Justus Abraham

Four things I pray for Justus on his 4th Birthday:

1.  I pray that he would grow to be a man of truth and justice, a follower of Jesus, and fulfill the meaning of his name, "The father of a multitude of righteous ones."

2.  I pray that he would be kept safe from the many dangers around, especially for an active, curious, and fearless little one like him.

3.  I pray that he would grow in self-control and independence.

4.  I pray that he would have a heart for others and use his cheerful personality to bless and encourage those who need a smile.

Family Update

It's been a long time since I've blogged!  We spent 10 days on vacation in MN visiting my husband's family and seeing many relatives and friends.  I was a bridesmaid in my friend Hannah's wedding and it was so exciting to see the culmination of 12 years of waiting and praying as she wed her wonderful, godly guy.  She had a beautiful wedding and it was so special to be a part of everything.  Upon our return we had MOUNTAINS of laundry thanks to some potty accidents and a throw-up explosion in the car.  We spent over 40 hours in the van with the kids, went to Mall of America, a zoo, Sea Life Aquarium, went boating, shopped Target, etc. etc. etc.  Upon our return we hit the ground running with getting everything washed and put away and getting back into a routine.  I helped my sweet friend Amanda, above in the blue shirt, with a Ladies Prayer Retreat the Saturday after we returned.  About 15 ladies attended in a nearby canyon and we had a WONDERFUL time of meeting with God down by the river.  It was a really neat time. 

Then, Justus turned 4 and he and Jer wanted a joint summer birthday this time around, so we had 11 little boys over for some "Splish Splash Birthday" fun!  Grammy got the boys hermit crabs so we have pets in the house!  To top off all of this craziness, a week ago I found mouse droppings and was HORRIFIED to find that we had an unwanted guest living in the house.  There is nothing that terrifies me more than a mouse, and it was so discouraging to find that he had left droppings on my bed, all over Ali's bed, in Kate's crib and all over her wall ledge, in all of Ali's clothes and most of Kate's and on all of the bedding on the top closet shelf and all over the laundry table.  After setting 12 traps we have still not caught a single mouse, but they seem to be gone.  So, while I'd hoped to start school on Monday, it has been pushed back to tomorrow as I've washed 30+ loads of laundry and sealed the clean laundry in plastic bags/tubs.  The good news is that my whole house, in all its' exhausting hugeness, is sanitized and scrubbed and vacuumed and de-cluttered, down to the very last shelf and closet.  The bad news is, this means I've been putting in 14 hour days and am very weary! 

But, by tomorrow morning I should be caught up and we can begin the adventure of a new school year!

Reader's Theater Inspired...

A few weeks ago Ali put together a little presentation in her bedroom.  She practiced all day and then after performing it for me, she asked if she could invite Grammy and Boppa over to watch it with Daddy after supper.  It was so cute and creative, and I am sure that her Reader's Theater class at the local library this summer was a big part of the inspiration!

She chose a book to read aloud for us from the library basket.  It was about what Grandmas and Grandpas love.

Jer's contribution to the show was a gunfight, in which both parties ended up laying flat on the ground all sprawled out....yes, this is the difference between girls and boys!

Jer's gun he made

Then there was a puppet show with Unicornia and Duckie...

...and a ballet number where she danced around in her favorite skirt.

Next, she put on a shepherd's costume and sat down and told us a story in first person from a shepherd's perspective and in the story the shepherd rescued the lamb, borrowing from the biblical account of the shepherd who will leave the 99 to rescue the 1.

Then the two sang "Jesus Loves Me" together, and gave it a new spin.  It sounded like a cowboy song, with some exaggerated drawling going on.  I got a huge kick out of that!

At the very end they all had to bow, even the stuffed animals!

I'm so grateful Ali was able to take this wonderful class from my friend Anita, a homeschooling mom who works part-time at the library.  I saw her grow soooo much in her dramatic abilities and it was a lot of fun to watch their performance at the library on the last day of the summer reading program.