A Boy & His Blankie

Joseph loves his blue blankie.  It's actually the blankie Grandma Jane gave Isaac when he was born, but Isaac was never that enamored with it.  We've never had a baby who was attached to a blankie--until now.  Poor Joseph.  In the rush to leave my parents the night our van broke down, we left without his ultra-soft-can't-settle-down-to-sleep-without-it blankie.  He had to suffer through two nights with a sorry blankie substitute.  Grandpa Tom was kind enough to mail the blankie to us.

Joseph was taking a nap when the blankie arrived, so I put it next to him in his crib.  When he awoke, he gave the blankie a thorough inspection.  He had a puzzled look on his face, as though he couldn't believe he was actually in possession of it again.

That night, Joseph got to snuggle with his blankie before bedtime.  He was delighted.  I texted my Dad this picture with the caption, "He's one happy boy!"

Less than ten minutes later, I texted him this picture with the caption, "And . . . he's gone."

This is a picture of Joseph right after his blankie came out of the dryer the other day.

Already Joseph is big enough that he doesn't stand for kisses from his Mama (unless he's sleeping--mamas have their tricks).  I know all too soon he'll outgrow his need for the blue blankie, too.  But right now, my Joseph is still is very little and I'm very glad about that.

P.S.--My mom's surgery went well.  She's home now.  Thanks for the prayers.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We took a little road trip this past weekend.  Our family went to see the fourth annual draft horse and mule plowing event and my uncle's farm.  The weather was awful.  Cold, windy, dusty.  Yuck.

I opted to stay in the van to watch the plowing while Matt, the dog and the kids ventured outside.   Some of the kids got rides on a horse drawn buggy.  While that was happening, Rachel, our dog cuddled up on my lap for one of her favorite pastimes--a nap in the sun.

I had a good chuckle at the anachronism of the cowboy on the buggy talking on his cell phone.

On Sunday morning we went to church, ate a nice lunch with Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna and then we headed down the road to visit my parents.  My mom hasn't been doing well these past months.  We are grateful that the Lord has provided a wonderful caregiver for her.  Mrs. L is a gem and she even has her own little farm, complete with sheep and a root cellar.  A woman after my own heart.

As we began our trek to my mom and dad's house, we heard a loud noise from underneath our van.  Grace and Paul, who were driving in a car behind us, informed us that a part had fallen off of the van.  We stopped and tried to find the part, but were unsuccessful.  Matt decided it was fine to continue our journey.  We made it to mom and dad's without incident.

Once there, Matt opened an early birthday present from my parents while we watched the Masters Golf Tournament.  Our kids were completely enthralled.  The boys may have caught the golf bug, which I'm sure will delight both of their grandpas.

When the time came for us to leave, we pulled out of the driveway and the van started making horrible noises.  Matt pulled back into the driveway, jacked up the van and pulled off the wheel.  That's when he realized that he was in over his head.

Understand that all this happened late Sunday afternoon.  At that point, I thought the chances of sleeping in my own bed that night were slim to none.  Anyhow, my dad went over to the neighbor's and knocked on the door.  The neighbor is a mechanic.  He came over a took a look at the van and said the wheel bearings were going out.  He couldn't believe we had driven 35 miles like that without losing the wheel.

He suggested that Matt call the auto parts store to see if they had a wheel bearing in stock.  They did.  Matt picked up the part while I went to Walmart and picked up a big sub sandwich and chips for the kids' dinner.

When we got back to the house, the angel of  a neighbor replaced the wheel bearing.  He refused payment.  The silver lining was that the kids and I got to spend more time with my mom while the men worked on the van.

We arrived home safe and sound around bedtime.  I was ever so glad to get into my own bed that night.  The whole incident reminded me of a recent BSF lecture.  The teaching leader said that we don't even realize how often the Lord protects us from tragedies.  Our family knows that He protected us this past weekend and we praise Him for it.

P.S.--My mom will have surgery this Friday.  Prayers for her would be appreciated.

Overheard

Tonight as I was cooking dinner, the kids were working on refining their memory verse for Bible Study Fellowship.  This week's verse was Deuteronomy 10:12-13: 

" And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?"

