Where I'll Be...

...in less than 2 weeks I will be here. ...in 4 weeks I will be here. ...in 6 weeks I will be here. Lots of photos to come!

Spring Photo Update

Summer is in full swing! We finished up school in mid-May. Here are some photos from this spring. I'm sure we will take a bunch more this summer. We find ourselves venturing out on some hikes, biking excursions, parks, and anywhere with wide open spaces. We tend to drive each other bonkers if we stay indoors, and frankly, the noise level made by four youngin's in enclosed spaces is enough to fray fragile nerves. So we head into the great outdoors for lots of adventures in critter hunting, swimming, exploring, and enjoying the free entertainment of God's creation.

Spring Campout with River's Edge (our homeschool co-op)

Awards Day at River's Edge - Schaeffer received "Most Artistic" Award

Flying a kite on Max Patch

Hanging out in the backyard

Playing in the rain

Our little fruit bat

When we hike, this is where Charlotte can be found

Brotherly love...and Lily expressing herself with chalk art in the background

Hiking lower Mt. Cammerer trail (I think that's where we were)

The Snake Hunter

I was on my way home one morning about 3 weeks ago. Lana was home babysitting while I was running errands and getting groceries. My phone rang as I was driving. It was Lana on the other end. She was out of breath and sounded a little panicked. She quickly said, "Everything is ok." I was not convinced, however. She proceeded to spout out some details about Griffin and a snake. It took me a few minutes to decipher what she was trying to tell me in her panicked state. Here's how the conversation went over the phone:

L: The boys were in the backyard and I was in the kitchen and I look out to see Griffin holding a snake!
Me: Does he still have it?
L: No, both boys are inside now.
Me: What did the snake look like?
L: It was not a little snake, Emily! It was big snake!!
Me: Ok, what color is the snake? (trying to quickly determine if it were venomous, but knowing it wasn't likely to be)
L: It is about two fingers around. It's not little!!
Me: Ok, but what color is it? Black? Brown?
L: Black with yellow on it.
Me: Ok, then everything is ok. It's not venomous.
L: I was cleaning up the kitchen and looked out the window at the boys in the backyard, and there Griffin stood with a snake coiled up in his hands. I thought it was a toy snake. Griffin started yelling, "Look, Lana! A big worm!" I went outside because I thought he wanted me to pretend to see his snake. But as I walked toward him I realized that the snake was moving! It's body was coiled up and it's head was raised up!
Me: (Laughing uncontrollably) I'm sorry I don't mean to be laughing, but I have this vision of Griffin standing proudly in the middle of the backyard with his "big worm."
L: I'm still shaking. It scared me to death!
Me: Did the snake bite him or did he just drop it?
L: I yelled, "DROP IT!! DROP IT!!" and I think it scared him so badly that he jumped and dropped it. I got both boys inside and locked the door.
Me: (Still laughing) Ok, I will be home in about 5 minutes. Take a deep breath. I will be there soon.

The king snake that Griffin caught. It was about 2 feet long. Fairly small for a king snake, but big enough to upset the babysitter.

Later, when BJ got home from work, he went in the backyard and actually found Griffin's "big worm." BJ caught it and put it into a plastic box so we could watch it for a little while before he released it into the wetland behind our house.

Smiley Wiley Turns 3

Monday was Big G's 3rd birthday! Griffin is a compact bundle of joy, smiles, and mischief. He has the sweetest smile with big round cheeks and eyes that sparkle. I think he's pretty cute! BJ accuses me of being too lenient with him. But shoot! When he's up to no good, he shoots me a mischievous grin and bats his big eyelashes and I'm immediately disarmed.

Griffin is fearless. He keeps pace with the big kids, climbing, riding a bike, jumping, playing ball, and wrestling with Daddy and Schaeffer. He loves to snuggle still. I love that even though he's a typical active little boy, he's always greets me with a hug and offers up big pucker kisses. Right now he loves cars and trucks, super heroes, dragons, and hitting the baseball in the backyard. He loves to play with Lily and Schaeffer, even though sometimes they don't want their little brother to tag along. When he gets squeezed out of big-kid play, he is content to play independently.

