hold on........

.......I'm coming! I feel like I'm running around here and never quite catching up! But I'm loving it! We're in the last little home stretch before our year end program - for our co-op group - and it's keeping us hopping :) To give you a little taste of what's to come, here are 2 of my kids in their partially finished costumes about a month ago......

They are trying their best to look "Israelitish" - why that means they have to look so grim, I'm not sure :)
And here's a picture for no good reason - except it's awfully cute :) He's playing with his "guys" in the tub. They fight wildly in there - until half the water splashes onto the floor and I have to put on my stern face and insist upon proper bathtub decorum. (of course, I realize that "proper bathroom decorum" when you're 2 years old involves a lot of splashing on the floor, but he doesn't know that I know......... ;)

Swingin'

Mother's Day again

my boys

Aren't my boys cute? I just love them so much. My daughter is very special - like an extention of myself. But it's been a neat and wonderful thing to get into a "boy's world". It's a special place :)


I love the bond they have - they are just so comfortable around each other. They so readily accept 2 yr. old Corin into their play. They stop what they're doing to tote him around on their backs. They tone down their wrestling so that he can be involved too, but without getting hurt (well, most of the time!!). They can laugh about things I just don't understand, but I love that! I don't need to understand their fun to enjoy it myself. And they are sweet - and very loyal. When asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I looked through a little make-up pamphlet with Caleb. I said "well, maybe this wrinkle cream would be good, or maybe this hair colour" - and my little boy looked almost angry! "You don't need that mom - you don't need any of this stuff - you look just fine." With that, he gave my hair a little pat and ran off to make a card for me.

Need a lift? Have a boy :)

Mother's Day

Well, I tried to get at least one normal sized picture on here. You need a microscope for this one, I know, but just to let you know what's on here... the kids bought a cake for their Mom (which Cher is holding) that says, "I love my Mom".

PS Is anyone else having major problems with blogger? We can't post pictures most of the time and we can't add text with "normal" size pictures when we manage to get a few on a page. Tis a bit frustrating...

More Virginia

Virginia!!

Virtuous wife

10 Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”

These verses of Proverbs 31 describe Cher. I quote them on this occasion to give thanks to the Lord for her as she has recently celebrated another b'day on May 6.

Our Vacation

I've become rather afraid of Blogger - so I tread cautiously, lest I arouse him. He doesn't like us posting pictures and words together - he gets revenge by "eating" the pictures and turning the words to garble. Hence the wordless pics above, and the pictureless words here ;)

Well, Virginia was great! We got to experience the VA coast in hot weather (Rich and Laura were even brave enough to swim!), and in cooler weather, and in terrifically wild and windy weather. We camped right along the coast, but not right on the beach road. We had a large spot with lots of great climbing trees - and a small stump that was Caleb's climbing tree :) Since we were off season, the campground was quiet and peaceful. We had the whole, huge beach almost to ourselves! Corin loved to pick up rocks and toss them in the ocean, Luke combed the beach for crabs claws, horseshoe crab "armour", coral and other neat beach things. The other two built and dug and ran and splashed. I spent some wonderful quiet time on the beach - it's a place that never fails to remind us of God's creative power!

Colonial Williamsburg was one of the highlights of our trip. We didn't quite realize just how big it was - otherwise we would have left earlier in the morning! When we got there, the info man at the huge visitor's centre told us what to see and what to do. He also told us that the Queen would be there. I gave him a blank stare. Somehow it didn't register to me that THE QUEEN could actually be coming. I'm not a huge follower of royalty and their happenings, but as "our" reigning monarch she's still a special figure. Anyway, Rich and I figured the info man had to be acting - that he was pretending to be a revolutionary of the time and was telling us the Queen was coming but that he couldn't care less (yes, he actually said that!). Not until later did we realize King George was reigning in Englad at the time of the revolution :) But when we later hit a major security check-point and they took away my apple-peeling knife did we realize that this was serious! She really was there! So, with great expectation, we took our place along the Duke of Gloucester Street and waited for Her Royal Highness. And we weren't disappointed - she came down the street in a horse-drawn carriage.

Also greatly enjoyed was our trip. It was really nice to put on CDs for the kids and have some uninterrupted time to talk up front. Uninturrupted, that is, when I wasn't falling asleep.......or reading about Jamestown..........or being held in the grip of Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre production of Ben Hur (thanks Trish!!). But we did talk ;)

And though our trip included much more in terms of family fun, great memories and lots of laughter, as well as beautiful teaching moments as we talked over many of the truths of God's word, I won't bore you with them all. We're home again and very thankful to be here. The Lord has put us in a very special place - surrounded by such special people - and we are glad :)