Not All Together

Owen is terrific. And funny. And creative. And smart. And now he’s…FOUR!

We celebrated at our house Saturday with a swim party and a fishing theme for our little fisherman. It was supposed to rain all morning but God held the rain until after the party. :)

There was swimming.

There were water guns.

There were grown-up friends.

And little friends.

And family.

There was pizza, gummy worms, goldfish, cupcakes and “dirt”.

Did I mention cupcakes?

There were tractor drivers.

And tractor riders.

There were presents to open.

There was busy!!

There was fun. Lots and lots of fun!!

He’s four!!

Happy birthday to our favorite four year-old!!

(*All cute party ideas taken from Pintrist. Just search “fishing party”.)

Ande plants a garden each year with and for his helper Owen. Owen loves it. Each morning he cheerfully tells us, “I have to go check the garden!”.

Who would have thought a green bean avoider would turn into this?

He is risen! He is risen indeed!!
What good news!

We’ve been listening to Andrew Peterson’s Resurrection Letters Vol. 2, and I have had Spotify on “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on repeat for the week.

This week also included a Holy Week Parade at Owen’s preschool with kids dressed as Biblical characters. There is just something precious about seeing small ones dressed in pillowcases and waving fern fronds with their friends. :)

Here is our King David

(told you it was precious!!)

and a shot of the moms watching happily

Ande got a chance to go to the Master’s for a quick trip this weekend, so he headed off to Augusta on Friday and returned at 1:30 AM today. Quick and crazy, but he got the invitation and took it. A wife can’t deny a man something on his bucket list, right?! ( No pictures because no cameras or phones are allowed in.)

While he was gone, the kids and I colored Easter eggs. This was FUN. I knew Owen would be into it, but Knox surprised me by being into it as well.

This was my first time “cooking” in the kitchen with Knox, but we will be doing more for sure.

The finished product

Between potato salad and snacking, all these eggs were gone by the evening. :)

The kids and Ande found Easter baskets on the porch.

And Scout celebrated his 9th birthday today.
(Is it weird that I have our dog’s birthday on the calendar?)

A quick picture before leaving for church.
The self-timer pics with kids are improving!

Owen stayed in the service with us for some of the music today, and we loved hearing him sing “Alleluia!”. I kept peeking at Ande, who was peeking at me. Pre.cious.

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Three is just a precious age in so many ways, and the simple faith of Owen just blows me away sometimes.

Recently…

When asked how he got so tall, he said “God is just growing me up!”

During bedtime prayers, I asked Owen to tell God some things he was thankful for. He began with“Hi God. How’s Big Grandma?” (followed by a long pause as he waited for an answer).

Anticipating a visit from Daddy B (grandpa) the next day, I said
“Owen, someone you know and really love is coming to visit tomorrow. Can you guess who it is?”
His guess, eyes wide, “Is it God?”
(My response was “No, but that would be AMAZING!”)

It is an honor to teach our kids about our strong God, our rescuer Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. I won’t even begin to have you think we do it perfectly. We don’t. But here are some resources for kids we have found helpful…

We use the book First Catechism to begin teaching the truths of the Bible to the kids, particularly with Owen. The format is simple question/answer, and it is amazing to see what a young child can learn and apply. The catechism questions have sparked all kinds of conversations and discussions as he works out truths like “I cannot see God, but He always sees me” and “I have a body and a soul, and my soul will last forever”. You can find it here for $1.50.

We began it at around 2 years old for Owen, and have been laid-back but intentional in using it, mostly at bedtime, and not every night…sometimes with weeks in between uses. Owen calls it, “My question book”, and looks at it like a treat. We are slowly working through it, and I see it as a childhood process, not an overnight one.

Knox is only 19 months old, but during bedtime we have begun to teach him the first couple questions/answers. Each night he waits for me to ask him two questions:
1. “Who made you?”/ God
and
2. “What else did God make”/ All things.
He smiles as soon as I start to ask, and he does an animated hand-throw gesture when he says “all things”. Love it.

We also love the Jesus Storybook Bible. This is, by far, the best children’s Bible I have seen. Every story points to Jesus, our Rescuer, tying in the theme of the whole Bible. You won’t find stories skewed and reduced to “Here’s a good person: be like him!” Instead each story points to God’s goodness, not man’s, and our need for Jesus the Rescuer. AND the pictures are beautiful, colorful, and engaging for kids and adults. Our copy is tattered and without a cover because it gets a lot of use here…often from Owen looking at it after he is supposed to be asleep!

Recently, I found these ABC Scripture Cards on the internet and printed them up for us. Owen and I started them this week. We are learning them together, with hand motions to help with memory, and they are a hit so far.

