Cameron

It's been interesting having a grown up boy in the house. It's new....and fun!

Cam is an absolute joy to me. I love him so much!

I finally gathered the courage to get into his car.  It totally summed up his life :) 

Electrical tape, flashlight, and safety goggles representing his work for Alternative Telecommunications.

EMT boots and hat representing his work at the ambulance.

Hot Table drink...his sandwich making job.

Chess boards for his inner city chess ministry. 

I didn't take pictures of the dirty tissues and empty Hot Table to go boxes :)

 Of course, if I didn't mention his job as bus director and the Bible teacher at Club Hope I wouldn't be including another one of his jobs.  He works so hard!  Honestly, the decisions he has to make on the bus, the phone calls he makes, the directions he gives, the interaction with parents, shelter managers, kids, bus monitor volunteers, and the bus driver.... demonstrates his leadership ability.
The way he studies for and teaches the Bible lesson is a testimony of his dependence on God to speak through him as he shares the Gospel with kids and parents.  

Did I say yet how much I love him?

Mother's Day

I never come to the end of Mother's Day without the overwhelming realization of just how blessed I am.  Every year, every season brings a new aspect to my relationship with my kids.  That is for another post.  I love being a mother and I love being married to a man that values me and my calling as a mother to our children.  I am most definitely a "joyful mother of children"!

After church and lunch, Matt and I drove down the road and hiked a trail we had never hiked before.  It was a pretty easy walk, but quiet and beautiful.  We had a great time together.
And, when we got home, we found out the kids had gone out and bought stuff for an ice cream sundae bar for us! Delicious!

all of a sudden

All of a sudden things are blooming and there is so much color!  With temperatures in the 80s this week it felt like summer.  It seems like it went from winter to summer!

 I can't get enough of the beauty~

mock trial

Caleb worked hard all of second semester to prepare for Mock Trial.  Mock trial is a competition wherein participants are given a case (often based on a real-life court case) so that they can present both the prosecution and the defense. Students spend some time preparing for their roles as prosecutors, defense attorneys, defendants, and witnesses, and the outcomes can either be determined by which side prevails (the verdict/judgment) or by overall points.

Caleb was a prosecuting attorney for the first round and then the bailiff for the second round.  The competition was a CC group from Rochester, NY.  They drove over 5 hours to come down for this!

The kids learned much about the roles of witnesses, attorneys, judges, how to admit evidence, how, why, and when to object to a line of questiong, and much more.  My only wish is that the kids could have done one trial the first semester and another the second.  When they were done, the judge gave some incredibly valuable tips (including SLOW DOWN!), but now there is no chance to put them into practice!  Oh well.  All in all it was a great experience and I believe it was Caleb's first time ever wearing a tie :)

Leah was so proud of Caleb- this is what was on the door when he got home. :)

catalog

Micah loves when the Oriental Trading catalog comes....it keeps him busy for a long time!

spring

After a long, snowy, cold winter......spring is here!

happy birthday, adi!

When we brought the service week teens back to NH, we made a quick stop at Adi's first birthday party.  Her mom knows how to throw a party!  It was extra special because Melanie and Chad were up with the kids so all the cousins were together.