Last night (on Grandpa Johnson's birthday) Tom's brother and his wife welcomed a new addition to their family--Eliana Ruth! She weighed 10 1/2 lbs., and was 21 inches long. We are so excited for them!! :)
Our children love many types of food that surprise me, including tabbouleh, guacamole, and hummus. They will eat guacamole by the spoonful. Michael's recent word for it has been “Brocclimole”.
The other day Julie had smeared almond butter in her hair (she loves to put her food in her hair), and it was quite a mess. Bethany said something about Julie's head, and then said, “See, Julie is like Mommy!” I sure hope she wasn't referring to Julie's hairstyle! :) Please someone tell me I don't look like that! :) I certainly don't use “almond butter gel”!
Michael has had a fascination with penguins in the last couple of months, and seems to be intrigued with their short legs. When we put Julie in her “sleep sack” (kind of like a long dress with the bottom sewn up for sleeping) Michael commented, “Julie walks little feet like a penguin”. :) Michael and Bethany think it is so funny to see Julie try to walk in her sack, and that makes Julie think it is funny too. They laugh and laugh!
An odd quote from Bethy: “See, Julie has a face, see?” I never figured that one out!
Michael has been paying compliments to me for food recently, which is a welcome change from my pickiest eater. It is so cute to hear his comments like, “Mommy, it smells good!”
When Julie feels something that she thinks is hot, she says, “Hotdog!” :)
Michael: “Mom, I got my cowboy hat like Uncle Kyle's” (I put that one in for you, Kyle—he knows your style! ;) )
A few weeks ago, the kids were astonished to learn that Ruthie had no teeth. This provoked some mild concern. Finally Bethany asked, “Go shopping--Get Ruthie teeth?”
Mommy: “You know you have many small children when you look for a can of black beans in the fridge and in the washing machine, and finally find it under the futon!” (the kids were playing with some of the groceries that had been brought home)
I heard Michael saying “Come here” to his cup, and “Ball, come!” to a ball. Did you forget that you have legs, my child?! :)
With Michael being the only boy in the house for most of the day, he often likes to roughhouse with his sisters, and he needs to be frequently reminded to be gentle. I probably sound like a broken record to him: “Be gentle....be gentle....be gentle”. I recently was dealing with a disobedience that had nothing to do with gentleness, and said to him, “Michael, you need to obey Mommy”. And then, hoping he would repeat me in order to make it crystal clear in his mind, I asked him, “Michael, what do you need to do?” And he answered, “Be gentle”. Good try, Michael—that is often the right response! :)
Bethy loves to wear her fanciest church shoes that make that “clickity clackity” sound when she walks. She wears them around the house when she can too, no matter how much they clash with her outfit. They don't look that comfortable to me, especially now that they are getting too small on her. Shoes of any type (especially fancy ones) are a huge favorite of hers. The other day, when she was trying to put on some shoes that were too small over her socks, I heard her say, “These are 'tights shoes'”. If they can't fit with socks, try tights—because her shoes certainly couldn't be too small on her! :) She is going to be so sad when I pack her fancy shoes away.
Bethany is famous around here for coming up with the most ridiculous reasons to get up at night. A few days ago, I heard Bethany crying in the night, and went to see what was wrong. When I asked her what was the matter, she said, “Can I play in the swimming pool?” Mommy: “Not right now, it's dark outside.” She then promptly goes back to sleep!
I guess I don't need to say that we've been busy! Just when I start thinking that I could hardly be any busier, life somehow gets busier! Life with four children four years old and under has a way of making me realize just how much I need the Lord's help! He is the one I can turn to for strength. He is sufficient! And He helps me and brings me great joy.
These verses have blessed me recently. I know this passage is so often repeated, but it doesn't make it old for me:
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31
In other news, we celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary on the fifth of the month!! In one way it seems like we got married just yesterday, and in another way, we feel like we've been married all of our lives! God has blessed us abundantly with an extremely happy marriage. I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me Tom! This month also celebrates 10 years since the Johnsons started coming to our church, which is when we started getting more acquainted (though our families knew each other many years before that). That was a very happy day, too!
