Brown Nosing Comes Naturally

Sometimes you get appreciation when you least expect it.

Not long ago, Nathan asked me if they could go outside. I told him and Eli, "Sure. You can go in the backyard." Most often this is followed by a whiny "But I want to go out front!" (If you have children, I'm sure you can imagine the sound of this statement accurately.) However, this time Nathan exclaimed, "Oh, THANK you, Mommy! That is so nice! I really like you for my mommy!"

What? Where did that come from? And please keep it coming. Thank you.

Size-wise

My nephew, Eli, caught his first catfish! HUGE. LIKE A FOOT LONG! Only it wasn't.
Amazing how a little perspective changes things...

Actually, things are still the same; now you just know the true size of the matter.

(Eli still didn't want to get anywhere near that fish though.)

Tough Yet Sensitive

Our family went to the park last Saturday evening. The boys played on the playground, ran on the tennis courts, and ventured toward the trees. Then we did it. We walked through the woods to the other side of the park to play on the other playground, the old playground (which is more fun than the new playground).

The path through the woods is wide and well worn as well as full of mosquitoes. Okay. Maybe not full but I was bit twice. Twice in a short little walk. And as we walked I noticed a little bump on Josiah's eyelid. "Josiah, I think a mosquito bit your eyelid! Did you feel that?" No. He was oblivious and even after I pointed it out, he could hardly tell it was there. I was amazed that he didn't feel the bump on his eyelid that looked sort of like a blister but not as transparent. One other thought that occurred to me was that I couldn't see a bite mark in the middle of the bump. Then we were distracted by cool things like lots of playing, walking, and watching a father and son practice batting before going home and getting the boys in bed.

Little did I know that things would be different in the morning....

One glance and "WHOA! Um. Josiah, your eye is swollen." *flashback to the little eyelid bump* When I asked about it, he said it didn't hurt and it itched just a little bit. I gave him some children's allergy medicine hoping that would relieve the swelling. Josiah was embarrassed at the thought of going to church like that and started searching for his pirate eye patch. Soon I noticed scraps of paper laying around. Hm. It wasn't long until I head an outcry from Josiah; Nathan had grabbed and crumpled the eye patch Josiah had been making for himself. It was then that I realized just how self-conscious Josiah was feeling. His self awareness is developing and shutting out the carefree obliviousness.

So he and I started afresh and made an eye patch together. I cut it out and found a strap. He came up with a clever way to attach the strap and decorated the front. Then we attached a cotton ball on the inside for comfort. Perfect.

Only it wasn't over. Josiah's eyelid was still red and swollen and almost swollen shut for awhile. We decided to wait it out and just make sure that whatever it was wasn't spreading. (Why do these things always seem to happen when the doctor's office is closed?) Finally, on Monday we could see improvement but Josiah still cocked his head to the side in order to look at you since his eye wouldn't open all the way.

With his top front tooth missing, a bottom front tooth missing, AND his eye swollen, he looked like he had been in a serious fight. Belinda said that he should have a shirt saying "YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY."

At least with the noticeable improvement, the worrying and wondering came to an end. And eventually the swelling did too.

I'm not sure if we'll get Josiah back into the woods anytime soon...

Blogger's Block

You may have noticed that I haven't had much to share lately. No, that's incorrect. I just haven't shared much. I'm hogging my kids and their cuteness. Not intentionally, no. I think I have blogger's block. (You know, like writer's block?)

Today I was reading a friend's blog and she had two, no three good reports and I LOVE good reports. (especially when they are a long time coming). I left this comment:

I love hearing good reports! We should set up a service that searches out, confirms, then passes along good reports. Kind of like the News... but the opposite since they mainly deal in BAD reports and broadcast to millions (they hope) at once and my service would be more personal. A phone call. A note. A special delivery.

Then I thought to myself... maybe I should stop slacking off and start blogging again. I love sharing the joys in life, the blessings in the midst of difficulties, the humor of having kids, and, well, whatever comes to mind.

In keeping with the good reports...
Last night, my cat used his scratching pad instead of my carpet. (gasp) Miracles happen all the time. Okay, so that isn't a miracle but it is good and miracles DO happen.

