Withgratefulhearts: And Then There Were Three

When it’s been so long, the beginning is hard.

Not sure it’s permissible to write a novella on blogger. Birthdays and major life events have come and gone, yet I’ve not felt the motivation to write. Usually it pushes out from inside and I have only to capture it on paper. But tonight I’m pulling it from the outside, just because I know I’m missing things, because it’s long overdue. You'll probably need a cup of tea. I certainly understand if it's too lengthy for you, but, you never know what you'll miss if you quit before the end...

Here we go...

Our last-blast-of-summer this year came in the form of Family Olympics. Jennie and Christian put a major amount of effort into them and we had a blast.

The day was complete with sports casters and athlete interviews. Not exactly sure how everyone ended up with their athlete names. Oh, some were obvious. Cheeks is turned around looking at Eli.

I noted that Cheek's team shirt somehow got turned around in this photo.

Legs and Sparky warming up for badminton

The moms selfie. I can tell Gracie thinks I'm a real trendy mom when I use the word "selfie" so I try to use it whenever possible.

The peanut gallery

After a full day of intense competition ranging from obstacles and corn hole to bb guns and water balloons, the blue team, Jennie and Matthew, finally came out on top. I think it probably had something to do with this move right here...

The Family Olympics were, indeed, filmed. Highlights, along with athlete interviews, were premiered at Jennie's four course Christmas dinner. Upon arrival, the athletes did red carpet interviews. Why, here are three of the stars now all ready to walk the red carpet....

Jennifer, if you are reading this...we love you. You make everyday events extra fun and special. You are a one of a kind !

Seems like a good place to post two of my favorite shots of Gracie and Jennie.

And me and my gal

It’s no secret that my favorite summer pastime is biking. Now that Faith is finally off the back of my bike and onto her own bike, it’s a bit easier. This simply means that I can now take hills without muscle failure. She gives me advice, suggestions, and lots of random info while we are biking. After listening to me teach Christian a lesson on the Civil War, we went for a bike ride. She was smiles from ear to ear. It was gorgeous outside.

She looked around and declared, “I love this state! It’s a free state!”
"You mean as opposed to a slave state?" I asked.
"Yes," she beamed.

“When I get a car," she informed me, "it’s gonna be blue and like Mitchell’s car. Cause I need a car that’s just my style. Not that our car is that nerdy or anything, but it’s just not my style.”

“You mean our mini van?” I asked.

“Wait...we have a mini van!!!??”

“What about when people get tatoos places where people shouldn’t look?”

I'll get back to you on that.

Gracie is now 12, and Christian is now 16. Don’t have any idea where the time goes.

Just a few pix, since I'm way behind the game here.

The besties, UNidentical twins Taylor and Maddison.

And, NO, he's not 21. But, that's Christian. He's our kid with a wit the size of Texas. This kid is awesomely way cool and the amount of factual info. he's got tucked away in that brain of his never ceases to amaze me.

And since he wasn't interested in having a house full of little girls with water balloons....he chose the steak house instead. Because I am not an organized photographer (or maybe because no one would cooperate) I had to have two photos to get everyone in the picture, and even with two we barely got Faith in either. I guess one eye is better than none.

The winter started off with a tragic event when Emily’s father unexpectedly passed away after suffering a heart attack while jogging. During our first ever visit to the great state of Minnesota, we were glad to be able to get at least a small picture of how much his community loved him as a friend, teacher, and coach . Not the way any of us envisioned our first visit to Emily’s home state. A flag raising ceremony was held in honor of Emily's father's choice to give life by being an organ donor.

A week after Randy’s final run, at 8:06 am, his track team, along with additional friends and relatives were bussed to the spot that Randy’s run had ended in order to finish the run for him. It was beautifully symbolic as everyone finished his run wearing Run with Randy shirts.

This side of heaven we will never understand God’s ways. But we know that His plan is far beyond our limited ability to understand...and she has a good man to help her along. Our Mitchell is a good man.

On another topic...

You all will be relieved to know that Faith assured me the other day that there are two things she will never, ever do… Smoke or Cross the border into Mexico.

That settled, I can now relax my parenting style a bit.

And then there’s that day. You know, that day when your twelve year old puts an absolute ton of makeup on your eight year old in preparation for her well-check at the pediatrician...and you wonder what-the-heck your pediatrician is gonna think of you. When the nurse asked me if Faith was allergic to anything that I knew of, Faith answered, “Yes, I don’t like olives.”

I guess maybe it's no worse than what the Walmart cashier thinks of you. Imagine me, not thinking to check my child for inappropriate “bling” she might have heisted from her OB nurse cousin’s car before heading out into public!

