Cael graduates (from preschool)

Cael's first year of school (preschool) has come to an end. We celebrated with a picnic in the park with his classmates on Wednesday. 

Mrs. Karla let everyone try on their graduation caps. 

Somehow Kieran finagled one, too. 

He's good at the finagling thing, I've found. 

Tonight was the "program." Cael was very excited to attend his graduation program, and if you've been around him lately, you've probably heard about it.

They sang their songs and then were very nicely "graduated" by Mrs. Karla and Mrs. Mary.



Cael moves up into the kindergarten class in the fall, and he's also very excited about that. So, we'll have one more year with this little preschool (Kieran's first graduation -- the one with all the hugging -- is here) and the wonderful teachers who have been helpful in educating and encouraging our boys.

Living Thing Day

We spent Memorial Day trying to share with the boys what the day was really about and also relaxing at our home.

That morning, Seth looked out the kitchen window and spotted something moving through the yard. Eventually, we all went out to take a look at the snapping turtle that was crossing our lawn, and Seth gave the boys a good lesson on what snapping turtles do when provoked.




After we finished breakfast, we meandered down to the creek, where Seth and Cael looked for crayfish.

They found a few but didn't catch them, just watched.

Later in the day, I was meandering around the garden and thought I saw something odd in/on one of the birdhouses my nephew made for us last year.

When I got closer, I realized a snake was coming out of the birdhouse, presumably after finishing its lunch. It made me sad to be reminded of the effects of Genesis 3 once again (as if I'd forgotten). 

The boys came over and we watched it leave the birdhouse and make its way back to its home in the trees, where, apparently, there are monkeys (according to Cael). 

It was a day to remember those who have given their lives defending the freedoms of our country and to enjoy the living things around us.

A balm in Gilead

I have a guest post today from my mom, which I'm publishing with her permission. 

Go up to Gilead and take balm. (Jeremiah 46:11)

When I was young, we would sing an old spiritual in church:

There is a balm in Gilead . . . 

And I would wonder, "Why are we singing about a bomb? And what was a gilead anyway?”

But the music was soothing, and I loved singing it and, later, playing it on the piano. In time, the words became more meaningful.

A balm--something to soothe.

There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.

There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.

And I know that, for me, this has been true. The balm of Jesus Christ, His healing power, the sending of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit . . . the balm applied to my soul has been soothing and healing.

For me.

But what about those around me?

I am surrounded by hurting, wounded people. Some are so hurt they cry at night and can barely make it through the day.

What about them? Is that balm in Gilead able to heal them?

And that is where my faith is tested. I want God to administer the balm to their souls, but I don’t want my words to be empty words. And so I pray – that God will allow me to be a blessing to others. And that others will find our wonderful God and the balm that only He can apply.

An eventful day

We packed a lot into last Friday. 

The day began with "living thing" show-and-tell at Cael's school. Cael decided he wanted to take some of the chickens to show, and since chickens are birds of community, I didn't want to take just one since she would have been lonely. So, I spent a few minutes before we left trying to catch two of the little ones (Cael named all four of the new ones "Junior"). Kieran thinks it's hilarious to watch people (us, mainly) try to catch chickens, and he got a good belly laugh out of my efforts. 

I found a tub and a top to carry them and off we went to show and tell about the chickens. 

Cael's teacher invited Kieran to stay for the morning, so I left both boys at school, and Elizabeth and I went home to work on things for Cael's birthday party later that evening. 

After we returned from picking up the boys from school, I noticed the trap Seth had set the night before had caught a coon. Seth had seen a large one around the trashcan Thursday evening and decided it needed to be caught. I texted him this picture to let him know he was successful. It wasn't the same one he had seen but he still "dispatched" it when he got home so that it won't be coming around anymore.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and decorating for Cael's party. He had started planning his party around Christmas time and, over the course of the months, had decided he wanted a Spiderman cake. I have no idea where he heard about Spiderman or what made him want that on his cake, but he kept talking about it, so I figured I should oblige. 

I ordered a few Spidey figurines to put on the top, and Elizabeth decorated the cake with a web. 

Around dinnertime, his (and our) friends arrived for hot dogs and hamburgers. 

After they played for awhile, he opened his presents. 

He got a pirate costume from Elizabeth, a tractor (which he's taken with him everywhere since) from Jeremiah (et. al), and a new Super Cael shirt from his Aunt Ruth. This one glows in the dark!

Then he blew out his candle and we cut the cake. 

Our town's homecoming festival was that weekend, so later that evening, we went uptown to partake in the funtivities.

Elizabeth and cousin Heather rode a few of the rides with the boys.

The bumper cars were a favorite.

The clowns creeped the girls out, so the boys rode that one by themselves. Kieran checked out the face of each clown before he chose one to sit down on. I'm not sure what his criteria were, but he passed several before settling down on one of them.

This was a favorite ride from last year. 

We ended the evening a stop by our friends' booth -- they sell mini-doughnuts. Cael wanted some, so we filled up on our way out, and he carefully carried his bag of goodies back to the car and started eating them on the way home. 

