This Moment

Life as a mother of four has not slowed down in the past year. I don't know why I thought it eventually would, but I did.  And maybe next year when Jack is in preschool, I might possibly have a child-free moment in my day, but for the moment my free time is often measured in seconds instead of minutes or hours.  Which means you are much more likely to find me on facebook than Blogger.  But that is ok for now.  I will take my adult connections where I can get them.

I honestly do miss blogging, and I frequently have moments that I want to capture, but the space in my brain that holds such things is currently occupied with swing set sale ads, online courses I need to take to keep my teaching certificate current, and vacation ideas.  Not to mention school projects, IEPs, and speech therapy appointments.

But right now, in this moment, I am having a moment I want to remember.  A moment when the children are not fighting over video games or whining about their supposed boredom.  And I want to write it down instead of making dinner or folding socks.  Because I make dinner and fold socks all the time, but how often do I get a moment like this?

For the past two hours, my house has been wonderfully argument free.  Will has decided to organize his younger siblings into an afternoon of playing school.  I can hear Will announcing that it is math time, leading them in singing their ABCs, and telling them to line up for recess outside.  (He even sang praise songs while he was "lesson planning". And right now he is reading them a story.  He has taken them on learning adventures all over the house, and they are having so much fun.  The only angry sound I have heard was when it was "lunchtime" and Will made them milkshakes, and Jack loudly insisted that his should be 'NANA!  (He really likes bananas.)  Jack and Kate adore their big brothers, and so they are just soaking up all of this attention. 

Meanwhile, Ben has a massive science project due on Wednesday. I am a terrible mother who used to try to help with such things, but found that this quickly devolved into frustration and yelling.  And so now I just watch.  His dad graciously takes him to the hardware store to pick out wires and switches for his circuitry project, and then helps him to test it all and make sure it works before Ben finishes it off.  The project is almost complete.  Ben just explained to me the difference between parallel and simple circuits, which I also learned in the 4th grade but have long since forgotten. I just go out to the garage every so often to "ooh" and "ahh" and pat them on the back, literally and figuratively. 

And so I want to remember this moment.  When all is peaceful.  I know that soon there will be hungry children to feed, tired children to put to bed, and more socks to fold.  But for right now, in this moment, all is right with the world. 

Mawage

One of the unexpected blessings of living in this little town is the friendships I have made here. (Ever notice that when you move somewhere new, you are just sure that you will never find any more friends? No? Is it just me who does that?) And it's not just that I have friends, which is surely a blessing, but the interesting situation that four of my dearest friends here are all 10-15 years younger than me. Yes, they are all in their 20s. And for the first time, I am the old one in the group.

We get together a couple of times a month for our book club, but who are we kidding? We talk books for about 15 minutes, and the other hour and 15 minutes are spent talking about our lives. I get the wonderful privilege of walking with these ladies through joys and sorrows. Babies, jobs, engagements, marriages, school work, faith, family stuff... you name it, we talk about it.

One of them - Blair - just got married, and another one - Kandice - is engaged. Thankfully, they both have found wonderful men. But as I have pondered their (up-coming) nuptials, I have thought a lot about what makes a good marriage. Tim and I don't have a perfect marriage (who does?), but we are a lot stronger and more committed than we were thirteen years ago. How does that happen?

Kandice and Blair, I don't mean this to be a comprehensive guide for marriage. People way smarter than me have written books on that topic. But here are some things I have learned in the last 13 years.

Play Nice

Sometimes I want to be ugly. I want to say ugly things. And sometimes I say them. But if I talked to my friends the way I talk to my husband (ugly), then I wouldn't have friends very long. They would totally up and ditch my butt for better friends. So why should I expect to get away with talking to my spouse that way? I can't, obviously. I have to use kind words, and speak to him the way I want to be spoken to. Or else he will leave me physically and/or emotionally.

You are on the Same Team

Early on in our marriage, I saw every argument as an opportunity for me to win and Tim to lose. Eventually I figured out a secret. You are on the same team. Either you both win, or you both lose. If one of us "wins" the argument, then our relationship suffers, and the winner isn't a winner after all. Of course, this means we must both compromise and not use our words to "defeat" the other. See also lesson number one.

You Cannot Change Your Spouse.
You Can Only Change You.

