heart to Jesus. What an exciting thing! I remember working on my hair in the bathroom & you came waltzing in to keep me company that morning. Sitting on the little stool, you started the conversation with how you loved the story of Jesus dying on the cross. I asked you if you knew why He died & you replied knowingly, “to take away my sin”. I asked you if you knew what sin was & if Jesus had ever sinned, etc. You knew all about it, talked about how you have sinned but don’t want to & you started expressing a desire to get rid of it. I asked if you knew what to do to get rid of sin & you knew right off, “Ask Jesus to take them away & come into my heart”. I told you that you could do that whenever you wanted to. You gave a quick reply that you wanted to NOW. Keith was in the next room reading, so I told you that whenever you really felt you wanted to do that, you could talk with Daddy about it & pray with him, thinking maybe you’d wait. But you ran right out to talk to Daddy. You & Daddy talked for another 20 minutes about Jesus & what He’s done for us on the cross. Then the three of us bowed together as you prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior. At first, you asked if Daddy could pray for you, but when we said only you could do it, you prayed without hesitation. Since then, you ALWAYS volunteer to pray at mealtime. You sure love to pray & we love to hear you talk to your Forever Friend, Jesus.
I am so thankful I could be the one to talk with you & see the look of sadness on your face over your sin, hear the reverence in your voice when you prayed to ask Jesus to be your Savior, the love & faith in your sweet brown eyes. It was a precious moment I will never forget. I’m thankful, too, that Daddy was there & we could share in that once-in-a-lifetime moment together with you.
You are one special boy, Andrew William. God has great plans for your life & I am so grateful to get to have a front row seat watching it unfold. There are some big changes ahead of you in the upcoming months with you being a school boy now & a new big brother to boot! This next year with you promises to be the most fun one yet. I love you more than you’ll ever know & pray God’s richest blessings on you as your legs grow longer & your spiritual roots grow deeper this year.
With Love,
Your Momma
Just a few links to articles I’ve read in the last 24 hours & had to share…
Alex & Brett Harris on Doing the Hard Things/The Rebelution. I always love these guys’ blog! It gives me such a hope for America’s future. Today’s post is a good one.
Read today’s post on Randy Alcorn blog on the new earth & our future hope. He puts it so well!
And lastly, if you don’t read Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost For His Highest” every day, you should. Yesterday’s reading was yet another stellar entry. I find myself saying, “Preach it, Brother! That’s so true! Good stuff!” on a daily basis. He had amazing insight & said it so concisely. Plus I think he looks a lot like my Keith, as does Bill Nye the Science Guy. Keith’s the much better looking one of course, but that’s another post all together.
2nds Champ Team 2008!
The boys at Wild Week
More Wild Week
Blowing Bubbles at Wild Week
Looking at snakes in the Nature Center
Out west last summer
More of the west trip
Still more of the west trip
At Wall Drug out west
Callie’s first haircut at a salon
(a list to be added to later)
My heart skips a beat when …
– hearing Anders whistle, usually in some distant part of the house – easy to know where he is. It’s such a cute little happy whistle!
– watching Keith & the kids wrestle after dinner.
– I can get Keith laughing really hard.
– listening to Nate relate a comic strip that tickles him. He has a great sense of humor.
– Callie reads to me. I love her voice inflection & enthusiasm about whatever she’s reading (currently Black Beauty).
– sharing a hymnal & singing with Keith.
– listening to the kids sing (lately Anders & Callie have been randomly belting out “Get Up, Get Up” & it is adorable! Hearing Nate sing in church makes me so happy sometimes my eyes get leaky.)
– trying to take sermon notes with the wiggly baby in my tummy/lap desk.
– with one glance, Keith & I can communicate from across the room.
– watching the kids play together when they don’t know I’m looking – they really do love each other.
– the baby gets the hick-ups.
– helping Callie primp for a Daddy date. She gets so excited – lights up for him.
– seeing Nate mow the lawn – he’s growing up before my eyes!
– Anders kisses my tummy & gives it a big squeezy hug which he does often.
– hearing Keith read to Anders up in his bunk at night – they’re currently reading Ghost Town Treasure together (not my idea, but Anders is all ears as you can imagine).
– Nate hugs me goodnight & tells me he’s glad I’m his mom.
– I watch Callie dance out of sheer joy to a praise song.
– Keith takes my hand in his great big paw.
– I reflect on all God that has blessed me with. My cup truly overflows.
Special thanks to SJT Photography for the picture.
There has been so much on my mind but I have been too lazy to write it down lately.
Nate finished baseball with a bang – the team came in second in the tournaments. Will post THOSE pix when we finally get that cord to download phone pix. It’s only been a year. Come on, what do you want? I finally broke down & called the Sprint store & it’s on order, so hopefully I can pick it up Friday after my baby doc appointment. So, soon you will probably be seeing lots of pictures either in Flickr or posted here depending on my mood at the time.
Got a hair cut – love it. As Grandma would say, it was starting to look like I did my hair with an eggbeater. Cut the boys’ hair today, too. Will post pix as soon as I get around to it. Maybe with the baby.:) We’ve enjoyed the neighbor/aunt & uncle’s pool lately so all have gotten rid of the pasty look for now. It actually looks like summer at our house – beach towels on the line, sun-kissed children, “toobies” & water-wings laying around, etc.
The kids & cousins have been at Wild Week this week (great fun to watch them interact with nature), Nate’s currently at Football Camp for a few days to get acclimated to football, swim lessons start next week for the kids & cousins (that will be a hoot to watch!!), and Safety Town will be going on in the mornings for the three Kindergarten aged kids on the block (Sarah, Sam & Anders). Oh, and Grandma’s having VBS next week so the kids will be joining her there in the evenings. Our contractor called & said he’ll be out in a few weeks to redo our kitchen, etc. (same guy who started building our north room when Anders was two weeks old… do I see a pattern here?) Keith finishes up his first summer doctorate class this Saturday (the on-line one) & starts his second class Monday (the one where he’ll be gone seven hours a day & it’ll be a two hour drive from home each way!!). We are praying the baby comes on a weekend or we have a heads up on his arrival in early morning or some such variation due to the circumstances there. He’s due in two weeks – I’ve never made it to forty weeks yet, so we are looking for him anytime now.
Keith got the HBO John Adams DVD set from a library last night (for free) for the next two weeks!! Is he the man or what? We are set to start watching that tomorrow night – can’t wait!
All that being said, we are having a great summer! This is the most relaxed I’ve ever been with a baby coming. He’ll get here when he gets here & we really haven’t had to prep much. The Pack & Plays are up on both floors, Keith emptied a drawer in our bureau for baby’s tiny clothes, & everything else is already here & waiting – car seat, binkies, bottles, baby tubby, what else do you need?! Oh, I guess I should get my stuff together for the hospital. That’s on the agenda for today after laundry & grocery shopping.
There are a bunch of things I want to write about that have come up in conversation this last week – political analysis, the couple of posts I’ve been putting off writing (Christian Bubble, Denominations, etc.) & writings on the fun we are expecting in August (20th HS reunion, huge family reunion, visitors coming in for it all, etc.). Lots of developments happening for that weekend! Have to write later.
I hear Wal-Mart has their back-to-school sale going on – 24 pack of Crayolas for a quarter, cheap filler paper, 10 cent folders, glue, notebooks, pencils, etc. I love, love, love new school supplies! That and we’re out of yogurt & oatmeal. Must. Go. Shopping.
Liberty 92 
