Boys and dirt are synonymous

It was a typical summer day. I set up the water table so the kids could splash around a little, but after a while the little boys got hungry so I dried them off and brought them in for lunch, leaving the bigger boys behind and not thinking much about it. I thought they could play outside for a few more minutes while I got the food ready. A few minutes later when lunch was prepared I went to look out of the window and didn't see them, but when I turned to walk back to the kitchen something caught my eye...a fast moving blur in front of the window. I turned back around to get a better look at the flying object and I see Elijah running through the grass with a big giant mud ball not far behind him. Interesting. They were throwing mud balls at each other as if they were snowballs. What is it with boys and mud? The funniest part is that I was literally hosing them off in the driveway with the garden hose when the UPS man walks into the driveway with a package...don't mind me, I'm just hosing my kids down:) Maybe he has boys. Maybe he understands.

Baby Mischief Maker

I was getting dressed and ready for the day and when I came out into the living room I saw a little girl that was full of mischief and very proud of herself.

Plant For Today

"Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." -James 4:13-15

One day fruit trees were on sale at Lowe's and Matt asked if we should buy some. Even though it is "our plan" to sell this house and buy some land a thought popped into my head...we should plant for today. We don't know if we will be alive tomorrow. We don't know if our house will ever sell. We may never have land. We just don't know.

We got news while we were in the mountains this June that my dear grandpa had been diagnosed with lung cancer. We immediately decided we would take a trip up to NY to visit him while he was still healthy. I am so very thankful for that decision. We had the most wonderful visit. He got to meet Addy Ruth and hold her little hand. Elijah enjoyed sitting with grandpa, simply reading books together and listening to the occasional story or joke. Grandpa watched the kids play at his feet and I know he wanted to be on the floor playing with them- he always enjoyed doing that. He told me stories of his childhood and youth. About going to war and getting married and starting a family. I laughed and cried and I didn't want to say good-bye when it was time to get in our car and come back home to NC, because I was afraid it was going to be the last time I would ever hug him and look into his wonderful, smiling, gentle eyes.

It is very rare that I have a good night sleep. Kids wake up in the night, I have to nurse Addy, I wake up and can't go back to sleep, can't seem to stop the thoughts. Two nights ago I fell asleep praying for my Grandpa that he would be without pain- that he would close his eyes and pass away peacefully in his sleep. That night I slept better than I have in a very long time. The next afternoon I received a phone call. I felt a lump in my throat- it was hard to swallow, but it happened just the way that I prayed and I know it was the prayer of many.

"For we have brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content." -1Timothy 6:7-8

Contentment was planted within my grandpa from a young age and it carried him well through his life. I never once heard my grandpa complain about anything and he didn't have an easy life. His parents came straight from Germany during a time when people weren't friendly towards Germans, he was left handed in school- was punished for it and was made to feel he wasn't cut out for academics, he worked the graveyard shift in a tire factory his whole life in unhealthy, unpleasant conditions, yet I have never heard him complain about his life. Not once.
My grandpa was the sweetest, most gentle, content and truly humble man I have ever known. His words just linger in my mind. I found an old letter from him that he wrote me after I shared the news with him that I was pregnant with our first child.
He says, "Isn't love wonderful! I mean it just fills you up! One time I was shaving and I was squirting the shaving cream out of the can onto my hand- I thought that is what love is like- when you let it out it just grows and grows and you could never put all that shaving cream back in the can again because it is just too much. When you first get to hold your new baby in your arms and count it's tiny fingers and toes and kiss it's little nose it is just way too much. When I was just a little guy my parents were quite poor and sometimes I would tell my dad "I wish we could have car" or "I wish we could go on a vacation" and things like that. Then he would tell me "Instead of wishing for things that you don't have just give thanks for what you do have" and then we would kinda take inventory- he would help me to think about my mom, dad, and sister and how much we loved each other and I knew I already had everything I could possibly wish for- LOVE! I'm sure that at this time in your marriage there are many things you could use to make your lives easier and more comfortable and the list of things that you don't have is much longer than the list of things that you do have but I promise you that the love you have in your hearts for each other and that little baby that is starting to grow in your tummy is more precious than all the treasures on earth."

Even though we are a vapor- here for a short time and then gone, we have a chance to plant for today... seeds of joy, peace, love, kindness, gentleness, humility. My grandpa did just that, for the fruit of his character and the seeds he planted will be present from generation to generation. It is a lovely inheritance.

