Dad's Days

Yesterday was B's birthday. Happy Birthday, Love! (We'll celebrate in one week with family.)

Today he wraps up his studying.

Tomorrow is day 1 of the VA Bar Examination- essay questions.

Wednesday is day 2 of the Exam- multiple choice.

Friday he flies to WI to meet up with us.

Soon he will start a new job, a new phase of life, a new season. I'm so proud of this man! His integrity and character are strong. His resolve runs deep. His convictions guide him on level paths. He is a wonderful husband, a gentle and dedicated father. He is striving for godliness and contentment, and he cares for us well.

We can hardly stand the wait of the next few days.

What Does God Want Me To Do?

This is a great reminder for me as I reenter my real life as a wife and mother. (I'm back from my quick trip to FL). I love it!

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
Scripture Reference: Micah 6:8

"He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God" (Mi 6:8 RSV).

"There is nothing conspicuous about those requirements. It is not a "special" service for which one would be likely to be decorated or even particularly remembered. But it is worth more to God than any sacrifice.

Lord, deliver me from the delusion of imagining that my desire is to serve You, when my real desire is the distinction of serving in some way which others admire."

A Special Summer

What a privilege it has been to spend time with Grandpa "B."

The kids and I have been packing up each night and morning to spend the evening with Papa B (as T calls him) and then our days at the farm.

Grandpa B is 82, active and healthy and wonderful to be around. The kids love being at his house, where there are big wheels to ride, trains to watch up the street, a tire swing, and a big back yard for playing baseball. They have also come to appreciate and expect nightly ice cream- a treat he and Grandma always shared.

I love being there because the upstairs is dark and quiet (it's also a little claustrophobic!) and the children actually sleep until 7 a.m. or so. We have a bit of privacy to read and talk and it has been very restful for me to be there. Of course, the best thing about being at Grandpa's is that we get to be with my grandpa. It has been a sweet time for me, listening to his stories, hearing about his day, seeing him interact with my children. Just the peacefulness of sitting by him in the evening has been good for my spirit. I miss Grandma (who passed away in October 2008) more at her house, too, but the grieving has been good and the memories have been very good.

These are snapshots from Papa B's.

Job Posting

If you have been wondering about a job for B or praying with our family that the Lord would provide a job for B, then today is a day to earnestly pray!

Our hope has been to stay in Lynchburg. Our reasons: not having to move! (time, expense, hassle); we like the community and are feeling part of it after 3 years; we are involved in church, at the YMCA, in a local CSA, with friends, in home-schooling groups; we would like to continue paying off our debt and paying down our house; we love the mountains, the rich history in VA, and there are so many things we haven't done yet!; the climate appeals to us; our desire is to move next to a home with more land and we will need several more years to be in position to do that; we enjoy our neighborhood and proximity to things; B has legal connections in Lynchburg.

I haven't posted much on this job-hunting phase, mostly because there isn't much to say. B is studying diligently for the Bar exam and there isn't much time left over for looking into jobs. His applications have led to only one interview, his experience has not led to an opportunity (but we never said we wanted to move to Alabama!). Our loan money is running out and it seems like time to know what to do. . .

But our hope is in the Lord and not in a job. He has always provided for our family and we trust Him to take care of us again, in His good will and perfect timing.

Today B has a meeting with a lawyer from a firm in Lynchburg. Please pray for wisdom and discretion, for rapport if the Lord would bless this interaction. Please pray that I would have a joyful spirit to accept whatever B decides is best for our family.

Thank you, dear Friends! I will definitely post more when we know something.

On Changing Clothes

O (7): "Mom, I think I need to change my pants. They smell like manure that is three years old that hasn't been stirred. Actually, my shirt does, too."

Friends

We are so grateful for time with friends! These are the Fraser kids with ours, and also cousin Bradley.

Work with Souls

"Here is the pattern for all who would do God's work with souls: faithful giving of the Word, a heart true and pure in seeking God's glory, gentleness, self-giving, and plain hard work." (Elisabeth Elliot)

This has been on my mind lately. We are still at my parent's farm and staying over nights at my grandfather's home in Milledgeville. I recognize that I have received great help while here. I haven't cooked as much nor cleaned, and my mom has washed most of our laundry. In fact, I feel pretty spoiled. It's not that I am just letting her take care of everything. . . but the load shared has been much easier. As she cleans up from the meal I am cleaning children and taking T potty. I'm weeding the garden while she does laundry. The children and I are having circle time while she prepares a meal. I am working on things that are needful- and so appreciate that her hard work is making things much smoother.

