the start of summer

we’re taking our summer vacation a little early this year and a LOT more local, as we’re going to a cabin just outside Fall Creek Falls. this will be the first time we’ve been away with 3 kids, so we’ll see how it goes! we’re very much looking forward to just being together and being “off the grid” for a while. hopefully we’ll have some nice hikes and such too. it will also be nice to spend part of the time with family, and part of the time with friends.

Caleb is all done with preschool! he loved it so much, so it was hard to decide to homeschool in some ways, but we’re very excited about that too. Michelle will be teaching both Caleb (Pre-K and K material) and Alice (mostly the same material, but less stuff to do so she’ll be at a preschool level). we’re going to use a curriculum called Sonlight, which fits very well with how we’re wanting to go about it (no surprise: there’s a ton of methodologies out there!). so we’re setting up the play room to be the school room, complete with a giant goldfish for the “class pet”. Caleb is on the cusp of reading, and Alice is taking more interest in letters and such too. we read them “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and Caleb especially was captivated. it was so cool to see his imagination light up, and I trust this is another step in their love for learning.

we are SO very excited that our old friend Sarah B will be getting married this summer! woohoo! and we’re almost as excited that we’re going up just the 2 of us for a lovely wedding on the “seacoast” of NH. and they’ll be moving back to the area, so we can hopefully grow old together.

Selah is 5 months old now and still very,  very smiley. she’s getting more active, loving her jumper especially. she’s sleeping quite well and really loves her rice cereal stuff. now that she’s more attentive, the big kids are enjoying her more, at least when they’re not doing their own thing. she’s off the charts in height and pretty far up there in weight too. we think she’s a pretty good mix of Caleb and Alice, favoring Alice so far for her looks, and favoring Caleb for her personality, although there’s flashes of each in both aspects. of course she’s her own beautiful, snuggly person and we love her to pieces!

the swingset is the most popular thing we have these days, and Caleb has finally learned how to swing by himself. something about me gets so proud of him to see him soar up all by his big-boy self. the neighbor kids like to play in our yard too, so it’s usually a good time. once it gets hot we’ll get out the kid pool and I’m sure it’ll be even crazier around here.

we hosted a block party cookout the other day, and had a nice time with some of the neighbors. the weather was pretty bad but we still had a good time on the deck, getting to know each other a little better. we’ve been thinking lately of ways to love our neighbors more, so I suppose that’s a small step in that direction. hopefully we can have another soon. we’re praying for more opportunities to love others, and the wisdom to know what things we should take up and what things we shouldnt. there’s always the potential to be too busy, so we’re trying to slow things down so we can listen to God’s leading.

speaking of, I’m reading a good book on prayer that I highly recommend: A Praying Life.

and thus ends what is now becoming a somewhat monthly update. I am honestly weary of blogland and facebook, etc, but I dont want to lose track of some of the memories.