Life in the Old Lane

I guess we should let everyone know... we're having a baby...watermelon. Here it is. 

Ben and I got a rare overnight away recently.

Yes, my neck started wrinkling at 38.

We saw many interesting people.

That being their own steins to coffee shops.

Interesting church signs

Pretty contrasts in flowers.

 
Gwen got this mermaid mosaic for her birthday. She helped at first, but then it became my obsession.

Summer Days

These summer days are flying by. Here we are having shaved ice with friends. 

We finished the living room and got some shelving and tv stand. We're enjoying the new set up.

Vacation in Alabama

Here we are making snow cones with Zeke's new maker.

Gwen got a singing bird and gum with birthday money.

Ben painted the living room and also put in new flooring.

 We spent a week in Alabama. Here are my niece and nephew, Clay and Chloe and my kids. They aren't little kids anymore. I enjoyed talking with them.

Picking blueberries was fun. And hot.

 We always have to go to the bug museum.

I can't get enough of this toothless grin!

Skating rink.

Splash pad.

Breakfast nutella mustache.

Summer Sweet Summer

Today we celebrated Gwen's 7th birthday. 7! Here are some friends. 

 We recently lost our minds and got a trampoline. Here's Paw Paw giving it a try.

 Her birthday this year was butterfly themed. We made butterfly food and put it outside, but no butterflies could make the party....except this butterfly pinata.

 We've made a renewed effort in chores. Here is a little boy with great bathroom cleaning skills. He is going to really bless his wife one day with these skills.

We also have lost our minds and are repainting the den. We took the plunge and painted the brick fireplace.

Gwen got a thing you suck bugs into and inspect them. She loves it.

3 generations of homes for hackers fans.

Ben is brilliant. He designed for the pinata to hang over the trampoline. It was fun watching kids jump and swing. (One at a time)

 Reading sweet cards from friends. She can read!

Toothless neighbors and Zeke.

She was so very excited to pull her front teeth herself. I personally can't get enough of her toothless grin.

 We saw a baby bird learning to fly. Cute! I am enjoying the kids and gardening and swimming lessons and all that summer holds.

Poem

I found this poem in a collection of songs on a CD we rented from the library.  It makes me smile.

Bed in Summer

By Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In summer, quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

How Do You Prepare?

How do you prepare to be an adult?
For the amount of mundane tasks that latch
Like a fanny pack that you never wanted to wear but you have to
Cause you gotta move your hands.

Folding of clothes, picking up shoes, sweeping floors
Dishes, dishes, silverware, silverware.
How do you prepare for the feelings?
I feel forgotten, I feel blessed. All at the same time.
A walk after dinner. Smell of grass and purple flowers.
Tomorrow there will be more dishes, more everything.
Look forward to the everything.

Gwen's Faith

Tonight was another night of questions from Gwen about the things of God. I find it a hard thing to answer her questions because I feel like I have to be truthful. She asked if hell is real. She asked who the leader of hell is. She asked if people die in hell. She says she feels bad wanting to be baptized because she doesn't love Jesus with all her heart yet. I told her that it comes with time as she gets to know Him better by reading the Bible and praying. We read the story of the eunuch that Phillip explained the scripture and who Christ was and afterward he got baptized. She liked this story and she was able to articulate her thinking better tonight. I am hesitant to write about it because it is so tender of a moment and because I'm sure I'm leaving many things out that were said. But I want to remember... She prayed and through tears told God she wanted to obey Him. Nothing is like hearing that from your child's lips unscripted.

I remember when I gave my heart to the Lord at 7. That night dad told me that it was the most important decision of my life, and it was. Later that night beside my bed I knealed down and thanked Him for what He did for me. My sister actually was concerned for me because I was crying and went to get mom. (We shared a bed) Mom knew somehow that I just was processing what had happened. Coming to Christ is a stumbly path sometimes. Gwen said tonight that she was asking in her mind questions and then opening her heart. I assured her that God wanted her to use both her brain and her heart and that He must have an amazing plan for her life. So...31 years ago I was by my bedside crying in thanks to God and now I am crying again for the same reason. Thanks.

Zeke's Preschool Graduation

 Zeke graduated from preschool yesterday.  He has gone on Mondays and Wednesdays this year.  He has learned a lot!  Getting all ready for kindergarten next year! 

Here he is with his friend Luke.

These were his teachers. 

A little fuzzy, but they sang songs in the program.