Is it just me or did this week seem a million years long?! I had my days mixed up all week… so when my coworker sent me this photo, I could 1000% relate:

We want to share everyone’s top three favorites this week, starting with our littlest guy and ending with our biggest:

HUDSON:

Hudson is walking more! It’s so fun to see him standing up in the middle of the room, taking a few tentative steps, and then getting down to crawl again. As his confidence grows, we know its only a matter of time before he’s on the move for real!

It’s so fun having a little boy – there’s such a difference from our girls! For example, Allen grabbed him from his bed when he woke up yesterday morning and brought him into the living room where we were doing our Bible study together. As soon as Hudson saw the bin of Duplo Legos, he lunged for it and spent the next 10 minutes happily playing by himself!

Finally, our little boy has TWELVE teeth and is now sitting at the table with us – no more highchair!

CLARA:

Clara Mae cracked us up this week when she ate a banana. She peeled one strip off, then started eating it like a corn cob, taking bites out of the side! What in the world?!

We mentioned what Hudson did when he woke up the other day… any time Clara wakes up, gets a small injury, or just sees you sitting down in a chair, she says, “NUGGLE ME! NUGGLE ME!” This girl loves to snuggle and she would snuggle all day, everyday.

We’ve been sorting through our kids’ books this week, so we’ve had them spread all over our living room and in and out of boxes. Clara has loved grabbing various books and looking at them this week – I love it!

RUTH:

Ruth loves books, too, and lately has been calling herself names that she reads in books. For example, she has a book about a girl named Meg who visits a pony farm. So she’s been calling herself (and asking that we call her) Meg all week. She even wore a blue shirt and yellow pants to preschool this week so she could match Meg from her book. The kicker? She can never remember the girls’ names! She’ll ask, “Mama, what’s my name again?” and if I don’t know what girl she means (or if I say, “Ruth”) and get it wrong, she gets very perturbed.

Ruth brings home her preschool worksheets every day… and yesterday, she brought home a paper that had some great drawings on it! Apparently they had a little taste test and had to draw pictures of their reaction to the flavors. She did not like lemon (hence the sad face), but did like the chocolate! #hermama’sdaughter

We’ve been working with Ruth to memorize verses and hearing her proclaim her latest one (Psalm 145:4) from memory has been such a blessing.

MELISSA:

It’s budget season at work and due to some staffing changes, that means I’m much more involved than normal with the budget development process. It’s been fun and busy and rewarding but I’m very thankful for the weekend.

I’ve also been exploring homeschooling options for Togo. It can be really overwhelming at times, especially when I never thought I’d homeschool my kids. I’m praying that God will soften my heart and give me a vision and passion for homeschooling and in the meantime, I’m trying to spend time thinking about what He would want me to teach my kids during this season.

My final favorite? I’m crocheting a new cardigan! I love it. The yarn i’s like funfetti, only black instead of white.

ALLEN:

Allen registered for his last semester of classes this week!! Huzzah! He has three classes next semester – one online, one in-person, and one is guided study. I’m so so proud of him for persevering to earn his degree.

He also found out he should be able to walk for graduation! He won’t finish his classes until May and the ceremony is in April… but the graduation coordinator said it would be fine for him to walk, since we won’t be here for the next ceremony (in October). We’re both thankful that Allen can participate in a celebration that will honor the hard work he’s put in.

Finally, Allen has been meeting nearly weekly with a friend from church. His wife watches our kiddos while they go out for coffee, chat, and pray together. It’s been an encouraging time for both of them, and the kids love having a special friend come over once a week!

Phew – that’s our life lately and a few of our favorite things. In this season, I’m reminded of James 1:17 –

God is so good and faithful in this sometimes overwhelming season. Every good thing is from Him because He is a good God.

Have a great weekend, friends!