wee nephew

See how tiny he is? :) No, he is normal infant size, but for some reason, these pictures have decided to be small. So cute!

room for wrath

Romans 12:19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge: I will repay," says the Lord.

Recently, Caden got a bit bullied. A boy in his Sunday School class said "I don't like you. You're ugly". Then he apparently followed Caden around, bit his face, and then somehow they got into a spitting match. This was all from Caden's perspective - so I don't know exactly how it started, and I can't vouch for complete accuracy.
Caden told us this on our way home. I was ticked off at the boy, at the teachers for not telling me, at this boy's parents, and at Caden, for spitting back. And I was really pained that this sort of encounter happened when he is only 4! Makes me wonder how much worse it will get?
Don't misunderstand, I'm really not hoping the Lord will punish this other 4 year-old (maybe a little discipline would be in order). But I found it amazing how angry I got. It seems much easier to allow God to take over when something happens to me, than when something happens to my child.
On a Much different scale, God had to watch people on the earth treat Jesus poorly throughout his life, and of course, watch his death on the cross. And Yet, there was no revenge to be had. This was following through with The Plan. I just cannot imagine.

Out of the mouths of preschoolers

Caden was singing one of his made up songs a few days ago, and right in the middle of other nonsensical stuff, he said, "Barak Obama, President, was made by God, as was everything else in the world."
I wondered if God was reminding me of this for some reason.

On the Phone

Grammy: "Alyssa Jane, you're three years old!?

Alyssa: "No, I'm not old, I'm just three."

fun with our friends at the zoo

Caden seeing if the Red Panda likes his red hair.

This leopard wished the glass to his cage wasn't quite so thick. Gabriella, Caden, Alyssa, and Antonio pressed up against the glass, fearless.

Carosel Ride!

Caden and Antonio by the Diplodocus (or so says Caden).

....what we saw of the Rhino. We were sad this guy didn't see Caden's shirt, which had a rhino on it, since it was worn expressly to show to him. He'll never know what he missed.

Thanks alot, Veggie Tales.

Caden told me yesterday that I was being a "Grape of Wrath".

Birthday Season

Alyssa Jane will be 3 years old tomorrow. These pictures are from when we celebrated her birthday (and Grammy's too) about a week ago with Shann's parents. She opened gifts standing at the dining room table, loving the attention, and putting on a great show for her fans.

Cute new coat!

Who knows?

"Caden, do you know what is the most important thing in life?"

"Yes. Jesus, and chimneys."

Trying to quit

I don't think braces would hurt VERY much!

My car seat smells like Bear - it makes me want to suck my thumb!

Mom, the rule is, if I can't fall asleep after a few minutes, then I can suck my thumb.

Mom, Bear smells so good. I need to suck my thumb!

Bear and me aren't buddies anymore since I can't suck my thumb.

Such long standing habits are hard to break.