4 years old!

4 years old!

 

3 years old

 

 2 years old

18 months old

1 year old

 11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

 
 5 months old

4 months old

3 months old

 2 months old

1 month old

2 weeks old

Dear Calvin,

You have very patiently awaited your birthday (it's hard when all the siblings have birthdays that fall earlier in the year!). So what a joy to celebrate with you at last! You are 4!

- You are a fellow with a fabulous smile and joyful countenance. You like jokes and being goofy right alongside your funny brothers. You love your little sister and shower her with hugs and toys. I love your infectious laugh!

- You are very interested in trucks and can read about construction vehicles for an undetermined amount of time. You likewise love to dig in our construction site and wear the summer dirt well! 

- You eat well, and you'll normally pick a piece of candy for a treat. (Calvin, would you like a piece of triple layer chocolate cake or a Tootsie Roll? Okay, a Tootsie Roll it is...)

- You are a chatty and detail-oriented boy. You have many thoughts and love to share them--from observations you make about vehicles while driving to visions of wouldn't it be so funny if... Your grasp of language is remarkable. And cracks me up regularly. ("Wait a moment! My mommy said I should sit on the potty now...")

- You have a great imagination (aided by your father). When we drive past a water tower, you're always quick to point out, "There's a huge marshmallow!" or "Look at that rocket!"

- You are a big helper. You now take part in the daily bathroom-cleaning-by-the-boys. You make your bed, empty the plates and bowls from the dishwasher, run the sweeper under the table, and often help me get lunch on the table. I hope you continue to develop a love for serving and hard work that will honor the Lord throughout your life.

- This year you and Elliot and I had special Bible lessons together after lunch. I love to hear your thoughtful and earnest prayers and the way your sharp mind memorized our verses and put together deep theological truths. When you're asked to pray for a snack or meal or our morning at church, you normally start, "Dear Father, thank You for this beautiful day and thank You..." May the Lord continue to deepen and grow your faith in Christ.

- You're growing in coordination and love to zoom on your strider bike. (You're also eager to getting your own big boy bike.) When we go on family hikes, you can keep up very well! But sometimes it's still nice to ride on Dad's shoulders...

- My favorite thing as we've celebrated your birthday is every time you opened a birthday gift you gave your priceless smile and said, "It's just what I wanted!" You have also taken to responding with a "Thanks, Mom" to just about every little thing I give you. It's the sweetest. I hope you celebrate the Lord's kindness and receive His gifts with that enthusiasm all your life.

One of the lessons that we are working on with you (and God is working on with me) is not to fuss, even when we face disappointments, difficulties, and discouragement. 

How is it possible to give thanks in all circumstances and for all things? Here are a couple reasons:

1. God is wiser than we are and divinely orchestrates all things for the good of His children. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
2. God has proven His great love for us by the gift of His own Son. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:31-32
3. God has told us the end of the story. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:3-4
4. God even turns suffering into profit in His children. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison... 2 Corinthians 4:17
   

We live in a broken world where we will encounter trouble. But we belong to a sovereign God who nevertheless has transformed death into life, defeated sin and the devil, and is preparing us for eternal life and joy with Him through the gift of His own Son. He is worthy of our trust. So let's keep laboring to cheerfully trust, obey, and follow Him!

I love you, my Calvin,

Momma 

Calvin (6.25.22) 4 years old

 

1.       What is your favorite color? orange

2.       What is your favorite toy? my excavator

3.       What is your favorite fruit? apple

4.       What is your favorite video to watch? Toy Story

5.       What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? peppers

6.       What is your favorite thing to wear? polo shirt

7.       What is your favorite game? Candyland

8.       What is your favorite snack? goldfish

9.       What is your favorite animal? tiger

10.   What is your favorite song? the alphabet song

11.   What is your favorite verse? Psalm 91

12.   What is your favorite book? Truck, Truck, Goose

13.   Who is your best friend? Isaiah

14.   What is your favorite thing to do outside? play tag

15.   What is your favorite drink? root beer

16.   What do you like to sleep with at night? my blanket

17.   What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? orange

18.   What do you want for dinner on your birthday? spaghetti and pizza

19.   What do you want to be when you grow up? a worker

20.   What was one of your favorite things that you did this year? county fair

21.   What is your favorite place to go? McDonalds

 

Victor's Challenge of the Week 1

This summer I wanted to lean into creating some purposeful "challenges" (the kind of thing I would not get around to without some forethought), particularly for Victor.

