Beatitudes

First Day of School

Three big boys, heading off to our first day of co-op (last week).

Victor- 1st Grade
Josiah- Pre-K
Elliot- Nursery

Hurray for School Year 2018!

3 Months Old!

3 months old!

 2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Calvin,

Oh my goodness, I think you grew 6 inches since last month! Look how you stretch the whole way across the chair! (Er, that might just be because you can actually straighten your legs now that Mom broke out the 3-6 month clothes...)


You have officially doubled your birth weight, now at a hefty 15 lb 2.5 oz.

In other news of note:

- You have a real sweet little dimple near the right corner of your mouth, and I love to see it when you smile.

- You have moved from deep, vehement horror for your swing to general ambivalence and occasional stretches of calm and cheerful acceptance. These stretches happen most often when you're sitting in your swing watching your 3 crazy big brothers play.

- Fussy time starts around 6:30pm, and it has become a cherished routine to pack you into the Baby K'tan then and go for a walk until 7pm, when we start getting ready for bed. I'm going to be sad when it is too dark/cold to do that!

- You are still master champion at sleeping through the night. You pretty solidly go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up between 5 and 5:45am. And then you sleep until 8am. That makes for a pretty great morning for me, except for the occasions when you wake up at 4-something, and then I fall back asleep after feeding you and don't wake up until 6:30am, feeling like I have missed my chance to seize the day (such as this morning). But in general, you're fabulous.

- We are now doing some physical therapy exercises to help strengthen and stretch your neck. We had a good PT evaluation, and you're actually doing very well. It does make me remember the stretches we did with your big brother Josiah!


We have started a women's Bible study in the Gospel of John (I say "we," of course, because you are in there with me, albeit the evening study runs straight through your fussy time, past bedtime, into the meltdown zone).

Over and over, John points to Jesus and tells us, "This is the Son of God! This is the true Messiah!"

Tonight we will get to reflect on (in part) these words:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When you start to get to know this world, and when you start to get to know your own heart, you will realize how utterly we need grace. Something good for us that we could not earn. A gift of favor that was totally outside of our own hands. Jesus is the One who brought that to us.

And truth? God's truth is for our life, little son. He tells us what really is, what our own blind heart cannot discover any other way. This is why we seek God in His word, because His truth is not something we can uncover on our own. Jesus brought that to us as well.

It is our greatest desire that as you grow you will also believe, and as you believe you will also receive all of Jesus with all of your heart to be your biggest joy and biggest guide and biggest love.

Asking God's grace and truth to be your great inheritance,

Momma

Summer Memories Part 3

Ah, August was lovely.

We started off the month with a week in Iowa, a whole posse of cousins together for lots of sweet time at parks, picnics, and many hours of fun playing.

Note that Momma was somehow thrust in among the jumpers when Elliot began boycotting... Graceful. Super graceful.

It was lots of fun to have our Canadian cousins in town as well!

One day involved a scavenger hunt at a park, with teams of cousins finding clues from photos taken at the park earlier.

We even came away with a sweet family photo! (Thanks, Bets!)

We got to tour a dairy farm, where my Uncle Arlan is now working (owned by my mom's cousins).

Lunch with Grandma Vaupel at Pizza Ranch was special as always!

The day after we returned home was the 8th grade "Day in Duluth" trip. It was fun to join in! We started with cinnamon or caramel rolls at Tobie's.

Victor and Josiah joined in for some of the hiking up the stream near Lester Park.

We also got to have some fun friends over for "super boy time" several mornings. The "6-boy" and "8-boy" playtime is a definite highlight for our boys!

We really enjoyed the Pastors & Families Lake Day.

Perhaps Momma took a little wild tubing ride there (complete with a violent exit from the tube halfway through). Man, it was fun!

Look who actually considers drinking from a bottle an acceptable form of nourishment! (Not that he's had a lot of practice, but it does provide the thrilling possibility of a date night or something crazy like that! Sons 2 and 3 never really took to that.)

Woohoo, the family room is completed!! What an answer to prayer and lovely gift from the Lord! (A separate post is due on that whole project.)

Victor had a super fun outing to a Twins game with the Lee boys. It rained, and he got back SUPER late (well, super late for him), and he had an absolutely fabulous time!

 

Ah yes, summer was full of refreshing, encouraging fun. The Lord is kind.

Summer Memories Part 2

The fun of July...

We had a fun family daytrip up to Duluth, partly in research for the upcoming Day at Duluth for the 8th graders.

Calvin grew in size and cuteness...

Some fun with cousins

Another "goal sheet" reached was to camp in the backyard with Dad!

Some s'mores began the evening...

... and tent time!

The big boys slept outside with Dad. All the way until 10:45pm.

Summer Wednesday Connections at Long Lake Park were another summer highlight.

The boys encouraging Calvin during his tummy time

Victor and Josiah had the honor of serving as ring bearers at a wedding! 

They did an excellent job in their role.

And the next day, we headed off for a week in Iowa with the Anderson clan.