And a Video Too

Our Boy

He really is all of our boy. He's the family darling. He turns 7 months tomorrow. The boys take numbers to have a turn to hold him. It's considered the highest privilege to be the one to go get him out of bed after his nap. I took these pictures of him after his nap just two days ago (it was my turn!) I love how the expression on his face is just a little different in each one.

(This one is the boys' favorite.)

This one might be my favorite.

Such a joy.

This and That

Calvin with his miniature blueberry pie that he made from the dough scraps.

Cecily drinking a sip of my drink at Burger King where we enjoyed a girls' night out.

The girls wanted Burger King so that they could play on this equipment. They had a ball.

Their idea. Extended lap. Cecily didn't quite get the concept.

Just down the road is a little trout pond. We have spontaneous fishing trips there occasionally.

The kids were excited that they spotted a water snake. They took this picture for me so that I would see it when they got home.

Fish mouth.

We always have to photograph fish caught to document each one.

I didn't take this picture, but I'm guessing they are imitating the scary dinosaurs and sharks in the puzzles they put together.

A couple of pictures of Millie and me one evening when we were getting her ready for bed.

Little bits o' life. :)

Birthday Fishing Trip

We try to do a special activity for the birthdays of the older kids. Naturally, Sam wanted to go fishing for his activity. Peter was able to borrow a canoe from a friend, so he and Sam took it and headed out early for an extra-special fishing trip with just the two of them.

Later in the day, I brought the other kids out to meet them for a picnic and some swimming. We decided once that was done that we had just enough time left for Peter to give the other kids some boat rides before leaving.

The first boat ride was with Ben and Cecily.

I took Calvin and Amelia for a little walk while we waited for their turn. We found a shady, little creek hidden underneath lots of brush. It looked very cool and inviting on that hot day.

Here is Calvin climbing down to it. He actually lifted Amelia down, which I didn't get a picture of, but it was super cute.

Watching these two explore here together was a bit of a magical moment. I was reminded that they actually are next to each other in birth order. They don't play together a lot at home, especially alone. They were almost like a set of twins out there, working together and interacting.

There was a spot where the limbs arch over the whole creek and create a cave. It was hard to capture the effect on camera, but they posed for me there. Boy, did they love it in there. It was like another little world that was cool and delightful. The whole thing made me happy, like getting to relive the things I did as a child by watching them do it.

Here is the view as we headed back to the lake for Cal and Millie's turn in the canoe.

You can see the older boys fishing and playing on the peninsula.

Such a beautiful day. That boat really blessed us.

Picking flowers with Cecily while we waited.

Well, Sam and Dad didn't come home empty-handed. Thanks to the boat, they each caught a fish in the morning and Sam caught the biggest one he's brought home yet (we had them on ice while we were at the park).

Can you tell how happy? I said a prayer of thanks to the Lord for sending that fish to my boy for his birthday fishing trip.

Everybody wants in on the filleting of the fish. We froze the fillets with some others from the beginning of the summer. We're saving them to have a fish fry at the end of the season. We might actually have enough for our whole family this year!

Big Grin and On My Knees (Eli)

A nice big grin for the camera. :)

And he's up on his knees! (Though it's very hard to catch "on film," thus the poor picture quality.)

Six and half months old now and changing every day. He's had his first bites of rice cereal and applesauce.
He's getting so strong and wanting to really get going now. Babyhood just shoots by.

Sam's Birthday

Sam turned 12!We had a picnic lunch in our yard, for a change.

I know this is Sam's post, but I took a couple of cute pictures of Cecily. She was trying to be so still so that the little bug wouldn't leave. She was excited that he was sitting on her arm.

Then she tried to smile for the camera, but still didn't even want to smile too big in case she would scare it away.

A dry-erase T-Rex that Sam drew during read-aloud.

Sam's surprising dinner of choice was Pork and Tomatillo Stew. It's served over rice with avocado, cilantro and lime juice on top.

Good choice! It was pretty delicious.

I really didn't catch the excitement over his new whittling book from Papa and Grammy in this picture...

...or the beginning woodcarving kit from them either. Lame pictures, but such a cool gift. The kit came with a woodcarving knife and woodblocks and guide to beginning projects. Grammy also sent a finger and thumb guard. He's set.

The big gift from us was this Fishing Encyclopedia.

It's ginormous and even he was a little dazed and amazed.

Happiness for Sam is hours and hours of informational fish reading, for all of those free times that he can't actually be out fishing.

Sweet ending: Apple dumplings.

God bless your twelfth year Sam! You are such a blessing to us!