I wish I knew what was SO funny!

Samuel's favorite pastime: How fast can I get on top of the table before Mom sees me?

Fancy Friends

We were fortunate enough to have visitors from Charlotte last week! We've actually had three over the past month but this was the first one I remembered to get some pictures of.
I am pretty sure most little girls I know have a natural tendency towards "fanciness" and so they love Fancy Nancy. If you don't know about her, she's a children's book character and you should definitely check her out! Kayla and Elena were taking their turn at the posh and fancy!
Later, we all headed to our regular hangout, the duck pond. The fish and turtles were in fine form.

More New Friends

More new friends. Two hummingbirds. We spend a lot of time lately at the table watching for the hummingbirds. Even Samuel looks up at the feeder when someone yells, "Humming!!" It's somewhat of a contest in the morning as to who sees the first one of the day.
One is a pretty, bright green with a little red underneath. Jack has informed me that it's a ruby-throated hummingbird. It seems to be kind of sweet, actually. And it lingers-what is lingering for a hummingbird? Maybe 15-20 seconds. Enjoying the sweet water. Until, the not-so-sweet second hummingbird chases it off. If there are bullies in the hummingbird world, then this one's it! Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of one of these birds? I have waited, ready with camera up, finger on the button. About the time Jack yells "Humming!" my hand moves or someone desperately needs my attention. So, no picture for now.


In other news, Kayla has been telling me about her kids. She says she has 20 of them, 18 of whom are adopted. I hear all about the food she cooks for them, the cakes they get for their birthdays. Well, I asked her about them today. She said she sat them all, except for three, out in the yard with a sign next to them that said as long as you put money in the can you could have one to keep! But- they were "not free of course."
Wow. I have to wonder where THAT came from!

photo by Brian

Have found another good book through the Charlotte book club girls. "The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and 'Women's Work' ." I am working my way through it, trying to figure it out.

"Worship grounds me again in the real world of God's creation, dislodging me from whatever world I have imagined for myself. I have come to believe that when we despair of praise, when the wonder of creation and our place in it are lost to us, it's often because we've lost sight of our true role as creatures-we have tried to do too much, pretending to be in such control of things that we are indispensable." Kathleen Norris (emphasis mine)

Instructions

I love these notes. Jack knows that mom and dad are the tooth fairy yet he left this note for her with specific instructions. Notice he and his bear in the bed at the right. His nightstand, or "drawer", really is to the left of his bed and his lamp really has a truck on it. Needless to say, he found the tooth and a couple of quarters on the drawer in the morning!

Thanks Friend!

It has been several weeks now since I was on the phone at 7:55 a.m. with a Charlotte friend. I was already about to pull my hair out and with the whole day before me, I wasn't too hopeful. Faithful friend that she is, she reminded me of Galatians 6:9. What true encouragement is the Word, exactly what our wandering hearts need!

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Jack helping Kayla pull her bike up the hill that was "just too big Mom!"

Ahhh...

Ahhh...to be back online...and to have a high-speed connection at that. This is great. Just great.

Well, here we are in Blacksburg. And happy to be here. This has been a relatively easy move. We have had such a warm welcome. It's so nice to be closer to our families and to have a wonderful church family to start out with. God is good.

We've been here just under two weeks and have had some fun adventures already. We spend a lot of time at the duck pond, a very short walking distance away. We've been to the library several times and have walked the Huckleberry Trail-fun!

Today we decided to take a picnic lunch to the duck pond. The ducks-geese really- are some of Samuel's favorite new friends. He gets very excited when he sees them, particularly the two white ones that are always together. Kayla and Jack think they may be husband and wife, like the ones in the book "Make Way for Ducklings."

I was marveling at how Samuel never stepped in any of the goose poop that is all over the walkway. Then, I turned around in time to see him smearing his hand in some of the freshest. OHHH GRROOSSSS!!!!!!!!! We got that cleaned up and continued walking around the pond, deciding we should go retrieve Kayla's new Hello Kitty sandwich container and her backpack from the gazebo, which is now called the clubhouse. Jack was slightly ahead of us on his bike when I saw him jump off and race towards the clubhouse, hollering as he ran. Turns out, a squirrel had started off with the Hello Kitty sandwich container and Jack stopped him just in time. "Mom, what would we have done if I hadn't gotten there in time?" Kayla was very grateful.

New Friends

New Adventures