This is a hard one, but a very smart woman told me this when I was a teenager. Don't ever marry someone and think you can change them once you are married. It is never going to happen. Marry the person as they are, and love them as they are. Instead of working on them, work on changing You. You aren't perfect, so make yourself into a better spouse. If you are easily angered, work on that. If you expect perfection, work on that. If you can't seem to put your socks in the hamper, you might write yourself a note or something. Look at yourself and see what you can do. Focusing on your spouse's flaws just gets you a heap of trouble. Now, that's not to say you shouldn't talk to them when something they are doing is bothering you, but see lessons number one and two for information about how to handle that.

Oh, and my friend Elise told me something valuable years ago - when you fight, touch each other a lot. It's harder to stay mad when you are touching.

That's all I can think of for now. I love you both (and your boys). I wish you every happiness and all of God's blessings. Amen.

(Happily married people, any other time-tested and God-honoring tips you want to share?)

An Announcement, Part 1

We came home with Kate NaNa in October 2008. At the time, I can remember thinking things like, "Next time we do this..." or "When we are here again..." We settled in pretty quickly as a family, but I always had that in the back of my mind.

Once we had been home a year, I started pestering my dear husband about adopting again. Bless him, he usually just rolled his eyes at me because I get smitten with pictures of children I will never meet and daydream about parenting them. I just told him to pray about it, and assured him that I would pray too.

In November 2009, he told me that he was ready to start our next adoption. I was excited and terrified all at the same time! We started praying over our options and investigating programs. We considered looking into other countries, but our hearts kept coming back to China. We both love China, and with it's special needs program, it just felt like a natural fit for us.

But we had one problem. In fact, it was the exact same problem we had when we started Kate's adoption in 2005. China said that we didn't make enough money. China's income requirements are based on how big your family is. In 2005, I was devastated by that news. But God provided in the form of a friend who hired me to do part-time work for his company. It turned out to be a huge blessing because we were able to save most of my income for the adoption expenses.

This time around I didn't get devastated. The money needed was only about half of what it was back then, and if God could do it then, He could do it now. The question was, how?

I researched several options for me and for Tim, from merchandising to substitute teaching. The one thing I did not want to sacrifice was time home with the kids. Amazingly, several friends I knew were looking for part-time childcare. Out of the blue, people started calling me. It was a slow build-up, finding the right families/schedules for my business, but by summer 2010 I had a solid clientele and a steady extra income.

But for some reason I still wasn't ready to start the adoption paperwork. This time the problem was me. I really had to do some soul-searching - Do I want to raise a fourth child? Our family works so well together right now. Will another kid throw off the balance?

After a season or two of soul-searching, Tim and I both decided that yes, we did want to proceed, and the time was right. In February 2011, we started our home study. I can't tell you how many roadblocks and delays we hit. Notaries who wrote down the wrong expiration date. Notaries who wrote it down correctly but had expired. Lab results and extra tests that postponed our doctor's reports. And at the end, when I finally had everything in my hand, I realized I just plain old forgot about having Tim's birth certificate certified. The red tape is rather ridiculous, and everything must be perfect. And what should have taken about three months, took us seven months. Ugh.

But there is a time for all things, and this was definitely a time of preparations. Preparations that were going on on both sides of the world...

Stay tuned for more...

Canoeing with Dad

Now that fall is upon us, I realize that I am woefully behind in my blogging. And it isn't just my random ramblings about whatever is bugging me, but rather my posts that I write as a sort of scrapbook for our family. Tonight I will try to at least partially remedy that.

One very hot Saturday in August, Tim decided to take the kids canoeing. We live less than a mile from a creek that is great for taking the kids for a calm ride. It circles through our town several times, so I dropped them off at one landing and picked them up at another. They spent a couple hours on the water playing, learning how to paddle, and spending quality time with Dad. And obviously there wasn't room in there for me, right? Thanks, Tim, for being an awesome dad.

Washington, DC

We arrived in Washington late on Wednesday night, and on Thursday took the Metro to the Mall area. We walked around the area, visiting the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. We walked past the Vietnam Memorial and the White House, before getting ice cream and heading to the Museum of Natural History. On Friday we went to the planetarium, toured the Capitol, and had lunch at Union Station. Then Tim took the kids to the Air and Space Museum while I visited the Holocaust Museum. That night we drove around and showed the kids the monuments all lit up, including the Jefferson Monument.

