Houston Rain

Well, after a particularly dry summer the typical Houston rain has finally come (and with it the humidity and mosquitoes!).  So instead of pizza and the pool, we went for pizza and a picnic in our living room.  Joshua thought it was great that we could eat dinner somewhere other than the table…

The fun continued with Joshua getting to watch a real movie (Toy Story III).  He hasn’t seen Toy Story I or II but Netflix only had the most recent version and Joshua didn’t mind one bit.

The perfect end to our picnic…

And beautiful Mary Claire slept through the whole thing…

We savored a relaxing and laid back night in our home.  Thank you, Houston rain. 

Florida Family Fun

 

We did it.  We drove 12 hours in one day in a Toyota Camry with a 3-year old and a 3 month old.  And…it was AMAZING!  We’d truly drive to Destin again in a heartbeat.  Both Joshua and Mary Claire were wonderful little travelers, and we’ve decided to make this adventure an annual affair.

Departing for “The Sunshine State” at 4:00AM…

 

I am so thankful for the memories we made together as a family.  I will always be able to close my eyes and see Joshua and Brian jumping over waves, laughing and occasionally being knocked down only to get right back up again and keep doing it.  I can see sweet Mary Claire lounging in her pool-turned-ocean float, chilled out and taking it all in, as is her nature.  What a blessing to share this special time.  Certainly summer at its finest.

 

Mary Claire’s first 4th of July… 

 

 

There are no words for how much Joshua loved all the pillows at the hotel.  He was convinced he could not sleep unless he had at least—and I am not exaggerating—eight pillows!

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Beach fun…

 

 

 

 

  

What day is complete at the beach without a snow-cone at 10AM?

Mary Claire napping in our tent on the beach…

Wave jumping…

 

Never leave home for the beach without a clothesline.   I am sure housekeeping found this, at the very least, interesting.

 

Ah, family vacation in Florida…we’ll be back.

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” -Shakespeare

VBS

VBS, or “Vacation Bible Study” as Joshua called it, was last week.  Josh did not meet the age requirement but the wonderful staff invited him to come with the four and five year olds anyway.  He had the most amazing time.  Here are our favorite things Josh shared with us when we asked him what he learned each day…
1. “Jesus hurt himself, died, went and lived in a cave, and then went to Heaven.”
2. Joshua: “Daddy, do you believe in God?”  Brian: “Yes.”  Joshua: “Good, because you’re going to live forever!”
3.  Joshua: “Mommy, I’m going to listen to you.” Me: “Good.  Why?” Joshua: “Because I don’t want to have to go and live in the belly of a whale.” (This was after the lesson on Jonah refusing to listen to God about going to Ninevah.)
The singing and dancing was also a big hit with Joshua.  The theme was Pandamania/God is Wild about You! and Josh got to do lots of kung-fu panda moves.  Here he is singing parts of the songs he learned…

Dream of me

 

Tonight as I was feeding Mary Claire, Joshua came to kiss me goodnight.  He quickly slopped a kiss on my cheek and ran happily towards the door and then, quite unexpectedly, he stopped, turned around, looked at me, and said, “Mommy, when you go to sleep tonight dream of me, okay?”  I laughed, promised I would, and he sped off to bed.

As I sat and finished feeding Mary Claire in the quietness of our bedroom I thought of how I do dream of Joshua.  I dream of all that he might be one day, all that God may call him to do, whether he might be the one to find a cure for some rare disease or be president or somebody’s husband or any number of little dreams for our precious son.  And these little dreams of mine inevitably turn to prayers for him.  They always bring me to my knees as I am reminded there are no guarantees and that God does not promise me anything as a parent.  I think of all the parents who have grieved the loss of child (I cannot even fathom the misery!), who have seen a child become prodigal and drift away, whose children have grown up and decided not to even like their parents at all!  There are no promises.  Just little dreams and huge prayers.

I pray with all my heart to have children who love God, who love and serve others, who love me, who want to spend time with me when they are all grown up….I pray that God would help me to love them and nurture them and that in His mercy they would one day reflect upon their childhoods with fondness. 

And so when I close my eyes tonight I will dream of sweet Joshua and Mary Claire, the beautiful children I am privileged enough to mother.  I will pray for sweet dreams to become sweet lives lived for Chirst and shared with all of us who so ardently love them.

Homeschooling and Cars

Recently God has been reminding us how important it is that we are actively teaching our children at home.  Regardless of whatever type of formal education we may eventually choose for them—whether public or private, classical or Christian—those of us who have been blessed enough to be educated should actively share a love of knowledge and learning with our children. 

We have so much fun teaching Joshua.  He has been learning about the value of money (not only what each coin or dollar is worth but also how we can use money to help others), his address which we made into a little song, the sounds all the letters make, and most recently, how to write.  We are trying to also teach Joshua that when you work hard at something there is a benefit.  In the world of a three-year old boy, this means that when you work hard learning your letters you earn cars, specifically those from the soon-to-be-released “Cars II”.  Joshua learned this week to successfully and independently write all his letters in uppercase!  Guide, Luigi, and Uncle Topolino (who Joshua prefers to call “Uncle Donald”) are now Joshua’s “benefit” (AKA bribery) for learning.  

We are very proud of our little boy!

 

Big Brother, Little Sister

What a joy to watch these two little ones grow up together.  We pray for them a relationship filled with God’s love and joy and for many happy childhood memories to be recalled in the years to come.

The big brother…

The little sister…

 

The big brother/little sister photo shoot…

Finally, Mary Claire was ready for a nap…

I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends.  ~James Boswell

Saturday Summer Fun

We especially treasure Saturdays when we are all together all day long!  This Saturday we enjoyed a little painting and swimming in the pool.

 

 

 

Oh the joy of family on Saturday!