spring beauties

My sweet Beth started talking! We've heard five simple words so far, uttered during the last three days.  

Baby has Paul's sense of humor.  Praise the Lord for that.  The rest of us are funny-boned challenged.  Waaaay too serious.

Our tulips, inherited from previous owners.  

Oh, my little girls!  I want to sneak into their bedrooms and squeeze the stuffin' right out of 'em.  

We call this table time.  It's a feeble attempt at keeping all children busy at the same time, once a day.  Peter becomes the Table Time Teacher after he's finished at least one assignment.  It's a hoot to watch.  He loves teaching and facilitating.

I love to watch him go around and around the table, complementing their work and monitoring their activities.  Sometimes he gets a little annoyed when Beth continually drops her manipulatives or her Playdoh or her twistable crayons.  She smiles and watches Big Brother pick them up.

He likes to tape her drawing paper to the table, and she likes to peel off the tape for careful study, making it the main attraction instead of the picture she's supposed to be making.   He manages a professional reminder:  "Beth, we leave our tape on the table."

I love that boy!  He has challenges, but his heart is pure.  The anxiety is a huge issue, but I see him growing in the Lord through it.  He has to talk to God far more often than most kids his age.  He needs God.  Now.

_____________________________________
On Decluttering

Interesting activity, decluttering.  A lot goes on under the surface.  I got rid of several bags a few weeks ago but it still seemed like the house was overfilled and always untidy.  We still had too much stuff!  So I bagged up more toys and clothes last night and took them to Goodwill today.

The toys and clothes I chose this time were given away on faith.  The first batch were no brainers--they needed to be chucked.

Ultimately, if we have faith that God supplies our every need, we don't need to keep stuff around just in case we might need it.  The decluttering rule is that if we haven't used it in the last year, we're not going to use it.


If we need it God will resupply it!  What we need more than stuff is to dwell in peace in our surroundings.  Baggage and peace don't go hand in hand.


Peace to you friends!