We decided to not go on our annual “honeymoon” on our anniversary this year. Instead, we are hoping to go sometime after Ruthie is weaned. We are already looking forward to it, though we have no idea when it will be! This year for our anniversary, we went on a date. Tom took me to the same restaurant where he asked my parents if he could court me. Tom requested the same booth, and we got it! It was a special booth, kind of set apart from the others. What fun to sit there in that booth, and remember that wonderful day that started all this! :)
We spent another part of our anniversary date furniture shopping. Couch shopping, to be specific. I had never done that before! It was a lot of fun. Our poor futon completely broke, and we were looking to replace it with a couch—preferably a sleeper sofa. We had tried wiring the futon frame together to make it last longer, but it completely fell apart (as in actually hit the floor!) a few weeks ago, and we decided that its time had come! Tom took it apart and put in in our trash, and we aren't sad to see it go. That had to be one of the worst large purchases we have ever made, and we both laugh about it! We hardly have bought any new furniture (a lot of our furniture is used, and was given to us), but that was something that we bought new (which was about the cheapest one we could find), because at the time, we were completely desperate for it. It's gone now, and we are both glad of it! We rearranged the furniture in the living room so there wouldn't be a huge gap where it used to go. Now we just have a loveseat and a recliner. It is working out fine, though, because hardly any of us have time to sit down on the couch very much!! This house is full of people running around—the children do it voluntarily, and the adults....well, maybe not always voluntarily. ;)
We've also spent some fun family time recently. We went to the zoo with Papa and Grandma and all of Katie's siblings as a “goodbye party” for two of Katie's brothers. Katie's brother Kyle left on a missions trip the next day, and Andrew left for the same place a few weeks later. We miss them! We've also been able to spend some fun time with Grandpa and Grammy Johnson. There was a boat trip (using an inflatable boat that they own) at a nearby lake that included fishing, plus several days when Grammy came over to play with the kids so Mommy could clean!
In early June, Tom took off a week for our family vacation. We both really love to go tent camping, so we decided that we'd like to do that with our kids. We bought an 8 person tent, as well as sleeping bags for the three oldest kids. Our adventure began on Monday morning when we traveled to the unique location that has probably been never camped on before...our very own backyard! :) We had decided earlier in the year that staying the night anywhere with all the kids is just too much for us. We really did want to have a family vacation, though, so this idea was born. It was so delightful! The “ice chest” never ran out of ice, and nothing had to be packed. At night, when Ruthie started crying because she didn't like being outside, all I had to do was bring her in. We never did make it a whole night with all of us out there—but at least we all started out sleeping in the tent! :) The three oldest kids made it through the nights, but Ruthie really didn't like this new sleeping arrangement, and made it very clear, by refusing to eat or sleep until she was brought inside! On Wednesday, it started to rain...and then poured for awhile, with thunder and lightening. That was the day that we had planned to go on the boat with Grandpa and Grammy Johnson, and needless to say, that was canceled (we went the next day)! It was nice to be able to retreat into the house during the thunder and lightening and pouring rain—another blessing of camping in your own backyard! Some of the things that we did during our vacation included hiking (at a nearby place), a neighborhood walk, much backyard cooking, eating outside, puzzles in the tent, playing guitars together outside on a blanket on the back lawn, Bible time (both personal and as a family), and just simply playing together! The children absolutely loved it! Tom and I enjoyed it, too—it was a great family bonding time, and many special memories were made!
Last week, Tom was having strong pains in his stomach that would come and go. We finally realized that he has a stomach ulcer. That sounded odd to me, because I associate stomach ulcers with worry and stress, and Tom is less of a worrier than probably anyone else I know! However, his work has been very stressful and hard recently due to some changes at work, plus he has a lot of physical strain here at home, helping me with the kids. Tom is busy till late at night, and gets up early. He works so hard to make my day easier—I appreciate him so much! I think the stomach ulcer is partly due to exhaustion. Last week, to help him rest, I was trying to do his “at home jobs” plus mine, and I was getting really worn out. This week has been much better, though, because my two darling sisters, Rachel and Rebecca, came this week to “bail us out”. Ahh—sweet relief! They hadn't both come for a very long time (when they do come, it is usually one or the other). We have been able to go to bed at more respectable hours, and I actually have time to hear myself think. Yesterday I sorted clothes, getting out bigger sizes, and packing smaller sizes away—the kids are frequently changing sizes, so I have to do this a lot. I save up most of my projects for when I know one of my sisters will be here. :) It is so good to have them here—they are both so much fun, and we have great “sister time”. The most important thing, though, is that Tom has been able to rest a little more, and we are all so glad, because he works too hard and we want him to get well! He has seen a doctor, and will probably go in again this week or next. We are praying for him!
This is becoming a book—there is too much to catch up on! I'd better go before I have to start putting chapters in this!
(And believe it or not, I cut a whole section of it out to save for a later day, so check back again!)
I just added our summer photo gallery to our website, with over 50 new pictures!
I praise and thank the Lord for Tom, and for blessing us with his life! He is such a wonderful man of God, and a terrific hubby and daddy! He is so loving, patient, and servant-hearted, and I am always learning so much from him. He is such a cheerful guy, and so much fun to have around! The most special thing about him, though, is how he is so centered on Jesus. Because of his close walk with the Lord, Tom radiates the light of Jesus everyday, no matter what he is doing, and it blesses us so much!
Happy birthday, Tom!! We love you very, very much! :)
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