This is My Song

We sang this song in church on Sunday.  It's meaning really hit me and I really belted it out (and I wasn't even in the choir that day!)!!  Brings home God's plea for us to think internationally.  Go ahead, belt it out!  Nobody is listening, but God.

This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh, hear my song, Thou God of all the nations.  A song of peace for their land and for mine.

This is my prayer, O Lord of all earth's kingdoms, thy kingdom come; on earth thy will be done.
Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him, and hearts united learn to live as one.
Oh, hear my prayer, Thou God of all the nations.  Myself I give thee, let thy will be done.

Last Days...

The Five spending a quiet moment reading together.  This is what we do right after lunch and right before naps.

Brody always naps in the porch on the loveseat.  He's a great napper.

The project/snack was making cutout sandwiches with peanut butter or jelly and raisins and chocolate chips.  Brody proudly displays his heart shaped sandwich.  Max is kinda squishing his...  Mara is in her own snack world.

Claire's is heart shaped, no peanut butter, no jelly, chocolate chips only - shocker!

GG got them busy on a project.  They each got a washcloth and were washing the deck furniture.  Gotta start 'em young, right?  This was the morning of Maverick's 2nd birthday, so he was at the doctor - time for your checkup.

Mara and Maverick are having a moment...

OK, kind of a silly moment.

Claire and Brody are aware that their time together is short, so they are taking advantage of their own moment.

Maverick and Mara love giving and getting hugs - and they are very good at it!  (Ellie hugs too!)  Note the cute blue Crocs and the stylin' white capris - I just love kids' clothes these days!

Had to do a couple of selfies before the Parks left so I could capture my own moments.  Maverick had some days of especially snuggly moods.

Selfie with Max and Mav.  Each child needs snuggle time when they wake up.  If I'm lucky, they all wake up at different times.  If not, we have group snuggle time.  Max and Mav cooperated with each other on my lap.

Brody was so interested in the sheep when they arrived.  He's showing Mara the ropes on how to climb the gates and get a good view.

Maverick's 2nd Birthday Party was a Super Hero theme.  Everyone got into the act!  I'd name them all, but I am not sure I'd get them right!  Little Batman at the right end is the birthday boy!

We had a Family Day at the farm before the Parks left and had dinner together at Willinger's.  We have all worked there at one time or another (except Barry and Sean, who are from post-Willinger's days).  It was so fun and the kids were so good.

Omi and Papa had been promising time in the hot tub, so here we are - trying to hang on to all of them.  They loved the water, the bubbles and the warmth - showing off their swim lesson skills.

Contrary to popular belief, Maverick is NOT perfect.  When you least expect it, we found him alone in the pantry finishing off a pack of raisins and starting in on the animal crackers.  The only reason Mara isn't right there with him is that she was sleeping.  She is usually the pantry raider.

Brody and Maverick got to sleep overnight at Omi and Papa's house for two nights before they left for Roanoke, Virginia.  They are clean from a bubble bath and snug in their jammies.

The weeks after we found out about the Parks moving to Virginia and their moving days were busy and emotional.  We tried to pack in as many parties and events and family moments as we could.  The kids knew something was happening and changing, but they didn't really comprehend the whole picture, and they were confused, so they were pretty naughty as the days went by.  Now that the Parks are in Virginia and settling in, we are spending some Facetime, and the kids get SO excited when they see each other!!  Thanks goodness for Facetime - it sure helps with the lonesomes.