An eye-opener

A friend of mine had the opportunity to hear Brigitte Gabriel, author of "Because They Hate; A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America" speak at her church. She posted about it and it is a very eye-opening post and I think you all should check it out over at House of Boy and Girl.

Sleepover

Noah had his first non-family sleepover last night. Several weeks ago we went out to lunch with some friends of ours who have 2 boys and one is just 4 months older than Noah and they really get along well. So, when it was time for us to part we asked if Will wanted to stay overnight with us so the boys could keep playing. It went really well and they had a great time. So, it was Noah's turn to stay over at William's house. He was so excited about it. I am sure he got very little sleep and woke up at the crack of dawn but is having the time of his life. My little boy is growing up...

A New Adventure

Several weeks ago, Luke and I discovered a cute toy store near his office called the Creative Toymaker. It was so cute and had all kinds of toys that your typical chain toy store doesn't have as well as all kinds of homeschooling supplies. When I told my friend Jill about it she wanted to check it out too so, we piled all of our kids into her van and headed out to Glastonbury together. Jill is rather resourceful though and what was supposed to be a short morning jaunt turned into a blueberry adventure. She had gone on-line and discovered an orchard nearby that was picking blueberries so after the toy store that's what we did. We turned up the drive, piled out of the van, grabbed our buckets and got on the tractor-pulled-wagon that would take us to the blueberries.

On our way we could look out over miles of pretty fields and hills and off in the distance we could see the whole city of Hartford. We passed by an orchard of pear trees that were absolutely loaded with the almost-in-season fruit. The kids of course were more excited about the tractor ride than the blueberries at that point but were more than happy to start picking once we got into the rows of bushes. I had never been blueberry picking before so I listened too as Jill explained to the kids which berries were the best to pick and quickly got the hang of gently pulling off bunches of the round ripe berries and dropping them into the bucket that hung from my neck. We all of course had to sample the goods and even Noah, who has never really liked them, admitted that they were sweet and tasty. He picked quite a few by himself but I ended up topping off his bucket along with my own and Lily's, well, there were more crushed and half-eaten berries in there so I emptied it and handed it off to Jill to fill since she was wishing she had gotten a bigger bucket.

Once we had gotten enough we waited for the tractor to come back to pick us up to take us back down to the stand where we paid for our hard-earned treasure. Then it was time to head back to our house where we shared a quick lunch. It really was a great day. Time spent with friends is always really special but even more so when you can do something together as novel and rewarding as picking your own fruit.

The kids: Nicolas, Sophia, Noah, Lily, and little Elias down in front

Hooray for Blueberries!

Easter 2007

Well, it was cold but it was beautiful...We woke up at the crack of dawn, literally, and headed over to our friend Elizabeth's house for a sunrise service in the meadow with our family (Luke's parents and his sister's family--our homechurch group) as well as Elizabeth and her husband, Stan. We had a lovely service (a little shortened from the original plan since it was so cold) of singing, Scripture, and Communion. While normally I would balk at having to get up that early, it was not hard this morning to be up to watch the sun rise and spend time remembering the Resurrection and praising God for what He did for us.

Easter has become more meaningful to me as I've gotten older especially since I've had kids. It hits home a lot harder what God did in sacrificing His Son now that I have a son. And now, not only is it more real to me, I have the responsibility of sharing that knowledge and my faith with my kids. It's hard to explain it to a 5 year old let alone a 2 year old in a way that they will understand it on any level but I know that Noah and Lily will carry with them the memory of these special mornings and hopefully it will help to make God's love for them more real.

For several years now, three extended families have congregated for an Easter celebration of food and fellowship and this year it numbered at 34, I believe. This included Luke's grandparents, parents, and his sister's family. The second extended family is his mom's friend Debbie, whom she grew up with, her husband and mother, and her three kids and their families. The third family is his mom's business partner and friend, Elizabeth, her husband and parents, and one of her daughters. It is a really neat group and we always have a great time together. It is wonderful to see the generations all together and how the families have really interwoven over time.

All the kids: Ariel, Lily, Kayla, Olivia, Sophia, Elias, Nicolas, Alex, and Noah

Lily in her Easter finery (thanks Grandma H.!)
before ...

...and after the jell-o bomb hit

looking rather angelic...

Sweet Siblings

Prayer Request

I just received some very sad news. The mother of one of my childhood friends has been battling cancer for a very long time now. She was victorious for a while but the cancer came back and at this point her doctor says there is nothing more they can do. She will be entering hospice. I have been completely amazed by this woman's strong faith all throughout her ordeal. She has praised God through it all and I have been humbled, encouraged, and inspired by her absolute reliance on Him for her strength and comfort. I want to ask you to be praying for her but especially for her four grown children who have to face this.