Last Day at VZW

We couldn't be more proud. Mitchell has worked long and hard to save up for his dream school...and in two weeks, he will begin classes there as a junior, having done his first two years locally. He has worked hard and saved hard. He was the youngest sales rep ever hired by VZW, yet he earned some of the company's top awards, continually being the top rep in his district.  He and his Dad both earned winners circle status this year...so that was special, to do it together.

Well, yesterday was his last day, and we were all a bit sad. His dad has enjoyed the blessing of having his son work for his same company. They've been able to share their experiences and at times even work in the same places. So, it's been good... One of those experiences that at the on-set, you wonder how it's gonna go. I remember dropping him off for 6 week training and crying as we drove away from the hotel. But it has been good. Real good.

His job was a real blessing and we're all so grateful. It gave him the tools to build a bridge to the school he never really thought he'd get to attend.

 He enjoyed the job and enjoyed his co-workers. His co-workers apparently enjoyed him too because they threw him a big going-away party. One of his co-workers told him that people come and go all the time, but she'd never seen them throw anyone a party...that speaks volumes of our Mitchell.

And they left him a thoughtful gift on his car for his last day.

Apparently child labor was used in this crime.

 He says he has enough post-it notes to last the next two years.

The professional pose.....

The non-professional pose...

We sure do love you Mitchell.

This is why

For posterity...I suppose that's why.  Or in case one of them should someday start to forget.  In case they never find the journals in the keepsake chest.  May they someday know when they pull this off the shelf in hardcover form, that it was important to me to write that their Momma and Daddy loved each other well.

There are the nights on the rocker, when you fear falling asleep and dropping the baby because you haven't had a decent night's sleep in months.  There are the days when you struggle to maintain consistency with a strong-willed child.  Then there are the days when those little ones reach an age where some of what you've poured in, some of that heart and soul, begins to flow out of them and back to you.   ...Then comes a day like yesterday...when you sit on the bed of your son...the son who stomped his little foot at you when he was two, the one who tried all your patience, the one who taught you that it was laughable to think you knew anything about parenting before he came along...that son, now in a man-sized body, and you sit there and explain to him that when he is married, he must daily tell his wife how beautiful he thinks she is and how much she means to him....


...because that's what his daddy does

...and that's how much it means to his momma

I wonder what a young man thinks when his momma explains to him that someday a long time from now, when his wife begins to look in the mirror and note every new wrinkle, his notes telling her she's beautiful will have the power to convince her that she is...


...because that's what his daddy's notes do

...and that's how much it means to his momma

Oh, I pray that they love well.



And I pray that my sweet girls follow well and become their husband's biggest cheerleaders, biggest supporters...that they learn to honor and respect...

...because that's what their momma tries to do

Oh, Lord, that they would love well.

Thanking God this day.      

A Mighty Huzzah for having a computer...

I was sure that after my long sabbatical from having a functioning computer, I wouldn't even remember how to run one anymore....but alas, I am finally in possession of a properly functioning computer and have discovered it's just like riding a bike.  I was so excited to post my new family photo on my header!  More photos to come soon.

Random Junk

There are always so many things I wish to write...I write them in my head. I hear them...how they would sound if read aloud, but I so rarely make it to the keyboard.

So, as I walked past Faith's bed a few minutes ago and heard her snoring away in her loud cute loud sort of way that only she can do...I thought perhaps I'd write a bit. Faith always likes a few extra kisses and hugs at bedtime and she usually tells me who to "send up". Tonight, as I left her bedside she called after me, "Send up one of the boys!"

So, I sent up one of the boys (Matthew I believe) and headed off to write...

...to write a hodge-podge of random thoughts...


Thoughts on Tiny Peoples being attached to Larger Peoples

Faith and Mitchell. Their relationship entertains me to no end. She follows him around like a little chihuahua nipping at his rather large heels. She follows him around everywhere talking incessantly and asking him a million questions. She lies in wait for him outside the door when he is in a room. I think she is going to have a hard time when he heads to school this fall. We won't even talk about what kind of a time his Momma is gonna have!!!!

Anyhoo...Faith has a ritual when anyone is leaving the house, she stands in the bay window and knocks on the window till they wave at her. She always says, "I'll wave to you at the window.". When Mitchell headed out the door today, she yelled (loudly) after him while making a mad dash for the bay window:

"I'LL WAVE TO YOU AT THE WINDOW! YOU CAN CALL ME, TEXT ME, OR FACE-TIME ME!".

