Make New Friends, Keep the Old

Here they are on their way to Micah's first day of Preschool; Micah's smile was even BIGGER when we picked him up! It is no surprise, but Micah loves school. The couple of weeks before school started, Micah kicked his learning into high gear, without pressure; he decided to be more self-sufficient by putting his own shoes on, staying dry all day, reading several books to himself and Paul, etc.
Micah is making new friends (e.g. Owen and Ava Grace) at preschool . . .


and keeping his "old" (if you can call a 3 year old that) friends like Noah. Peyton and I took the boys on a beautiful hike.

Paul and Ben had a great time throwing rocks like their big brothers!

Sometimes, making new friends means Micah stealing his little brother's bud while . . .Paul is sleeping.

Was Paul dreaming of picking up Noa in this sweeeeet ride?

Especially as these two turn 1 in the next 2.5 weeks, we ALL miss Noa, Sara-Beth and Eric while they are in Japan, loving people with the love of Christ.

Here is a photo of our home group from church. They are such great friends and I am so grateful to have people I can be honest with and pray with.

These three "new" friends, Tabitha, Carly and Sarah all get to have babies within a few months of each other! It amazes me how blessed I've been by friends, when I remember arriving here just 2 years ago thinking that it would be forever before I connected with anyone! The occasion for these pictures of mom's friends was Sarah's baby shower. I helped Angela (left) and was so pleased with the dahlias from my garden -- thank you Grandpa Smith and mom!
Above is actually a picture of your flowers, mom and Keith. I didn't get a good picture of the 5 arrangements I made for Sarah's shower from our own yard, but I was proud of them. It is curious what I try to take pride in (or credit for) now that my life is largely about feeding children and cleaning up after them! (By the way: Paul is still eating anything and everything.) I just remind myself that GOD is the one who came up with all of these different colors, textures and shapes of beauty!!!

The above photo is also more intentional than you may think: I highly (pun intended) recommend "High Five" magazine for preschoolers. Thank you, Joletta!

One of the many ways I am humbled is that Micah probably has more influence on Paul than I do. No, Micah is not training Paul to wear ketchup on his face in this photo, but I couldn't get Paul to tolerate his hood, until Micah convinced him to be a hoodie brother. Of course, on this note, you can see from Micah's sweatshirt who is influencing him -- some proud Pitt alum.

Here is a perfect depiction of our typical day. Micah is singing a song, Paul is matching parts of the tune with "Ahhhhh," and pushing the stool in order to walk around the room. (He can walk holding on to one of our hands, so he is close to the real deal.)

People often ask if these guys play well together. BOY, do they ever! This photo of this morning's tandem scooter ride is in line with the idea of "Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold." (the only thing I remember from Brownies) These two are gold friends; the other day, Micah was talking about his old (church) friends and his new (preschool) friends and said, "Paul is my favorite, because I get to be with him the most."