The memory verse is always a bit of a stretch for Jude.  He's a first grader, but a very young one.  So tonight as Lydia and Joel were finalizing their memorization, Jude was still struggling to get it right. He suggested that Lydia put the verse to a song so it would be easier for him.  "That's a good idea," I thought to myself as I chopped veggies.

Lydia said to Jude, "O.K.  We need to think of music to put it to."  Then Jude suggested, "How about jazz?"

Easter Recap

We rallied the troops last week and readied our house for our annual Passover Seder.  This year my Uncle Keith and Aunt Leanna were in attendance, which made the meal all the more special.

The brisket we served at the Seder.  I made it he day before and sent the picture to my uncle as a pre-event teaser.  He received the photo while he was on the tractor.  How amazing is today's technology?

We attended our church's Maundy Thursday service as a family and then Matt and I took Paul to the Good Friday service the next evening.  Before church, we tried to take Paul to dinner at our favorite little Mexican restaurant, but were greeted with this sign, "Closed early to celebrate the Passion of Our Lord."  That was neat to see.  So Paul got a rare chance to eat at his favorite burger joint, which is were he wanted to eat in the first place.

When we got home from church that night, we gathered the whole family and read through the account of Jesus' death and added the corresponding ornaments to our Easter Tree.  (We use Ann Voskamp's Easter Tree Devotional for this.)

We spent Saturday doing chores and getting ready for Resurrection Sunday.  Liz (with the help of Grandma Dianne) altered a vintage dress I had gotten Grace a couple of years ago so that Grace could wear it on Sunday.  We also had Matt's mom and dad over for dinner.

Sunday morning we put the last ornament on the Easter tree and had a nice big breakfast.  Then we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off getting ready for church.  Not exactly praise worthy behavior.  But we made it to church--on time no less.

Daddy got a picture of all of his girls after church.  Liz wore the dress she made, Grace wore her vintage dress.  Lydia wore the Easter dress Grandma Dianne sewed for Grace years ago, then Liz wore it when it was her turn.  This year it was Lydia's turn.  I wore Walmart couture.

Right after church, we scooted to my uncle's farm for a big family gathering and a feast befitting of the occasion.  The guys (and some of the gals) participated in the annual trap shoot.  Paul had been my gopher all weekend, packing things into the van all day Saturday and then on Sunday, too.  He hadn't forgotten one thing.  However, on the way to the farm, he realized he hadn't packed his newly restored Springfield rifle.  We were too far into the journey to turn back.  Poor Paul. He'll have to shoot the gun for the first time at a later date.  He'll invite the man who gave him the gun. The man never thought the gun would shoot again, so it'll be a treat for him as well.  Paul did get to shoot the 22 on Sunday.  He had fun setting up various targets, including Uncle Si.  I don't think the real Uncle Si would mind one bit. 

An egg I found in the egg carton the day after Easter.  It was marked with a 5 for the date and the words "He is risen.  He is risen indeed.  Allelulia."  What a sweet boy our Paul is, even if his handwriting is terrible.

This Place is Bonkers

When we brought our puppy Rachel home, I told Matt that since I'd had the privilege of getting up in the night to nurse eight babies, he could have the privilege of getting up in the night with the puppy.  For the first couple of months, Matt set his alarm and got up twice a night with Rachel to let her outside.  Now he (and she) are down to one time per night.

The other night he awoke at 3 a.m. to let Rachel out.  This normally only takes a few minutes, so I was surprised when Matt did not return to bed.  I was too tired to go find out why, so I stayed put.  I waited a few more minutes and then saw a flashlight beaming from the boys' room, which is adjacent to ours.

Finally, Matt came back to bed.  I asked him what had happened.  He said, "This place is bonkers."  Apparently, the girl who is in charge of getting Rachel into her crate at night failed to do so.  So Matt went on a middle of the night puppy hunt.  First he checked the girls' room.  No puppy.  Then he checked Paul's room.  No puppy and no Paul.  Last, he checked the boys' room.

Isaac was not in his bed, he was under Joseph's crib.  Paul was sleeping on the floor.  At last, the puppy was found snuggled up next to Joel in his (very high) bed.