Friends

It is not Halloween here, just the middle of summer back in 2004 when my sweet Sophie was only 3. Girls love to dress-up and any time is a good occasion. Not sure what Sophie is here...half ladybug, half clown maybe?

I am thankful for the Clark girls’ friendship in my daughter’s life. It has been such a joy watching them grow up together.

Rascals

Sophia, Tanner, Jacob, Colin

Summer 2007

"You only meet your once in a lifetime friend... once in a lifetime."
~ from Little Rascals

The first time Jacob and Colin met was when Jake was 6 months and Colin 4 months. I flew to Corpus Christi to spend the weekend with Vicki. This was the first time Vicki and I would be together with our babies. We were "moms" now! I felt like a real grown-up. I think all we did the entire weekend was nurse our babies and talk. Not the way it is when we get together now. With 7 children between us, talking doesn't exactly happen. We have to yell to be heard over the chaos around us. Colin and Tanner are like brothers to Jacob. He would rather be with those boys than any other person on earth.

My Life

There are rarely pictures of only me. How could there be when I am the one with the camera adorning my neck like a piece of jewelry. So during our spring break camp out Jacob stole the camera while I was enjoying God’s creation and a great book. He took dozens of pictures and shot this one of me. It is not cropped or edited….hmm, I may have a little photographer on my hands.

Every day there is something I want to blog about, a great accomplishment of someone in our family, a cute picture of one of my beautiful children, a fun family camping trip we took, a deep thought or conviction I want to share, our chicken mummy (Yes, we really made one.), but many other things end up taking priority over my blog. You know, all the jobs of wife, mommy, homemaker, and teacher; the dishes, laundry, homeschooling, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, carpooling, drying of tears, wiping of noses (and bottoms), being referee, etc., etc., etc. And then making the time for all the sweet things, like taking a walk, going to the park, having a picnic, making a garden, playing with play-do, coloring a picture, or teaching Sophie one of the many handicrafts she is begging me to learn.

This may sound exhausting on paper, but I love it! I want to be available for all of the little teachable moments. The internet, e-mail, blog, telephone, or even a good book can so easily distract me from my biggest job and most important people whom God has so graciously blessed me with. I can’t handle regrets very well. I do not want the regret, in fifteen years when my kids are grown, that I was just too busy with my own agenda to truly enjoy them, to savor every minute I have with them. Yes, I always appreciate a date night with Ed or my monthly book club with friends. But I have found, since I started homeschooling two and a half years ago, the more I am home and with my kids, the less I desire “me” time or time away from them. They drive me crazy on a daily basis. But I’ve grown to enjoy my crazy life, my crazy kids, and my crazy family. The day will come when I have time to sit at my computer and share our life with many of you. In the meantime, continue to enjoy my sporadic postings.

No, we do not live in Uncertain, Texas, but certainly could not pass up the photo opportunity while exploring on our recent family camping trip.

My Baby

In ten short weeks Viv will no longer be the baby. Being several years younger than Jacob and Sophie, she is catered to and cared for by everybody in the family. I might even admit she is a little spoiled and tends to get away with a bit more than the older two. But they don’t care because they baby her too and will often defend her coming to her protection when she’s in trouble. So what will life be like for Vivian when she is no longer the baby? Only time will tell but my guess is she’s ready to grow up and be a big sister too.