So, we have initiated the summer "Challenge of the Week"!

Week 1 (May 29): Select and prepare a meal for the family.

Verse to memorize: But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

Components:

• Choose 2-3 dishes to prepare and get Mom’s okay
• Make grocery list
• Plan the schedule for preparation
• Prepare the meal

Bonus: New cookbook or this one

Being quite the go-getter, Victor actually planned recipes to make for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and dessert! We spread it out over the week, and he did a great job!

 

1 year old!

1 year old!

 

11 months old

10 months old

 

9 months old

8 months old

 

7 months old

 

6 months old

 

5 months old

 

4 months old

 

3 months old

 

2 months old

 

1 month old

1

 

2 weeks old

Dear Jemima, 

It is amazing to think that you are now one year old! When I think back to a year ago and the crazy time awaiting your arrival, I am all the more thankful for marking a full year of your presence in our home! You are such a bundle of fun, and we love you to pieces.

- You have a hilarious scrunched nose look, which sometimes means you can’t wait to be picked up, sometimes that you are not a fan of what you just ate, sometimes that you are feeling sooo happy…

- We came through a long month of illness, including a stomach flu, Covid, and your first ear infection, and it is wonderful to have you healthy and cheerful again! You are still dealing with some nasty diaper rash, but otherwise eating and sleeping well again.

- You often crawl around with a toy stuck in your mouth, which tends to look at it like a stogie. Hilarious.

- After our long stretch of being unwell and mostly at home, you developed an interest in other babies and much greater flexibility for being in the nursery. After such a long time away, our first Sunday back at church, you beelined over to some baby twins you saw in there hallway, like you were reunited with long lost kin. It was really sweet. And you had a great time in the nursery for your last night of Wednesday connection. Yay!

- You still pick up all the tiny things and put them in your mouth, but you are beginning to recognize when something is not edible, and then you will come to me with mouth half agape, so I can fish it out more easily.

- You are the sweetest snuggle bug… for a few minutes. You will let me cuddle and snuggle with you more than I remember doing with your brothers. You are also so curious to explore every place. You are always eager to be picked up and held, but after 30 seconds you are squirming to get down and look around again.

Favorite food: banana smoothie, cheerios
Favorite place: outside
Least favorite thing to wear: hat
Favorite person: mom, with dad and brothers as close runners up
Things you say: mamama, dadada, bababa (bump/bang/drum), ba! (Hi/bye)

- You stand and walk along the couch, but you're not quite venturing out on your own. 

- You love to help me empty the dishwasher. This is normally during the time after supper when I am trying to load it. But one day, little miss, it will be most helpful!

- You love buttons, zippers, and strings.

 

As we celebrate a year of your life and I see you changing from a tiny bundle to a big chubby dumpling of a girl, there is some nostalgia and a sense of bittersweetness in the changing of seasons.

But I am reminded of the real joy and goal of motherhood ... of parenting ... of life in general. It isn't to be able to bottle up the sweetness of one specific season, as though, if captured, these fleeting moments could satisfy our souls. The joys, as well as the sorrows, leave us hungry for another day, precisely because we can't utterly absorb their happiness or hang onto the beauty of them.

But another day is coming. Oh, what a day it will be, when we are face-to-face with Joy Himself. When all the tears will be wiped away, and sorrow, sickness, and sin will be banished to their own grim demise. That is the day our hearts long for, when we will be home with our Savior and the dawn of a new morning will bring with it ever-expanding capacity for worship and fullness of joy.

It is a day that you were named in memory of ... a day of joy after sorrow and resurrection hope after the darkest nights of the soul. It is a day purchased by the gift of Christ Himself, for which we are sealed by God's own Spirit.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Revelation 21:3-7)

Oh Jem, that's our big hope. And that is our great prayer for you--that you will be delighted by the mercies of God and that your hope will be fixed on the grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

That will be true delight, my dear, and I pray that we will enjoy it together forever.

With all my love,

Momma