Posts Tagged → Beatrice

november 18

I fell in love with this photo tonight: William, his imagination completely captured by Han Solo’s adventures. (Is that even how you spell that name?)

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Friday morning, I slipped in an early walk. Those amazing morning skies frustrate me, because there’s no way for me to ever do them justice in photos. Breathtaking!

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Also on Friday, my sister and brother-in-law came for the evening. This sister is due to have a baby any day, and I am beyond excited. At any moment, my phone could ring, and I’ll drop everything and go to be with her.

Lucky me: I have another sister whose due date is also coming up! Precious babies, momentous and life-changing moments.

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Saturday was shopping. All. Day. Long. I love it! Ryan watched the boys so I could join my mom and sister for a big Christmas shopping trip. We have so much fun and get so much done.

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Today, we dedicated Beatrice at church. What a sober and exciting opportunity: to look at her future and declare that we will give ourselves to see her know and love Jesus. Lots of other babies were dedicated, too, between the two CFC locations. We are incredibly blessed to be surrounded by peers who have the same passion and determination for their families. God is truly so, so good to us.

Spontaneously, all of my north-country-living family came for the afternoon. We all just relaxed and soaked in the peace of a few hours all together.

The best part may be the plethora of little people running around, making everything more fun and special simply by being here. And to think: we’re adding two more cousins this month!

Claire, in the background, being adorable as always.

november 13

So, yes. The weekend flew by, and somehow swept Monday right along with it. Unseasonably warm weather, almost the whole Sinclair family in one house on the same day, and husbands with the day off convincing the rest of us that we, too, should take a vacation day results in, well, a vacation!

Today it’s back to being 40 degrees, give or take. So the boys drew fantastic pictures of “November is… bare trees”, and “November is… football!” My boys do not just sit and draw, unless it’s the beginning of the school year and there are all new drawing utensils (of course). I usually have to assign such creative pursuits — and once assigned, they throw themselves into it. (Hmmm. I think I need to come up with drawing assignments more often.)

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Jameson lost his first tooth Sunday morning. He exuberantly bounced into the kitchen, eyes beaming, mouth full of blood. Ha! We dutifully saved his eensy-weensy tooth, and then Ryan told some elaborate tall tale about a tooth fairy tapping on the window and fluttering around the room while they slept. William, who is far too clever to fall for such yarns, declared that he “knowed” the tooth fairy did no such thing; he would have heard the rapping and woken up. So there. We’re not sure whether or not he realizes the tooth fairy is completely non-existent, or if he’s just quite confident in his sharp hearing skillz. Either way, he’s ridiculously cute, and we’ll keep him. Also, Jameson will keep the dough, regardless of the realness of said tooth fairy.

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Sometimes, like today, I go into my room to check on my sleeping babe, and I find a wide-eyed, smiling, frowsy-headed darling. Her cheeks are irresistibly pink in the morning, and her chubby arms and hands are just that much softer. Over a year later, she’s still greeted with joy and celebration by her brothers every morning. She just may feel like the most special girl in the world. (And that wouldn’t be far from the truth. As we read at naptime, God said, “Let there be Beatrice”, and then saw that it was good. Pretty special, if you ask me.)

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Our school day routine includes devotions after breakfast. This is when our home turns into part church, part circus, part tyrranical-toddler-grabs-every-candle-while-her-mom-is-trying-to-memorize-scripture. I love it. We’ve had such wonderful little conversations, Ryan has been able to teach their little hearts so many important truths, and we get to pray for so many people that we love. I’m not kidding about the toddler part, though. After being told many times to sit down, here she is. Gotta love a little spunk, right?

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Day after day. Weeks, months, years. I’m alternately exhausted by the big events, and worried that the small days are amounting to nothing. My worry knows no end, when allowed to run its course. Thankfully, thankfully, my job is not to orchestrate our lives. There’s the Holy Spirit for that sort of thing. He weaves and guides and creates beauty in ways I’m astonished by, in ways I’ll not even know the whole of until I’m looking at Time from Eternity. For now, faithfulness is my portion: being faithful to believe, to repent, to trust, to live for Him.

november 9

Fridays are a special days in our lives. Busy, but special.

It begins Thursday night. Jameson sets out his school uniform (and Mama realizes his jeans/polo/whatever isn’t clean. Grrr! Better hurry and get that laundry done!)

Friday morning, I skip my walk and jump right into the shower instead. Jameson bounces out of bed with extra excitement (I say extra, because there’s always excitement), and hurries through his morning chores. I make him a sandwich, label a brown paper bag, fill his water bottle, and feed him breakfast. One more uniform check before we leave, and every week I’m stunned by how grown up he is. Such a good, good boy.

I wave good-bye to William, reminding him to keep an eye on Beattie, and drive Jameson to the church. I’m in a long stream of minivans and SUVs, as families from all over the county drop their home schooled children off for a morning of enrichment activities. Jameson hops out of the backseat, shouts goodbye, and joins the throng of children excitedly bounding up the steps and through the front door. He’s confident. Just last year, he wanted me to hold his hand and take him inside. Not anymore.

I drive back home and join William and Beatrice for breakfast. We tidy the house, get baths, read books, and prepare for errands together. Today, we picked up the last of our CSA and grabbed a few groceries. People ooohed and ahhhhed over William and Beatrice at the grocery store, of course. “Are they always so good?” I smile. “They really are blessings.” (How do you answer that question, anyway? Right?)

