Just Around the River Bend.

Can you believe what 16 months has done??

Here is the peanut when she first came home.  Watching her Wiggles.   She seemed so little girl.  She was.

Here she is now, slipping down the chair.  Watching her Leapfrog.   How could this happen, in just 16 months??!!??!

This weekend we went to Clinton, to enjoy some window shopping and water splashing.  Samuel ran to me on the bridge to give me the keys,

so he could join these 2 in the water.  I opted not to go, thank you very much.

They got across the river and then started going back, and you will never guess what happened...

Someone came back slightly irritated. Can you tell from this picture who it was??

It was him.  And if you look closely, you can see why...he lost one of his crocs on the way back, and he LOVES his crocs.  LOVES LOVES LOVES them.

I was trying to hard not to laugh, and he gave me this look.  It didn't help.  It just made it even HARDER not to laugh.  My poor son.  But let me tell you, it was f-u-n-n-y.

Then he was trying not to laugh.  And the harder he tried not to laugh, the harder it became for him, too.

Pitch the other one too, son.  Maybe someone will find both and how fun would that be??!!??!

There it is...I know you can barely see it...but there it goes.

Funny part, this fisherman was on the other side when Samuel lost his croc, and he talked to him about it.  The fisherman moved down river, and after Samuel pitched his other croc over, we realized that there is a chance that this fisherman would think it was the one he lost in the first place.  He did.  He got a little excited when he saw it floating by.  He hadn't noticed the surrender.  Samuel hid. lol.  The fisherman couldn't grab it either.  

Just as well.

The other one was long gone.

Life...on planet earth.

Life is good.

It is the most wonderful having my daughter & her family here, even if it is only temporarily.  I will enjoy this summer, kissing that baby's perfect cheeks, doing things with my daughter, good talks with my son-in-law.  And watching them become such good parents.

It has been great watching my oldest son bloom, in HIS grace.  To hear him laugh.  To watch him work hard, be exhausted, and love it.  To take his little brother along side him and teach him the ways of our LORD.   Watch him continue to become the young man I remember praying for way back when he was about 5.

It has been interesting watching our youngest son, trying to find his role in this family, in the faith and in this world.  Trying to be 'old' and yet loving being a kid.  Ministering to the old, young, sick, dying, living and family.   To watching him be so tender with his little sister ( and tease the day lights out of her, too) ( keeping it real) and fighting with me to hold the baby.

And our little Miss Princess???  Yup, she is a joy.  Hilarious, cute, stubborn, has discovered dress up, is about 5 minutes from reading, is so very helpful and yes, smart.




Some pictures of life in NJ. ( click to see bigger)

It is a wonder if this baby gets put down.  Who can walk by this beautiful boy and not want to hold him???  He has the most delicious smell.  And the softest cheeks.  And best expressions.

This is a picture of my son, my other son, and Noah, a young man from Sweden who was here for a few months working along side our son at the Mission.  Yes his hair is in a pony tail on top of his head.  Yes he pulls his socks up as far as they go.  Like I said...he is from Sweden.  And yes, our oldest is sleeping.

Birthday bag for Father's Day.  :D  And a little peanut helping open presents.  As like any 4 year old, she thinks everyone needs her help in opening presents.

Our oldest daughter got this for her daddy.  It is not even a gag gift.  It is for a man who is in complete denial that he needs reading glasses.  I need to hold his reading material across the table so he can read it.  He needed the magnifying glass to read the directions.

And taking Josiah to our favorite kosher pizzeria.  We have been going there for about 17 years, and it hasn't changed a bit.  

GOD is good.  HE is faithful. HE is true.  And because of that, life is good.

Thoughts.

It has been a busy last few days.  They never stop being busy, but they also have been great.

We are working towards the tail end of our schooling, going longer then I would like, but doing well.

