Some pictures...

Asher LOVES to drive. It is hard to get him in or out of our van without him climbing into the driver seat and driving. In this picture, he is asking, "I drive? I drive?"

Looking for bugs is the boys new favorite pasttime. We have a bughouse in our living room, housing roly-polys, a salamander or two, slugs, and perhaps one or two other insects I am not aware of. :)

It's raining. Mmmmmm!

"Look mom! A roly poly!! Did you like roly-poly's when you were little, mom? Why not? Do you want to hold it, mom?

Delton and his boys around Asher's 2nd birthday!

The Natives Are Getting Restless

I invited some people over for supper, then realized I might be in over my head...

:)

Big Steps

Okay, so this is a strange shot, but look at the majesty of the tree. The ocean is in the background. We spent time at this beach while in Georgia. There were two child friendly playgrounds that captured the boy's attention. We were planning on taking two days to travel home, leaving Friday morning, but the impending snow storm changed our plans and we left Thursday night. We hit flurries in WV, but had no road trouble. We are so thankful we made it home before the snow dumped on us!!

Tomorrow evening, Delton is being ordained at Lifegate. This is a new step for us, a big step. I have so many thoughts but don't know what to say, other than we are thankful that God has brought us to this point and we have peace and joy about the days ahead.

I am afraid that Asher is turning into a stinker. :) I have a sneaking suspicion that he is a lot like I was as a child. He has this grin where he slits his eyes and smiles...he knows he is cute, he knows I get a kick out of the spunk in him! I see this played out lately in picture taking...someone wanted to take a picture of him this weekend, and he shut his eyes!! I was snapping some shots of he and Ezra eating breakfast the other day, and he closed his eyes and ate half of his sandwich this way, not even peeking to see if I still had the camera pointed at him (I did!). It is fun to see his unique nature becoming apparent. I look forward to seeing what else is hidden inside this beautiful child!!

Ezra is in craft/creating mode. I have construction paper creations everywhere...my refrigerator is hidden somewhere behind his art gallery. I had purchased different craft items several months ago, but he wasn't interested. In his own time, crafts and creating have become an interest. I enjoy watching his mind work as he draws maps, creates trains and other designs recognizable only in his mind. Ezra is currently a superhero. This is so cute, but it does present some theological problems. Tonight, Delton was explaining that Jesus came to save us. Ezra said that he doesn't need saved. He is a superhero, fights bad guys, and isn't afraid. Delton said that Jesus came to save us from sin. Ezra said that he is not afraid of sin. Where's the guy with a Ph.D in divinity when you have to counter that?

I am almost 22 weeks along in my pregnancy, feeling movement and wondering more and more about who this child will be. The basics - boy or girl- and the not so basic- a red head? a scholar or an athlete? prone to ear aches, allergies, sleep trouble, cuddly or not? I look forward to meeting this child.

The entire back of our house is covered with scaffolding, which is wrapped with huge sheets of plastic. When I look out the window on my kitchen door, I see this plastic, the filth of years of dirt being stripped off bricks, and not much else. There is a tiny hole where two pieces of plastic have been joined together. I peek through that hole to check and see if Delton is home yet. This construction equipment means we have to use the front door. So, I have to park out back, get two boys and various gear through the snow, dirt and equipment, through a narrow walkway between the townhouse which is also being used as storage while the brick work is being done. Soon, my belly will not allow me to squeeze between our grill and the wall. It is definately an adventure!

Life is good...blessings to you!

Ezra and I

Ezra is hiding right now, waiting for daddy to arrive home, waiting to be "found". Delton may not be home for 20 more minutes. Ezra sounds sleepy. "Mommy, I don't want to hide," he just said as he wanders over to me. "Please turn on a movie". Sorry, little mister. Let's play, and I'll give you a heads up when I see daddy's car. I know he would love to find you as much as you would love to be found.

Updated Look

The title of my blog was threatening to become monstrously long...because of ezra, and asher, and......, so I decided to update it. This title came from a note I was writing to my boys today, in a journal I started to record their funny moments and the progress of this pregnancy. I told them that I was so glad to have them, in the midst of the chaos and clutter, the kisses and cuddles.
My musings to them came from a book I picked up this morning and paged through, a book I have read previously. It is called Open Embrace, with the subtitile "A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception". While it talks about contraception and NFP, it also, and perhaps primarily, focuses on the joy of having children and God's heart for families.

