A few March Pics

 The first weekend of March, after a long series of events, I convinced Mike to drive me to Northern VA to pick up a new dining table and chairs.  We got connected  thru a consignment shop at the river.  All of the pieces are hand made by a furniture maker in the Shenandoah Valley (Samuel S Case)- so how cool to have furniture from a local Virginia artisan.

His parents graciously agree to loan us their truck AND watch all three kids.  It was fun to have a day with my Michael.

We came home to a "surprise birthday party" for me. :)  Ben was asleep.

 Here is the new table & chairs.

 And another cake on my birthday night.

 We had several visitors.

NeeNee came to see her littlest man.

My Uncle Henry and Aunt Barbara came for the day.

Ben is not easily woo'ed by others.  Uncle Henry won him over though!

He has the chemistry & magic touch.

 I so enjoyed spending the day with them.

They brought me this 20 year old pic.  I love it because it portrays the joy & humor that Uncle Henry brings.  He makes me laugh like no one else. 

And finally, we had a family friend make curtains and a window seat cushion for our bay.

I was 'iffy' that I'd made a quick material decision on a cold January day and wouldn't love my material choice, would wish I'd chosen something brighter & happier. But I do love it!  Its been so nice to have this area mostly done. (But daily life bring plenty more clutter and it rarely looks like this.)

Gimme some girl.

She is the only girl among our neighborhood friends, so far. 

She is rambunctious & loves to be active (love this about her!).

She is thoughtful & sweet (a nice touch among the wild boys).  

Last week, lots of friends were hanging out on our cul de sac.  She asked to bring out our loaf of banana bread and serve it to the friends (she is a little Brenda & shows me the generosity of my mom).  Then she asked to go inside and make a gift for each of the kids.

She has thrived in Kindergarten this year.  She has an amazing teacher who she adores.

She enjoys playing school & loves learning.

She has some sass too.  

I hope she will keep this confidence & continue to excel at all she does. 

 * Peter was off playing the boys during the taking of these sunny pictures.

In the Sunshine & Date Night Conversations

* These pics are deceptive.  It still isn't warm enough for me.  But the sunshine is nice.

The kids, however, really are this good looking.

Mike & I had an at home date night last night.  With a glass of wine & conversation.

We talked about lots of things and then I was telling him that I wish I could have our kids do a personality test so I could really figure them out, and by knowing more of who they are, I could let them be and have more reasonable expectations for them.

In talking about that, we were refreshing our memories on who we test out to be.

I am an ESTJ.  Mike is an INFP.  I had sorta forgotten that we really are perfect opposites.  We talked through each of those, him trying to explain to me the difference in an S & N ;).  Today I read more online about each of us & again, my jaw is on the floor at how spot on it is.  

And this brings to the front of my mind: God's faithfulness to us.  

 We could have stayed perfect opposites.  When we got married, I would have thought of myself as superior.  I think I've mentioned this before.  And a lot of it would have been because I didn't really understand Mike.  I think I would have continued on with that assumption (my greatness, isn't that the nature of an ESTJ), but this thing called STINT happened.  We lived in another country (something I didn't really want to do) and we were removed from so much that year and this great couple came over and counselled us and our team that year.  And they helped us to see each other.  I think that helped me to put words to our differences.  And, further living and parenting with Mike has taken it a step further to cause me to love our differences.  To love and appreciate all of the qualities about Mike that are so opposite me.

* Pics below courtesy of Lily.

The Gospel takes it even a step further.  Mike doesn't just get frustrated with me, he loves me (romans 5:8).  And his love calms me and helps me to not be so fixated on my way.  He helps me to let go of my determination and trust his love.  In the same way, I can trust my Heavenly Father, trust Jesus because I know He loves me and acts in my best interest (romans 8:32).

But he doesn't demand my submission, he earns it.  

Jesus does that too. 

{Lily's first word was "kee" for kitty.  Following suit, Ben's first word is "ta" for cat. He likes her a lot.}

Now, I don't do any of this perfectly.  We would both tell you that.  But it made me smile to think on this through our conversations last night.  And it encourages me to know God's faithfulness to us to bring about His will, despite my determination to bring about my will.  (Although I think my will is much less than it used to be.)

