January 5

Today I am thankful for small excitements! H has lost his first tooth. Being one of the youngest in his class means sometimes he has to wait forever for milestones! Last week on the way to TN he exclaimed, "I have a wiggly tooth!" He was so excited! Today he went home from school with JP and as they were jumping on the new trampoline, it all of the sudden was in his mouth. They came running into the house so frantically that SP thought something must be terribly wrong!! H called to tell me and went on to tell L and Ek too. When we all got together tonight we celebrated by singing "Happy Losing your first tooth day to you..." and ate ice cream sundays. It was really fun to celebrate with my precious growing boy. And here he is with oreo crumbs to decorate his new mouth...

January 3

Today as I was reading Genesis, I was so impressed by how well God knew Noah and saw him as an individual. He walked with him, knew him and saw his heart. And he also saw his progress on the ark and waited until it was done before the flood began. Even then, he gave him 7 days to get loaded up. (we would need a week for sure). And today, I am thankful to be know by God and I'm so thankful He knows them, but I'm also thankful I get to know them-- seeing their hearts, seeing them grow and progress, it's really wonderful.

January 2

So thankful today for girls who still love a tea party in full costume with crowns. They shared tea, Ek on glass and L in plastic all afternoon, compete with cookies. The party was only briefly interrupted when a ball accidentally fell in the middle of the table, but they gracefully cleaned it up and carried on. They are precious.

January 1

Today I am thankful for the Word of God. We just got home from a 5 day amazing road trip. As we drove I finished up our reading for 2011. We stopped and bought our new chronological one year Bibles and started those today. Now John and I have matching bikes, cars and Bibles. Looking forward to a sweet year of fellowship.

Days

We are settled into school pretty well right now. Settling into a busy daily routine. I wake them with kisses and try to gently get them downstairs for breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth and getting to the car. J has been trying to come to the kitchen during our routine and read a devotional to them while they are about their business. On the ride to school we talk about and practice their Bible verses. L has finally stopped praying for God to help me while I'm home alone, but they do commonly ask what I will do. I get L at noon but most days she really just wants to go out to lunch with a friend. Several days the disappointment as been long and tiring when we come home, but many days we have enjoyed a few hours here to play and read. She is requesting that J pick her up one day and take her to lunch all by herself and then I come to get her so J can return to work. The afternoons are filled with reading, math facts and spelling words; soccer and dance, choir and soon a piano lesson; we really try to eat at home when we can which some days is at 4:45 :) We have had the most fun taking time with each of them for their devotional instead of meeting all together. They are so calm and attentive when we lay down with each one. H has started being able to read the young Bible stories and he had the most amazing conversation with J the other night that J has got to write about. Life is busy but sweet.

Sweet conversations

The other night, L and i were reading about Jonah. In her sweet young version, there was a great emphasis on obeying God. So I asked Lauren, "do you want to obey God?" she nodded her sweet little head. I asked, "so what do you need to do to obey God?" Her reply was slow and deliberate: "Be thankful, be kind, be generous, love." We prayed and asked God to help us both obey.

Yesterday I asked Ek the same questions, her reply was quick and bouncy, like she was on a game show: "read the Bible, praise Him, worship Him!!!" Oh Lord, please help us. We talked for most of the car ride to school today about living here with the expectation of what we think we will live like in Heaven, peaceful, trusting, thanking, praising, loving. And L's sweet verse, Psalm 23:1 reminded us that Jesus will take care of us along our way today. I hope they are having a great day at school.