A bit of a lengthy update

in Rumrey news...

The five year old has discovered the joy of duct tape. i believe a new chapter is upon us. He's also discovered the friendship of his baby brother. They have become best friends this summer, and it's been a highlight for me to have have witnessed it. Among drawing hilarious pictures, smothering his sister, leading his brother ("don't cry like a sissy-baby"), riding his bicycle through puddles, and eating (finally) like a growing boy. I'm seeing growth and faith, and I'm so excited for the upcoming year with him. Seriously, this child makes our lives so rich.

The two year old is currently on a diet of cereal and crackers, basil leaves, and an occasional peach. He continues to show his love for his family members by declaring, "i love [you] soooo much." He enjoys coloring, being polite, pretending to know his ABCs, being near Colson, and telling His baby sister what she can not have. He also thinks he's superman, or buzz lightyear, or a pirate...and he really likes to play ball.

The baby is super baby - crawling everywhere, squealing with delight, standing up on everything, having stinkier and stinkier diapers daily, and is just altogether delightful and precious. She loves watching her brothers and being close to her mama. We all dote on and adore her all day. Thank you God for a girl.

The man of the house is busy studying and sharing God's Word. In fact, if you visit our church website, he's started to blog. Here's a link: http://christthekingkirk.org/ He's the real superman of the family and we all adore him more and more. I think the boys pretty much could have him all to themselves full time. He teaches me everyday what it means to be a disciple of Christ and the way he loves on me makes me feel more and more beautiful as time goes on.

and me? i'm chasing after all the said members. I don't understand it, but I have been given a great task to care for the hearts of these members. They are truly precious and oh so beautiful. What a humbling job to train, discipline, love, and disciple. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to give to my children as their mother. I've concluded that the one thing that I want them to see in me, the one thing that I know today and tomorrow and forever that I have and that I want them to have is faith and love for God. I am not a perfect person. It's freeing to not pretend to be in front of my children. It's freeing to confess my sins to them and receive forgiveness and strength. It's freeing to know that "a mother's love" is not enough for my children. They need more than this mother's love. I can get impatient. I can get annoyed. I can get selfish. I can get angry. More than ever, however, I have been receiving strength and an encouraged heart as I seek out Jesus to equip me and enable me to embrace and love the task ahead of me. And I am seeing fruit and a feeling a fierce love and devotion building towards these little Rumrey members. Praise God, if anything good comes from me, may it be to and for His glory - from Him and for Him.

One reason I love photography is because it allows me to see the handiwork of God in a moment of stillness. In a snapshot of something ordinary and mundane, there is glory and beauty and magic. This seems, to me, to be especially true about portraiture. I don't know what it is, exactly, but a photograph helps me to see the image of God in another. I can see them and value them as image bearers, God's people, not mine, fellow creatures, made to know the Creator.

Because of this, I plan to continue to document our lives via photography and am learning more and more to appreciate the art of the photographer. I recently got a steal on an old film slr off of craigslist, and I was so thrilled to get back my first set of prints! The anticipation was so fantastic, and the limited number of exposures made my think and re-think composition and focus in a way that I haven't had to before. This nerdiness is just what I need to be more loving person/mother/wife...so i'll keep it around, if God so wills.

Some of the following pictures are from the new camera, all unedited. I don't think it's hard to tell which ones are and which ones aren't....

sometimes I want to post more...

...but it's hard to want to post for the world when you are young and all of life is right in front of you (not that my blog holds the attention of the world!) and you are bound to make an idiot of yourself in one form or another. It's the same feeling I get when I read my high school journal. I flip through those pages and I think "what in the world..." I know there are mistakes to be made. I know I am young. I think I am posting less because I'm in a place of learning. There is so much on my mind lately. Thoughts about child-rearing, God's promises, faith, Christian Education, mercy, discipline, motherhood, womanhood, prayer, domesticity, photography, art, life, love. I am alive and it's hitting me in the face. and I'm enjoying receiving. and learning. and thinking.

mabye some of that will feel like coming out sometime...mistakes and all.

End of Day

I just love sun-set lighting. And I love my guys winding down together.

How 'Bout a Little Lewis

I love the Pacific Northwest

This is the kind of thing that happens when we visit the grandparents.

And I am so thankful, my sister-in-law was able to capture this.

My Monkeys

Fighting These Rainy-Day- Blues

"...I get by with a little help from my friends..."

This picture kind of creeped me out today. My firstborn turns five this month!!! And in this pic, he looks it.

The lack of posting lately can be attributed to the learning curve in the area of cheerfully bringing up three young children and making my home lovely; both of which are a daily chore. But God is so faithful and kind and he brings us along and gives us help and encouragement (known in the form of my MIL [mother-in-law] who organized my kitchen and thus organized my life, as well as Peter Leithart who wrote this article and thus organized my heart).

amen and amen.

We Are All So In Love With Her

It Pays to be This Boy's Mama

I actually have a reason to have not updated the blog in the last week. Lewis scratched his cornea with a stick which then became infected. I have had my fill being a mama koala bear to a tender-hearted boy. It was utterly charming, albeit exhausting, to have him latch himself to me for comfort.

KC and I think that Lewis has graduated from Cute School, at the top of his class, no doubt. He's got a fantastic personality. It was really sweet for me to spend so much time holding and chatting with him this past week. He's really a wonderful and bright little boy.

Me: Lewis, can I have a smootch, or what?

Lewis: Or what.

darn.

He's been talking to Colson a lot lately. He calls him Tolsen. Or Bruda, for brother. I'm not sure if they could be more opposite. And they like being together. I love it.

