Eve

Back when we're back!

Eve Arwen is here!  And I'll be slowly getting my feet back under me, so we'll be back in this space when we're back!

thursday

The boys have been really big into taking care of little things around here lately.  I think it's their way of waiting for their sister to show up (they shouldn't have to wait much longer... right?).  They both like little things anyway, but there has been a bit more practicing for fatherhood than the usual.  Oh, they're still running and bashing and smashing, but you know, the daddy stuff is mixed in too.  Most of Micah's has been directed toward B (the much-loved, and therefore lackluster scrap of a blanket in the bottom pot), and both boys have been loving on a little bunny we have here, but today Levi had found Lola (a bit of felt I had cut to look like a love/ladybug about oh, six years ago), and he was carting her around.

I've always found it interesting to watch boys play out the daddy-role.  A little girl will play mama for hours.  A boy will love on something for a minute or two, and then he will dash off to build and destroy some tower.

I guess all daddies, even pretend ones, have to go to work some time!

And me?  Oh, I'm feeling fine.  Lots of little contractions here and there, just like I had with Micah, but they don't bother me a bit.  I am knitting like nuts though, slowly adding inches to this sweater I'm working on, OR falling asleep on the couch while the boys dance around me to the sounds of Bob & Larry.

My brain is pretty much focused on them, all three of them, all of the time.  I've read and seen some fascinating studies about this re-wiring of the female brain, but it still amazes me how (at least at this point in my pregnancy), everything else seems to fade out of the picture.  Occasionally I'll turn my eyes away from my children and survey the state of dustbunnies or dishes.  Then I mutter a quick thanks to God that my hubby is so busy & tired with the camp season that I doubt he cares that the couch needs to be vaccuumed, and my brain snaps right back to where it needs to be right now.

But look at me - I'm going to remember something terribly important:

Happy Birthday to my daddy,

the best Pappy in the world!

I love you!

tough stuff

My boys were fascinated with this grasshopper.  Levi found him floating, apparently dead, in the middle of the pool.  I sat him on the porch, so we could put him under glass and study him later.  To our total surprise (and fascination), when we got out of the pool half an hour later, the little guy was just coming around.

It survived.  That totally blows my mind.  I mean, really, doesn't anyone else find it funny that the "dominant" creature on the planet is pretty much one of the most fragile things going?  I mean, you can cut up a jellyfish into 10 little pieces and all you get is 10 new jellies, you can drop a newborn giraffe seven feet at the moment of birth and the thing is staggering to its feet and walking almost instantly, and - apparently - you can leave a grasshopper for dead, but you cannot leave a young human in the bathtub for three seconds without putting it in mortal peril.

Isn't that just completely illogical?

God totally has a sense of humor.

quiet moments

No big shock to anyone, I'm sure, but the only ones interested in staying all snuggled up after the flash went off were the dad and the dog!

perks

One of the perks of having a daddy who works for a camp is getting to go see him at work!  I took my little king and my little knight up for a visit and they got to ride the ponies that were also visiting camp that day! 

(Gosh, don't I look round?  Well, I am due today!)

love your nana

Nana's are so much fun, aren't they?  I'm making ours a cozy sweater to wear to work (they keep it pretty chilly there, trust me).

 

Sorry about the lack of words lately.  Our due date is Monday, and I think that as that approaches (and most likely passes right on by, if I stick to my routine), there will probably be quite a bit of sharing life with photos only around here!

sweet...

geocaching at Fairland Regional Park

The boys love geocaching.  Love, love, love it.  But, um, well, I haven't been up to solo-supervising a hunt for a bit.  I must say, going off pavement is still refreshing, even at 39 weeks pregnant. 

We crossed streams (and oh, how marvelous that felt on my feet!), found two caches and a travel bug, and then we um, found these.  A swirling, writing mass about as big as Micah's head.  It was a strange combination of fascinating and horrifying.  Even my boys didn't dream of touching them.  Definately something to look up together, don't you think?

rocking out to VeggieTales tunes

Bugs, by Levi

Levi took his new Bare Book out on a little bug expedition the other day.  He sat in a chair in the midst of the clover, studying the bees.  He peered through our little garden patches, hunting for bugs.  His faithful dog followed him around, wondering what the boy was looking for.  And Levi had a blast recording what he found in his book, which is entitled, Bugs, by Levi.

Isn't nature amazing?

long shanks

They really have a blast together, don't they?

Levi and his buddy

Six!

My Levi has done it.  He is officially no longer able to show how old he is by simply holding up one hand.  He is six.  Six.  It just seems so big.  And he is so interesting. 

He wanted a trunk - a treasure chest shaped trunk - to store his treasures.  He loves to read.  He loves to explore.  He is fascinated by the miniature and the tiny, whether that is the colony life in an anthill or young human infants.  He adores anything handmade, whether by himself or crafted as a gift.  And He loves God.  He wants to know Him and wants to go see Jesus soon.  He even wanted to know why picture Bibles are different in content, and when I explained, he wanted to know when he could have a real Bible to read just before bed like Mama?

So that's just a bit of my Levi, and here are a few sweet moments from his special day:

(Micah, waiting patiently as his brother opens his gifts)

There were books to read, a Bare Book to create himself, his first Freedom Box letter (he has been given the responsibility to start learning how to help answer the phone: listening to others and being polite), his first monogrammed sweater (for the fall, all the colors picked by himself and anxiously watched over as Mama knited away at it), and that real Bible which he lovingly poured over at bedtime, until his flashlight batteries finally gave out (a reward for his hard work at learning to read, and an encouragement to keep working at it).  And of course, the trunk. 

We swam twice in one day, had friends over, ate ice cream, and had dinner with Daddy!  A wonderful, sweet, calm, very handmade birthday.