It was over 100 degrees while we were in DC, but the kids were total troopers. Of course, the two littles were in the strollers the whole time, but even Ben, who was forced to walk all that way, didn't even complain. He was too busy asking lots of questions.

My kids ask a lot of questions. And there is nothing quite like a trip to DC to invite 243,687 questions. For most of our time in Washington, Tim pushed Kate in the stroller, while I pushed Will, and Ben walked along side me. Since Ben and I don't walk fast, he and Will had a lot of time to ask me questions. (Whether I could answer them or not is a different question.)

Questions like...

How do we know when to get off the subway?

Why did we fight in World War II? What is fascism?

What is the Holocaust?

Why did every picture I took of the Washington Monument turn out crooked? (OK, that was my question.)

When was the last war? Right now? What are we fighting about? Who are we fighting against?

Why can't we climb to the top of the Lincoln Memorial?

Is this where that Martin Luther King guy stood?

Why did we fight in Vietnam? What is communism? Did we win?

Can we go in and see the President? Why not?

What do you mean there is a garden at the White House? (Look really closely on the far left.)

What is a budget? Why can't they agree?

Can we eat lunch now?

Are we there yet?

The boys enjoyed Washington a lot. They already have a list of things they want to do next time they are there. Kate was much less impressed. She never complained, but when I asked her if she liked it, she said, "No, it was boring because I never got to play golf." I cracked up and asked her to explain. "You know, with the little sticks," she said. It turns out she thought that she would get to play mini-golf while there.

Delmarvelous

Now that school is back in session, I realize that it is time for me to get back to blogging, lest I forget everything we did this summer. (Of course it is possible I am blogging because I putting off some folding clothes or changing a diaper, but let's all just pretend that I don't have anything better to do at the moment.) Who knows how many unfinished blog posts will get published, but I definitely wanted to write about our vacation this year.

One of Will's favorite pastimes is daydreaming about what fabulous city/beach/destination we will travel to next. He and I are always talking about it. This year he and I decided it would be fun to go somewhere we had never gone before, so we started talking about driving up the east coast. He wanted to go to Rhode Island and NYC. I was thinking Boston or Maine.

Before I got too deep into my planning, I realized that it is a long stinkin' way to drive to all of those places in a Sienna with three energetic children. So I started throwing around alternatives... Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina (where we have been, but love), Washington, DC. I did a little research and discovered that the funny little peninsula that sticks out over there is called Delmarva. (Get it? Delaware, Maryland, Virginia - DelMarVa? See, you learn something new everyday.) Better yet, none of us had been there.

First stop on our awesome Delmarvian tour (yes, I know I need to stop making up words) was Cape Charles, VA, on the southern tip. The hotel where we stayed had a small, private beach (it wasn't as fancy as it sounds) and a pool, which were the necessities.

Later that afternoon (Monday) we drove up to the public beach in Cape Charles. It is all on the Chesapeake side, so the water was very calm, which Kate loved.

On Tuesday we drove up Delmarva to Assateague Island. It is a national/state park with no development, other than educational buildings and some trails. It is on the Atlantic side, so there were lots of big waves, which the boys loved.

Assateague is also home to wild ponies. We were on the Virginia part of the island, where the ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Island Fire Dept. (Think Misty of Chincoteague.)

We stayed overnight on Chincoteague Island, where we had Build Your Own Cookie sundaes and played mini-golf...two more necessities. Ben especially loved Chincoteague/Assateague and still asks me when we can go back there.

On Wednesday we drove north to Ocean City, MD, where we had lunch and quickly decided it was waaaay to crowded for our taste (we couldn't find anywhere to park if we wanted to), and so we headed into Delaware to visit their state park beaches. Delaware isn't that big of a place, and there are 3 or 4 state parks along the coast. Unfortunately, none of them were allowing swimming because there was a heavy fog, and the lifeguards couldn't see. We finally ended up at a public beach in Lewes, located on the Delaware Bay. Again, smooth waters=happy Kate. The boys opted for sand castles, but at this point in the vacation, I was apparently taking a vacation from my camera.

That night we were able to meet up with some long-lost cousins of Tim's for dinner. They live in Delmarva, and have two kids, including a four-year old daughter. Who cracked. us. up. This is what her mother calls her crazy eyes.

