Feeling Wonderfully Blessed

This gift from my boys makes me swoon.  

They may never get these lego pieces back!

Recently

Lots of exciting stuff has happened in the past couple weeks.  In pictures, some of the noteworthy events of late:

The last day of school workbook-throwing celebration;

 Luke's birthday;

 And Levi's, too;

A visit to Dad and Mom in Washington and a day trip to Fort Casey...

 ... A very dangerous place!

And some other weird stuff, too.

Yup, that pretty much sums up life in this house full of boys -- throwing things, food (sometimes throwing food!), weapons and danger, and a little weirdness.  Gotta love life with boys!  

The Summer Non-Schedule

It's 10:30 a.m. and breakfast has not been served.  The boys are upstairs playing happily (or should I say adventurously, violently, save-the-universe-from-bad-guys-edly?) and I'm using the excuse to do computer stuff.  I've been trying to spend less time in front of the computer when they are watching me (perhaps a post on that in the future).

Anyway, back to the "It's 10:30 a.m. and breakfast has not been served" thought.  I love summer vacation!

This is an unusual "vacation" since we are doing some school this summer (started yesterday), but when it's only an hour a day, it's pretty easy to squeeze in just about any time and doesn't need to be immediately after a right-on-time breakfast.

During the school year, I try to stick to a pretty tight morning and afternoon routine: breakfast, school, lunch (late, usually around 2:30), chores.  During summer, I let it all fly out the window.  Chores will still get done, but the only stipulation is that they're done before Daddy gets home from work.  Meals will still be eaten, sometime.  School will still get done, also preferably before Daddy gets home from work.  Boys will be kicked out of the house to play at some not-too-hot point during the day (seriously, some days they'd sit in the Lego pile all day long!).  Swimming lessons and appointments will be scheduled, obviously.  But if we feel like doing school before breakfast, great!  If chores don't happen until 4:45, that's cool.  If we don't get hungry until 11 a.m., we'll do brunch.

Speaking of which, it's nearing brunch time now, so I think I'll get that ready.  Hope you're loving summer as much as I am!

Another Great Essay

I want to share Isaac's essay here, too.  Can you tell we're a camping family?  Levi opted to do dictation today instead of writing an essay, so you won't see one coming from him (I don't want y'all thinking his essay wasn't up to snuff -- there just wasn't one from him to share).

Ross Lake

by Isaac H.

    We're going to Ross Lake in Washington this year!  To me, Ross is paradise!
    The trip can't possibly be fun, but once we get there, we'll be swimming, (or fishing,) roasting marshmallows, hiking and at nigttime, possibly even light-up frisbee!  I can't wait!  I don't know any lake even half as fun as Ross Lake! (and it's true!)  I love Ross Lake!
    Ross Lake is my very favorite lake!

Camping

Luke produced this essay as his final writing assignment of the school year.  I love it.  We're so ready for summer!

Camping

By Luke A Howard

    Camping is my favorite summer activity
    While camping you can't use electricity.  Just propane powered stuf, like camp grills and lanterns.
    Camp is my favorite because you can go swimming.

Sore Knees

Recently there was an incident at church -- not a big deal at all, basically just a lack of tact, I suppose, and not really a sinful act at all.  But the way I reacted to it in my heart spoke volumes more about my sinful nature than the "act" had about the person who was tactless.

When I heard about the incident, I didn't hear who it was, and in that instant two thoughts shot through my mind, mere synapses apart:  "I'm not going to ask 'who was it?'" and "I can't believe she did that!"

Any pride I might have felt for resisting the urge to gossip was immediately decimated by the instant accusation and judgement in my heart -- of course I knew who it was! -- of someone who may not have even been the one who did it!  And even if the one my heart accused was the "guilty" one, I don't know the motivation of their heart.  Yes, it could have been stinginess; or there could be a legitimate reason behind it that was't obvious at first glance.

Arggggg!  I hate when my own judgmentalness points its ugly finger back at my own heart!

So what can I learn from this tragic yet truly unsurprising fall from grace?  The great thing about stumbling, is that it lands me on my knees, right where I should always be before my Lord anyway.  Sometimes my knees get awfully sore though.