You can pray for Mike.  Because I now realize I am the harder one to live with.  

It also encourages me to think about parenting.  Because I am still VERY MUCH at the beginning phase of that process, not knowing what is going on & most of the time sure my sin is screwing it all up.  I am thankful for a partner who loves and seeks God, knows what Jesus has done for him, what it cost, and is iNtuitive in attempting to understand these kids.

I am thankful that God sanctifies us and is stronger, calls us to follow Him over our personality types and leads us to live in ways that are different than our natural tendencies because He is most trustworthy.

I also think my husband is pretty great.

Ben in the Bath!

Benny enjoys his {weekly- shhhh!} bathtime after the big kids are off to school.
He is enjoying freedom from the baby bathtub & is crazy about the water.

 I see you, sweet boy.

 He has quite a few forehead bruises in these pics.  I think one was from an ordinary fall & one was from a collision between our heads when I was holding him up above me at his hips and he crashed down. I felt horrible.

 Its been fun to see him grow into a more physically capable boy and be on the cusp of feeling like a little boy, and less like a baby.  

Although, you'll always be my baby, sweet Jammy.  I love all of the moments I get to hold you and have you in my arms, baby boy!  God is good. You are my reminder of that.

And here are a few more.  

I think he is pretty scrumptious.

snow week 2015

 Thankfully, our back deck has been a "snow box" for the big kids & provided hours of entertainment, along with neighbor friends (hooray for independent play!).

Suma- baby!

 And remembering that last year this guy was in my belly.
It has been so so great to have proper snow clothes this year, a bigger, warmer house, & more independent kids!

I think I need a new hat.

 We've gotten out and around our neighborhood a fair amount!

(But still, the cabin fever is setting in.)  

Isn't the area behind our house pretty in the snow?!

 Their imagination takes them through the day. They are carrying around the wooden spoons from the deck play as their Wild Kratts "creature power" sticks. 

This guy is so precious.

 There is some "mmmm" babbling coming out of this mouth.

 Here they are sledding in our front yard (not an overly exciting slope but its worked).

Ben: 8 months

This boy is so sweet, squishy & huggable!  It's been a big month!  He is almost 9 months old (say it isn't so!).  His little brain is in overdrive figuring things out in the last month.  Biggest milestone... he began crawling at 8 1/2 months!  Not that this mama is counting (its my PTSD coming out- parenting will do that to you).  

The other big news is that he's learned to eat.  At 6 & 7 months, he wasn't really interested.

 He's gotten 3 little teeth- can you see them?

 He's started lots more babbling.  It had been mostly 'g' sounds- guh, goo.  We went to visit Maw & Paw & he started mimicking the sound of the dogs barking- a wah, wah.  And overnight, 'b' & 'd' sounds & an occasional 'ma ma'.  We'll watch Daddy & the big kids leave for school/work and he'll say "go bye, bye, dada".  Its often a sweet little whisper of a voice, as he is processing out loud.  I can tell his little mind is thinking & figuring it all out.

 He loves sitting and playing with all of his toys.  I can see his mind spinning to investigate and think about everything as he plays.  He loves spinning some wheels, like his big bro. :)  When I build towers with his blocks, he has to knock them over asap.  :)

He is such a sweet little joy of a man.  We love him so much!

"Neighbor" Friends!

Altho no longer our neighbors, we continue to love our Friday pizza nights with this crew.  It really is amazing how well our kids get along. And I am loving the history that we now have.  In keeping with the even boy:girl ratio, we've added an extra girl and and extra boy in the last year & a half.  

Here is the littlest girl's fan club!

She is at that CUTE parrot stage of repeating words that the big girls asked her to say and then all of them giggling!  And they enjoyed teaching & hearing her say their names. :)  
So sweet! 

 And gazing at her- that motherly instinct.  I love boy-girl differences. :)

Here are the boys, immersed in the Legos.  One of these boys shares Peter's love of "big cats" too.

 So nice to all sit and chat and play after dinner.  It made me happy to have them all here!