On Joy...

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 4)


Joy- this is my "word" for the year. Back in January, everyone was deciding on their words, a sort of new years resolution with a bit more meaning than the usual "I'm gonna loose 10 pounds." I loved the idea but had a hard time settling on a word of my own. Then I walked into Sunday school and was handed the study titled "discovering joy". Yup, that was it.

I read every article I could get my hands on, searched many websites, read and reread every verse on joy I could find in my concordance, but still longed for that clear and simple "formula".

Talking it over with the girls one night, I expressed this to them and Courtney plainly said "Jesus first, others second, yourself last."
"Hmm?"
"What, you've never heard of that?"
"Uh, no, I haven't."
(Roaring laughter at my sake)
"The J stands for Jesus, put Him first in your life. The O stands for others, do for others next, then Y for yourself. Then you will find joy."
I just love the way a child can take something so complicated and make it so simple.
So that's (only a small part of) my story on discovering joy.

While reading No Greater Joy, (not a book on joy, but on child rearing) I found a wonderful quote that I would like to share...

"Look into the face of your child and smile. Let your child look into your face and see someone delighting in their presence. Don't withhold your joy on the condition that your child earn your smile. Who deserves a good friend? Who deserves the Savior's love? ... Don't just smile at your kids; smile into them; smile through them. Let joy flow, and your family will be swept along in the current."



Click here for updates on everyone else's words for 2009

First Pathways walk for the year

Amy surprised me this morning with a phone call and an invitation for a walk. It was just what we needed after being cooped up in the house with all our illnesses. We had a great trip - the weather was gorgeous, no one had to go potty (at least none that I was aware of), no one tripped and gashed their foot open, no one got lost ;) and no sandwiches were dropped... or left in the car. Everyone had a wonderful time.

This isn't a double stroller, but they made it work.



Grace just loves the babies, even when they are almost as big as her.



She taught Caleb how to throw rocks in the water.



This is something she didn't have to teach him to do. He figured that one out all right on his own. What baby doesn't love to chew on muddy rocks?





Joe trying to talk them into sharing some of their sandwich. It doesn't look much like they care that he's still hungry.



I don't see too much of Elisabeth anymore, what with her being a working girl and all. So it was really nice that she could come along today. It also meant that between her and Rachael, I didn't hold my baby once the whole trip.
I love these pictures. I wish I were so photogenic. I just realized what is so special about this picture. It's the oldest grandchild and the youngest. At least for a couple months.





Amy with her babies. Isn't this a wonderful way to spend an afternoon? Sitting at the edge of the water, soaking in the sunshine, all your children playing around you, and to top it all off, a cute little baby on your lap.



It did get a little warm, though I'm not complaining. But there were a few times the kids got to playing too hard that they made me hot just to look at them. Just look at how red his face got. He looks beat.

A Nice Night for a Walk

We were outside for quite some time tonight. It felt good to be out there, it was so warm, and it's only getting warmer. I can't wait!
Another great thing about being outside is that the pictures turn out good (I know, priorities) But I got myself a new desktop wallpaper. No, not the one of Tony, the next one down.

Jacob-isms

"Was I borned when Noah was building the boat? I didn't see that flood. Was it in New York?"

When discussing how many languages there are with the boys, I was giving them a few examples... like French...and like German...
"Oh, I don't speak any of those. I just speak normal."

"How does the moms have babies and how does the dads get bigger because the moms born the dads?"

While they were sick, I pulled out our Bible Stories book to read to them.
"Does one of the Bible stories tell about what to do when a 6 year old boy needs a hydrated?"

Somewhere along the way I guess I had a birthday, though I don't feel any older at all so maybe I didn't after all and I'm still just 28 (as my husband keeps telling everyone.)
I always get just what I want for my birthday because I am so spoiled.
Stargazer Lilies, Ice cream cake, and a trip to the Olive Garden (which I have yet to do due to sickies - but I wont forget, I'm gonna need a night out after these two weeks!)
(I know, that's not the lily, but this picture turned out better.)



I really wish this picture turned out better. He hasn't smiled much yet ( he hasn't stayed awake long enough to) but today he was all giggles for Paige.

I bet you think I fell off the face of the earth. I'm still alive but a few times over the weekend I had my doubts.
It started on Easter Sunday, while we were at Amy's for our get together, Jacob became very lethargic. He told me he was sick but I didn't believe him because he's a bit of a hypochondriac. -shows what a sympathetic mother I am. And so it began... it hit Paige, it hit Courtney, when it hit Grace it picked up the addition of vomiting and diarrhea. Then it hit Joe.