This concludes the Delmarvelous portion of our vacation. Please stay tuned for Part 2: DC (I can't think of any clever ways to change DC, so we will leave it at that).

A Wee Trip

I am once again behind on blogging and picture posting, but it is for a very good reason.

A few months ago Tim and I started talking about taking a little trip. We were thinking of a long weekend in New York or something because we hadn't been on a vacation alone since Kate NaNa has been home. We love love love to travel together, so we really were hoping to steal away, with a little (ok, a lot) of help from Mimi, Arlie, Daddy John, and Jee.

But the more we talked about it, we realized that it is cold in New York. And snowy. And that is what we are trying to escape here.

So we decided to go somewhere we have never been, and we went south instead. To the Caribbean. Eighty-five and sunny, baby. Oh yeah. We were on a cruise that stopped at Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico. We laid by the pool and ate like piggies (although not at the same time).

Roatan is this little island that the big hotels and chain stores haven't discovered yet. We rented a scooter and buzzed around the island, seeing sights like this.

And then we sat on a beach and looked at sights like this.

I totally wanted to just miss the boat and stay for a week.

But the next day we were in Mexico, although we never actually set foot on Cozumel. We got off the ship, got onto a ferry that took us to the mainland, and then a bus that went to the Tulum Mayan ruins.

I know I'm a big nerd, but I love stuff like this. Especially when there is a great beach on the other side of that temple, where we ate lunch and swam in the surf. I love vacation.

We also got to spend a little time with my grandmother in Florida, which was a total treat even if it was really cold there.

Now, we are back to reality. Snow and sleet (which means snow days for the kids), bad colds, and work. But that sunshine is keeping me going. Surely spring is just around the corner!

Birthday Gifts

In October, Will got some cash as a late birthday gift. Now, you need to understand that he has very little concept of money, but he still likes to hoard it. If he finds a coin, it automatically gets put in his piggy bank, even if it probably doesn't belong to him. His philosophy is Finders Keepers. He doesn't really like to spend it either. Back in September I took him on a "date" to the bookstore. I told him I would buy him one book, but if he wanted another one, he would have to pay for it out of his piggy bank stash. He picked out a comic book that he wanted me to buy him, and then he headed straight for the discount section. He would pick up a book and say, "How much is this?"
Me: $6.50.
Will: Too much. How about this one?
Me: $3.50 -You can afford that one.
Will: Still too much. What about this?
Me: $1.99.
Will: This is the one!

Anyway, back to the birthday cash. He came down the stairs holding the $20 and announced to Tim and I that he wanted to give his money to someone who needed it more than he did. I got a big lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, and thought I had never been more proud. Tim agreed to help him choose how to give his money away. He had recently learned about an organization called charity: water. From their website, "charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations." Dirty water kills more people every year than anything else. After looking at the photos of dirty water on the website, and learning how some people have to walk miles to get water that comes from ponds and streams that are contaminated, Will decided to donate his $20 to charity: water.


Tim's birthday is coming up soon - next weekend, in fact. And for his birthday this year, he isn't asking for gifts. Honestly, he has a warm home, clean food, a good job, a healthy family. What else do we really need? What he would like is for others to be able to feed their children without worrying about cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A, or the many other diseases that can pass through water and steal health and life.


So I am asking you to get involved too. It would make Tim's birthday even more fabulous if a lot of people would donate to charity: water. Simply go to his my charity: water page (*update-now closed*) and make a donation. You can even do it anonymously if you want:)

Come on, change a child's life and make my husband's birthday awesome! Doesn't that sound like fun?

The Annual Halloween Post

The boys designed the pumpkins this year, while their daddy did the carving.

Ben's is Yoda (note the ears)...And Will's has crooked buckteeth. (I'm trying really hard not to make a snarky tooth comment here.)Kate was completely disinterested, but was happy to pose for a photo.

For Halloween, we had a knight, Captain Rex, and Darth Vader, all of whom have acted like the sugared-up heathens that they are for the past several days..
While we were out, we also saw Michael Phelps (who thankfully had his shirt on, this time), Ms. Pac-Man, and Pinky.

Good times.

Honk!

