Beautiful day

It was a gorgeous day!
So warm and sunny. It is hard to believe that yesterday, we were freezing!
Woke up this morning and made some apple cinnamon muffins for breakfast, then got ready for a morning of shopping with mom.
We dropped Josiah off at grandpa's, since we were shopping for his birthday, and Isaac, Daniel, mom and I hit the stores.
Little man Jo will be six next week. When did that happen?
He is having a cowboy birthday party. He loves cowboys and horses. He does not come by that naturally. In fact, I have no idea where that came from. My husband and I are city folk. I should have guessed we were in trouble when we took him for shoes one day and he fell in love with a pair of cowboy boots he just had to have. He wears those boots all the time!! This is a kid who doesn't even like shoes most days. He is too funny.
I have some great party ideas (well, my mom does, really) and will blog more about party prep later.
I found some nice strawberries. I love strawberries. I love to wash and hull and cut them, standing at the sink, looking out the open window, handling the ripe red fruit. There is an earthy sweet smell to strawberries.

After shopping, we split up and mom took the boys to a birthday party while Joe and I visited friends. We discussed flooring for the new house, and just hung out. We had a great time. And the coffee was killer!
We had chocolate mint brownies! Yum.
Our friends said they are so simple. Just add pieces of Andes mints (chop them up) to regular brownie mix, and you have a pan of chocolaty, minty goodness. Again, yum.
The boys played together when we got home. Isaac discovered he could hang from the basketball hoop after dunking (they were playing with a football, trying to sink it, "killing two birds with one stone," as Isaac put it. Where did he come from?)

We had a late dinner and Isaac had some studying to do.
By the time we got baths and had devotions, it was later than I wanted it to be, but the boys are all asleep now, and, as always, I should be.
After Daniel's bath, I had to take pics of his hair! It is so curly. He is my curly headed baby. I thought they would all have curly hair, but each of them has hair that is so different, it's crazy. They are all so handsome, though.

This passage was from our devotions this evening. Sometimes we read from a great little book called God's Words of Life for Kids. It has topics, like "Being Thankful", "Forgiving Others", "Giving to Others", "God Saves You", "Loving God", "Loving Others", etc.
Each topic has about 15 scripture references that pertain to it, and then there is a short devotional reading about that topic and how to apply the scriptures to your life. It is really neat, and great for kids. Easy to understand and not too long.
Tonight's topic was God Shows You What To Do. Here is a passage from it that I loved, and I will leave you on this note:
"Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east and then cross over to the west where it sinks into the ocean. Your hand would always be there to guide me, Lord. Your right hand would still be holding me close."
Psalm 139:9-10 (NIRV)

Lots to blog about

This is what happens when you don't blog for a few days. There is so much that I want to write.

Sunday was a great day. Church was really good (see Joe's blog for sermon notes) and we had lots of people over afterwards.
Sundays are some of my favorite times.













A church service should not define your relationship with God, your everyday walk with Him and others should do that, but there is something so refreshing about coming together with family and friends in a formal setting for the purpose of giving honor to God in unity of heart and spirit.
The sound of tens of voices of people I know and love and am connected to, joined together and ringing out praises to Almighty God undid me Sunday, and I found myself weeping through "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, our God reigns."
When church ended, we had a house full of friends, continuing church in a different venue, and I got a little choked up thinking about all the gatherings this little cottage has seen, and how we are living in our last days in this house.
It was a relaxing afternoon, good food, good company and nowhere to go . . .
Nowhere until later that evening that is.




























Several couples got together at a friends house Sunday night.
Years ago we used to get together with friends on a regular basis. Life happened and now we're all several kids richer, tons busier and more tired than ever. Getting together, let's just say, hasn't been so regular lately.
We threw some snacks on the table, and played some games that were very relational in nature. Here's how they went: When we came in, we each had to write one question, like "where do you see yourself in 10 years", or "what's your dream job", or "if you were a superhero . . ."
The questions were collected and each person was asked five questions from the pile. They had to write their answers on a piece of paper, and everyone else had to write what they thought or knew their friends answers were. It was quite fun.
We also had to write five adjectives that describe us, and at the end of the evening, our lists were pulled from a bowl and everyone had to guess who the five words described.
It was so good to be together with friends and food and coffee (even though I had tea).
When we got home, Josiah was saying, "Children are tolerated, not just celebrated."
I recognized this inverted saying as something he picked up in church, even though he was saying it backward.
"No," I corrected him,"it's children are celebrated, not just tolerated."
"What's tolerated?" he asked.
I explained that tolerated means "put up with".
"We don't want to just put up with our children. We want to celebrate them!"
"Oh, that's good!" he said.
Yes, it is.
Yesterday was the start of another week, and parent teacher conferences were last night.
Today, we are helping Joe get ready for his trip to Sweden.
He is leaving in the morning with our pastor, Doug, and another person from church. They are going to connect with churches and leaders there that our church has relationship with. They will attend a conference, and travel to several churches, encouraging them and bringing God's word and fresh insight.
It is a mission trip, of sorts.
He'll be back next Thursday.
The boys and I miss him already, but I am excited for him, and I know that he will have so many stories to tell.
We took a ride together tonight, Joe, the boys and I, Daniel in his big boy car seat. We had some errands to run. We were enjoying each other's company and a drink from Sonic, and the sun was sinking into the west. Evening was coming on subtly in the east, and stars began to shimmer faintly. I took a deep breath. This is my life. It has been a beautiful day.
Tomorrow, Joe will fly halfway around the world. Some of me will go with him. I will think of him all the time, every minute he is away; it will be a natural reflex, like breathing. All of me will wait for him to come home. Home to the boys and I. Home to our life.