late August blahs

Anybody else feel this way? This is probably my second-least favorite time of the year (nothing is worse than late February/beginning of March when winter has deteriorated into being a cruel joke), when I'm just OVER summer and ready for some cooler weather and just a change in seasons. Just yesterday I was longing for a fire in my fireplace. Late September can't come quick enough now. I want to smell cinnamon-cidery-pumpkin smells, I want to put on a long-sleeve shirt with a vest-jacket, I want to see the leaves turning colors and that special way the sunshine angles in the fall through the treetops (you know what I'm talking about?). I can't wait til my little nephew is here and we can bundle him up and take the kids to an autumn festival (Rockford, Michigan has the best fall-fest in the world...sadly, I can't drag my sister and her wee ones that far, but Sar and I used to go when we both lived in Michigan, pre-babies! Remember those days, Sar???). Last year, Suzy and Mariah and I had a great time taking some of the junior-high girls to the orchard and then through a corn maze. We made homemade apple pies and then had a weenie roast that night. Ahhh.......autumn. Please come soon!

Give Me Jesus

so beautiful. so how I should be thinking every second of my life.

so much to blog about...

So much happening!

First of all and without further ado, I've been given permission to post some wondrous news...

My best friend is pregnant! Yay! Kate and Dan are expecting their first little one in late March. "Tadpole," as the baby is being referred to at this moment, gave us quite the scare there at the beginning of things, but this morning, Tadpole gave Mama and Daddy a lot of reassurance; ultrasound showed a healthy baby with a beating heart. Praise the Lord!!! When Kate reported this news to me, I had tears of joy in my eyes, for I have prayed and prayed for this baby. And I know others have, too (thanks Monday night Bible study!!!). I'm so excited to be an Auntie to another precious human being...and I can't WAIT to meet a chip off the old Timmer/DeVries block! I also am thrilled to be introduced to Kate-as-Mommy; who that person is and what she is like. I know it will be very difficult for me to be 3+ hours away...I would just cherish being near to run over for some random babysitting! As it is, I will just have to smother the poor thing with kisses and love while I'm visiting.

Secondly, and speaking of babies, Sarah's little guy Elijah will be making his appearance in the next 4 weeks or so. It's time, little man! Ready or not, here you come! Mom and Sar and Kater and I have been pulling together resources and creativity to get Sarah all set up to welcome the baby home. The nursery area is standing at the ready...clean crib sheets, mobile in place, diapers stacked, blankets piled...now if we could only keep Abby from stealing those blankets! Abby calls blankets "nunnies" or "wunnies" or "winnies" (she mixes it up from time to time, but you can always tell what she's saying). And she does NOT like the fact that there are wunnies placed out of reach and obviously not intended for her use. It will be interesting to see what she does when there's a baby wrapped up in a wunnie! We tried to explain to her that there's a baby in Mama's belly who will need wunnies, too, but that was pretty much over her head. Ethan understood, though! We asked him where Mama's baby was and he touched her belly! And then he kissed Sar's belly! It was so precious, my throat caught with tears.

Let's see. Well, there's other stuff going on but none seem so important as talking about new people coming into the world, so I'll save some goodies for another post. Coming soon!