July 31

This is me trying to get this blog updated in random fashion. I wrote a few posts from the beginning of June, and now I'm writing one the actual day of, and I'll try to fill in the gaps as much as possible. Hopefully. I don't have any photo sessions coming up anytime soon, so I'm hopeful I'll have time to work on documenting and sharing the pictures that really matter!

Today was Harry Potter's birthday.

Yes, I know he's a fictional character, but his birthday plays a big role in all of the books. We have been working our way through the series as a family, and together we have read the first three books (of seven) and watched the corresponding movies. I'm also fairly confident that Caleb has secretively read the ending of the seventh book because he is totally my child. After book and movie 3, we decided to cycle back and start the series over again, because things start to get a bit darker in book 4 and the kids aren't ready for that yet. 

So. Today was Harry Potter's birthday, and in the first book Hagrid makes Harry his first-ever birthday cake. So you know we made our own cake for Harry's birthday.

We went to Target this morning to buy Caleb and Daisy's school supplies (YIKES! I am not looking forward to buying supplies for all four kids in a few years!), so we picked up a cake mix.

Daisy helped me make the cake during nap time.

This is very similar to how the cake looked in the movie. The book's description of the cake was a bit different, so Caleb, Daisy and I talked about why the movie people might have made certain changes, and how those changes contributed to character development. It probably went over their heads, but I can't turn off the teacher in my head.

Right? It was a chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream icing.

Daisy was really excited.

After dinner, the kids all put on their Hogwarts/Gryffindor pajamas (that's something I haven't covered yet in the blog! Caleb got a pair for his birthday, and Daisy and Lily immediately began begging for Hermione nightgowns, and now the older three all have matching, utterly hilarious, pajamas.) so that we could eat the cake in style.

Daisy even got out her tall soccer socks so that she and Lily could wear knee-high socks like the girls in the movies.

Oh, and Daisy found a washable marker so we could draw a scar on Caleb's forehead. I love that Eli totally thought he was in on the game. He had no clue that he didn't match the big kids. Two is such a funny age!

Then it was cake time, and these kids were excited.

It didn't disappoint!

Harry

Hermione

Also Hermione

Superman.

July 30

Today at church, the sweetest thing happened. Caleb has had the same teacher in his church class for two years. Mr. Mike is outgoing, gregarious, silly... and Caleb loves him. But today was "Promotion Sunday", and Caleb moved up to the 3rd and 4th grade class, while Daisy moved into Mr. Mike's 1st and 2nd grade class. It was sad, but Mr. Mike had a present for Caleb. It was simply gift wrapped, and he told us not to let him open it until we got home.

At home, Caleb unwrapped his gift...

Mr. Mike is a geologist. He works for a coal company, and travels quite a bit. He knew that Caleb loves rocks, and we had talked a lot with him about various rocks. He assembled a box full of his favorite rocks, all hand-labeled, with a perfect scripture verse as a label.

You guys, I cried.

This man knew Caleb well enough to know that this gift would speak to his heart.

He loved my quirky, literal, awkward kid enough to put something like this together.

Caleb was so excited.

 

This boy was so, so happy, and I was so thankful that someone loved him enough to do this for him. Mr. Mike loves the Lord, and loves my boy. I don't think it gets any better than that.

Except that earlier in the week, this note arrived in our mailbox:

You guys. I died. 

Sometimes it's hard raising a kid like Caleb. I mean, I know he's fabulous. But lots of people don't see past the quirks. But Mr. Mike gets him, and loves him, and serves week after week to show him God's love. And I am so, so, thankful. 

I'm also thankful for the fact that Daisy is now in Mr. Mike's class. They learned about the 23rd Psalm today, and as soon as she got  home she grabbed her Bible, opened it up to Psalm 23, and began reading.

Really.

This is my life.

I am so thankful.

More non-Bible reading.

And then we got all dressed up and headed to the park where Chris and I were married nearly 15 years ago, and had family pictures taken. Those will come later.  For now, you can see this:

That's Lily with our photographer, and Lily is sitting in the crate the photographer brought for her to stand on, since Chris still can't lift more than 15 pounds. Our photographer was great - this is the first time in five and a half years that we have paid for a photographer, and I am confident that her work will be worth every penny.

Daisy and I were searching for daisies during our grocery shopping trip yesterday, but only found chamomile flowers. Then at our last stop, we found daisies, and I was left with a bunch of chamomile. At the last minute I turned them into these precious flower crowns.

This picture, taken on the front porch of my parents' house, will be a little sneak peek of the awesomeness to come. After pictures, we went to their house for ice cream cake to celebrate Chris and Jace's birthdays, and it was so nice! Jace was really funny about my outfit - the skirt is long and flowy and dramatic, and it made him really uncomfortable. He kept staring, but then trying not to. It was too funny!

July 29

Daisy helped me do the grocery shopping today, and just as we were stopping at our last store, we decided to surprise Chris. We grabbed Volpi salami, Romaine lettuce, fresh peaches, and gouda cheese, as well as a special treat for dessert - the makings for his favorite kind of picnic.

We chose to picnic at the playground overlooking the lake nearby - dinner first, then play time.

Lily's leotard was on backwards. I blame Chris.

Chris is nearly a week and a half post-op. He is still hobbling quite a bit, due to the 5-inch incision in his groin, but doing better. He can't lift more than ten pounds for another 2.5 weeks, but he was able to play with the kids in a fashion.

It was a perfect evening!

July 28

I took the kids to another new park today. Technically, it wasn't new, because they've been there before, but they didn't remember it so I think it counts. There was a great playground, but my favorite part was this sculpture, called "Awakening".

Daisy was really excited about this picture!

Lily pretended she was being eaten by the giant, too.

Then we followed the path through an amphitheater and around a lake, to a creek. 

I was hoping that the creek would be good for playing in, but it was rocky and all of the rocks were covered in thick, slippery moss. Boo.

The kids were slightly disappointed, but they got over it.

At home, I tried another new carry with my new wrap. Isn't it pretty?

Lily swiped my phone and took a selfie.

I put all four kids down for naps, and then climbed into bed for a rest of my own. 

Then this guy joined me, and we had some nice snuggles.

Then I made good on a long-time promise: we made funnel cakes. In the spring, Caleb and I talked about funnel cake (which he had never tried) and I promised that we would get one this summer. My plan was to get one at a festival, but then we spotted a funnel cake mix at Aldi a few weeks ago.

Caleb was very excited.

He helped make it, and then we enjoyed the results.

More new carries this evening: