Summer Family Happenings at the Crawfords

I thought I’d drop a personal post for those who like to peek in from time to time, and I like to document things for permanent journaling purposes too. We’re busy in a country life sort of way these days. With normal struggles, ups and downs, joys and difficulties. Here is a small vignette of our summer:

Bria (20) and Kyle continue to get to know each other and we are grateful to watch the Lord working in their lives. I love seeing their zeal for knowing Christ more as their relationship grows. There truly is no greater joy than to see your children walk in truth. Anticipating what the future holds brings its own distinct set of emotions and watching your children grow up is a bitter/sweet journey. What a joy, however, to see how God’s grace has covered her, to watch her grow in strength and beauty, and to get to witness her servant’s spirit lived out here while her zest for life splashes onto all of us. She is a work horse, both tough and delicate, strong and sensitive. She is goal-oriented and purpose-driven, spending much of her time studying, working, gardening, upcycling furniture, playing music and soaking up life. She is such a gift!

Ashton (15) is super busy these days. I love that he gets to work with his Dad some because he is learning so much that will benefit him later in life and also because they are growing closer. He spends much of his free time honing his gift of art and music, and has had a few paid portrait jobs this year. The Lord has grown him and I’m thankful to see him mature in so many ways. He plans to enroll this year in a 2-year program on-line to get his associate degree in graphic design. He’s faithfully saving money and praying about his life work.

Alexa (12) loves to work; man, this girl loves to work! She wanted a window seat, so she built it. She needed a bookshelf, so she built one. She and Bria are the muscle behind our garden too, and I’m inspired watching them. Alexa’s sweet spirit is a blessing to us all, and I am humbled by the gift of her. Quiet and yet remarkably wise and funny.

(Photograph of cat by Avi)

Avalee (10) is in between child and woman and I am trying to savor this short time with her. She is full of life, imagination and laughter. She loves baking and she has a special interest in fashion design and has learned a lot from tutorials on the Internet. She and her 3 older siblings also are committed to their study of music. Lately she has also taken an interest in photography and some of her shots are amazing. I’m eager to see how the Lord leads her and am so thankful for this fourth-born of mine who often leaves me sweet, heart-felt notes.

Brooks (9) is pretty amazing. At 9 years old, he has a purpose-driven passion: all things with an engine. This is him, a week ago, sitting for 2 solid hours watching youtube videos on “how to repair small engines.” Right afterwards, he went to work on a lawn mower that hasn’t been running for 6 months. He checked the spark plugs, took the carburetor apart, cleaned it, found a broken piece, got it ordered to replace, watched anxiously for the part to come in, put the part on, put the carburetor back together and…it ran. He was like a child on Christmas morning. He asked me to order him some business cards for his small engine repair business. 😉

(Photograph by Avi)

Mallie (8) is like sunshine in our home. She is made of kindness and it oozes.  Her imagination is as big as the moon and she inspires me to see joy in everything. After reading a book about worms at the library, she was fascinated and we watched some videos. Then I thought she needed a worm farm. Our worms came today! We are all pretty excited. I think we’ll try to sell them as bait, as well as harvest vermicompost for our garden. Who knows, maybe we’ll start to sell the worms for others to start worm farms soon. 

Kyla (6) is what I call our “full throttle” child. She keeps us laughing all the time and is both bold and sweet. She gets her words mixed up sometimes and says things like, “Mom! Mallie pulled her shirt up like a zucchini!” (Thinking of the word “bikini.”) I look at her sometimes and can’t wait to see the woman she becomes. But I’m also quite content to cherish the fleeting moments now.

(Photograph by Avi)

Ellia (4) is a joy. What can I say? She is so funny and expressive when she talks. She smiles constantly (except in this picture and when she’s mad at a sister) and loves nothing more than to play with her baby brother. She’s learning to read and is super excited about it. Usually my kids are a little older before they’re interested in reading.

(Photograph by Avi)

Jax (3) is such a fun age right now you would just have to hang out with him to know. I love this boy so! He is all boy, wide open, and delightfully loving.

And there’s Kaid (1)…snuggly, adorable, precious Kaid. We’re soaking him up.

Aaron and I, like any parents, are trying to remember to enjoy all the little things, in the midst of busy lives, and hold on to simplicity, remembering that building relationships which help us point our children to Christ, is our priority in life. We are not without struggles–believe me, even though I only hit happy highlights here. But we have lots to be grateful for and are just walking each day doing our best to hold on to the important stuff.