Another Week of Memory Making . . .

I've not written much, as we've been busy - a good busy. Sunday afternoon we spent with some close friends at their cottage. It was the first time we had gone there as a family, and all the children had a blast. Before Norm & I were married, I lived with a family for a year. The "mom" who was a very special friend of mine died couple years ago. Her daughter has become a close friend now - married and expecting their fourth child. Her grandparents were also at the cottage, and so it seemed somewhat like a "family reunion". We just had a real relaxing time and the kids all had so much fun. They went swimming and boat riding, and we all enjoyed making new memories.

On Wednesday our twins turned 14. It's so hard to believe that these gals are turning into such young ladies. One of the things they both wanted was one of those rubber bracelets, but the one they specifically picked out was pink, with a butterfly on it, and says "Worth waiting for". They are both committed to purity, and it was neat that they requested that for their birthdays. We took them shopping, and out for lunch and send the evening with friends til almost 1:30 am so they had a good, long, tiring day! Norm and a hard time with the start of the day though, again the thoughts of another celebration, without Matthew, and he broke down. We both got ourselves in the mindframe before we even left our bedroom to concentrate on the girls, and make it a special day for them. I think they enjoyed the day. :)

Thursday, the 11th, marked 8 months since Matthew's death. The wounds aren't closed and yet so much to go through, besides "normal" stuff of a large family from teen's wanting to do more things, to just starting the babysitting, to continuing discipline, potty training, and thinking of our homeschooling to beginning soon. Then add in the continual reminders of things that are different, new things to go through, misunderstandings, and still finding the "new normal" and trying to just get through the firsts. We've made it 8 months, but probably dread the last ones the most, and already discussing what to do different for the holidays to make new, different memories.

Probably our best day was yesterday, Friday. Our boys went to a friend's graduation party and spent the day there and did not get home til well after midnight. Our twins babysat for the first time for friends from church and they too did not get home til almost midnight! They really enjoyed it, and I think enjoyed seeing how little ones of the same age as our young ones interacted both the same and differently as ours. They had lots of stories to tell! So, we had just the youngest 4. Kind of brought back memories when we had the first ones and would do things with them. We stopped at our church to drop off some of the graduation supplies we have been collecting to declutter some at home. Norm went into the sanctuary and started playing the piano. The girls played in the nursery. I just sat and listened to him for well over an hour. He found an old songbook that he use to play out of when contemporary music was first coming out (the "Purple Book"). He shared with me about some of the songs, and how God's love just pours through many of the words, and how meaningful these are. He encouraged me too with all we have gone through, rejections, hurts, etc. that he cannot fill that void, and how he wants me to lean more on God and find His deep love that is so there. It was just a neat, special time of sharing, and his playing. Our pastor came in too, and listened to him for a bit. I am just thankful for the sweet time of fellowship.

Afterwards we took the kids to the Kent County 4-H Fair. A lot of families from our church are involved in it. We are not in the same county, so we had never been to this fair, and were very impressed with it. It's probably four times bigger than the one we usually go to and very family oriented. The little ones had fun seeing all the goats, 4 large barns of horses, and several barns of cows. We use to have goats & lambs, and so it was neat seeing them. We enjoyed the exhibit which showed a lot of projects homeschooled kids had done, and we are considering looking into this more for our younger ones to participate in. We had a scare too, where suddenly Katie (4) disappeared and we found her within a few minutes at a security desk, very tearful. The evening ended with an elephant ear we shared and sleeping kids by the time we got home. No pictures - I didn't take my camera. : (