Goodbye, 2013

Here we sit at the eve of a new year and these times naturally bring us to reflect on the past year and see where the passages of time have brought us.  It has been a difficult year, yet we have been blessed as well through it all.  A year ago at this time we were thankful for Dad VD reaching Day 100, and entering into the unknowns of Phase 3.  We were praying for healing and health, and the grace to live through daily trials.  At the end of April, our prayers for healing were not answered in the way we were hoping for, but we are comforted in the knowledge that the Lord is faithful to His promises.  Dad knew this well, writing, "How good that our God never leaves us, even on our hospital bed!  But give me the courts of the Lord!"  It is a great comfort to know he is now fully healed and knowing the glorious presence of our Saviour.
The Lord provided for us all day by day and continues to be near to us.  We have also experienced His blessing of joy with the birth of our fourth son Stephen in June.  He bears Dad's name and although they never got to meet face-to-face, we pray that someday we will all be together again.  What a joyful reunion that will be - I imagine that Dad has already gotten to meet one of his grandchildren that we as parents didn't even get to know. 
Time marches on, and we are drawn along by it through no power of our own.  To look back over pictures and see how much our children (and ourselves!) have changed in the past year, two, ten.  In the busy-ness of this time of life, I have been trying to make deliberate choices to seize the day, to make the most of these young years, to spend purposeful time building up and teaching our kids to be God-fearing, respectful, confident citizens.  It strikes me often how quickly they grow and how little time we really have as parents to teach and train our Littles.
Peter is six years old already.  Six!  Have I been a Mom that long already?  He has grown up a lot recently, and is learning so much in school.  What a great challenge for him.  His reading has taken off and he is well beyond the early reader books I have brought home for him from the library.  He's into chapter books, devouring Vanderhulst stories almost faster than I would be able to.  I pulled out a few books from a box downstairs this morning, including The Trumpet of the Swan, Henry and Ribsy, and Incredible Jumbo.  They are more difficult that ones he has read, but I think he's up to the challenge if he can get past the fact there are no pictures.  He loves playing with Lego and is quite good at putting his sets together.  He loves to play games but he hates to lose (really, who likes losing?) although he'll have to learn to do so a bit more graciously in order for games to be fun to play with him.  He is inquisitive, observant, and doesn't miss much, especially now that he can read so well.  Where is my little boy going? 
Aaron is very eager to learn how to read, occasionally bursting into tears because he can't yet.  He is easily frustrated when I am teaching him, so here is yet another chance for me to learn a little more patience.  You can always use more!  He is eager to help with jobs around the house and can be counted on to do the best job out of the three oldest boys.  We've started a chore chart with a rotation of drying dishes, cleaning up toys and trash, and vacuuming the kitchen.  Aaron will often help me clean up of his own volition, and it is a joy to see his servant heart in action.  He is very fond of his baby brother, and the feeling is mutual.  Stephen readily gives him radiant smiles!  The other day when we were talking about King Solomon and his choice of wisdom when God offered him whatever he wanted, we asked the boys what they would ask for.  Peter and Nate had some materialistic requests, but Aaron wanted another baby.  LOL!  Aaron is extremely enthusiastic about anything to do with "treasure" and "gold".  He's always got his eye to the ground to find some shiny trinket, to the point that if I slow down in the grocery store, he'll be laying on his belly checking under the shelves for treasure.  He has a treasure jar on the kitchen windowsill, a treasure box from cousin Derek for Christmas, and a treasure Crown Royal bag from Uncle Dave at the cottage.  He's got these containers filled with pop can tabs, marbles, beads, coins, screws, nuts, feathers, sequins, keys, and who knows what other assorted goodies.  He's also got a collection of church bulletins and another of scraps of paper with pictures of food on it from the grocery flyers.  He's tried a few other collections as well but when he's not looking I throw them away... sticks, rocks, random drawings, ... We're going to have to do something to curtail this incessant desire to hoard things before it becomes too much of an obsession. 
Nathaniel is a lot of fun right now.  He's picked up some peculiar words for a three year old, and it makes for some good laughs for us.  Of course I can't think of an example at the moment other than indignantly telling his brothers that "that is not a pleasant word!" He loves to sing, whether or not he knows the words, and often makes up his own songs about whatever is going on in his wild imagination.  He excitedly and loudly belts out the 3-Fold-Amen at the end of the church service.  Peter received two Perplexus balls for Christmas, and if Nate can get some time with them, he's really enjoyed trying to get the ball through the maze, which I think is impressive hand-eye coordination and concentration for a kid his age.  He can be very sweet and often comes up to me out of the blue, telling me, "You're my best, Mom" and asking for random hugs or kisses.  He can also be entirely and illogically miserable if things don't go his way, so we've got some learning to do about sharing, taking turns, and self-control. 
Stephen is 6.5 months now, and full of smiles for all of us.  He's quiet with big dimples and a sweet disposition.  He's been eating solid food (still pureed) for a month and half or so, and enjoys it although he doesn't eat as much as the other boys did at this age.  He's still a hefty fellow, and although I haven't gotten the official weight from his six month appointment yet, he's somewhere between 20-20.5 lbs (for the sake of comparison, at six months Peter was 18 lbs 12 oz, Aaron was 21 lbs 8 oz, and Nate was 18 lbs 4 oz)  I've been keeping an eye out for teeth popping through, and I found the first one yesterday, coming in on the bottom right.  It hasn't bothered him too much, and he's still sleeping well through the night from 7:30 or 8 until 7 or 7:30 the next morning.  Pretty sweet!  He's able to roll both ways but hasn't used his abilities for moving around yet, and that's totally ok with me.  Once he's mobile, stairs and Lego and small toys from the other kids will become much more of a hassle. 
Mike has been busy working downstairs on the basement office/bedroom/storage room area, framing things up and getting ready to do electrical, insulation, and drywall work.  Since everything has to be out of those rooms, it has made our basement a bit of a disaster and this disaster has been creeping up the stairs into my kitchen and living room as well.  Dust, boxes of Christmas stuff that don't have a place downstairs, kids who don't have space to play in the basement... I'm looking forward to putting some order back into this mess of a house.  In the meantime, we've been doing more games and creating upstairs together, which is way more fun than dusting or vacuuming.
Some random things I've written down from the kids in the last little while:

