we live here

I love the life we are building in this little town.

A few weeks ago Sharon introduced me to her friend Elizabeth, who is also a Mom of 3 boys. They live about a 40 minute drive from here so this was the first time we were able to arrange a visit. Elizabeth's boys are all very close to the same age as mine, and on this day we met the littlest one, Matthew. It was so nice for Jax to have a friend his size of the male variety. They took a bit of time to warm up to each other, especially since Matthew had been having a nap in the van. He came around and got right in with my boys. We snacked, lunched, visited, then took a walk around the property with the doggies. Later I overheard one of my boys say to the other "You be Caleb and I'll be Zuke." and then they pretended to be play-fighting dogs.

Elizabeth and I discovered that we are both in town around the same time on Wednesdays so we exchanged contact info and agreed to meet for lunch when we were both in the area. We did that last week and it was nice to get to know each other a bit more. We're looking forward to getting all the boys together on a visit to their family farm sometime soon. Thanks for sharing your friends with me, Sharona!

Paul came home from volleyball 2 weeks ago with items of Cars attire. (Tire! Ha!) One of the ladies who plays every week had them sitting in her kid's closet, waiting for just the right person to pass them on to. After she had seen our 3 boys a few times, she knew she had found the right home for them. Marty and Jax quite like them and have put them to the mud test several times.

Best friend! Best friend!

It didn't take long for Jaxon to take a shine to the girls in the student discipleship program at camp. I don't know how the "best friend" thing started, but it sure is darn cute. We've run into them in town several times and I love to see how excited they all are to see each other. I love that my boys get to have these big kids in their lives. Lisa came over one night to read stories with the boys before she and I went out. Tonight I'm going to go watch her and Sarah play their final curling games of the season.

All the students volunteered to babysit the camp kids so the parents could have a kid-free Valentine's Day evening. It was delightful. The boys came home well fed, played out, crafts-in-hand, and begging for more!

{3 of the big kids had already gone out for the rest of the evening at picture time}

On days that it works for both of us, Sharon and her boys have been stopping by after she picks them up from the school bus. We visit, the boys play and fight, Elliot eats bananas. Yesterday we shared hot chocolate after some playtime outside.

I love my village.

(Did you know that the word "Canada" means "village"? I did not.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my sweet niece Cara (six!)

and to my mother-in-law Frieda (not six!)