So much to do, so little time......

So I'll be brief. Severals load of laundry out on the line, several through dryer, cleaning porch, clearing and scrubbing pantry, grocery shopping, 4 batches of dough for stromboli, a huge batch of molasses cookies cut out, baked and now waiting to be decorated, a 5th Sunday dinner at church to help with and sleep somewhere in there. So......quickly: several of the children ended up dressed up tonight: two for a party - Nathan, a bouncer, Garrett, an m&m; several for trick or treating: two fairies, a pirate, a bow hunter, a knight and a baby m&m. All are sleeping now. I'm off to the cookies, cleaning a little in the kitchen, making sure there are cleaned and pressed clothes for church, then bed!!
Good night.

21 Things About Samuel

I saw this over on another blog - http://cheryl-rubyslife.blogspot.com/ - and thought it was a wonderful idea!



1. Samuel was a "surprise" baby - a very welcome surprise.
2. Samuel and I were both born on the 13th day of a month - August (Sam) & September (me)
3. Samuel is presently in the habit of greeting people by pulling his shirt up and patting his belly for them to notice. (?)
4. Samuel is an escape artist - gates? so what? stairs? big deal! his bed? no challenge whatsoever. closed doors? he's getting close!
5. Samuel "sings" himself to sleep.
6. Samuel has 5 sisters and 5 brothers and rules the roost!
7. Samuel loves it when his big brother Nathan tosses him around. (Mama isn't so thrilled)
8. I'm pretty certain I was the first person to know that Sam had ds, when I looked down and he turned his face to me as he was being born.
9. God has always known that He would create Samuel and that Samuel was designed according to His perfect plan.
10. Samuel is a very popular young man at our church, before he could walk he would be passed around from arms to arms. Now they have to catch him.
11. Samuel loves books and paper.
12. Samuel never really crawled - he scooted around on his tush with one leg out and one leg crossed under him - and he was FAST!
13. As a newborn in the hospital, with patches over his eyes (he was under the bili lights) he could "rootch" from one end of the crib to another. He had pretty good muscle tone from the start. He also kept managing to reach up and remove the taped on patches from over his eyes. They kept having to come up with new versions.
14. As evidenced by #13 - Samuel is a very determined young man.
15.Samuel's first sign was "all done", followed by "more".
16. Samuel loves the song "Jesus Loves Me." He know some of the signs in the chorus and has recently started making muscles for the "He is strong" part.
17. Almost as soon as he could sit up (around 6-7 months) Sam would roll a ball back and forth with someone.
18. When he "prays" he grabs both little hands, tilts his chin downward, and whispers little "s" sounds. When he hears "in Jesus' Name", his head comes up, he smiles and waits for the "amen" then cheers.
19. He loves to dance, always looking around to make sure his performance is being properly appreciated.
20. Often, when he wakes up in the morning, or after nap time, he will say "bed, bed, bed" and point to my bed. So we climb in and cover up and snuggle (usually with brother Braedan) and giggle!
21. Samuel's smile lights up my heart!

No other place

"Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
In the Cross,
In the Cross,
Be my glory ever.
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river."

There's no other place I want to be, no other glory. That's hard to remember sometimes, because this world's attention is enticing. But it never lasts, is never unconditional, and is never enough. Only God satisfies.

"Near the Cross, O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me.
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadows o'er me."

Day to day, sometimes second by second, I need His help to walk in the way He would have me go. To be able to love as I should, forgive as I should, give to others as I should.

"Near the Cross
I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever.
Till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river.
In the Cross,
n the Cross,
Be my glory ever.
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river."

I'm singing this on Sunday as part of a trio. There are three parts - the soprano, the middle alto, and the lower alto (me). Each of us singing our own part, blending together. It's a beautiful arrangement. I get very nervous when we sing, I'd never make it as a soloist. I want this time to stand there and think of the One for whom I sing, knowing that He wants a JOYFUL noise, not an perfect performance that lacks reverence for Him. That's true of our lives, also. The perfect house, children, car, career, clothes, and so on may look pretty good here, but that's not what He looks at.
For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
1 Samuel 16:7 b