When Asher was still an infant, I mentioned something to my mom about our timing for a third child. My mom (who has nine children, and is very pro-children), said something to the effect of, "whoa....slow down! Are you feeling pressure to have kids? You can take a break!!" That was something I needed to hear at that time. It gave me the freedom to adjust to two children rather than anticipate the craziness of three. But...my response to her questioning my about "pressure" has stuck with me. I don't feel pressure to have children. By contrast, I would say that the prevailing mindset of today is "wisdom". We want to be wise with our money, so we are going to wait to have children. We want to be wise about planning for our children's future, so we are going to limit it to # many children. We want to be wise about not spreading ourselves too thin, and we think # is enough for us.

In many ways, having children, and not setting a limit, seems to be an oddity...perhaps even faulty thinking on our part. Haven't we thought everything through?

I was thinking through the chaos of my life today. The house has become a monster that is constantly needing attention, attention I usually don't have the energy or time to attend to! Laundry is my constant companion, clean, dirty, folded, unfolded, ironed, wrinkled....and yet, I have no regrets about being a mom, having two children and one on the way, having a limited income and a lack of money for wants, sometimes even necessities. Why? I don't know. It isn't natural, right? If I went out and bought a car and was now feeling a financial squeeze, I would begin to doubt my decision. If my life was crazy because of too many jobs and committments, I would say, "No more! I am done". But children are different. Even in the midst of this season, I am thankful, oh so thankful, for my boys, for the hope of another baby to love. This must be a God thing.
My heart in writing about this is to speak to the person who has heard about "wisdom", but hasn't heard that there is another way. Be free to follow what God is speaking to your heart. More kids? Maybe, maybe not. But if so, know that joy will follow you. Yes, so will chaos and clutter, but the kisses and cuddles will be there as well. If there can be joy in the midst of what my life currently has to offer, then there will be joy in yours as well.

The excitement of Christmas

We have several- many!- Christmas events yet to go this season. I am so excited about each of them. It is so nice to have an opportunity to meet with family and friends and celebrate the joy of the season. Ezra and Asher are at a fun age, so they (especially Ezra) are aware that something different is happening...there is a tree, cards, pictures, lots of red and green, and yummy cookies!
I am looking forward to having our third child. I am so thankful that in a few months I will have another baby in my arms...the mystery of the birth of our Saviour is magnified as I contemplate the amazing miracle taking place within me.

Thankfully, someone walked by and offered to take the picture for us, after our attempts at a self-family portrait were less than successful!

Blessings to you this Christmas season!

A moment in Lehman life, in pictures...

This and That

A picture of Asher taken today...still my little cutie. He is talking and talking...balloon, apple, stop, help, bible, and so many other words. I think it amazes me so much because Ezra was at least 8 months older than this before his talking took off!

I wanna be like Daddy! The guitar Ezra is holding is a Hannah Montana guitar. It plays long sequences of three of her songs...Delton was preparing for worship with Hannah Montana as back up!

Holloween

Asher climbed up in this chair and started reading a little Bible. Ezra thought this was a good idea, found another little Bible, and joined in. Delton had been reading from Jonah that morning, and I heard Ezra "reading" the story of Jonah to himself.
Aunt RuthE let us borrow some animal costumes that were a perfect size for Ezra. He loved dressing up in the bear costume. Grrrrrr!
More animal antics....
My bear and white tiger/zebra.

He now has a bunk bed!

I think Ezra was trying to tell us something...I can't believe that he is big enough to sleep in a twin bed...He's not a baby anymore, and Asher said his first two word sentence today...Delton said, Bye, Asher and Asher replied, Bye Dad. He is growing up as well. So cute!

Lack of time...means facebook gets my attention!

So, as the title says, facebook has gotten my attention recently, but I believe that I am ready to return to the blog world. This blog is being written with Asher in my lap, putting a pen in my barely empty coffee mug. I'm nervous...here are some photo-ops...


Do you know what a pumpkin chunkin' trebuchet is? Is is a big machine that chucks pumpkins hundreds of feet. Yeah...it's a guy thing, but it is really cool to watch. Tri-State Fellowship in MD had an event and Cedar Ridge made one of the trebuchet- the one with the three guys around it. Think hard hats, safety glasses, a goal-like device placed behind the trebuchet to protect the crowd in case of misfires, and you have an event that draws a big crowd!! We had fun.

David and Amanda were married several weekends ago. The wedding party left the wedding in a hay wagon. Ezra was devastated that he wasn't able to go along on the ride with daddy, so I let them play on it after the wedding party got off!!

