Worship

The single thing I desire to teach my children, my greatest hope for them, and the thing that I would give up most anything to insure that they grasp is the immeasurable love of God for them. I realize that I do not share this perspective with many of you who read this and you think it strange or "over the top", but it is the defining factor of our lives. Period. It defines our relationships, our perspectives. Everything. And I pray that it will change us more everyday.

We have been teaching Jonathan and Caleb about Jesus and this is one of the verses from the Bible that we worked on...

Spitting

Add to the list of niceties for the week: Caleb has started spitting. At the conclusion of mealtime he and I are covered in tiny droplets of a spit, food mixture. It is lovely. Truly lovely.

We had music class today and Jonathan was much more participatory than he was last time. He really loved the instruments and the "up and moving" songs.

From the land of throwing and spitting, I bid farewell...

Phases

Life is full of seasons. When children go through seasons, we call them phases. Maybe that is because we desperately hope that the "phase" will be shorter than what we perceive a season to be.

Current phase in our house (for Jonathan): throwing. Not innocent, boys will be boys, throwing. Willfully defiant throwing. Throwing to see if I'll follow throw on a consequence. Ha! It took a little mental preparation for me to begin this battle yesterday, but I am still going strong and will not be defeated. Throw balls all you want, but do not throw toys at people in this house.

It seems as though the throwing is just his chosen vice for testing the waters around here. I am reminded of last summer's long, long process of teaching him not to enter the street. He is tired from a very hectic weekend with little sleep and this adds to his mood and his defiance (more on the weekend after I get some photos).

Patience and perseverance... God is teaching me these lovely lessons, ONCE again, through my children.

Sisters

What could be more perfect than having a sister? Having a sister who also happens to have a boy the same age as your boys. Carla came to visit last week and it was great fun! Jacob is energetic, smiley, and all together loveable. We had a great time visiting the zoo, heading to the park, getting sno cones... you get the idea.

Can you imagine the fun that they will have together in the coming years?

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Lana

We stayed with some family friends while we were in Chicago for the wedding. They have over an acre of land that gets mowed so Jonathan had a hayday playing there. Dave and Lana's daughter lives near us and her son, Isaac, is one of Jonathan's playmates. Jonathan started out calling them "Grandma Isaac" and "Grandpa Isaac" but soon changed it to "Grandma Lana" and "Grandpa Dave" after he heard us calling them by their names. Jonathan and Grandpa Dave on the "tractor"
Jonathan wanted to keep his helmet on the whole time he was outside... what a funny kid!

Outside the Aquarium

Jonathan saw this seagull and starting chasing it, saying "seagull, come here! I want to see you." As you can imagine, the seagull complied well...

Fish and Fun

We were in Chicago last weekend for a wedding of Jamie's college roommate. We took the opportunity to visit the Aquarium. Jonathan really liked the dolphins, penguins and this "submarine"...