There is a little man upstairs, overheard on the monitor, chattering himself to sleep. Three other young men are asleep not far away, one in the bed next to him, two in the next room who fell asleep with a Lego magazine between them. Two much taller teens are in the room down the hall, the oldest probably asleep before some of the younger ones. Getting up at 5 a.m. or earlier each day is a good reason not to stay up too late. The girls who are still at home are gradually filtering off to bed, one just off the computer, another probably upstairs on her laptop, one coming in from an evening out, and the oldest is kitty-sitting at some friends' house. Miss Erika has her own cute little place. I like being able to go through the house before I go to bed and count heads, adjust a blanket or two, remove harder or noisy toys from beds before they wake the occupants, who may then just happen to wake their mama! I am blessed. I need to remember that the next time they're all doing something loud and obnoxious at the same time!
There are so many possibilities represented in each of these children. Some wonderful, some frightening. Statistically, with this many people in one family, just think of all the illnesses, accidents, or tragedies that could befall us. And they may. This one thing is constant - God is and He is good.

On Saturday, as I was talking to a new acquaintance, I mentioned that my two-year old had Down Syndrome. It was relevant to the conversation, not just thrown out there. Her face immediately changed, that kind of downward turn, and there was a sympathetic "oh". I was .... I'm not sure surprised is the correct way to put it. That reaction was nowhere on my range of expectation of her reaction, I guess I was actually not expecting any reaction, at least not anymore than if I had said my two-year-old has blue eyes, or something like that. Accepting that Sam has ds has never been that kind of issue with me, at least not yet - not the fact that he actually has it. (please, please, PLEASE never use the term "suffers from down syndrome") There are certain things that I feel the need to be more aware of with him, I've mentioned some of them before. But those are just part of who he his. Anyway, when she reacted that way (she's a lovely woman, by the way) and I realized it, I think I just sort of waved my hand and said something like, "Oh, no, that's not a bad thing." And I realize that I mean it. So I don't need pity, or sympathy. I certainly don't need the - "Oh, what special people you must be!" - yeah, right, just don't spend a day a my house. My mother-of-the-year trophy would never be awarded. Samuel is my son. Period. And that makes me very, very happy.

My Social Butterfly

Tonight was the last soccer game of the season for Nathan and Garrett. During the girls' game, I worked in the concession stand, and Meredith watched Samuel. Toward the end of the 3rd quarter she had to leave and go pick up her father, so Samuel was very kindly looked after by one of the men at our church. When I was finished, I came out to find my boy. There he was, hanging out with Mr. Miller and "chatting" with whoever was around. While he can choose sometimes to be shy or standoffish, he generally seems to have an easy self confidence, and expectation of being well-treated and accepted by everyone he meets. I love this, because it's an indication to me that he feels loved by all of us, so what else should he expect? Our church family has been wonderful with him, young and old. His siblings are always holding him, loving on him, wrestling with him, taking his photo, welcoming him. He's adorable, and he knows how to use it. ...... But will it always be this way for him? I wonder how things will be when delays might be more evident. What about when he hits a "gawky" stage (we all do!), and the cute isn't workin' out so well? What about when his world expands and there are more strangers in his life? Will there come a time when he is not accepted, not welcomed, dismissed, and will he recognize it? Then what? But, when I think about it, that it some respect comes for all of us. I know it has with my older children, it's a part of growing up. I think I fear it more for Sam. Therefore, I guess I'M the one right now who is treating and thinking of him differently. I really want to protect him. At our recent ladies' seminar I attended a workshop about doing hard things. Hard things stretch us, grow us, mature us, and draw us closer to God, fit us for His service. Things I want for Samuel. My hard thing may be watching him go (and grow) through his hard things. I have to remember who our God is. And He is with us.

Behold, I am the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

Just back from a trip to Gettysburg with Lindsay. We had a wonderful drive down, a great dinner in an historic tavern, and an...., hmmmm, how to describe it, an odd ghost tour of part of the town. Not really great! But we giggled, came home a slightly different way.. (repeat to self: "We're not lost.... we're having an adventure!" , finally found a Dunkin Donuts that was open, drove more, adventured a little more (!), then got home. Our time with our children is short, and my time with Lindsay will be changing soon as she moves to a different stage of life (more on that as time goes by). So many things to think over...... but not now. It's late, tomorrow is my day to deliver papers for Meredith, and I'm tired. So it's up to check blankets on little boys, change, and climb into bed.