This past weekend was extremely busy with soccer games, a local festival, church, and four performances of Honk!, (a musical based on the Ugly Duckling). Ben was a frog, a fish, and a "snow spirit" (which was basically a glorified snowflake). Tim played the part of the rooster, Father Swan, and a half dozen off-stage sound effects.

My rooster and fish

Father Swan

Finger-poppin' Hippie Frog

Both of them performed well, and had a whole lot of fun. And now, maybe some normalcy might start to return to my house? Eh, probably not. Ben is still singing the songs and telling the jokes from the play. But that is pretty normal for us.

How did we get here?

Seriously. We have been having that kind of month. I mean season. (Please don't tell me it's that kind of year.) The kind where you find yourself over-extended, exhausted, and de-centered. That's me and my family right now.

You see, Tim and I pretty much see eye-to-eye on this kind of stuff. Priorities are: family, church, and school. That means dinner together at night, church activities, and homework. If the soccer/play/music lesson/birthday party/play date/committee/extra job conflicts with one of the above, we usually say no. We have gotten pretty good at finding that balance for our family.

Until now.

Last summer, I asked Ben if he wanted to play soccer. He really enjoys it, but he has aged out of our regular league (apparently 8 is soooo old), so we asked him if he was interested in this other league in town. He really wanted to play, so we signed up in June, so that he could play fall soccer. (Don't ask me why they need two months notice. That is a whole 'nother rant.) And then we forgot about it.

Fast forward to August, and Tim is trying out for community theater. When we lived in our previous town, he was in several plays, but the ones here always seem to conflict with our schedules (see above priorities), so he hasn't done it. On a whim, he asked Ben if he wanted to go and try out too. I saw no problem with that, and off they went.

But the problem was that all three of us forgot about soccer. Blame it on school starting back or the book or whatever, but we forgot. They both ended up getting multiple parts in Honk!, which means that they both have several practices a week. They are enjoying spending time together, but it is a large commitment.

Because it is the way things work, almost every single soccer practice or game in September conflicts with a Honk rehearsal. The play ends this weekend, and then we will start in again with the soccer. Along with that, we still have our jobs, piano practice, doctor appointments, and did I mention that Will is playing Y soccer?

I'll admit it, it was a whole lot worse two weeks ago when I was still working on the book. And at least Kate isn't involved in any extra-curriculars yet (not that she isn't dying to - she really wants to do gymnastics this winter).

But, in my defense, Ben originally refused to sing in the play, which meant he wouldn't get a part, which was fine with me. Also in my defense, when I called to sign Ben up for soccer, the lady told me there was one practice and one game per week. This is not in any way, shape, or form, true. We are supposed to be there at least three times per week for one or the other. We were also told there would be no Sunday/Wednesday games. Not true. And I didn't even think to ask if there would be out-of-town games (he is 8 for Pete's sake!). There are. So, the frustration is not entirely of my own making.

But enough of it is. And Ben is grumpy. This is a kid who requires about 11 hours of sleep a day, plus 2-3 hours of down time. (He would like nothing better than to play with his brother and sister all day long. He is a homebody like his mama and daddy.) He is definitely not getting that right now. We agreed that from now on, we really need to choose between activities. He was totally in agreement, but I have no idea which one he will choose in the spring. I just know that after October, we are taking some much needed time off!

I know some of you won't believe me, but we are not "keeping up with the Jones" kind of people. You hear about my schedule when I am stressed, but that is not our happy norm. We consider a good weekend one in which we have nothing planned, and we play in the backyard and read on the couch. We hate the stress of schedules and fees and practices. When we are tied up in that, we forget how much we actually like being together because we are rushing around all the time. We enjoy living at a slower pace than everyone around us. We do it intentionally. And now we are being reminded why we are that way.

Sometimes we joke that we are going to quit everything and move to Hawaii. But I hear that if we did that the joke would be on us. One of my dearest friends lives there, and we have talked weekly about how the stress of kindergarten and preschool and swimming lessons and dance and jobs and.... Well, it's killing them too. She is convinced that city life is the problem, but I say we have to intentionally learn to say no. Say, not right now. An eight-year-old doesn't need a 12-game soccer season. A three year-old doesn't need to drive 1/2 an hour one way for gymnastics.

We need to just be. Be a family. Be together. Be with God. And breathe.