Thanks for the "bling" Jennifer! Also of note, is that she just happened by the computer as I was posting this photo. She said, "What actually does OB stand for? Is it awesome bras?"

Faith is now 8

“I have BIG news!” she announced. “My feet touch the floor at my seat in the van now!”

Duct tape is a perfect gift for this girl. She can do more with duct tape than I previously would have believed possible.

Faith’s greatest birthday gift was this ginormous card filled with dollar bills. She opened it just as she was announcing to us all that she was out of money and needed to “get a new stock up on money.” She did this crazy happy dance while she sang, “Oh yeah, I’m rich, I’m rich!” She is the living and breathing “Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday” for it did not last long. (That’s ok because she got another “stock up” on Christmas which we’ll discuss later on)

This girl's reading skills are through the roof. I know I’ve mentioned many times, but, this girl can READ! She polishes off books so fast I sometimes question whether she knows what they are about, but she always puts my concerns to rest with lengthy,detailed descriptions of everything she reads. She continually comes off with random facts about people and things she's read about.

Now, math...eh...not so much. Nathan claims all Asians are born with a bachelor’s in mathematics. Sorry, Nathan.

We're working on it.

When she was heading up to spend the day with my dad a few weeks ago, I asked her, “What do you think you and the Papster will do?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, “last time he had some old popcorn we ate.”

Hard to compete with that.

She has told me that when she is big, she is gonna do things to make my life easier so that I can just sit and read books. She has also assured me that she will take me along when she goes to visit China and Hawaii. A few nights ago, as I tucked her in, she told me she wants to climb Mount Everest and go to outer space. As her mother, I requested that she instead do things that don’t have such a high risk of death.

In other non-faith news, Matthew can now claim mandolin among the instruments he can play. I love, love this picture of Matthew playing the mandolin. Music pours out of him. It is a beautiful thing.

This girl...

How often do you snap a quick cell phone shot in the store to send to Daddy and it ends up being a favorite photo!

This girl is fun and sweet and oh so beautiful. Life is so much richer with her in it. She makes my heart bigger and my world brighter. I love you, oh so much, my sweet Grace.

We really did have a wonderful Christmas season this year. We missed Mitchell and definitely felt his absence and missed his contagious smile, especially at brother/sister gift exchange; but even so, God really did give us a wonderful holiday season filled with lots of special things. As usual, we used our advent chain. One of our events was heading to our favorite place for Christmas at Hershey….of course. We had an absolute blast! It was one of those days that is truly a blessing.

We started off the day in the chocolate laboratory learning about chocolate and making our own sweet treats.

Oh darn, I didn't capture myself in one of these hair-net photos. Oh well, you win some - you lose some. I guess that qualifies as a ~~win~~ I mean a loss for me.

The girls got to sit on the steps and talk with Milton Hershey. Ok, well not really, but it made for a really cute photo.

Kelli feels it's unfair of me not to disclose the number of times around the Chocolate World ride that it took us to get such a great photo. Let's just say it took a "few" and leave it at that.

A "few" times is our norm anyways...Hey, we're no dummies! They hand you chocolate every time you get off the ride!!

After that, we bundled up for a night in the park.

Is there anyone who doesn't love a carousel?

It simply was a beautiful day.

On the way home that night, we had what is really a common occurrence happen. What made it uncommon was the fact that the whole family was there, in the dark and quiet, captive in the van to together witness the beautiful sadness of it all. And I was so grateful that they were there to witness it.

“Do you think my other mother had more than one child?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. It’s possible.”

And then, with tears in her eyes she asked, “Well, if she did, why did she pick me to give away?”

So, there in the dark and quiet, with everyone listening, I explained how God gave her an amazing ministry even as a tiny child. I told her that every time a child comes into a family, it is a joyous occasion and people are really happy. Like when Gracie came into our family, it was a wonderful event and everyone was really happy and excited….but it didn’t “minister” to anybody. But God chose to bring Faith into the family in a way that would minister to many many people in a way that could never have happened if she were born here. Because, He brought her into the family in the same way that He brings all of us into His family. God used her in an amazing way so that through her, others could see a picture of Him.

And, once again, it was enough for the moment.

My sweet girls wanted to see the American Girl Store “all decked out for Christmas.” . Gracie saved all her money to go. So while the girls explored here, Christian found his was around the stores he loved in order to pick out some of his Christmas clothes...that way he has to like them, right?

(One quick moment of backtracking to catch two cute photos I never got posted from our end-of-summer trip to the American Girl Store.)

When in the huge Tyson’s Corner mall at Christmas time, one, of course, wants to see Santa. This is what happens when the “official” photographer for Santa expresses great displeasure in regard to your attempt to take your own photo of your child. He then becomes even more persistent as he notes your lack of concern regarding his displeasure. Let's just say the resulting photo of your precious child with Santa is just not what one would hope for...