Faith has been in the habit lately of leaving notes for Mitchell. She slips them under his bedroom door at times.  She leaves him notes that say sweet, loving things like: "Mitchell, a big momster is cuming for you. You MUST RUN!" He usually is not frightened by these "love notes".

Faith made Mitchell this NECKLACE for his 21st birthday!

She adds this indescribable facet to our lives that I cannot imagine not having. I'm so grateful.
.
So, it's a blessing beyond words when your "big peoples" are loving enough that your "littles" want to attach.


Thoughts on Being and Ambassador


My mother says Faith is our church's little good-will ambassador. She is always making pictures or bead necklaces or something for folks at church. The other week, she wrote a letter to a young woman in our church during the opening. When children were dismissed to children's church, Faith ran over and handed it to her with a hug. The note simply said, "I haven't seen you in a while and I missed you." (of course it was all spelled wrong.) After church the young woman came to me and said, "You know, I've had a really hard week and this just made me feel so good."

So, small good-will ambassadors do an important work.


Thoughts on Thankfulness

Matthew says Faith's prayers always make an impression on him because she is always so thankful for everything. She thanks God for everything in her life.

"Thank you for we give our offering and then Jesus gives it to the poor, and thank you for the poor and thank you for the rich."

So, it's good to be thankful.


Thoughts on Poetry

Upon flipping through the 5th grade English teacher's manual looking for a writing project for Gracie, we came across one and a half Limerick's apparently written by Christian when he was in 5th grade. I wanted to share them here because they are such high quality poetry:

So, it's good to expose one's self to the works of great poets...like Christian.


Thoughts on Loving

It's funny how you grow to love people. I guess what I really mean is, if you really stop and think about it, it's incredible. It struck me a few weeks ago as I looked around our growing church and saw all these people that I'd never known before. A brand new church, as churches go. I guess it's hard to put into words what I wanted to write, but, I was struck by the love that I had for these people. People I never knew. People who came to be a part of a body that would love them......and we do.

So, it's funny how you grow to love people.


Thoughts on Hearing vs. Telling


A few weeks ago, we were blessed to share our adoption story at church. It was a special time for us. In a way it brought peace and closure to something deep inside me that was always needing a time like that. And that love, that love that I spoke of earlier...it came back around, and got poured out on us...and it was something I had needed for a long time.

People cried and I guess I didn't think they would. I only got choked up twice when I was speaking. ..And I didn't shed a tear when I sang Steven Curtis Chapman's "What Now" which I've wanted to sing for so very very long.
......but I brought the recording home. And I sat on my rocking chair in my bedroom and listened to what I had said......and I cried. I cried a lot. Somehow it was different when I was hearing it than it was when I was telling it. I guess because I've told the stories so many times that it feels the same when I'm speaking it. But I never 'heard' it before.

So, it's good to listen... And it's good when love comes back around.


Thoughts on Grace

We met a young man on outreach a while back, and I've always wanted to record my thoughts on that, because sometimes someone says something that you'll never forget:

I said, "Do you know Jesus loves you?"
His lip quivered. He got tears in his eyes.
He said, "Yeah, I've always loved Jesus, but I've done things..."
We talked for quite a while.

I thought about how we've all done things...

I wonder...how does a young man get so lost?
and then I wonder at the fact that, but for the Grace of God...how do we not all get lost....

So, God, shine your light really brightly on the path before me, cause I'm not always all that bright...


Thoughts on the 80's

Faith: "Mother, do you like cartoons?"
Me: "No."
Faith: "What do you like....80's music?!! "


Faith: "Mother, who's birthday is next?"
Me: "Mine."
Faith: "How old are you going to be?"
Me: "Oh, I don't know."
Faith: "I won't tell anybody."

So, it's good if your littles don't really know just how long ago the 80's were.


Thoughts on Love Notes and Scuffed Walls

My Gracie made me these lovely lovey notes. Oh, bestill my heart. So, my walls have countless scuff marks, or whole scrapes down the dark wallpaper where unnamed child carried an open box down the hall, and we won't get into all the broken things....oh dear, because at this point in childrearing it would be much easier to name the things that are NOT broken.....but I have folders and folders of love notes all tucked away in the beautiful wooden chest my husband bought me many years ago. Oh, how I love them.

So, love notes are more lovely than all the non-broken things in the world.


Thoughts on Basic Needs

Me (sitting on Christian's bedside at night): "Christian, do you have any problems?"
Christian: "No"
Me: "Anything you need to talk about?"
Christian: "No"
"Well, Yes, there is something."
Me: "What?"
Christian: "We haven't had those breakfast cinnamon buns in a long time!"