Balloons are wonderful, right up there with jumping on mommy and daddy's bed!!

Ezra was being soooo good on a long car ride back from my parents house while Asher was having a hard time...so I handed him the camera. He took a slew of pictures, and some turned out like this. Kind of fun. Delton has a bunch of self-portraits...it appears Ezra is following in his footsteps!!

"My pet!" Delton found an interesting insect on our screen door. He brought it inside and let Ezra hold it. When it was time to let the bug "go home to its mommy", Ezra had a hard time. He talked about "his pet" the next day, too!

I think I will go rescue my address stickers from Asher before they decorate many unwanted surfaces. It's good to be back!

We need cat litter and bleach

I didn't intend for this to be the first picture- this was a bear skin and head that had it's permanent resting place on the stairway banister.

The home where my family stayed in Iowa...such a blessing for most of us to be able to stay together.

My sisters and niece, model wannabes...

David and Molly being introduced at the reception...the newlyweds!!!

Delton and I!

My beautiful new sister in law, Molly. Krystal is just behind her, to your right.

My brother David, the groom!

Yeah, I'll probably regret posting this picture...

Krystal and Asher!

Uncle Paul and Ezra. We stayed at their house on the way out and back. It was a wonderful, refreshing time. We stayed up late our last night their doing a crossword puzzle- Dillon, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Ken, Delton and I. A bundle of fun. I could get addicted. (Any idea who sings "Foolish Games"- starts with a j, five letters!)

We are home from our trip to Iowa. What a whirlwind time...I can hardly believe that it is over, and we are once again back in our normal (whatever that means!) routine. God was so faithful on this trip. I'll start out with the mishaps...

~The night before we were to leave, Delton arrives home from State College at 8 p.m., only to tell me that our car acted up going over the mountain. Car trouble is a huge, huge worry problem for me. Gulp. After talking with out mechanic, and heading out over Blue Ridge Summit at 9 p.m. that night to see if the trouble would reoccur (it didn't) we decided to go for it. The car ran beautifully the entire 32+ hours. Amazing!

~Ezra gets car sick when he reads in the car. Note to self- don't forget about this and hand him a book, as the result (3 times...) will be pretty disgusting. He hasn't yet hit my record, my parents tell me, of 7 times in one trip. Over all the luggage. Yuck.

~Asher was sleeping in our bedroom hours before the wedding. I didn't want to wake him, so we waited until the last possible second to start getting ready. I was outside the bedroom when Delton poked his head out and said, Char- come in here. Uh oh....I walk in, and he informs me that I forgot to pack his suit pants. You have got to be kidding me!!!!! So- we made a stop at Kohl's for dress pants and a new tie. Not exactly a budgeted expense...

~The title for this blog came from a sign we passed...It really confused me. What kind of business uses bleach and cat litter- and who advertises that they NEED it, rather than are selling it. It was an animal shelter! Makes me laugh when I remember it, though. How absurd!!

Now for the fun parts!

~ My brother's wedding was beautiful. My dad married them. He gets emotional at his children's weddings, which I think makes him feel like he messed up, but is so beautiful to watch. My dad loves us!

~The reception was nice, but sooooo loud!! We had the boys outside most of the time after the meal. Ezra danced for hours at Daniel's wedding, but didn't want to get near the dance floor this time!

~We stayed at the home of friends of my parents. A beautiful home, where everything was unique and artistic. Very, very enjoyable.

~ I learned that Asher will sleep in a new environment, and I learned to stop shushing people every time they spoke outside our bedroom- where the 60 inch TV was located! I laid Asher down in the nursery crib. He was fussing as I left. Then, my brother in law came in to lay their toddler down as well. I went out, fully expecting that Asher wouldn't fall asleep. My sister comes out a few minutes later to report that both boys were asleep. I told her I didn't believe her. I still have trouble believing it. Amazing. This is the little boy that only sleeps in his own bed. I get mommy was proved wrong...Kids are resilient!!

~Unpacking has proven to be a multiple day affair. One thing that hasn't helped is Ezra got two new train sets right before we left for Iowa. Both of them, their track and trains and houses, have been spread out all over the downstairs all day yesterday and today. One was purchased on craigslist for $40, the other came from a yardsale for a buck. Guess which one gets lots more playtime????!!!!

~So good to be home. Lots of events and decisions coming up, so there is a lot on my mind, but God is good. He will carry me through!