Even the Dust, He Knows

I started back to work on Friday.  It was a good day.  We had Shane's mom and one of our sweet high school students here to be with all four children.  But heading in to work wasn't without its stress.  Change is always hard, and especially for me when it means leaving the kids.

I don't work that much, just a day a week.  And I was only there about 5 hours on Friday.  So only missed one feeding with Blaise.  Sometimes when I think about my friends who work a lot more, I feel badly for even talking about work.  But it's the same thing when one of my friends who has, say, only 2 children tells me how overwhelmed she is then says, "I feel so bad venting to you cause you have 4!"  I always tell them not to feel bad.  It's all relative.  And what overwhelms one of us might not overwhelm the other.  Hopefully we're all trying to support one another and not compare.

This was also a big week for us because Shane preached on Sunday.  We are in the midst of a series on prayer and Shane taught through Psalm 139 on praying in response to the wisdom of God;  He knows all things and He knows us.  One of the examples Shane used was that God knows all things, even at a micro level.  You know when the sun shines through the window and you see all those dust particles? he said.  God knows and governs the path of each dust particle.  And not only those here on earth but throughout the universe.

So this week as I was dealing with the stress of going back to work, the Lord kept bringing that illustration to mind (Shane had talked me through the details of his message earlier in the week).  I couldn't shake the truth that our God knew and would govern the details of both home and work.  So grateful we can trust His wisdom.

It was sweet to hear Shane preach on Father's Day.  I left Blaise in the nursery for the first time (he was such a good boy to be happy the whole time and wait till the service was over to need to eat again) so I got to be in the entire service for the first time in 2 months!

Shane did a wonderful job and his message is up on the Harvest website.  We are blessed to have heard from several people that what he said deeply ministered to them.  And I am grateful that God redeemed several personal experiences we have had as Shane shared how God brought light to some of our darkest times.  There is such purpose in pain when it draws others to the Lord.

We are so proud to be wife and daughter and sons of this man!

Last night we were super tired from the long weekend.  We had done some random things on Friday night, including Silas getting to go on a mock backyard campout (see Natalie's blog for cute pics!).  Then Saturday, Shane and Blaise and I went to a wedding.  So by Sunday night we were ready to just rest and be together.  We went on a family walk after having dinner outside.

Today Shane was home so we pulled out our pool for the first time this summer.  The kids had a blast, especially when we put the slide into it!  They had such fun that we went out again after naps and had dinner poolside...

Carnival!

Poolside

 Summer is in full swing around here.  We had a full weekend last week and this one is looking about the same.  Last week the weekend calendar was filled in with a carnival, time with extended family, and swimming/dinner/playtime at the home of some friends.  This weekend Silas is going to a "Backyard Campout" on Friday night and we have a wedding most of the day Saturday.

Today the children and I had our first visit to our local pool.  It's where we spent a good deal of time last year and we were all looking forward to it, especially after we've had such great swimming experiences so far this year.  They have the best zero-depth play pool for kids.  It was a world of difference from last year when our three were not quite sure about the water.  This year they all jumped right in and played the whole time.

I couldn't go to places like the pool without help and this summer one of our favorite girls, Ashli, is helping me out a couple days a week.  It doesn't hurt that she is also a lifeguard!  I can't imagine trying to do all we do without her.

My friend Trisha took the pictures today.  I didn't even take my camera.  As she said, the bigger kids were on the move too much to get a good picture.  Silas was Worn Out when it was time to get changed and head home.  Shane and I were laughing as we lunched because Silas kept closing his eyes and continued eating.  Tired and hungry...that was my kids after a morning in the water and the sun.  I wasn't surprised that Silas fell asleep during rest time today!

C.U.T.

Someone got a good haircut to start the summer...

Their Language

Simeon and Lieren are going through a really fun stage with language.  As a speech-language pathologist, their language development has been fascinating to me.  With them, I have gotten to watch two children acquire language at the same time, and a boy and a girl nonetheless.  I have also gotten to see the differences in their language skills as compared to Silas.

Simeon and Lieren have two big life circumstances that make their language unique:  they are twins and they have an older sibling.  So there are things they talk about that Silas never did.

Right now I am seeing them really use language to figure out who they are, where they belong, and what belongs to them.  You can imagine the "what belongs to them" is not spoken in kindness at times!

So here are some of the interesting things they are saying...

1.  They know our family member's middle names.  Every now and then they seem to want to push each other's buttons and one will say they are their twin's middle name.  Simeon will say, "I Noelle!" and pat his chest.  To which Lieren will reply with a pout, "No, I Noelle!"  And he will then state, "I Simmy Nash!"

2.  They do a similar thing with boy/girl.  Lieren will look at Sim and say, "Am a girl." He says, "Am a boy."  Then she, "Am a big girl!"

3.  We hear the following phrases way too many times a day from these two:  Is my turn now!;  Is Simmy's?;  Is Yeyen's?;  Is Si-si's?;  Is Baysie-boy's?;  I want it!;  My_____ (insert any coveted item)!;  and a new favorite, I need it!


4.  Simeon loves characters and people in general.  He is always asking where people are.  This week he is asking continually where Grandma Great (Shane's grandmother) is.  He has also been asking about several different Ignite kids and our friends Layton and Haley.

5.  We are not sure where she got it, but it has stuck and now Shane and I say it as well:  when Lieren hears Blaise start to fuss she says emphatically, "Oh Blaise!"

Sweet Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was my birthday.  Birthdays are a hot topic around here because Silas is all about having his birthday this year.  He knows once he turns 4, he gets to take swimming lessons and soon after will start school.  He is so excited!  So it was fun to have our first birthday of the summer.

On Friday we all went to a soccer game.  The girls in our town were playing in the postseason and beat one of their big rivals.  It was fun to be out, even though Shane and I were playing with our kids most of the time and didn't see too much of the game.

On Saturday evening Shane and I went out to dinner.  Our littlest man, Blaise, went with us.  It was nice to be out, have a good meal, and shop a bit for some summer items we're looking for.

On Sunday we were all just about ready for naps when Shane surprised me with a little family birthday party.  I've mentioned before that Sundays can be busy around here, so I felt really special that we got to take the time to celebrate.

On Monday we all went out to Judy and Lee's house for an afternoon of swimming.  It was a blast!  The kids ended up being in the pool over 3 hours and were going non-stop the entire time.  Silas has grown in his confidence around the water and after swim lessons this summer, I think we might have a swimmer on our hands.  Lieren has a gentle love of being in the water.  And Simeon has absolutely no fear!

We swam all afternoon, right through naptime.  So toward the end, Simeon started to get tired.  I broke down and let him have his paci...

Hahahahahaha...

And no trip to the pool is complete without a cool, yummy snack...

Such a sweet weekend celebrating with family!

On a side note, toward the end of my pregnancy with Blaise, Shane was at one of my appointments.  As we were about to leave, he grabbed the bill sheet we were taking up to checkout.  He noticed that one of the options for the doctor to select was "Pregnancy, Elderly - 35 and older".  Whew, I made it without getting thrown into the elderly category by just 6 weeks!