My heard yearns to go home. I'm missing B. I miss my own back porch, my garden, my yard. I miss my friends and neighbors and church. I miss sitting on my couch, eating my food, folding my laundry while I listen to voice messages.

When I think of returning home it makes me laugh a little. It seems humorous that I would want to go back to more work. And yet, I do. Because I know that it is hard work to raise a family. It's a lot of chores. But it is also faithful giving of the Word, gentle instruction, and giving up myself for God's glory. I long to return to our family routine, to our pattern of life. I know it will be more work, but it is work that I embrace. The household chores are just a very small piece of the work that I am called to; serving my family in love and self-giving. Oh, that God would bless the work of my hands!

Last Weekend's Plans

Plan A (my well-devised ideal):
Ride back from funeral with in laws.
Load up van, take a walk, kids expend energy playing.
Eat a light, early dinner. (4:45 or 5 p.m.)
Everyone uses restroom and loads into van.
Depart Bloomington by 6 p.m.
Stop for gas in Bloomington area.
Tate and Liv fall asleep in van around 7 or 7:30 (bedtime, especially since they didn't nap).
Listen to book on tape (Wolf the Saxon) with boys until we arrive at the farm, around 8:45 p.m.
Unload children and go to bed early.

Plan B (or what ACTUALLY happened):
Ride back from funeral with in laws.
Load up, take a walk, play outside. (going well, eh?)
Eat dinner around 5:15 p.m.
Use restroom, say goodbyes and pull away at 6:10 p.m.
Stop for gas outside of Bloomington, around 6:30 p.m.
Stop for potty for Tate around 7 p.m.
Stop for potty for L around 7:30 p.m.
Allow kids to play on playground at the rest area- for FIVE minutes only!
As we reload van, R needs to use the restroom.
Play at rest stop longer.
Reload van.
T falls asleep around 8:45. L around 9:15.
Pull into farm at 9:30.
Unload sleepy children. Unload van.
Read blogs until nearly 11 p.m. (I needed encouragement!)
Children wake at 6 a.m.

Photos From The Farm

These photos capture a few of the things that we've been doing here: riding bikes, pushing tractors, golfing. . having a GREAT TIME.

Traveling Again

This past weekend we made another road trip, spending over 9 hours in the van. The kids and I drove down to Bloomington, IL to meet up with B's family. From there we traveled further south to attend the funeral of B's uncle. Later that day we traveled back to Bloomington, and then loaded up again to drive back to the farm.

As we were pulling away L (4) asked me, "Can we drive to Daddy's house now?"

She insisted that she missed Daddy and she was voting that we would drive to VA. I had to agree. I miss Daddy, too. . . and we've done enough driving that we COULD be back to VA by now. I also had to admit, however, that I wasn't up for 14 MORE hours of driving. I much prefer staying "home"(to driving around) and B generally does all of our family driving. . . so I'm feeling that I've reached my max as sole van driver with four children.

First Haircut

T (22 months) had his first haircut this week. Even though I loved the way it flipped up over his ears, we knew it was time to trim it all around. Carla did a great job; she has been cutting hair for years and years- I used to babysit her kids and she has cut all the Lamoreux men's hair regularly. One of the best parts of the deal is that afterward the children got to play in their sandbox and on their playset. Carla also has lots of animals on their farm, so there are ponies to ride and goats to pet and lots of fun things to do and see. It's not your average salon!

How Do You Measure?

Trying on swimsuits is one of my least favorite things. That, and trying on jeans. That, and trying on anything in front of many mirrors. It is for this reason that I wear swimming suits much longer than I probably should.

At my mother's urging yesterday, I tried on a few swimming suits, looking for one to replace the suit I bought 2 years ago when I was pregnant with T. It lasted through my entire pregnancy. . . and I'm still wearing it. (Two pieces are very forgiving and this one had good elastic!)