We listen to Psalty in the car and play William’s favorite song over and over. Usually he has to take turns choosing songs, but today it’s just him. Live it up, kid!

Back to the church, where the three of us open our own paper bag lunch. PB&J! Quickly wipe off sticky fingers, and drop William and Beatrice off at the nursery, where a couple of home school moms volunteer to watch teachers’ children. Then I grab my music folder and head up to the choir room. Soon, the thunderous sound of 40 2nd-4th graders is heard in the hallway, and then they are bursting through the door, chatting and laughing, bright eyed and pink-cheeked. Happy, happy kids. So far this semester, we have learned efficient ways of getting bathroom runs out of the way, how to answer respectfully when I take attendance, and that a singing voice is different that a talking voice. Several of them are also learning harmony lines, and though they’re deeply nervous about it, watching their faces when they hear their voices blending in harmony is just fun. Bell rings, and without too much stampeding, they head down to assembly. The morning is over.

Last year, Jameson would come home and not remember a single thing that had happened. “It was fun.” Really? That’s all you’ve got? But this year, he tells funny stories from lunchtime, sings snippets of his choir songs, gets really excited about his art projects, and remembers all about storytime and character class. He’s so much older!

William just loves that he gets to go see Aunt Bettia in the nursery. (That’s Brietta, for those of you who were stumped.)

I’m really, really thankful that I get to home school Jameson, and I’m also really thankful for a great program on Friday mornings. This little corner of the world is really blessed, and I don’t take it for granted!

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Also, because I forgot to post anything yesterday, you get a photo for free. Totally unrelated. But absolutely adorable.

november 3

This girl.

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She’s quite the personality these days. Quiet, dabbling in “trouble”, trying to put on any shoe she finds, determined, belly-laughing, offering slobbery baby kisses to all of us all the time. We love her.

She’s my little doll. I love having a baby girl, but sometimes, as I’m holding her close and enjoying her cuddly warmth, I realize this baby doll is on her way to being a woman. And I am asked to play a large role in this shaping. My example will help her with definitions, understandings, values. For now, that means holding her gently, tending her faithfully, giving to her selflessly. This, Beatrice, is how a woman values life.

Precious.

november 2

It’s not just the old blog that’s been ignored. There are so many pictures that have just been living on my phone waiting to be sorted, labeled, saved.

Our fall has included some really and truly lovely days. One afternoon, we all spontaneously piled into the van and drove to Lake Placid. It rained when we got there, but the drive was breathtaking and the kids were awfully loveable.

Another afternoon, we got to visit a family down the road. Beatrice was treated like a princess.

We walked to our Literature Class at Mom’s house as many Thursdays as we could. Sometimes we just had to stop and snap a photo. Wow.

The highlight of the fall so far, however, was a family trip to New York. It was highly anticipated by all of us, but especially by William. He even drew pictures of the Statue of Liberty — and also talked about her non-stop. (Look carefully; there’s a book, a torch, and a crown!)

Their big eyes took in every single detail.

But this took the cake.

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God sometimes outdoes Himself, if I do say so.

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I really, really love the windows in my house. Right now, I’m sitting at my kitchen table with a bank of windows to my left overlooking a tree-lined field, and in front of me, another wall of windows offers views of the far-off Adirondacks. The grass is as green as ever, the trees are muted golds and coppers and reds, and the sky is gray. Autumn is an indescribable show of beauty, and these windows allow me a front row seat. I’m thankful.

Last week we did the Great Clothing Exchange. I actually didn’t mind, since I was getting very itchy to go through the bins and get rid of extra clothing that didn’t get worn much. The part I did mind, more than usual, was the sadness of packing away yet another year of growth and childhood. William is proudly wearing size 4’s now — the clothes Jameson wore our last fall and winter in California. But Jameson was a big boy then, and William is still just little — isn’t he? Is he actually this tall, this thin, this lacking in any baby fat? I see him wearing these clothes, and I still just can’t believe that he’s not really a baby at all. Sweet William. Little man Jameson. Beatrice, toddling around. So big.

We’ve had several regular days of school and chores and being home in the last few weeks. Often, the boys and I have cleaned up from dinner, lit a candle, and pulled out a few games to play around the table. The games are fun, but being with them on a quiet evening, in the warmth of our house? Priceless.

Last Friday, we read the very last chapter of the Little House series. I didn’t anticipate how sad that would be for me, either. But it was. I closed the book, and my eyes filled with tears. Not because I’ll miss the saga of Laura and her family, but because a whole chunk of Jameson and William’s childhood is behind us. I don’t even know when we began reading those books, but most likely, I’ll never read those books again to little Jameson and William at naptime.

I know. Sentimental much? Yeah, a little.

So today we started All-of-a-kind Family — the story of an early-1900s family with five girls in New York City. Oh, I love those books so much! I can’t wait to read them and have the boys love them, too. Of course, today they were a little stand-off-ish. They really love Laura and Ma and Pa, and aren’t too sure about all of these new names and characters. But they quietly listened along, slowly figuring out who’s who. About halfway through the first chapter, William raised his little hand and, in his adorable quizzical way, asked, “So, Mama, is Henny not a chicken?” Ha! Oh, these kids. Their little minds are just the funniest, most amazing things.

Tonight, soup made from leftover pot roast. On a day like today, there simply must be something simmering in a pot on the stove. Or, at least, it certainly aids in coziness.