Another wonderful addition to the bug was the strangest varying skin disorders I've ever had to deal with.



Friday night, it hit me, high fevers and I'm pretty sure I coughed part of my lung out - I'm sure I didn't need that part anyway.
So finally, on Tuesday, we spent 4 hours in the hospital running some tests on Jacob (because he is the worst one hit by this- poor guy lost 7 pounds, and he didn't have it to loose, and has spent a week and a half down.)
When the doctor came back in with the results, Jacob was sitting in the chair, head back, sleeping. She gave the report of what was normal and what was abnormal and "It looks like it's Viral."
He popped his head up quickly and gave her a very mature nod and a "Hmm" as if he were soaking it all in. She turned her attention to him with a smile and he said, "Well," sigh "I don't really know what vial means."



Today we're laying low, recovering. It's very quiet around here, not the norm. I'm looking forward to a noisy house, doors slamming as the kids run in and out, laughter, and I even miss the bickering. I'm so ready to return to life.

Just a few cute ones

New Life

My sweet, sweet girl. I feel for her, I really do. She is having such a hard time adjusting to the new baby.

It's not that she isn't the center of attention anymore. She still is. She is still very often entertaining the entire living room, pretending that she doesn't notice everyone laughing and cooing over her. She still is a big hit.

And it's not that she dislikes the baby. Not at all. The problem is that she loves him just too much.

But she is so clumsy and rough. She asks several times a day to hold him and no one ever lets her. She helps change his diaper by grabbing a wipe and smacking him across the bottom as gentle as she knows how (unfortunately that's not very gentle), and he cries, and then , of course, she cries. She climbs up on the bed every morning to come see "baby! baby! baby!" and always within minutes of being up there, loses her balance and lands on his head. Then he cries, then she cries... see a pattern?

Poor little thing, she's only trying to be helpful. But it's only been a few weeks, and she has been learning quickly how to be more gentle. She's getting there. And in a couple of months, he will be more durable, and in a couple of years, he will be beating up on her.

First Smile

I don't know what Papa said that was so funny...





All of the kids (minus Megan - she was sick) on my husbands side of the family. All together, my kids are fortunate to have 22 cousins and two on the way. I tell them all the time how blessed they are and that they need to appreciate having such a big family, so close.
I know I do.

Doesn't he seem too young to be sucking his thumb?
Apparently, Joe taught him. That's what Jacob told me.



It's too bad this baby doesn't get any affection...

Aunt Kathy came over today with a surprise for the kids. She picked up some eggs (already filled with candy - doesn't get much easier than that) for a hunt.
It was COLD out there! But the sun was shining and they were running around so they didn't seem to notice.
This summer, we will find all the ones we missed. And Grace will eat the candy, I'm sure.







I insisted that we leave Grace out of the whole coloring eggs event. Wouldn't you? We waited until she went down for her nap. But she woke up before we had gotten cleaned up and the girls (by girls, I mean Aunt Kathy and Grandma) really wanted to let her try. So we let her color one egg, and that was enough for her.



"OK, so now it's green...and...so...now what do we do with it?"

Hey, I'm tryin to sleep, here

can ya keep it down?

Tony's Birthday

I love it when the kids come up with these things on their own. Courtney is always right on the ball about remembering birthdays and special occasions. And it's always interesting to see what she comes up with. You have to be creative when you have no money.
I saw this display and thought, oh how sweet.



And look, she got him a present, too. I wonder what it is. Well, I'm just going to peek... Ahhh!



They're for when he takes her fishing, of course.
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Another little surprise I love to find...
I'm pretty lenient about my camera. The kids will often take pictures when I'm not around, and I find all kinds of funny things when I'm downloading my pictures. And sometimes I find things like this. This is definitely a Courtney picture. I love her creative angles.

A conversation between brothers...





Grace is a little obsessed with lotion. She calls it "boobas" (bubbles).
She found a lotion bottle and carried it around all morning, asking everybody to help her put some on her hands. I let her, thinking, "well, she wont make a mess, she cant even get it out of the bottle."
But eventually, she squeezed it just right and it squirted out all over her face. We all got a great laugh out of it.





At least it tastes good.