seven

Seven years ago this evening our son was born. He was a bit early and a bit tiny but his lungs were extremely well developed. From the start he was quite proud of that fact. He used them day and night (much to my dismay). Finally after four months his voice gave way and he has been quiet ever since.

Luke is quiet and unassuming. God has gifted him with a sweet and gentle personality. His smile lights up his entire face. It's one of my (many) favorite things about him. He cares for his sisters, his close friends and his mama (of course his dad too) :). He loves playing outside, sports, birds and legos. This past year he has mastered riding a 2 wheel bike, swimming (and jumping off the HIGH dive), reading, and torturing his sisters. He absolutely loves school- everything about it- even math. He is like his dad in so many ways. I am so glad!

I am truly blessed to be his Mama.

Happy birthday son. I love you.


two weeks old...

one year...

four years (courtesy of Fresh Art before it was Fresh Art)...

seven years old...

6 years ago

I stumbled across these apple picking photos...






Reagan was there too, just not visible yet...

apples and stuff

October has just begun but it seems packed full of activities. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful Sunday and go apple picking. The place we go to is great. There are so many things to do besides pick apple and pumpkins (thank goodness because it's pricey). There are rides and shows, a corn maze, mini golf, a play structure and much more. We spent several hours enduring the HOT sun and taking it all in...







the pumpkin cannon...

weekend update

This past weekend we took our friends to the country to visit Dale's family. His grandma turned 90 on Friday. It was nice to celebrate with her. It was a quiet affair- just dinner with Dale's parents, grandma (and her peeps) and us (and our peeps). :) We had a big celebration when the whole family was together in July for Helmuthfest.

tv time (while Jonah slept the morning away)...

feeding the chickens...

grandma always decorates outside...
tractor time...


hay ride time...




We had a great weekend.

"a" week

new publication not yet in your local library

Reagan loves to write stories. This week she made a book and asked me if I would write down her words (it is word-for-word her story). Then she added "gingers" for illustrations (her FAVORITE drawing).

If you aren't British I think you will like it...






There IS a little background you must know to appreciate this wonderful story. This summer we took a trip to New Orleans. We went to the WWII Museum and to the field where the Battle of New Orleans took place. Both places were SO AMAZING. My kids soaked up tons of historical information and they loved every minute of it. They even met a man who was in WWII at Normandy beach. We spent a bit of time with him and he explained a few things to the kids (he also purchased them WWII replica guns so they could reenact battles). The whole trip had such an impact on the kids.

Reagan has somewhat successfully merged the two stories in a very succinct way (with a few embellishments on the part of a 5 year old ).

Disclaimer: we realize that war/battle/killing does not really equal joy.