Siblings in February // Grace + Glory

I'm a little late on posting this month's "Siblings Project" post... sadly my phone was stolen from my rucksack in London on Saturday and I've been a little in limbo ever since... out of the social media loop and grabbing odd check ins on my husbands phone. It's been refreshingly good for me too though... in SO many ways. Bizarre how something as rubbish as having your phone nicked can actually work for your good. But isn't that what God promises us? That ALL things work together for our good and his glory? So this enforced break from the social media world has made me more present with my children, and has also helped me see how dependent I was on my phone - the number of times I've reached for it and remembered it's not there has been an eye-opening insight into how many times I actually do reach for it!

Anyway, that's for another post... because this one is all about these four...

Oh my goodness... when they said that time flies, they weren't kidding. These years are so rich and so precious. Everyday provides plentiful opportunity for patience, grace, dependence on the Lord, recognition of my own sin, forgiveness and opportunity to joyfully serve. I wish I could say I took every opportunity as I should... too often our days are full of impatience, snappiness, self-reliance, selfishness, bickering and begrudgingly done "chores"... and most of that from me! But there are glimmers of grace amongst the challenges of large family parenting, and I cling to them. Little glimpses of what the Lord is doing in each of the children's lives. And so many opportunities to point to Jesus in the midst of the chaos. And there is progress. Little by little, you see evidences of fruit... of a little kindness here, or generosity there, or a penny-drop moment of understanding. It's thrilling.

They are such a little team now... Elias really joining the mix. I went upstairs yesterday to put the boys down for their naps and found them cosied up cuddling in a corner, a blanket over them and Heidi fussing over them in her motherly way. You could just see from the winsome little half-smile on Elias' lips that he was just so thrilled to be part of the game, and he wasn't too pleased at me for calling it to an end!

So here's where they are in February...

Ava (7 years, 6 months) is loving...
* Her youth group at church
* Taking Photographs with her camera
* The Narnia series - we're working our way through the full Chronicles and are about to finish Prince Caspian
* Big teeth coming through!
* Old fashioned clothing after our V&A Museum visit ("Mama, why were the clothes in the olden days so much nicer?")

Heidi (5 years, 11 months) is loving...
* Playing Chinese Tea Parties at the V&A Museum
* Reading her "Little Lights" biographies
* Playing make believe - Mummys and Daddys, Narnia, Holidays... she'll lead the boys!
* Reading independently
* Her "lip stick" (lip gloss)

Jonas (3 years, 8 months) is loving...
* Building lego with Grandpa
* Counting down the days (still quite a lot!) til he's 4!
* His wooden sword
* Playing football in the garden with Papa
* Going to nursery to play with his friends

Elias (1 year, 10 months) is loving...
* Being allowed to walk the last leg of the school run
* Play doh
* Raiding the snack drawer without permission
* Being read a bazillion stories one after another
* Bath time!

I love documenting these details... sometimes I scroll back through my blog history and read details of my girls when they were little that I'd long forgotten... I'm so very thankful for this treasure trove of memories on here... and though the craziness of life as a Mama of four prevents me being here as much as I used to be, I don't intend to give up writing any time soon!