Nov 25 2013
Aaron asked Nate, "Nate, how old would an alien be?"  Nate informs him that, "It would be 100 inches away"

Dec. 5 2013
I took Aaron, Nate, and Stephen for a walk and then to the park on a beautifully warm day in December.  Aaron has been collecting "balls" for Oma for a month or so, ever since the Sycamore trees in our neighbourhood started dropping their seed pods.  He told me he was using his "eagle eyes" to find them, and to find other treasures on the ground.  Nate then declared to me that he was using his "penguin eyes" to see things that are very far away. 

Dec 12 2013
Nate:  Mommy, my nose was full, but I took it all out. 
Mom:  Did you use a Kleenex?  Where are the boogers now? (a bit concerned for the furniture)
Nate:  Umm, they are in my tummy

Dec 11 2013
Since the devastating hurricane in the Phillipines, we have been praying for the people who don't have any food, clean water, and who lost their homes.  I went to visit some people at Shalom Manor with Aaron, Nate, and Stephen, and we brought some baked goods along for them.  Seeing that we were bringing them food, Aaron believed we were going to visit the "Philistines".  Lol! 

Dec 16 2013
Nate:  "When I grow up, I will be turned into a king.  I will stay in church, and there will be a throne for me." 
This was followed by discussion between Aaron and Nate about who will be king first.  Aaron explained that first Peter will be the king, and when he dies Aaron will take over, then Nate, then Stephen.  It was explained to them that they will never be the king because Dad and Mom are not Kings and Queens.  A few days later, the kids had a discussion in the back of the van about their future jobs.  The succession had changed from King to Teacher - when Daddy dies, Peter is going to be the Grade 7 teacher, and when Peter dies, Aaron will be the teacher, then Nate, and then Stephen.  I didn't know that was how jobs at the school work, but I guess this would be extreme nepotism in action.

A spectacular November sunrise

 Peter's 6th birthday party - I don't remember what Nate's problem was, but probably had something to do with How-Come-It's-Not-MY-Birthday Syndrome

Sweet little guy!

Aaron's treasure trove

Decorating the Christmas tree.  Gotta love how the decorations only go up to a certain height and how all the balls are within the same square foot, lol. 

 A moment of brotherly affection

 Baby's first Christmas

 Trying to be artsy with my picture-taking

Mom took us all out to Toronto for an afternoon to see Les Miserables.  It was fantastic, and so much fun to be out together

Getting ready for Sinterklaas to visit

 Look who's coming up the driveway!!

Stephen doesn't know what to think, Aaron and Nate were convinced, and Peter was very aware of who has a Sinterklaas costume stored in the crawlspace.  He didn't say anything about it in front of his brothers, though

Sinterklaas brought magnifying glasses, perfect for our three Spy-dermen!

 A lap full of busy blessings

 Sinterklaas getting ready to leave

 Stephen's six month picture

 Me and my littlest babe

Nate loves the letter "A" for some reason

Nice to have a helper big enough to give bottles and excited to do it

 Putting together a puzzle

 Concentrated on his new Perplexus ball, received as a gift at Christmas time

 Opening a gift with Aunt Dell

 Hanging out with his cousin Matthew

The boys in their Christmas PJs from Mom VD (missing sleeping Timothy)

 Vander Deen Family Picture Christmas 2013