Ahhhhh...the holidays. Peace on earth and all that jazz you know :)

Kelli taught us to play fishbowl this Christmas season, and we played it way too much. We absolutely laughed till our sides hurt. I hope I never forget Matthew acting out L.A. or the fact that someone put the word “obstetrician” in the bowl for all of us to have to deal with (I have no idea who would do that. Been trying to narrow it down. Doubt that it has anything to do with that “bling” I mentioned earlier.)

This "Santa" just happened to be actually driving a sleigh around town...no, seriously, he was.

Nathan joined the Navy this fall and graduated from basic training just in time to get a Christmas break before heading to where he’s now stationed in S.C., which gave all of us girls a chance to fight over who got to hold Sofia. Late nights found Kelli, Gracie, and me stealing kisses on her soft little cheeks while she was asleep.

Here's a really blurry, low-light, cell phone photo of Christian looking rather swaggish.

Here's a photo of my dad striking a pose with Santa at the pizza shop.

Dan, Jes, Kelli, and Matthew

So, for every belly laugh, for every Christmas movie while squished on the couch like sardines, for Daddy’s extendable mistletoe (which was by far his most favorite holiday item), for all the chocolate and all the pillow fights on our bed, for all the coffees and teas and love...I am grateful.

And then it was time for another son to pack up and head out on his own. I tried not to think about it, but December 30th did eventually roll around, and found him packing up his room... and me fighting the tears. Dang those stinking tears anyways!

Since Mitch and I were following with a load of his stuff in just a few days, he took everybody with him but Faith.

even Zach

I think I failed to mention that every Christmas Eve Mitch crawls into his Santa suit and delivers his own hand-picked gifts to everyone in the house after they are in their beds. He is loud, and when the children were little they were sometimes frightened by the loud Santa. He ho-ho-ho's alot.

This is the bear that ~~Mitch~~ Santa brought for Kelli. He shouldn't be driving. He's not old enough.

Our dear, sweet Matthew moved to Georgia to be near his Kelli (we lay claim to her as well). I told him, he was my kid that I never wanted to grow up. The world’s most unique kid. He mastered everything from rubik’s cubes and juggling to really good magic. The night before he packed, he showed me the secret behind one of his best magic tricks...I am still wishing I didn’t know the secret. Nothing was ordinary when he was involved. His laugh was contagious; I can still hear what it sounded like when he was a little guy. Now he has become a Godly man, and we are very proud of him.

We all headed to Georgia for a few days, to haul Matthew’s drums and bring back the kids who rode in Matthew’s car. Christian pleaded to stay a little longer with Matthew, so we bought him a plane ticket and left him there an extra week. I love how my kids love each other. It’s what you pray for, ya know. Oh, Matthew, you are such a dear son.

Mitch and the girls and I spent a little time in Gatlinburg on the way back to PA. Faith was scared and pretty much shaking on the way up the mountain on the lift, but she loved it once we got to the top. She was proud of herself for doing it.

It was beautiful.

So, once again, we adjust. The letting go is intense. People keep asking me how I’m doing. The answer that I’ve settled on is, “I’m learning.” I’m learning to change and adjust, and try to stay true to this task, and be what the next batch needs. I’m learning what this part of mothering is like. And I find that I have this strange sense of guilt at times, for only having three kids in the house.

My dear and wonderful (oh seriously, she is the friend of my heart...I have no idea what that means because I just made it up.) BUT, Michelle brought me two, yes 2, boxes of chocolate to help me grieve. She claims that each piece will bring a few moments of joy.

They do.

I took a picture of the chocolates. Then I realized I had lost the picture. By then I couldn't take another picture because someone had already eaten said chocolates. So, here's a picture of Michelle and me instead. I love you, Michelle.

We are extremely blessed.

Left this as a comment to a friend with three little boys a few days back:

Every time I read your posts my heart has a beautiful ache, for time didn't stand still on my three little boys either. I loved every minute of it.. And all those days that I thought I just couldn't handle it. All the mess and the WILD (did I mention wild). The times when I had to put all three boys on individual chairs for time out just so I could breathe. Well, I can hardly remember those things. What I do remember are their little faces and the sound of all their little voices and the sound of toy truck engines and click-clack-track. I am still finding out new stories about all the antics they pulled that I never knew about. Even though I thought I was with them constantly, they have this whole "history" with each other that only they know about. It's really, really cool. Here's some great news.... They still love each other so much. Much love to you. I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. Enjoy (as i know you are) my friend. There will never be a day in your life that the sight of a little boy doesn't make your heart skip a beat.

So, in conclusion I'd like to......