Illiteracy is No Excuse

Josiah took it upon himself to clean and organize his dresser top two evenings ago. I was thrilled and joyfully noted that all my cleaning and organizing is not going unnoticed and I ignored the thought that it may have been a way to stall bedtime. Cleanliness comes before bedtime!

Not surprisingly, the other two boys raided his newly visible area and ate and/or wasted most of his remaining Easter candy when Josiah was at school the next day.

If there one thing I hate to see wasted, it's chocolate candy!

This morning I noticed a sign posted on Josiah's dresser. It stated:

If you take some thing from my dresser you will haft to pay 10$.

At first I didn't see the "10$" part and I thought "Whoa... that's some threat! This guy is serious about protecting his stuff." Noticing the "10$" on the end makes it less physically threatening and seems quite wise to me. Now I'm thinking of creating a Money for Messes program myself.

Too bad the other boys can't read your sign yet, Josiah.

The Library is "Base"

Some days there is only so much little boy bickering, whining, and fighting a person can take without getting sucked into the yelling game. Yesterday was just one of those days. I had to remove myself from the situation in order to retain my sanity.

So I escaped to the library by myself where I looked for novels that I love to read by authors' whose writing I enjoy. *contented sigh*

I found two by one author (Ted Dekker) and one by an unknown-to-me author which I thought I would give a try. Both John and I should enjoy these three. Then I selected two more from Francine Rivers which will be just for me. *contented sigh again*

But I didn't leave my boys out completely. When I went to the children's section, I spied this: Walter the Farting Dog. It could have been in neon lights. I mean, there aren't many things funnier and more entertaining to boys than farts! Farts. *snicker snicker* The only thing more amusing to my boys is "poop". Poop. Bwahahaha! She said "poop"!

Book report: I think this is the best farty book I've ever read. There is boys' laughter and delight with every page. The end.

Wishful

Rainy Days

Disturbing Disappearances

Strange things have been happening around here... (cue eerie music)

Things have gone missing and not just any kind of things... things that are vulnerable have seemingly vanished without a trace.

These are well loved and well worn things... better known as worn out or BrOkEn toys.

Only one or two mortally wounded toys have disappeared at a time and ONLY every other day or so. It has not been frequent enough to arouse the notice of the young toy "caretakers". (I use that term loosely.) It happens when everyone is distracted or in the dark of night. Once it even happened when the boys simply looked the other way.

You may wonder how I have noticed....

I confess: I did it. I personally disposed of the toys... and I LIKED it. I did it quickly and quietly and I'm certain that I'll do it again. The urge is just too strong to resist.

This house has been a broken toy sanctuary for far too long; the boys' protests cannot protect the misfits if they are not vigilant.

Mwahahaha!!

Yesssss... I did it and I'll do it again.

Signed,

The Serial Toy Killer

Treasured Moments

Noah gets into his favorite and well worn book.

Go Dog Go!

Mostly Well Most of the Time

People have asked me how I'm doing and I know by their eyes that they are referring to my miscarriage. Most of the time, I am well.

Sometimes sadness sneaks up on me. At school lunch duty last week, being in the midst of all the children, I started thinking of all the different personalities and wondered what my child may have been like. I was feeling blue the rest of that day.

You may think that being around babies or pregnant women might cause that reaction but they don't to me. Rejoicing in the blessings of others brings healing.

Sometimes it is the casual comments of an acquaintance that jolt me. For example, I missed a week of work and one of my co-workers was wondering about the accuracy of the schedule since one person had not been there the week before. I told her that that had been me and that I would be here now needlessly explaining I had missed the previous week because I had had to go to the hospital. In response, she compassionately said, "Oh no, I hope everything was okay." I could not say that it was. "No. It's not okay. I had a miscarriage." To this she responds, "O my God, I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say." (Sometimes that is the best thing to say.) I tell her not to feel bad but now I'm sorry that she's worried and uncomfortable.

A friend whom I had not seen for a long time saw my boys and asked about them and their ages. "This is Nathan; he's four. This is Noah; he's two. And my oldest, Josiah, went in through another door." She commented on how big they are getting then pointing to Noah, she said, "He's your littlest? I guess you don't have a baby anymore!" That sinks in to my heart. "No. No, I don't" I don't tell her just how accurate that statement is. She was simply enjoying my children.

There have been other moments that grief has reared up but I am mostly well. Hope and joy remain.

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!" ~Psalm 27:13-14