Lot's of Cam

but there's other ones here too. Like Cody, who when I finally phrased my bedtime "get dressed" command in a way he liked said, "heh, heh, now you're getting the hang of it!"

Maybe the only thing better than having your nephews from far away in the same town as you, is having those same sweet boys over for a sleepover.
Cam lent his JD blanket that Auntie Carolyn made to Clayton for the night.

Leah was so thankful that Gavin woke up before she left for school. He was actually awake here but oh-so-snuggly. A bundle of deliciousness.

Cam is going to miss these two boys. "Mom, can I feed Gavin a bottle?" But Gavin's not that little and getting the bottle in and at the right angle is a bit tough.

And another bottle in an easier spot. So much fun those two had in the play pen.

And a story yet too.

God be with you till we meet again;
By His counsels guide, uphold you,
With His sheep securely fold you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Neath His wings protecting hide you;
Daily manna still provide you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you;
Put His arms unfailing round you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Of His promises remind you;
For life’s upper garner bind you;
God be with you till we meet again.

God be with you till we meet again;
Sicknesses and sorrows taking,
Never leaving or forsaking;
God be with you till we meet again.

We'll miss you, dear Care, Brody, Clayton and Gavin.

We'll be praying for you for we love you much!

Another Special Day

We were so happy to have Auntie Carolyn and her precious boys Clayton and Gavin visit.

We got in some more snuggles. This "little one" is a whole lot bigger than yesterday's little one!
And Cam had still more hugs and smooches for Clayton!

Everyone got in on the cookie making action. Sorry, Clayton, I know you were way more impressed than this picture indicates!

Even snuck in a nap for Care... if you count 30 seconds in a reclined position a nap.

More snuggles.

Poor little gapher!

Somewhere in there we managed to make 3 batches of cookies, play a game of scrabble "take", and get in a bunch of snuggle time.

What I still haven't shared with you is the fact that I just came back from spending an entire week with these precious ones and their mommy and daddy! My purpose was to go out to visit Brody and Care, help Care paint her new to her/old house and have a little vacation. Well, I did get to go, I spent an entire week delighting in Clayton come running around a corner to cheerfully call out, "NAN!", an entire week sticking my face in Gavin's and nibbling his oh so delicious cheeks, an entire week sleeping the night through, an entire week not doing too much more useful than just being there and giving Care the pleasure of my company. :) And it was such a WONDERFUL way to spend the week. Too bad for me I think there are a grand total of 5 pictures of the entire week. One of Care and I in our painting clothes... you can read about that here, one of me inhaling Gavin, one of me snuggling Clayton and reading him a book and the other 2 were probably outtakes, if they exist at all.

See? So relaxing I didn't even take pictures!

There were wonderful things that didn't get recorded via digital file... spending the evening with Care and Brody and the choir Care directs, accompanies, teaches :) ; eating supper at the Texas Roadhouse with their delicious food, casual peanuts and incredible cinnamon butter and warm rolls! ; watching Clayton delight in being at the farm which he hopes to move to soon, spending time with his Daddy and Papa in the barn, listening to Care teach piano to her students, feeding Gavin bottles until he slept in my arms and on and on.

One of the biggest advantages to this visit? Clayton coming to us and actually not only recognizing me but being excited to see me instead of wondering who this strange lady fawning over him was.

And so I've come full circle, back to being hugely grateful for how my visit there is making their visit here so wonderful!

Today

We met our newest adorable cousin & nephew, Tanner Daniel. He is precious. God is amazingly good and the creating and arrival of a newborn re-astounded me today. Heart-full wishes for God's blessing to his mommy and daddy!
Ps. Cam is felted not diseased and quite delighted!

Sometimes the Mom just bombs the supper.

It was pork loin, the kind that comes in a big long package at Costco. At 2:30 the slow cooker had it smelling so yummy I lifted the lid to have a few taste bites and I told myself, "self, if you're not careful it's going to be too dry by supper" but despite the admonition I let it dry out. There was still enough juice in the bottom I decided to be too lazy to break out more dishes for gravy and proceeded to pour the juice over their potatoes.

It was only after Steve's 4th glass of milk that I thought it was time to lighten up the whole disastrous affair.

"It would have been cheaper to make gravy," I muttered across the table at him with a pointed look at his hand on the jug.

And the kids who didn't hear the comment were offended and mad that Dad was laughing for 5 minutes straight because they sure didn't find anything funny about this meal that "could have used more moisure!" (thank you very much, Leah, I'll try to remember that for next time.)

T'was the night before Tuesday
And all through the house
Not a person was stirring
But the one touching the computer mouse.

The buckets were distributed
at bedsides with care
With hopes of mommy
showing up if needed there.

The children and Papa
were tucked snug in their beds
While mom hoped for a few hours
to rest her weary head.

The chills and the shakes
have produced quite the clatter
And have mom jumping from bed
to see what's the matter.

The moans and the groans
are not nearly so bad
but they make for good poetry
and that makes me glad.

I'm thankful for sunshine
and cheery blue skies
For walking and play grounds
to disperse all my sighs.

Ps. "good poetry" is of course entirely subjective but I do not want to discuss that any more than I want to clean buckets :)

Pps. I am truly sorry to anyone we might have inadvertently passed this nasty bug to yesterday, if indeed we passed it on.