Next year we will start Kolbe Academy Homeschool, which is what my oldest son graduated from and we were quite pleased with the outcome.  We go the Classical Trivium route of education.  Why?  I don't know.  And though we are not Catholic by faith, their program is excellent, and they accepted us.  ( They accept anybody.  :D )lol.

While my youngest son is so ridiculously smart, he is a disciplined mess.  :P  So I am opting to start him with Kolbe early so he gets used to the program by the time he hits high school.  

And another issue we have been dealing with in this home, is having a 12 year old boy.  Going to be 13 this year.  To anyone who has one, I need not say more.

To those who don't have one, or have forgotten, pray for survival in this home.  He goes from delightful, to terrorist, to ridiculous, to angry, to funny, to embarrassed, to being a hug monster, to making believe that his life began the day he crawled out from under a rock.   This, all in the span of about 1/2 hour.

Yeah.

OH, and another thing we are working through is...

missions.

I love missions.  I have always believe a church without a missions mind set, is a dying church.  That may sound a little harsh, but I am okay with that.  Proclaiming HIS name is our heart beat.  It is our lives lived out to HIS glory.  As Steve Green  reapeated what Jesus said...across the street or around the world. 

And let me tell you something, across the street is sometimes as hard as across the world.   

But both are oh so important.

And so, we are starting the thought process of how to start our 12 year old boy thinking about  missions. Let me rephrase that.  How to live out what he has been taught since he could grasp any kind of knowledge.  What will be his options?  GOD's desire for him? When, where, and yes, even why?

It is a good process and I am excited about it.

Until then, we will survive the middle school years.

They are the stone to sharpen his father and I for our future.  As well as his.

If you can't beat 'em...

I usually don't follow the 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy.  It is very unChrist-like. But sometimes you just make the best of a situation, and move on.

According to my ticker on top of this blog, we have been married 26 years, 4 months, 1 week and 5 days as of today.

Well, for the past 26 years, 4 months, 1 week and 4 days, I have been hoping, praying, begging, dreaming, going to realtor.com, and right out demanding we move out of Jersey.  (  I know, I know...pray for me)

Yup.  One day after we got married, I started lobbying.

As you can see, I never did succeed.

(God must really need us here something awful.)

PLUS, I married a Jersey guy, born and bred.  And Irish.  Pretty much the most stubborn combination on the face of the earth.

So since we are going to stay here, we may as well enjoy what 'here' has to offer.

So, I told the Love of My Life that since I am surrendering my dreams of #1 Texas, #2 Colorado, and #3 anywhere but Jersey, I am going to go ahead and get a couple more museum memberships in NYC, reserve a weekend down the shore for the 2 of us more often, drive my suburban around more instead of my station wagon, and blast my country music while doing it.

So if you don't mind, allow me my delusions for a minute or 2.

And try to understand in order for me survive, i will follow the philosophy: if you can't beat 'em...join 'em.

crazy like a...good grief...i can't think of anything that crazy

So... I married this guy 26 years ago.

He has made life interesting.   To put it mildy.

Just like his son, I wonder why I am still shocked by his statements.

Like this morning.  Do you know what he told me this morning.

He is becoming a vegetarian.

Which is interesting because he loves his steak and his lobster.  OK, he is not a chicken fan.  At all.  So much so that he had threatened in the past to be come vegetarian so as not to eat chicken anymore.  But he didn't do it because he loves his steak.  And hamburgers.  And bacon.  And hot dogs.  And lobster.  And shrimp.  And pork chops.  You get the point.

But today, he made up his mind.

SoOOOOoooOooo... I am on the internet finding recipes for vegetarians.

NOT fun.

My daughter went on a vegan fast for a few weeks.  It was a prayer and fasting fast, not a life style or conviction for the poor animals fast.  She couldn't wait for her time frame to be over.

It was the pits cooking for her during that time period.

:::sigh:::

Why am I so surprised?

( I am still hoping he changes his mind soon..I'll keep you posted.)