This Boy Turns Five-This Momma Cries!

"Momma!  The Northern Lights!!!"....He's always thinking he is seeing the Northern Lights...LOL!

It feels like the end of an era.  There will be no more babies.  Jacob is no longer a baby...at all.  Okay...so maybe he is still on the young side.  And the eve before his birthday I reminded myself that the fact that he is growing up is very very good.  I have so much to be thankful for!  My little children growing up is as it should be.  Letting go...and accepting the changing of seasons is where my heart needs to rest.  (And I'm remembering what Henri Nouwen said ~one of my favorite authors~about letting go...we let go with open hands in a posture to not just let go of what we ought not try and keep but also with open hands to receive whatever our Father wants to give us!)

We headed to celebrate at our favorite spot.  We call it the "stone table"---a high meadow clearing at Little Mulberry Park, and thankfully just minutes from our house.  We took along the birthday boys' requests...a rocket to shoot off and hot dogs to cook on our little camping stove.  The wind made everything harder and after one shot of the rocket, it was gone forever.  (okay the thought just went through my head "yeah, just like Jacob's baby years...."  ---stop it dramatic self!)

We are so blessed with our boys...growing through the seasons with them.  I noticed a "W" on the stone ground with a bit of shock... "Boys!  There's a "W"!" Thinking about our last name.  They all laughed and said, "Yeah mom, have you never noticed the W, E, S and N around the stone table!?"  Well, no I hadn't.  Anyway, the W for Walsman is cool in my book.  Or maybe W for going West.  Walsmans....West...A dream we think about from time to time...moving out West, buying a small ranch, raising horses and boys together...I suggested this evening maybe we could just move to North Georgia...it's beautiful there too!  (our home that we bought here in Auburn we found out recently is zoned residential...so unless we were able to change that, we can't have horses here!) 

Back to Jacob...and his birthday.  The boys played hide and seek tag, lots of giggles and fun.  We watched deer grazing along the edge of the meadow near the forest as we walked, bags slung over shoulders, towards the parking area.  I'm thankful for the many boys in my life and for our great God who leads us all...