I thought that he'd really have to grow up a lot when baby Caroline made her debut; but, to me, he really hasn't. He really is my little koala cub. Being his mama is such an amazing gift from God. Praise God and cheers for Lewis. Oh, and his eye is all cleared up now. He's back to his old adventurous self. Right now he and Tolsen are outside together hunting warthogs and pretending to eat chocolate. It's a hard knock life in a 70 degree Eugene day today.

And now for the moment the grandparents have been probably been waiting for, some pictures:

Colson Quotes

Colson: I'll give this flower to bad girls.

Colson: My baby sister is a blessing from God.

Strange and friendly woman: You can feel God all around this place.

Colson: Well, I don't worship false gods.

At this the woman stopped chatting and walked on. haha.

Big Brother

I am so grateful that Caroline has big brothers. Colson, although can be smothering, adores his sister. When he smothers Caroline, she cries. When he smothers Lewis, Lewis punches him. All in all, however, no one gets smiles and laughs out of Caroline or Lewis more than Colson.

Telling Stories with Grandma

Telling Stories with Grandma, originally uploaded by Keri__Ann.

My mother is one of the most giving people I know. I love seeing her pour that on my children.

She's Taxed

This post is for my mom, who is on the tail end of tax season.x All she wants is to play Grandma and instead she's been staring at strangers and loads of paperwork day and night for the past three months. Like the bears rising from hibernation, she too will emerge from the cave that is her office to a world of light and spring and fruit. Happy Spring. Your Grandbabies are waiting for you to gobble them up.

Rain-kissed in April

April Rain Song

Let the rain kiss you Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops Let the rain sing you a lullaby The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk The rain makes running pools in the gutter The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night And I love the rain. -Langston Hughes

Colson Quote - He's on a Roll Folks

"Lewis,

Number one: I tie you up sometimes because you punch me in the face.

Number two: I want you to follow God and never go back. Stay focused in God."

Colson Quote

Context: Getting ready for church and doing something with Colson's hair.

Me: Colson stand still. Up straight. Look at me. This is really important.

*** pause*** "This is really important?" Did I really just say that?

Me: Colson, I was wrong. Doing your hair is not really important. Knowing Jesus is important. Worship is important.

Colson: What if some people made hair an idol?

Me: ha! lots of people do!

Colson, thank you for reminding me what is important on Easter Sunday.

Currently...

These baby legs have got me swooning:

Look at Caroline's baby cousin. They are both diggin' their little piggies:

I felt like quite the American last wednesday on Lewis' birthday. We went to a local burger joint called Dickie Joes. I ate a beef burger with blue cheese, a handful of fries, and topped it off with an ice cream sundae! wow. It was amazing. Lewis wasn't as into dinner (oddly) but he had no objection whatsoever to his birthday ice cream cone.

What's Colson been up to lately? Well right now he's got a dress shirt halfway tucked into his underwear, his pants got wet so he's not wearing any. He's flying around the house with some toy or another and a pair of binoculars hanging from his neck. The other evening K.C. was sharing with me a mini sermonette when he said, "The only thing they have is hope." To which Colson pipped in, "Excuse me, hope is one thing. And the other thing is money."

Today at church as I was coming back to my seat where Lewis and Colson were sitting next to each other in the pew holding hands I heard Colson responding to something Lewis was saying, "...Right, Lewis. God, That's right."

Colson continues to love on his baby sister; he smothers her, in fact. We have to tell him to back off. It's true that he was the first person to really make her giggle and when I told him that he responded, "The first time a girl laughs a fairy is born. I heard that from Peter Pan."

He's been listening to a bit of Johnny Cash here and there and has started talking with a southern drawl. He is quite the adventure.

Lewis Turns Two!

Two years ago, shortly after Easter dinner, my water broke. We headed into the hospital to endure what was the most painful couple of hours of my life.

When he was born, I didn't even think to check to see if my baby was a boy or girl. I was only glad we made it out ok.

Now the pain is a distant memory as this little man has made his sweet little way right into my heart.

I can't believe my baby boy is two, yet I can't remember what life was like not having him shine in our lives.

Happy birthday, Lewis. Cheers to looking forward to a full and fun year ahead and to enjoying you as you are today.

This Little Piggie

50mm; (1/80); f/2.5

50mm; (1/160); f2.5

A Lawson Morning Documentary

I spent this morning with the children at my folks' home. My dad cooked us omelets. My dad always cooks us omelets. And I always eat them. Because when you cook omelets that often for your children and their children you get a lot of practice. And practice makes perfect. So a stint up I-5 is worth the perfect omelet, among other things, too, of course. To top it off, the morning light was streaming into the kitchen, and I got quite giddy as my camera was calling me, beckoning me.

Lewis has found his way into Grandpa's good graces and enjoyed receiving the benefit of being in "the know" with the man of the house - Benefits include a VIP pass to the omelet stuffers - only he was the one getting a sausage stuffing.

50mm; (1/80); f/2.2

50mm; (1/4000); f/1.4

50mm; (1/125); f/1.4

50mm;(1/125); f/1.4

50mm; (1/1250); f/1.4

While Grandpa was busy with breakfast, I decided to play a joke on him and go outside to take pictures, leaving all my children behind, letting them all to fend for themselves, Grandpa included. Muah hahaha! I couldn't help it. The light was perfect.

50mm; (1/3200); f/3.5

50mm; (1/4000); f/1.4

50mm; (1/640); f/2.8

50mm; (1/4000); f/1.8

The perfect lighting. The perfect omelet. The perfect morning. Thank you God.