iPhone Pics…

I am thankful for my iPhone.  It is the little camera I always have with me for those random moments I want to make sure I don’t forget…

I walked into Joshua’s room one day during naptime to find him sleeping like this…

I’ve never seen a boy quite so excited about Halloween.  He loves ghosts and anything “spooky” this year.  Halloween has never been so much fun…

Joshua is becoming a great helper with feeding Mary Claire.  He makes a huge mess, but she loves it when he feeds her so I don’t mind the extra clean-up.  Joshua is so proud of himself when he is helping to take care of his “MC”.

Mary Claire is sitting up really well now on her own.

Brian had a conference to attend the other weekend, so we all went with him and had fun playing in the hotel.

Josh sported his new high-tops which he likes to call “big tops”.

We spent most of the night riding the three-story escalator.  Joshua loved it so much, and Mary Claire was in the Baby Bjorn literally along for the ride.

We love our life.  :)

Cousins

Oh, the joy of cousins!  The oldest ones are lively little leaders and the younger two are just relaxed and along for the ride (at least for now).  They warm our hearts.

Sweet girl cousins…

Abi and Josh hit the pool in the surfer-swimsuits given to them by our family in England.

Big eyes… 

The four fabulous cousins together…

This photo was not staged!  I came into the living room to find Nate and Mary Claire holding hands and looking at one another…

We are thankful for the special love these cousins share!

5 months, a race, and grandparents

Our little beauty is five months old.  She brings us so much joy!  She can roll both ways, sit up for a least a minute without help, eats fruits and veggies, and laughs and babbles all the time.  She loves her brother, her daddy’s silliness, her mommy’s snuggles, and putting anything and everything in her mouth.  She has two little teeth on the bottom now, too!  She is a delight to our souls and our home!

Josh ran in his first race this past weekend, a 1K called the Bearkat Bash!

Momma and Poppa came down to Houston and we had a wonderful weekend!

Mary Claire loves listening to Poppa’s voice (she always smiles when he talks) and laughing with Momma.  We give thanks for the irreplaceable blessing of family!

The Park

It’s finally less than 100 degrees here in Houston!  In fact, today it was in the mid-80s until about 11 a.m.  We were all so excited to return to one of our favorite family activities… fun at the park!  Josh drove his red car and Mary Claire enjoyed the BOB (sans car seat for the first time!) as we all enjoyed a glorious Saturday morning together!

Beauty

Potluck

A few things I want to remember and celebrate from the past few weeks…

Four months…

First, sweet Mary Claire had her four month “birthday”!  The time goes by so quickly and each day just gets sweeter and sweeter.  She truly lives up to her middle name of “Joy”.  We love how relaxed she is, always looking around with her big eyes and taking it all in.  She is my living reminder from God to slow down, enjoy every moment, and just savor this special time.

A home school lesson: “God forgot”…

In our “home school” with Joshua we have been focusing on money in two parts.  First, we’ve been learning the value of each coin and bill, along with some simple addition.  Secondly, and most importantly, we’ve been talking to Joshua about using money to help others.  This came up because sweet cousin Abi was raising money for Charity : Water in celebration of her third birthday.  We were asking Joshua if he would like to give any of his piggy bank money to help kids in Africa have clean water.  In order to decide if he wanted to give to this cause, we showed him the video clip online.  In it, some of the children are naked and Joshua, in a very cute 3-year old boy kind of way, found this particularly interesting. 

Joshua: “Mommy, those kids don’t have any clothes!” 

Me: “I know, buddy.”

Joshua: “God forgot to give them some!” 

Me: “No, Joshua, we did.  We forgot.”

Joshua:  “What?” Very cute and confused face.

Me: “God wants us to help people, especially since we have so much…if people are naked or hungry or thirsty it’s because we forgot to help.”

Joshua:  Long pause.  “Can I have some chocolate milk?”

The teachable moment was over, but Joshua did decide to give $13.  Thanks for the inspiration, Abi!

 

9 wonderful years…

Brian and I celebrated our nine year wedding anniversary by taking a quick trip to Sonoma Valley, CA.  It was heavenly, a true time of retreating and reflecting, and we thank God that we truly are each other’s best friend.

“There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage.” –Martin Luther