Summer draws to an end...

My Kingdom

Down by a shining water well
I found a very little dell,
No higher than my head.
The heather and the gorse about
In summer bloom were coming out,
Some yellow and some red.

I called the little pool a sea;
The little hills were big to me;
For I am very small.
I made a boat, I made a town,
I searched the caverns up and down,
And named them one and all.

And all about was mine, I said,
The little sparrows overhead,
The little minnows too.
This was the world and I was king;
For me the bees came by to sing,
For me the swallows flew.

I played there were no deeper seas,
Nor any wider plains than these,
Nor other kings than me.
At last I heard my mother call
Out from the house at evenfall,
To call me home to tea.

And I must rise and leave my dell,
And leave my dimpled water well,
And leave my heather blooms.
Alas! and as my home I neared,
How very big my nurse appeared.
How great and cool the rooms!

-Robert Louis Stevens (Child's Garden of Verses)

Joelle's Dedication

[ click on image for a higher resolution image ]

[click on image for a higher resolution image ]

[ click on image for a higher resolution image ]

[click on image for a higher resolution image ]

[ click on image for a higher resolution image ]

On Saturday we celebrated Nathaniel's 4th birthday and on Sunday we had Joelle dedicated at our church. It was a full weekend. Joelle has a beautiful dress and bonnet that really show well in our pictures. I played with the first image and softened the background a bit to add effect. She really looks beautiful. If you click on the image you will get a higher resolution version of the image. You can download it to your computer (right click on a PC or control click on the Mac) and print the image.

After church we went to the Olive Garden with all the family which included our good friends Glen and Renee (they were Nathaniel's and are currently Ben's Sunday school teachers ). Joelle lit up the room with her radiance and such a sweet smile. Nathaniel enjoyed the extension of his special day. The waiters came out chocolate cake in hand, loudly singing Happy Birthday. Nathaniel beamed. After blowing out the candle he made certain that everyone got some cake if they wanted some. It was a great time.

Aug 17 - Nathaniel's 4th Birthday!

On the day of Nathaniel's birthday we did our best to make it special. Breakfast was a candle laden chocolate covered "birthday donut". It was hot outside but playing in the sandbox is one his favorite things to do so he spent most of the morning in the sand box with Ben. Janice even built a canopy of bed sheets that kept out the sun.

When we first asked Nathaniel where he would like to go on his special day we were given a rather cryptic answer. Something about a roof and lights and toys always followed by "Remember dat!?". Unfortunately we did not - at first. Then after we discussed it realized he could be talking about a place like Chuck E. Cheese. We were not sure if this was in fact the location of choice but arrived 3 kids in tow to the other mouse's house. Chasing the kids around such a place is like being in a freshly shaken snow globe and trying to follow a specific plastic snow flake. Kids and games were every where and they were all moving and making noise. Nathaniel (and Ben) loved every minute of it.


On the following Saturday we had the big Superman birthday party which was another snow globe experience but with slightly fewer snow flakes. Adults, children and toys were scattered across the entire house. They were laughing, crawling, running and playing. In an effort to focus the children's energies we constructed some games in the Superman theme for the special day. There was a Superman "leap in through tall building windows with a single bound" bean bag toss and a Superman "the Tender Man of Tissue Paper" pinata.


Before we ate the cake Janice gave Nathaniel and all the children party hats to wear. After strapping on the hat Nathaniel noticed that none of the adults were given party hats. He quickly began passing out the hats to every bare head in the house and not until every hat was in place did he sit down to his cake to blow out the candles.

Janice makes really cool cakes!

Once the party was over and we could see the carpet again we had our family birthday. Grandma and Grandpa Battdorff , Uncle Jay , Aunt Sarah and baby Caleb were all on hand to celebrate. Apparently someone asked Superman to attend as well. Understanding the need for thematic consistency he came in through the window to replicate the bean bag game. Coincidentally Janice had just started loudly playing the Superman Returns movie sound track. Superman proceeded down the stair case head held high with confidence in is stride. Nathaniel nearly burst with excitement. He could not stop smiling. He kept repeating "Thank you Superman " over and over again. As a parent you really live for the moments when you have by plan or by luck inspired your child to absolute joy. This was one of those moments and Daddy really did feel like Superman.

It was a wonderful birthday. Thank you to everyone who made it such a great event. Nathaniel was so happy that so many people could be with him on his birthday.

Every Superman needs a stunningly beautiful Lois Lane!