I love that these resources have given me a shared vocabulary with the kids for making sense of the world around us. Like I said, we don’t do it perfectly. And we really aren’t pushy about it. We don’t need to be. It is just natural and fun learning, something that is looked forward to. But this is important stuff, eternal stuff, to talk about with our little people. My prayer continually is for God to give me wisdom in raising and teaching our children in a way that honors Him. His Word tells us He is faithful to answer prayers for wisdom (James 1), and I have seen Him be faithful to me.

Anyone have any other resources to share? Please do!!!

***
I was also JUST made aware of this project, which I am super-excited about:

Sally Lloyd Jones wrote the Jesus Storybook Bible, and Sandra McCracken is one of my favorite artists.
You can download a 4-song sampler for free here.

Happy Easter-week, all!

Three of the most recent things I have purchased:

a new shower curtain for the kids’ bathroom

back-up sheets for Owen’s bed

and a new shirt for me

Maybe I’m digging the yellow/white stripe combo…yes? :)

***
(and yay for birthday money!!)

(most images courtesy of my phone…not the best quality)

Ande was out of town with RUF doing rebuilding in Tuscaloosa with Habitat for Humanity. He got back home last night.

We always miss him when he is away, but this was the longest I have been on my own as a parent. (To my single mom friends: I realize again that ya’ll rock!)
God was super gracious to us & esp. to me (see below), and the week went pretty smoothly.

I thought I would record some highlights of the week here…

Saturday
Ande leaves early in the morning.

Knox (18 months) later tells me he needs to then uses the little potty for the first time. (Insert fist pumps and shouts of hooray and celebratory calls to family here.)

Sunday
My nephew Micah is born! More fist pumps and shouts of hooray and celebratory calls to family. :)

Owen tries to tell on Knox for something, but says “Mom, you will never believe what your grandchild Knox did”. This cracks me up. I remind Owen I am 31, not 51.

We go to the library and check out tons of books and some Super Why DVDs to help me through the week alone. The best of the books is this one, the second time we’ve checked it out; love the story about a good dad and those beautiful illustrations. We also score with a kids’ cd we all really like…a lot.

Monday
I turn 32. Owen sings me Happy Birthday while I am still in bed. Knox says “cupcake” over and over from breakfast time until 2:00 when we go to our local cupcakery for Monday Minis. I love it.

I try to take the kids to dinner by myself at a sit-down restaurant so I don’t have to cook or clean up. I end up packing up my whole meal to-go when one child has a bathroom emergency. Still worth it to not clean or cook, and the kids were able to eat their meals there (I was busy cutting theirs into pieces). I enjoy a nice dinner once I retrieve the take-out box from the fridge when the kids are in bed.

Honestly, a great birthday. I love spending time with my little people.

Tuesday

Owen is clearly missing his daddy. He asks me to play with him all day long, and I terribly pitch him some wiffle balls to hit.

Cannot imagine cooking and cleaning up. We eat dinner out again, this time for Taco Tuesday. Its delicious, and the three of us eat for $9 (though my sanity is priceless).
Still laughing at Owen having what is, I believe, his first sips of my Coke, after he got a hot bite (from a jalepeno?) of black beans. We have often told him this is a “drink for grown ups”. He takes a sip, eyes wide, and says “It IS good!” and asks for more.
I had recently described Coke as “burning going down my throat”, so he was afraid and pleasantly surprised.

Got to snuggle a slightly congested Knox in the rocker tonight for a long while. It’s rare, so I treasure that kind of thing. :)

Wednesday
Knox tells me he needs to, then uses the little potty again.
Holy moly.
One less diaper is happily one less diaper to me.

Owen surprises me by telling me he is cleaning the house all by himself, and that I cannot help. Actually, he tells me to sit on the couch. He then proceeds to pick up all the toys, dirty clothes, and strewn-about shoes, singing a made-up cleaning song the whole time. He did such a good job it looked like a grown-up did it.
I hug him a lot for being so sweet.
My heart nearly bursts.

Thursday

I take the kids to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. 4 hours is perfect to both entertain and wear them out. :)

Seriously, I could ride the safari ride all day.

I make meatloaf for dinner. I love it, Ande hates it…so we mostly eat it when he is not here. Owen eats two helpings, and tells me “Mommy, you make the most amazing dinners, and you are beautiful.” I think he should stay 3 forever.

Knox, not a fan…apparently he takes after Ande here.

Friday

I realize Knox is frequently talking in “sentences”:
- “Baby cry over d’ere”
-”I want some more”
-”Mommy up”
-”Daddy truck” (every man in a dark truck is his daddy)
and my favorite “Mommy…hair….wet….shower”.
That’s a lot of complex thought!

He is also requesting certain things for breakfast when I get him up in the morning:
“snack…waffles” or “snack…motemeal”. Everything to eat is a “snack”.