Time spent in nature is time well spent

(double click on slide show for larger view of pictures)

We just spent a wonderful, relaxing vacation in the mountains of NC at my parent's getaway cabin. It seems a little strange to call it a vacation...it is more like "going home" since I was born and raised in the mountains. I think of a vacation as visiting a place you've never been, but it was more like I was revisiting some places that I haven't been since I was a child and it brought back some great memories!

The first day we went tubing down Deep Creek. It is the perfect mix of fast and slow moving waters. The tubes are a lot fancier than when I was a kid! They have seats, handles, backrests, and cup holders. Tubing is great because it is good, cheap fun. For 4 adults and 4 kids we only spent 20$ for a full day rental of 6 tubes (the little kids rode with adults). It has been a long time since I've felt the cold mountain water and there's something so wonderful about a cool mountain stream in the woods on a hot summer day!

The next day we visited the Oconoluftee visitor center and mountain farm museum. This is a great, free place to visit if you are ever in Cherokee, NC. The kids loved it. The museum is small, but very interactive and hands-on. The part they enjoyed the most was the little living mountain homestead that has been recreated on this beautiful property. It had a log home, barn, orchard, apple house, corn crib, smokehouse, pigs, chickens, a great big garden and much more. You can read more about it here.

Our biggest adventure was going to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in Graham Co., NC. This is an amazing forest that, through preservation efforts, is one of the few remaining tracts of virgin hardwood trees in the Appalachians. Some yellow poplars stand 100 ft. tall and have a 20ft. circumference! They aren't the redwoods, but they might be some of the biggest and oldest trees that you can find on the east coast. The one downside of the hike is that many of the trees are dying so there fallen trees everywhere and the trail at times is quite narrow and steep and not always easy to navigate with little children; however; the hike up the trail is well worth it once you reach the top of the loop! The kids found some amazing treasures on the trail: the largest snail and millipede that I've ever seen! The trees stood towering and had absolutely amazing root systems. One trail essential, in my opinion, is a nature journal. The kids drew some amazing pictures that I will share in a later post; it is just so wonderful for them to observe and record what they see. It teaches them to notice beautiful details in nature and furthers their connection with God's amazing creation. Here's a little more info. about this amazing forest.
Outdoor fun is the best kind of fun. We always love our time spent in the mountains and in nature. here is a link to how spending time in nature is good for restoring our attention and our souls.

Head, Thorax, Abdomen

With all the boys in this household you can imagine that insects are most definitely a subject of great interest around here. Caleb is especially turning into quite the bug collector. He brings me one almost everyday and my only requirement is that they are dead:) and that their bodies are fully intact. It is really easy to start a bug collection. Just get a cardboard box with a top and cut a piece of styrofoam to fit inside and pin their wings or legs in place. I decided I would teach the little guys about parts of an insect so we built play-doh ants and I was telling them about the head, thorax and abdomen. Caleb looked very confused and said "head, Lorax, ottoman" and I said "not exactly"...but kind of:) He thinks it is real funny to have "old man ears"!



Elijah did a nature journal entry on his favorite find so far- our grasshopper.

Is it possible to turn a diaper box into a pirate ship?

Apparently so! I thought we had moved out of the pirate phase, but I think maybe the warm weather brought in a new wave of interest. So we got the pirate books back out and the kids started dressing and talking like pirates once more. Elijah came to me with the idea to turn a diaper box into a ship and I have to admit that I had my doubts of whether or not it would work... but he had a vision and he wanted to try it out. I have to say- it is amazing what a little duct tape will do! It really is a brilliant invention. Then we just gathered a few sticks, cut up an old t-shirt for sails and slapped some paint on it and our pirate ship was complete.

Strawberry Picking

I love the month of May because it means it is strawberry picking time. Hail damaged many of the strawberries last year, but this year was amazing. The strawberries were beautiful and abundant. Both times I went to pick the weather was amazing- sunny, but not hot and the late afternoon breezes filled the air with the sweet aroma of ripe berries. The kids absolutely love picking berries, of course they eat more than they pick and the evidence is all over their faces! Then it is home for strawberry shortcakes and whipped cream, which is a strawberry picking tradition. I picked several gallons each time I went, but with all these hungry boys I didn't have enough left over to make jam. I haven't quite figured out how much I need to pick to make a few jars of jam and feed the boys, but it's probably at least double what I picked this year! At least I managed to freeze a few gallons for smoothies.