Keeping the Tooth Fairy Busy

I would be remiss if I didn't squeeze this post in just before November gives way to December. It's already well overdue, because more than two weeks ago, less than a month after Esme's tooth-loosing debut, our Matthew joined his sisters in the Lost-Teeth Club! That well-worn, little tooth was long-rooted and stubborn, but after days of causing Matthew to wince his way through meals, and following some wrestling matches with Mommy, it finally gave way.

And now I only have one little baby left with all his baby teeth!

11 Years

Dave and I marked our anniversary late in October. Last year we started a new tradition of going on an all-day date to celebrate. This year the day we picked was cold and rainy, so we had to stay mostly indoors. But that evening when we popped out of the museum where we had just seen an IMAX movie, it had cleared up considerably. The drizzle had stopped, the orange trees were glowing against the green, green grass, and I was so happy to be spending a whole day with my Love. "Let's stop and take a selfie!" I chirped. So we did.

I am one very blessed bride.

Thank you, Dear Father, for eleven good and joyful years!

Exactly How I Feel About the Beach

"There is so much sadness in the world, so many hearts ache, so many tears fall, it is rather wonderful to be away for a little while in a tearless world, left just as God made it... these elemental things seem to carry one back to the beginnings, the fundamentals, the things that cannot be shaken, ancient verities of God."

-Amy Carmichael, From the Forest, as quoted by Elisabeth Elliot in A Chance to Die

Found on Dave's Phone: Great-Grandpa's Hat

This is Graham wearing Dave's dad's dad's hat.

Grandpa Wilcox wore these caps regularly and had several of them. We inherited this one from Dad when he passed last month. It suits our little guy, don't you think? Must be in the genes...

Found on Dave's Phone: His and Hers Road Trip Pictures

A couple of days after the service for Dave's dad, we strapped the kids into our jam-packed car and headed toward the beach. Day was barely breaking when we left Louisville, and it was raining. We drove right into the approaching storm and eventually passed through it. On the other side of the deluge, a great bank of cloud was slipping away, and silver beams of sunlight punctured the haze in the distance. I had to take a picture, even knowing that the foreground would be ugly, Jersey-walled highway.

A few minutes later, Dave asked me to take another picture. Our minivan, fondly known as Janie the Silver Apple, was about to reach a noteworthy numerical milestone.

It didn't strike me at the time, but when I looked back a month later and saw the juxtaposition of the two pictures, it seemed funny. My picture. Dave's picture. Classic, in so many ways.

A Meg Quote

Given my theater love and background, I'm a pretty animated reader. I do voices, accents, lots of expression, and generally get pretty into it when I'm reading to my kids. My mom was always a lively reader too. I guess what you grow up with becomes your standard... Meg drove this home to me recently when I asked her if she enjoyed listening to the audio recording of our history text, which I purchased this year to spice up our school routine. The reader is a well-respected story teller with many, many recordings to his name. Meg's response?

"I think he is a pretty good reader... for a man."

Found on Dave's Phone: Bedtime

Dave's phone is our only camera right now, so when I borrowed it to take a picture the other day, I looked through his archives and found several more shots that are worth sharing... here's the first.

Trick-or-Treaters

Spidey, a ninja, Elsa, and a pilgrim!

Back to Work

So here's the thing about me and blogging: it's something I enjoy, and it's something I value for my family's sake, but perhaps more than either of these things, it's a creative outlet. This means that when I have another creative outlet, blogging slips down the priority list a little bit. I still try to keep up with it, for the sake of preserving memories and keeping folks updated, but when I have some other project the blog doesn't call me quite as loudly and persistently.

I tell you this because I know the frequency of posts here has fallen off considerably in the last month. Initially, this was because of Dad's death, which stunned and sapped all of us for a bit. Then, the week after Dad passed, I took on some part-time work for the children's ministry at our church. My job is to plan the weekly small group activities for the 1st-5th grade class--discussion questions, games, crafts, that kind of thing. I'm only working a few hours a week, but I spend a good bit of mental energy spinning ideas even when I'm not on the clock. It's been tons of fun so far, and it's a direct investment in the kids at our church, so... win-win.

Wait, did I title this post "Back to Work?" I just realized that might imply that I haven't been working for the last nine years. Come to think of it, "Back to the Work Force" would be a much more accurate representation of the facts. Can I get a witness, fellow stay-at-home moms?

Hiking Sugarloaf

A couple of weeks ago on our family day, we packed up water and snacks, climbed into the van, and wound our way over country roads decked in autumn glory to Sugarloaf Mountain. Now I've heard cynics call it "Sugarlump," and it's true that the only notably elevated point in our immediate area doesn't exactly rise to the level of "purple mountains majesty." However, as we Wilcoxes learned, it's quite enough mountain for a family with small children who are all hiking on their own two feet!

There's my crew, laboring uphill.

Graham, who was pretty miserable that day, was nonetheless determined to be a "rock climber." He just wasn't quite clear on what that meant.

Now there's a climbable rock.

Did I mention that our Graham was not doing so well that day? Check out his hilariously pained "smiles" in our group shots.

Queen of the Hill!

One tired boy...

We had to give up long before reaching the summit, but we did make it to a sweet overlook where we were rewarded with this view:

Hooray for lovely fall!