It was late by the time we got home -- several hours past their usual bedtime. So they went right to sleep, and the good news (for me) is that they slept in a few hours past their usual rising time Saturday morning! It made me think that maybe eventful days should play a bigger part in our daily lives in the future . . . . 

He's 4

A few days ago, Cael decided he would take scissors to his hair to give himself a haircut. 

When Seth saw the result, he decided he needed to fix it. Which is why Cael, in his 4-year pictures, looks like this. 

Still cute, just with a lot less hair. 

He turned 4 today. We're having a party for him on Friday but we celebrated today with a candle on an ice cream sandwich.

We Skyped with my sister while he opened the present she sent him - a Spiderman suit. We also got to meet my new little nephew, Remington, who was born last week.

Later, we Skyped with my parents while he opened the presents they gave him -- a transformer dinosaur-car thing and a robotic dinosaur.

They very graciously gave Kieran a transform dinosaur-car thing, too, so that they each had one to play with.

Cael is our energetic little boy who loves to talk. He starts the minute he wakes up in the morning and doesn't stop until his head hits the pillow at night. (See his Caelisms here.)

Because of his energeticness, he seems to be hungry just a few minutes after finishing his last meal. Which means he eats all. day. long.

He also loves to smile and laugh. If you spell his name wrong, he'll very quickly tell you it's spelled "C-A-E-L." He likes to build things with Legos, read books, ride his bike, chase the chickens, drive his tractor, and watch TV. He enjoys helping in the kitchen and offered to vacuum and mop the floor for me the other day.

He gives the best hugs and kisses. I'm thankful to be the one he calls, "Mama," and the one he enjoys snuggling up to on the couch. We're praying for God's continued grace on his little life and on us as we try to parent him well. Happy birthday, Caely!

Wheels for Williams 6

As I'm sure you've heard me say before (if you've been around here long enough), May is Williams syndrome awareness month. Part of that includes events that are dedicated to raising awareness of the syndrome and also to raising funds to help support the Williams Syndrome Association. 

According to my friend Erin (whose daughter has Williams syndrome), this is the purpose for fundraising this year: "This year we are raising money for the continuation of neurocognitive research that is helping kids with Williams Syndrome EVERY DAY by producing the science that helps educators test and teach our children better. This research has changed the trajectory of the lives of children who have WS. Additionally, the Williams Syndrome Association is also earmarking funds for a study of sudden death during surgery/anesthesia - a phenomenon that is long overdue to be studied. This phenomenon has been both random and completely unexplained until now. NIH funding for these studies as a rare disease has been halted. This year more than any other, fundraising for the association is a must."

Since we've become involved in the WS community, we've seen several (too many) children with WS pass away due to unexplained complications with anethesia during necessary surgeries (such as open heart surgeries to correct the heart defects common in people with WS). So this type of research has the potential to be life-saving and to even impact Kieran should he need the surgery some day.

If you'd like to make a donation in Kieran's name to the Williams Syndrome Association, please visit this link.

The event that we go to every year is about 2 hours away and is called Wheels for Williams. The host is a part of a car club, and they put on a drive-in for anything that has wheels.

There are several families in our general area that come each year and it's always nice to catch up with them. This year, I was thrilled that my good friend Georgia and her family offered to come with us. It meant so much to me to have them there in support of Kieran and the others with Williams syndrome.

Kieran loved the little electric cars that were there, and Elizabeth (Georgia's daughter) was great at keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn't wander too far in them.

A band plays each year, and this year the band returned from a few years ago. They had actually requested to do today's event. During one of their breaks, the guitar player came over to where we were hanging out and began talking to me.

He said that his brother's eight-month-old grandson recently had open-heart surgery and had been diagnosed with Williams syndrome shortly after his birth. He said that after the family got the diagnosis, he told them, "Oh, I've met kids with Williams syndrome before. They're great -- he'll be ok." He was able to encourage them that the diagnosis wasn't the end of the world because he had been at the Wheels event before and had met our kids and knew how great they were.

This was the car we picked to win
the Williams Syndrome Families Trophy

He also said when they were touring England, he met a man whose relative (I don't remember the relation) had Williams syndrome. It was neat to see that the "awareness" events were having an impact and enabling him to become an ambassador for Williams syndrome.

There are several families that come whose kids with WS are all about the same age -- Kylie, Jonah, and Braxton.

I think they were telling each other how glad they were to be friends.

The dad of the older guy with WS in the photo is the one who donated the fire ring I bought last year (and currently have sitting outside our door with a flower pot inside it). He brought another one this year but since we'd ferried bikes in the back of our car, I didn't think we'd have room to bring another one home.

Cael had fun being chauffeured and also doing some of the driving himself.

A fire-shooter car was there again and gave us a good show, even in the rain. 

Thanks to Kirby for hosting another great event and to Georgia, Chris, and Elizabeth for attending with us! We appreciate you!