Thursday, April 28, 2011

Brothers & Papa Joe










































































with a little tickle on the side









Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Backyard Wildlife

Serious life going on in our backyard…

First week of April a Bald Eagle enjoyed breakfast






























Our second spying of a white deer
















I don’t even want to talk about this creature.
I know we need them.
They are helpful…I get it.
But I’d prefer not to need their
um….cleaning services in my backyard.




















Do you think he is eyeing that Chic-fli-a beverage?

Hunting for Eggs



Exploring the Backyard























































Nevermind the extensive lecture on tics my onetruelove blessed us with....

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

May you be encouraged in the hope of His death on the cross for you.
May your heart abound with joy!

















Easter Pillow Talk
Me: Do you remember why we celebrate Easter?
Luke: Because Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
Me: And?
Luke: He is alive now.
pause
Luke: Wait. Is Jesus dead?
Me: No, he is alive with God in heaven, at His right hand.
Luke: Do they snuggle?
Me: I don’t know.
Luke: (looking up) God, do you snuggle?
pause
Luke: Yes! He says they snuggle.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Pink

Two little boys means there
isn’t a lot of pink in our house…
except for right now…
pink eye has inflicted itself
on my boys.
Yuck.
Double yuck…
Drops in the eyes twice a day,
orders from our beloved doctor.
Last night Luke asked if he could
pretend to put drops in my eyes.
Sure, why not!
I lay ready, brave to receive “drops”.
Luke tenderly puts a drop in one eye then the other.
He tells me to blink.
I blink.
Wait.
What was that?
Then he asks for his drop back.
Huh?
He clarifies for his silly mother,
“Can I have my boogie back?”

P.S. Sorry, Mom. Instead of think of this as a gross story, you should think of it as a forewarning…don’t let my three year old put drops in your eyes. So instead of saying gross, you should thank me. You are welcome.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Parking Lot Moment

As we were leaving Target, I felt myself grasping for control of myself.
Control of
my voice
my tone
my eyes
my breath
the look on my face
of the tears threating to break loose.
The last two weeks of mothering my two charges
has been physically and emotionally difficult
and I was going to lose it in the Target parking garage.
I was pushing the red cart
filled with our bags and my littlest charge,
who was sort of screaming.
I had a vice like grip on my eldest charge,
who had just prior dashed out of an elevator
and ran straight towards and escalator,
stopping just short of the moving steps.
Two weeks of hard mothering bearing down on me,
right there in the Target parking lot.
Heaping piles of brothers
pushing
shoving
hitting
grabbing
crying
sobbing
coughing
sneezing
runny nose
disobeying
rule breaking
unkind words
spitting
and so on and on and on and on
were bearing down on me.
And then I gave it all up.
I surrender it all over.
I am not perfect.
My charges are not perfect.
But He loves me anyway.
He gave His only son for me.
His son for my transgressions.
By God’s grace, I can most certainly rejoice,
not endure, the trials of mothering young children.
Renewed
and
refreshed
we went to Baja Fresh for
a surprisingly pleasant lunch.
On the way home my eldest charge declared,
“I’m going to obey you now. I have love in my heart now.”
I smiled.
Together we praised God for answering our prayer to soften his heart.
Then we got home.
I think he meant ‘obey’ only while in his car seat.
And so the encouragement to
use words as a blessing
strength for good works and kindness
to honor
to obey
to bear with one another in love continued.
And so it goes.
But tonight I am grateful for mothering,
especially during the early years.

Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Nolan's First Haircut

January 14 Nolan kindofsortof enjoyed his first haircut.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Stop, Thief!

My eldest son will start pre-school in the Fall.
This morning was his interview, if you will.
I’ll spare you (and me) all but one of the charming details…

Hand in hand we floated into the admission office.
We are welcomed with a cheery morning salutation.
Waving his arm, Luke boldly replies, “Stop thief!”
Yessirhesuredid.

You see… The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a favorite.
We enjoy the tale several times a day.
His favorite part is when Peter comes round
the end of a cucumber frame and Mr. McGregor,
waving his rake, shouts, “Stop thief!”

At least he is well read and imaginative…