WayfaringStrangers

Here's what is up in our home: 1. It snowed. I think this was somewhat universal on the East Coast. Here is the token photo: 2. It's been really, really cold here. One afternoon, to keep warm, we parked ourselves in Graham's room with the space heater. The boys made marble games...we've been doing that a LOT lately.                                                                                                                                                                       3. Patrick in this hat (Aunt Olivia brought it to him from Ireland a couple of years ago...

It's been a long week, but I think an overall pretty good one. Here's some of what's going on: Graham is funny- if you tell  him to draw (or do anything, for that matter), he doesn't want to and it turns into a battle. But then I find him quietly doodling. He told me this was Daddy- beard and all! It's January! Behn and I are continuing our annual tradition of watching Lord of the Rings  and we let Graham watch the opening scenes in Hobbiton. He loved it, but then clonked out. Rare to have him fall asleep on me. The boys seem to be in a new phase where they interact more. Sometimes this is nice and they sit together... ...but usually it just means more wrestling. Over New Years weekend, Behn painted Graham's room blue! It really  needed it. I got him some sports-themed bedding to go with the new look. Patrick is growing up so much. He loves his collection of trash trucks and spends a lot of time 'playing garbage.' This ki...

It's that beautiful transition right now. The transition from sweet summertime to lovely fall. The trees are still green, but it's turning into a fading green, like a deep sigh. We see the first yellow leaves and some acorns. Graham is really  into collecting acorns and we've spent some time on tree identification through that. I am loving the earlier sunsets, which sounds weird, but it really helps with putting the kids to bed. The world is still fresh and lovely, but we are on the verge of a new season. It's still warm enough for some water play. So, we splash! The purple asters have bloomed. A lot of my perennials flopped, so I am so glad these beauties have done well. We took a walk to pick wildflowers and look at the (disgusting) pond in our neighborhood. These wildflowers are bringing me joy in an anxiety-filled week. This morning's walk took us beside a soy field. Southern Maryland in late summer. "Let me hear in the mor...

It's been a wonderful July. Crazy that we are almost at the end of the month. A couple of weeks ago, we spent the morning at our friend (and my brother's girlfriend) Autumn's house. The boys LOVE Autumn (me too!) They had a bunch of fun. Patrick got to ride on the 4-wheeler with Uncle Aaron. It's his dream come true!    The boys got to play in the pool. Uncle Aaron threw Graham really high! Got a huge bunch of blueberries from the Mennonites. They are safely tucked away in the freezer and ready to be made into all sorts of lovely treats. The butterflies love the zinnias. We have had some much needed  rain. Going to the beach last week was so fun. I want to take the kids next. So there you have it, a little peek into our life.

Let's see, what's been happening? -Graham is taking a few swim lessons through the Red Cross. He loves it! I have no pictures because I'm the one in the water with him so I'm pretty busy the whole 30 minutes we are there. -A few warm days! Spring soon? -We all had the stomach bug. Thankfully it was only for 24 hours. I had the least severe case, so I played nurse. Of course. Mama's always play nurse. I'm just grateful I was able to. And pictures: Playing "be-ball" Behn coming home at the end of a long day is so refreshing: Finally took down my Christmas "JOY" canvasses and made these paper cut little pretties to celebrate February and March (heart, clover, flower). Whether he liked it or not (he did not), someone got a haircut: More of this: Naps are becoming less and less frequent. My heart is broken. He does like these Legos a whole lot. I'm glad! This guy wants me to read to him all...

I snapped these photos just this morning...a glimpse of life here. Kitchen table. A bit small, always cluttered, always caked in food. That's life, right? Snow on the deck. It's been so cold here, I can't even take the kids outside. Our kitchen sink pipes froze, but thankfully did not burst (mercy upon mercy!). Still, the snow is pretty. Winter collage. Sweet poem, photo of Lexington in the winter, tiny mitten, birthday card from my boys, Bible verse, a tiny nest. Philippians 4:4-5 *Nerd Alert*  Behn and my January tradition of watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has come to an end. Ah, I almost cried when it was over, having looked forward to it all year. It's so fun to watch it, all cuddled up under blankets and sipping hot chocolate and munching popcorn. It's just so epic. Anyway, I've had the soundtrack on repeat all day. Trying to get a photo of the boys. They just keep growing... ...and squirming! Silly little bro...

Yesterday's post was a bit heavy, but I'm glad I wrote it out anyway. But I figured it would be nice to post some recent pictures of life lately. It finally snowed. Behn bought and installed cabinet knobs. They are as wonderful as I knew they would be. It makes such a difference when you can easily open a cabinet one-handed (the other hand is nearly always holding a kid or utensil). I wanted drawer pulls on the drawers, but we ordered a pack of 25 knobs and didn't want to waste any. So, knobs on the drawers it is, and they are just fine. We visited Lexington last weekend. Wonderful, sweet Lexington. Baby cousins. Really, Rosie is the only true baby in the picture. The boys were both sweet (um, also a little rough) with her and Patrick kept squealing "babeee!" This kid and his bed head.... Patrick's hair is really growing in too. Much more fine than Graham's. He is getting big; they both are... Thrift store frame a...

It's been a hard week. The kids have been trying on my nerves, I'm tired, my work hours were cancelled a couple of days, and dang it, it doesn't snow here. Looking through these pictures from the past few weeks cheers me up- reminds me of our beautiful families and memories and God's always grace to us. Cousins cozied up at Thanksgiving Baby Rosie- our kids' double cousin (my sister married Behn's brother). Gearing up to go see this precious girl again in a few weeks! Hike at a favorite park (Thanksgiving) Love this shot of Graham and his cousin Ruby Lots of soup these days... ...and festive pancakes on cold mornings. Graham's thrift store finds- we have at least  a dozen baseballs in this house. Behn's famous nutcracker collection is on display Cuddles with my baby Our tree and some flurries falling down (closest thing to snow we get).  Precious boy We went to a beautiful live Nati...