Let me count the ways...

I woke up feeling sorry for myself - that I won't be spending my birthday being pampered.  Instead, there will be diapers to change, messy mouths to wipe, school to do, fights to arbitrate, a fussy baby to comfort, dinner to make - a normal day.  

Then God reminded me that today isn't about me; it's about giving Him glory for the many ways in which He has blessed my life over the last 35 (yes, 35!) years. And there will be pampering today - it will just be the kind that comes at the hands of little boys and a girl, because they love me.

So let me count the ways.  Don't worry, I won't list all of them.  You don't have time to read them, and I don't have time to list them.  But here's the short list:

He's given me Jesus!

He's given me a gentle, loving, faithful, forgiving, and kind husband in Stephen.

He's given me a Luke, a Cade, an Elsa, and a Caroline.

He's given me parents who love me and raised me to love Him.

He's placed us in a wonderful, gospel-centered church where we are growing in love for Jesus and love for His people.

He's given me His Word.  We've been studying Martin Luther and the Reformation this week, and I'm struck by how we take the Scriptures for granted.  Thank God we can read His Word for ourselves.

Well, those certainly aren't all of the ways in which the Lord has blessed my life, but they are most of the important ones.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn't mention the wonderful friends God has placed in my life at various times and in various places.  I won't name names, but I am very thankful for encouraging friendships through the years!

Then and Now

Here's the old (and very blurry) picture of my family (and the Cleland family) at the National Zoo sitting on the eagle statue.  Yes, that's me, front and center - wearing jellies!  Yeah, it was 1983.  

I was tickled to find the eagle statue there last year.  When we first moved here nearly six years ago and made a trip to the zoo for Cade's 1st birthday, I asked a zoo employee where the eagle statue was located.  He or she had no idea that there was an eagle statue.  I assumed that it had been removed.  But it was still there; it just took us a while to find it again because the bird exhibit wasn't at the top of our list of animals to visit.

Just Pictures

Just because she's cute!

...and because today I'm particularly happy that she slept well last night and is currently taking a long nap.  I have been praying for this (would you join me?) and God answered those prayers today.  This poor girl has struggled to take naps longer than 45-50 minutes (or more than an hour) since she was born, and it only happens occasionally.  Lately it has been harder because she was sick a week or so ago, and she has just been so tired since then...but not sleeping well.  Poor baby!  But in these pictures, she looks pretty happy.

She sure loves those fingers!

And she just discovered her toes!

Sweetie pie

Catching Up

We started back to school almost a month ago now, so life has gotten a bit busier again.  That's ok.  I just wish somebody would tell the baby that napping longer would be a great idea.  Oh wait...I did tell her.  She just likes short naps better.

We visited PA over Labor Day and did a photo shoot with my up-and-coming-photographer cousin.  I can't wait to see more of the pictures.  We've had a few previews, and I loved them.  We did the pictures at the New Germantown covered bridge which is located just a hop, skip, and a jump from property that was owned by my grandfather (and my earliest Smith ancestors who settled in Perry County lived nearby too), so it has some history for us.  

We were also there for the Murphy reunion which always happens on Labor Day, so we got to introduce Miss Caroline to her great-grandfather, Pappy.  

Pappy with great-grandchild #20
(#21 and #22 are on the way!!)

We had a quick visit from Uncle Dan and Aunt Kelli over the weekend, too.  There was lots of deer and bear talk, and we even discovered a "wild" animal in our own backyard - like it or not! 

A black widow spider - ugh!!
We only caught it to determine what it was.

Dan is planning to take Luke deer hunting this fall, so he brought some camo-coveralls for Luke to wear.  Elsa took a liking to them, and she was pretending to hunt, too.  It'll be a few years before she gets a turn, though.

This week the weather cooled off significantly, and we made our first outing to the park since Caroline joined the family.  Yes, three and a half months is a long time, but it was too hot.  The kids were thrilled to see the park again.

Luke is a blur!

And yesterday, we visited the zoo.  The kids have renewed their interest in animals in a big way recently, and we'd been talking about making a zoo field trip soon.  So when a friend asked if anyone was interested in taking advantage of the great weather with a trip to the zoo, we jumped on it.  A zoo trip is great, but a zoo trip with friends is even better!

I was leery of managing all four of them on my own at the zoo, but it honestly went really well.  The boys were exuberant and full of energy, but they were also obedient and helpful.  Elsa, once she had lunch, was cooperative and sweet.  And Caroline was a trooper.  I even came home without a headache...which is a tell-tale sign that it was a good day!

Some pictures to share...

Luke the Lion!

cheetah cubs born a week before Caroline

We found the eagle statue where my family had a picture taken when I was about Luke or Cade's age!  So we did a kid picture there too.