Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Overcoming Fear



A few weeks ago Wyatt was very unsure of fire trucks. While he loves to watch them go by (from a distance) and play with "rescue heroes" - there was something triggering much fear in him at being close to a fire truck. He was unsure, uneasy and scared. My parents took him to see a fire truck up close and even meet a fireman - same response. Uninterested, insecure, fearful. He responded the same to the various ones we'd see after that.

We've had some good talks about fear, being brave and the Lord's loving role in our fear. He's learned Isaiah's words "Do not fear. For I am with you." and we've reminded him a lot of those words in these moments.

Coincidentally, it is "fire safety" month at school for him. They've had firemen (and women) come to talk with them, they've made fire trucks, discussed actions during a fire, etc. This week was the week to go ON the fire truck - look around it, touch the siren button, meet the fireman, etc.

So the talks began again about overcoming our fears. Wes decided to walk alongside of him for the big occasion and my sweet mom even gave him a real fireman's uniform - so we even encouraged him to wear it.

Which he did.
And he absolutely loved the fire truck.
He overcame his fear.
And I'm sweetly reminded that:
Our Daddy's presence always helps.


with buddy, Cooper on the way to the truck!


with pal, Micah ON the fire truck!


"He and Micah climbed all over it!" Wes said.


"and LOVED it!"


"they were the first ones on it!"


a REAL fireman!


pals Jayce, Noah and Micah on the front of the truck!

I Found a Lion






...and He was Roaring.
Wyatt went to Anna Grace's dress up party as Aslan, the Lion. He was quite confident, asking me if he could roar at everyone on the way into the party. "Sure," I said. "You are a lion." He puffed up his chest and bravely walked inside the gate.
Well there was a huge parachute game going on when we walked in.
I saw a frown appear on Aslan's face.
"Come on, Wyatt. Let's go join in the parachute."
"NO," Wyatt said firmly.
"Aslan is nervous."

The Trip

Wes and I have been anticipating a trip to Sacramento, CA for the last few months. He had a Youth Specialties Conference (for youth ministers). These conferences lend themselves well for spouses of youth ministers to tag along. So we decided that I would go and attend the conference and make a little getaway for us as well. We literally counted the days approaching this trip.

The goal.


The little ones we left behind.



The destination: Beautiful Sacramento, CA


The airplane ride.


The restaurants.


The food.

The worship: Shane and Shane


The car.


The grapes.


The rock. (that hit our rental cars' windshield)

oh man. the food.


seriously. the salsa.


the coffee.


the water.


the relaxation.


the friends.


the views.

the parades.

the time.
what a gift. thank you mom and dad for the gift of taking care of our little ones so that wes and i could have this. thank you also first pres for the conference. truly, what a gift.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Wyatt's Words




Two things he said recently that really captured my attention and my heart.


1. He was playing with his manger people again. He was Gabriel and he asked me to be Mary. And these are the words that were exchanged.


W (Gabriel) - Hey Mary. You're going to have a son.

S (Mary) - Oh Wow. This is wonderful. What will his name be?

W (Gabriel) - Jesus.

S (Mary) - Oh this is wonderful.

W (Gabriel) - Yay Jesus! Now do you want to come to my house and jump around?


2. The other night we had an opportunity to feed a homeless man (in the Bojangles drive thru). Afterwards Wes asked Wyatt a few questions and this is how those words went...


Wes - If someone is hungry, what do we give them?

Wyatt - some food

Wes - If someone is thirsty, what do we give them?

Wyatt - some milk and some apple juice

Wes - If someone is cold what do we give them?

Wyatt - a sweater

Wes - If its raining, what can we give someone?

Wyatt - a raincoat...and a rainbow.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pumpkin Faces







something new.

something fun.

involved the whole family.

i think we'll do it again.

Time for a Pumpkin






so after being homebound (due to sickness) for a week, we decided to go to the Farmer's Market and get a pumpkin. Wyatt even decided to dress himself - and splash in a puddle before we got into the car - Walker enjoyed watching his big brother find the right pumpkin - Wes took lots of pictures - and I just embraced getting OUT.
We were literally the LAST customers. There was one stand opened. And even they were packing up their register. Very patiently and generously, they watched us look through (frantically) all the pumpkins. The nice "farmer" asked Wyatt if he'd be willing to trade him (the farmer) his baby brother for a pumpkin.
Wyatt kindly responded: "yes"
All in all, we came home with 4 pumpkins.
1 for Daddy
1 for Mommy
1 for Wyatt
1 for Walker
They have now taken up residence on our front porch.