First Day of School

Tuesday was the first day of school in our district, and as a family, we had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Will and I were super-duper excited about him starting school. He has grown up so much in the last year, and I am confident he is totally going to rock Kindergarten!

Ben and Kate, on the other hand, were not so happy. In Ben's words, "I do not have high hopes for second grade." Basically, he loved first grade so much, that he can't believe that second grade could possibly be as good. Pessimistic much? He has a new teacher (another Mrs. H), and his best buddies are in different classes. I have assured him that the new Mrs. H. is every bit as wonderful, and that he can still see his buddies on the playground, and that he always makes friends easily, and this year will be no exception. But he is nervous, bless his heart.

Kate NaNa is just mad because she can't go with them. All summer long she has told everyone, "I am five, and I am going to Kindergarten," while I shake my head no at the grown-ups and hold up 3 fingers. At bedtime she asks, "How many days until Kindergarten, Mom?" Since she has no concept of numbers or time, she doesn't understand when I explain to her that there are over 700 days until she goes to Ben's school. Unfortunately, her school called last week to tell us that school would be starting later than they thought - September. Ugh.

Those were the expectations for the first day of school. So, you might ask, how did it go?

Well, Will does indeed love Kindergarten. He loves recess and choice time and the gym and the library and his new friends and his teachers and everything about it. The only part he was dreading was the bus, but it turns out that was his favorite part of the whole day.

Ben's day, although not over-the-moon-spectacular, was much better than he thought it would be. It is taking him a few days to make new friends and warm up to his teacher. When I ask him how it is going he says, "It's ok." And Wednesday was better than Tuesday, so I am hoping today will continue on that upward trend.

(Can you see the nervous finger-popping going on?)

Kate, while frequently complaining (insert whiny voice), "I don't know what to do," is adjusting fine. She busies herself telling the kids I babysit what to do and waiting for her brothers to get off the bus.

And, of course, Tim took them out for the annual First Day of School Breakfast.
I think that once we get the kinks worked out (that is, Ben gets used to second grade, and Kate goes to preschool) that everyone will be happy with our new schedule, just like we were last year.

Edisto Island, SC

I know I already posted pictures of our 10 day trip to Ohio and South Carolina (didn't you know that they were close together?), but I thought I would post a few more.

After leaving Ohio, we traveled south to Edisto Island, SC, where we met our friends Christa and Alex. It is a pretty little island that is very laid back, which is just how we like it.

We built sand castles.

Ate ice cream.

Swam in the pool.

And hung out with good friends.

(Christa and Alex were forced into multiple games of Cheese Touch with my children. Sorry 'bout that.)

Others of us simply sought out the shade.

Some of us also liked to hang out at the condo.

The boys loved to play in the ocean.

While Kate preferred to stay close to me.

This was as close as she would get to the water without tears.

On Monday we drove into Charleston. The kids were only interested in staying at the beach, but I got them into the car with promises of horse-drawn carriage rides and ice cream. We delivered on the ice cream, but the carriage ride was not to be. It turns out that the horses go home if it gets up to 98 degrees, and it was well over that all week long. Instead, we ate at a deli, where Kate had some yummy (and hot) chicken and dumplings.

By then, the kids were melting, so we put them back in the car and drove them down to the Battery.

Tim insisted that it would be fun to get a picture of the kids sitting on the cannon, but Kate was not in agreement.

Then we tried to go to the Children's Museum, but it was closed. Bummer. So we got back in the car and drove to Magnolia Gardens, a plantation outside of the city.

For some reason, I thought that plantation/garden = shade=lower temperatures. But it was so stinking hot that not even the shade was cool. I couldn't bring myself to lifting my arm to take a picture, so you will have to do without.

(Note to self: Do not take three young children to Charleston when it is 100 degrees outside. Everyone will be miserable.)

We really did have a great time at Edisto, even though it felt like we were on the sun a good portion of the week. But that's what the beach is for, after all.

Happy Father's Day, Tim

On Wednesday, while we were on vacation, my oldest son prayed and asked Jesus to come into his heart.
Today, Ben was so excited. He was literally hopping up and down with joy.
So, on Father's Day, my husband had the great privilege of baptizing Benjamin.
Happy Father's Day, Tim. Could you have asked for a better gift?

(As you can see, some of the kids were really excited. They were sitting on the floor, but they couldn't stand it and all crowded around for a better view:)