Hope for Phoebe....

Source: twitter.com via Joanna on Pinterest

Grafted In

In our church we have this beautiful liturgy for the children that the congregation prays together each week:

Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed 

our congregation with the joy and care of children. 

Give us courage, patience, and wisdom 

as we bring them up in the faith 

that they might never know a day apart from you, 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I love this prayer on so many levels, first being that everyone participates in joy and care for the children; they are God's children not a particular family's children.  And the reality that we need patience and wisdom to raise them.  Mostly I love the line about them never knowing a day apart from the Lord, there is something so 'whole' about that hope.  

It is with that hope that we brought our little Justus to be baptized a few weeks ago, to be grafted in as a descendant of Abraham.  We do hope that as his parents, god parents, church community and family we can pass on our love for Jesus, that we can be stewards of our faith and share it with both of our children as they grow.

Justus and his godparents, Pat and Ashley

Pesce....what?

The Mister enjoys a food experiment every now and again.  It is his way of dieting without a lot of rules.  Last year we were vegan for about 3 weeks, and we have been keeping up our Meat-less Mondays.  So the other day the mister came home from work and declared, "I am going to be pescetarian!"  Which is basically his way of cutting out beef, chicken, and pork, so to cut out a large amount of 'bad' fats in his diet (mind you chicken isn't bad for you but it is so easy to slather cheese on it....so says the mr.).  This is a decent way to eat, especially in the summer; salmon on the grill, fish tacos, halibut with mango salsa, all great summer fare.  It becomes a fun experiment for me, the chef, and I get to eat whatever I want during the day; big fat burger at the pool, yes please!

This week we enjoyed this tasty meal: Nicoise Salad.  I found the recipe here, and basically followed it, though added some vinegar to the vinaigrette.
 

Maria and Bobby

images by Beyond the Flavor

Bobby and Maria are...well...amazing!  This image sums it up!  Maria was featured on the blog Beyond the Flavor; which is where these images were published.  The article is a colorful snap shot of their life now.

We have been so blessed to know these two lovelies for a few years, and though they live a few hours away, they are dear to our family.  They will be leaving for California soon, and they will be missed by so many. 

4 years and 4 months

The well-child visit for both of the little ones aligned nicely; P's 4 year appointment and J's 4 month appointment.  (how did we get here already??)  We love our pediatrician so it was a nice morning despite the 6 shots that were handed out, both kiddos got 3 and they were both champs.  J went first so while I was nursing him to comfort Phoebe and the two nurses sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to keep her calm during her 3 shots.  She was a real champ!  I couldn't believe what a big girl she was, it was clear she wanted her momma's comfort, but she settled for a hug from the nurse.  After the shots she got LOTS of stickers and we stopped by the fountain outside as a treat.  

Here are their Stats:  

Phoebe- 4 years

40in 39 lb 12 oz

Justus- 4 monts

25.5in 14 lb 9 oz

camping?

Yes, we did!

The mister and I have only been camping once together and it was a hike-in trip in George Washington National Forest.  We both really love camping, though his version of camping is 'pack-in, pack-out' with the guys, and I grew up car camping with a fantastic pop-up camper.  So, when we first talked about camping with P last summer the Mister had a hard time imagining "family camping".  Over the year he was able to grasp the vision of family car camping, especially when he found out Honda makes a tent that attaches to our car!  Somehow, that sold it for him?!

A few weekends ago we made reservations at Cunningham Falls State Park, packed up our car with all our camping necessities (including a queen size blow-up mattress), and hit the road.  We also talked some friends into joining us, they are veteran family car campers, so P had a friend to explore with once we all got there.

We had a full weekend so we could only go for one night, and we all agreed (after the fact) that for the time and energy it takes to set up for a night of camping, two nights are better than one...next time!  I had to keep reminding myself as we set up the tent, or cooked a meal that it is ok to take your time since this is the only thing that needs to be done right now.  Camping is all about camping, being out of the city, out of the every day tasks, and setting up a tent, collecting fire wood, making dinner; there is no reason to rush, these tasks are what we have to do, nothing more.  It was refreshing to be out in nature and just breathe, wash dishes on the picnic table (by hand!), make breakfast as you eat breakfast since the stove is so small, drink in the sunshine that greets you at 6 am.

We will certainly go back, hopefully soon! 

Welcome back!

There is so much loveliness going on around here, it is really hard to know where to start.  So, for now I will just say, "Hello, June; hello, summer, I actually can't believe you came back so quickly!"

I am hoping for lots of "thumbs up" days this summer!