He loves to sing, especially "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Jesus Loves Me." He says some funny stuff, too. He calls the Buddy's Bar-b-que sign "piggy chef." When he's mad at Schaeffer he says, "stinky boy!" (I usually remind him that it's not nice to call names.) When he doesn't want something, he used to say, "I hate that!" But because that's not nice, we taught him to say, "no thank you." Now he yells, "No THANK YOU!" Now we just have to work on the tone, but we are making progress :-) He has all sorts of phrases that he tries to use to avoid getting into trouble: "Schaeffer made me do it," and "I didn't mean to" are the common ones. It's amazing how quickly toddlers learn to use language to manipulate others and to shift blame.

Griffin is very small for his age, still wearing 24 months and 2T sizes. But his personality is so large you don't really see him as small. People comment to me all the time about his big personality, how he is fearless and never appears shy. That's definitely my boy! Happy 3rd birthday Big G!

Another broken arm

Schaeffer is now sporting a bright orange cast on his left arm. On Monday evening he fell in the backyard while playing. The pain never did go away after 24 hours so I figured I needed to get him checked out. The poor guy was tough and didn't even let on that he had a fracture. Several X-rays revealed a minor fracture immediately above his elbow joint. He will be wearing the cast for 2 weeks. Kids heal fast! What's up with my kids and broken left arms?!

A Holy Ghost Smack-Down!

After wallering (that's Southern slang for rolling) in indignant self-pity over my lack of "me time" lately with all the hours I've put into mothering this brood, the Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly. He said, "Me time? The only thing you are deserving of is death and hell. But you have received so much more than just 'me time.'" Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the reminder that I have received a much greater gift and because of it one day I will get to enter into eternal rest with my Savior. "Me time" is a myth and a lie. The sooner I realize it, the better off I will be.

My Triad

Back before we rang in 2012, my dear loving husband told me - I mean downright insisted - that I take a few hours to myself to write down personal goals for this year and up to 5 years down the road. That sounded a lot overwhelming to me and not really a task I wanted to do. If I was given a few hours to myself I could definitely come up with a lot more interesting things to do (i.e., massage, pedicure, read a book, sleep). But because he asked so nicely (insisted so nicely), and because he equipped me with some nifty tools, this girl could not resist. The tools came in the form of a 1-hour long podcast, 5 printed pages of questions, and a spreadsheet. That was one of the most romantic things he has ever done! Really though, it showed me he still loves me a bunch and desires to hear my every thought and dream.

I took one afternoon to oblige my sweet Dearie. And amazingly I soon realized that I have some awesomely cool ideas for our family's future! I'm not trying to brag, but the ideas were cool to me because I didn't even realize they were trapped inside my head until I was commanded to go and think and ponder and record my thoughts. Wow! I still have thoughts in there, which proves I still have some brain cells after 4 consecutive pregnancies in a relatively short period of time.

Maybe one day I will share my ideas here, but I'm still a little shy about sharing them all. I have this weird fear of writing things down, or voicing them, if there is a slight chance they may not come true. It's this weird thought that I won't experience failure if I live in denial. I bet Freud would've loved to pick my brain! And, not to mention, my brother told me this past weekend that he could “virtually hear my brain shut out thoughts that were not black and white - there's no gray with you, is there Emily?!" Well, haha! Jokes on you because I have a daughter whose middle name is Gray! I like gray. I wear a lot of gray. I'm wearing it right now by the way. It's a great neutral color, but it's not a good color for thoughts most of the time.

Back to what I was saying...I completed my soul-searching, goal-setting homework assigned by my husband. One of the tasks was to fill in a spreadsheet schedule that was Sunday through Saturday, and broken into hourly increments for the full 24-hour day. Turns out my spreadsheet was completely full every day between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. I allocated at least 9 hours for sleep, which rarely happens in succession. I soon realized that I really and truly have time for 3 main things in my life: husband, children, and Jesus. In order to put anything else on my spreadsheet would mean one of those three relationships would have to be compromised. I’m not cool with that. Hence, the Triad was born! Now, I screen things through my Triad. Do specific obligations help, or hinder, me being able to meet the responsibilities of my Triad? I only need to be devoted to three things: my husband, my kids, and my Jesus.

I appreciate my husband making me put it all into perspective. For now, I have a simpler way of screening what items should appear on my to-do lists. So next time someone requests my assistance, I will ask myself, “does it fit into my Triad?”