Jacob's Prayer

Lately Jacob has been praying the same prayer every night that I pray with him. I'll ask what he wants to pray for and he says:
"I want to pray for Grandma Rita that she can come down from heaven so we can visit her."

Sweet thoughts.

Anne's 6 month update

Anne had the pleasure of having her 6 month well-child visit today. Three shots was plenty for the little one and she's been in a pretty good mood, actually. She weighed 18lb 6.4oz, was 26 1/4" long and has a 17" head. Pretty cute and getting pretty big! She sure doesn't care for cereal, not that she's going hungry or anything.

Happy 6th Birthday, Leyton & Nathaniel!

Unbelievably, the big boys turned six last week. It has been a fun filled week! They had 3 days off school last week (one of which was on their birthday) due to snow. It's cute to see them look forward to the little things at school. When I told Leyton I didn't think he'd have school on his birthday, he started crying...he had been looking forward to getting called to the office and getting his "birthday treat." Luckily, I made sure that they'd get called today, on their first day back. All is good.

So for their birthday, they wanted grilled cheese for lunch & dinner. They also enjoyed playing with their new stuff. We actually spent 2 hours that morning with me and the five kids at the toy store getting their presents from us...I went to the store Wed. evening to get their gifts, but the store closed early due to the weather. Yikes! It was fun, though, and the kids did great.

I sure love Nathaniel. He is such a sweet peace-keeper, always willing to help to make someone else happy. I told him that it is so nice of him to be that way and he reminds me, "that's what Jesus did; he thought of others first." Perfect answer! He's also very persistent and doesn't give up easily. He works hard and has such a fun and sweet heart.

And my sweet Leyton. He is so mature and easy going. I'm proud of how hard he works, too, and picks up on things so quickly. I admire that he goes with the flow so well and likes to have fun. He's becoming more independent with play and with making his own decisions. He is a protective big brother, too.

It's so hard to believe that they are six. Time sure flies. We love them so much. Pictures of them to follow.

Keeping my priorities..."Babies Don't Keep"

Great poem to lift my spirits when I think of keeping up with my motherly & house manager duties...makes me feel I'm keeping things in the right order.

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my RooLook!
Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

And I found this slight alteration...

I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you're not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep.

Happy "Half-Birthday, Anne!"

And my thought...ALREADY! I can't believe she's 6 months already. She's cute as ever with her one little tooth, smiling, laughing, hopping in the johnny jumper. She tried cereal for the first time on Monday night and all the kids had out their cameras they got for Christmas so they could all take pictures of her momentous occasion. They are just the sweetest kids! What Patrick has been noticing lately is that if he's holding her and she hears my voice, she starts to get kind of antsy to get back to me. His impression is that she's saying, "Umm, Mom, what are you doing, why don't you just go ahead and hold me, that's what I like." He's funny. Recent picture to follow soon.

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

The big boys were out of school today and turns out they'll be out Thurs. & Fri., also. WOW, winter is here. We're getting another 4-5 inches and high temp on Thurs. is 9 degrees, Fri. high is 1! Going to be very cold. We'll be staying home. I don't mind the extra time with the kids.

Family Portrait

This afternoon I was looking at Leyton's school papers from yesterday and this was by far my favorite. I was amazed at the detail and effort that he put into drawing his family. He's doing great. I also found Nathaniel's (his is the second one); he said in his, we're all out playing in the snow. It is so neat to see the pride they take in their work.