It used to be that I was a size 10 or even a 12 in swimwear, back in my high school days. And my body shape hasn't changed all that much. Though I've had four children, my weight is not much different that it has ever been. It's dispersed a little differently, but I still have the same body type. I say this without pride or boasting; I'm just striving for an honest evaluation.

Yesterday I was trying on size 8 and 6 swimsuits. My mom wondered how I could be so skinny. . . but I know that I'm not "skinny" and that I haven't gotten slimmer in my parenting years. The only thing that has REALLY changed is that our country has gotten fatter. What used to be a 10 is now an 8 (or something like that!), and the size of the average woman has increased so much that what is "normal" is much different than it was 10 or 20 years ago. All of a sudden I am on the small end of all the sizes.

With over 60% of Americans obese or overweight, how we MEASURE is a very real concern to me.

It's Okay to Laugh At Us

I feel better now that a friend reassured me that urine is sterile.

Thanks for sharing our mirth!

T is just at that age where funny things happen. On this trip away from home he has discovered that he can climb out of the pack n' play, so we are working on training to stay in bed until called. (we're just working on training. period. This is the season.)

Yesterday I put T down for a nap on Grandpa and Grandma's bed. I reminded him that he was not to come out until he was asked. Thankfully, their door closes tightly and he is unable to open it by himself. This is good because it discourages his disobedience, and especially good because I forgot to bring my baby monitor on this trip and I can NOT hear what is going on upstairs when I am downstairs at my parents.

I returned to check on T about 8 minutes later. I carefully cracked open the door until I could see the bed. He was not there. I opened the door a little bit more (last time he had fallen asleep on the floor right beside the door). He wasn't there, either. I went in curiously and with a bit of alarm. The windows were shut; I have religiously checked this because the first time he was going to nap in there he was leaning on the screen to see who was driving in on the tractor- and I was sufficiently frightened out of my wits.

"T?" I softly called.

Then the bi fold closet doors slid open. He was lying on the floor with his blanket in the darkness of the closet.

When I carried him back to bed he protested and told me that he wanted to be in the other bedroom. (Isn't it a bit confounding when your baby starts telling you what they want?!) I put him on the bed in the other room, checked the windows, looked for other dangerous objects. . . and realized that his room has the GUN case. I moved a heavy tool box in front of the gun case (which has a lock but was still able to be opened), said a heartfelt prayer for safety and rest. . .and left.

A few minutes later I went to check on T. When I opened the door he was standing there with his blanket, a dark, telling stain around his mouth. "Let me look" revealed Hershey kiss foil. . . but not nearly enough. *sigh*

On the third attempt he did rest. And he is resting now. I am smiling, because it is so funny to think about the things that are going on in my life. This season is so sweet, so demanding, so brief. I love it.

You Know Where This Came From

In order to fully appreciate this story, you will need a little background information.

We are still at my parent's farm in IL. Yesterday at lunch T (22 mo.) spilled some water and he and L (4) were slurping it up off the counter (in lieu of using a towel, I suppose). They thought this was great fun, but eventually I took the water away when they were intentionally dumping it out so they could "vacuum" it up with their mouths and the "mess" was getting too large for my taste.

Later that afternoon we went swimming. (Did I mention that we're having a great time?!) Afterwards, I put shorts on T, but no diaper. He is almost ready to go with underwear all the time, and I chose to leave him bare this time because he needed a little airing out and I knew I would take him to the bathroom immediately following dinner. Well, dinner was delayed with all the swimming and such. The big kids were toweling off and changing into clothes and T and I were in the kitchen.

I was quite involved with making dinner: pureeing veggies, cooking things, you know the deal. T had been keeping busy with various things and I was keeping general watch on him.

The first thing that pricked my attention and interrupted my cooking was that he was slurping water off the floor. He's my fourth child; for better or for worse I let him do things like this occasionally. Then I noticed that it seemed like quite a bit of water (too large for my taste, remember?). Then I wondered where all this water came from; I didn't remember him having a drink recently. Then I stopped making dinner and my mouth dropped.

T was on his belly, on the floor, slurping. As I picked him up he began repeating, "Pee-pee. Pee-pee."

Oh, my goodness. Yes, that is what happened.