The SLP in me is so fascinated watching language development in my own home!!! (Nerd alert and also proof that I picked the right career) :)

Owen watches Super Why while I iron clothes tonight in another room. He frequently comes in to tell me what is happening in the storyline, all little-boy excited and animated.
Honestly, my heart nearly melts and I cry a little thinking about how these days with little ones are just the sweetest, crazy-busiest days.
So thankful when God hits the pause button in my head and lets me see that.

Saturday

We play, we swim, our babysitters return from Spring Break so I leave the house for a couple hours alone! :)

Ande comes home to chants of “daddy!”, and he wrestles with the kids for a long while. Boy, did those kids miss wrestling with Daddy!

I get rewarded by dinner out with friends at a Japanese steakhouse to celebrate their birthdays. Our server is extra kind and lets me get $25 off my meal for my birthday being that week…so my bill was $10 for a delicious steak and shrimp meal. Score!

Totally wish there weren’t police helicopters flying overhead 5 of 8 nights this week, but thankfully I never had to call 911. :)

I can’t complain!

***Ande, welcome home!!!

Financially, we have been blown away by the Lord’s provision through the generosity of many of you. Have you seen our total recently? $14, 683!!! That’s amazing!!! Truly, thank you for your hard-earned dollars and sacrifices to bring our baby to our family.

We were also notified by mail that we will be awarded one of the grants we applied for from singer Steven Curtis Chapman’s adoption aid organization, Show Hope. The grant will be in the amount of $4,500. Again, blown away by the Lord’s provision. Like happy dance, crying in the kitchen blown away. :)

Honestly, I had been very fearful to hope for this grant. All over the website and paperwork, I was reminded that many qualified families are turned away due to simply more requests than funds.

The total cost for the adoption is $25,000.

In my many moments of anxiousness and sleeplessness about how would we pay for this and are we just plain crazy to ask others to help, I would remind myself this: “Kelly, in a year from now, you will be thinking “Of course God provided!! Of course I was silly to worry! Of course God did this in His perfectly timed way”. Many nights I have prayed for the Holy Spirit to quiet me and give me peace to sleep.

Can I tell you something else?

Now we are asking Him to quiet us and give us peace as we wait for our baby.

It is hard to wait. Even harder to wait patiently.
As I try and teach my kids the fruits of the Spirit, I often find myself saying to our three year-old, “Patience is waiting nicely”. Even as the words come out of my mouth, I am inwardly thinking, “I have no idea how to do that.”

With a pregnancy, I knew something was happening: I was feeling sick and growing bigger and feeling movements. It felt as though I had some control of our babies coming. At the very least, I knew by such-and-such an end date, this baby would be out of my belly. Granted, this is just perceived control, but it was indeed perceived.

There is no control, perceived or actual, with this process.

We wait. For our profile to be shown. For a birthmom to pick us. We wait. And pray. And wait. And get discouraged by the waiting. And we pray about it. And wait…

So I ask again for help from the people of the Lord. Would you continue to pray for us as we wait? There is so much to pray for: for the birthmom, the pregnancy, the delivery, for the baby, for our boys, for our family, for the future, for the wait…

Hello everyone!
Here’s what happens when you tell Knox to give a kiss….which is why I quickly do a head turn! :)

My kids checked their Valentine Owls today to find books and candy. I scored some right-up-their-alleys finds at Goodwill. Can’t beat books for 59 cents!

I still need to have Knox’s owl embroidered, but it just couldn’t have happened last weekend as I’d planned thanks to Stomach Flu 2012 (shudder).

Thankful we are mostly on the mend, and super thankful to have my carpet professionally cleaned yesterday. Money well-spent.
Vomiting kid + carpet = bad combo.

My husband got me these for Valentine’s…

I like flowers you can plant in the ground, and he knows. :)

He also saw this fellow on our feeder yesterday, a painted bunting. A beautiful treat as they are a rare sight around here.

Happy Valentine’s, friends!
And at least happy day AFTER Valentine’s, when all the candy goes half off! :)

dogs, tractors, bikes…

…airplanes, birds, blimps…

…balls, bats, golf clubs…
He likes to tell (& show) us where.

I love it.

Well, it’s a big night around here:
First night for a certain 3.5 year-old to be in undies at bedtime.

He’s been potty trained during the day for nearly two years. But night time…he’s just been too deep a sleeper.

We both did a happy dance when I said there were no more pull-ups. :)

Since our computer is too.full.of.pictures. to work properly or to upload new ones (what to do??? suggestions??) ….here is a pic of that little boy on the first night in his big boy bed a year and a half ago.

Same kid (just longer and leaner now) same excited smile, different elephant….and no pull-up. :)