So, it's impossible to assess just how important sweets are to some people.


Thoughts on.. well, ummm...Underwear...

So Grace and Faith were packing to go spend the night at my parents (I was not home during the packing process.) My mother told Faith to go get a pair of clean underwear to pack. Faith told my mother she didn't have any clean underwear.

My wonderful mother then dug through my hamper to discover, much to my shame, that Faith had 17 pairs in the hamper.

So, .....oh,...I don't know. I can't seem to come up with a one-phrased "moral-of-the-story for this one except maybe...

..hide the dirty laundry?? No, that wouldn't be good.

oh dear Lord I get tired


Apparently Junk in my Trunk

I thought I would include a photo shoot of what they boys wrote on the marker board in the school room. I am a history fanatic of sorts and apparently (well, actually it is very apparent that they feel this way about my teaching of history because they comment on it nearly every day). I do tend to go overboard a bit with history. The boys have an inside joke that even if they don't understand something, they won't ask a question about it because it turns into an hour long lesson. They also find it amusing that when they give a wrong answer, I do, in fact, always tell them it was a good guess. They felt the need to note that on their marker-board-creation. Note that there is also one pint-sized chatterbox in the classroom at all times to add chaos to every lesson. But, here are their feelings, now captured for posterity's sake.:

Yesterday we had our first family photo shoot in much too long. So, hopefully I'll be able to post new family photos soon. A young photographer from our church took 388 photos...hopefully we should be able to find a few good ones, right??!!

And so, then we celebrated after the photo shoot with pizza and ice cream!

And I believe Faith put it best as she downed her pizza. She said, "Wow, Mother, this is everybody's lucky day because today you're letting us eat junk food!"

So, yes, everyone feels it's their lucky day when I let them eat junkfood

...especially Daddy.        :)

Catching up in Captions

I thought that perhaps catching up via captions would be the best way to go. So...here goes... Gracie in the clubhouse. There's something so dear and sweet about this shot.

One pretty girl in the sand.

Two pretty girls soaking in some sun.

Now this simply makes me smile.

Love simple moments like this so much.

Our play yard at night...the coziest place on earth.

Our play yard in the day time...love it just as much...almost

If only I could forever remember what it's like to watch all 3 of my boys playing baseball in the yard...even now that they're big.

It warms my heart to no end to watch my boys all playing football together in the yard. Mitchell and I had a talk the other night about how my prayer is that they will be the best of friends for life. That's how I've raised them.

The Party Center. My Grace. She loves, loves, loves to do this. Some nights after bath time, she will take her dry erase board and do this...

Most times she writes options to choose from for which show to watch. (I usually choose The Brady Bunch.) I vote. Other imaginary participants vote. Gracie reads the voting results and then we actually pretend to get on a bus (the party center bus) which Gracie then drives back the hall and then into the tv room. She usually stops the bus by the kitchen counter (ie. the snack bar) for drinks or snacks. The process begins by her saying, "Mother, are you going to the party center tonight?" Sweet Grace. I LOVE so much how she spelled "spachell" and "chrip" (trip..but she spelled it like she says it)

Christian turned 14. ...hold on there...might be something fragile in this bag

Fish

And little Faith turned 6.

With her castle cake. She ordered this cake. She said she wanted "A castle with a commode that you can lick out" ummm..huh? We figured it out though...A MOTE!!

Made by one and only cousin Jennie.

With her usual...goober uhh...oops! I mean "peanut butter jelly time" from cousin Ben

And then it was finally December. And with only the Christmas tree lights on, the kids built an entire village (which I really coudn't fit into the photo) with events that army men and barbies alike attended.

Sugar cookie time. And a week long visit from sweet Kelli Belle.

Ice till you drop.

I love the next photo soooooo much. Two big boys. Brings a tear to a momma's eye.

And the kids giving each other the gifts they got for each other. Late Christmas Eve we set aside especially for this. It is my favorite part of gift giving, watching the kids give their gifts to each other. I love so much watching how well they know each other.

Faith's favorite...a gigantic carton of goldfish from Mitchell.

...and how sweet it was to see how well my kiddos know their momma. A couple of them gave me chocolates (Oh yeah!) Matthew gave me a MacArthur Bible Commentary...

and Mitchell gave me this "classic" that I've been wanting!!!

And now we're diving into 2013 which began so fun last week as we headed out to winter jam with my parents. We stood in line in the freezing cold for four hours shivering and laughing and it was just...well...cold and FUN! And because we did all that shivering, we got awesome seats. So we shivered and then we danced till we were sweaty... and my momma danced to Toby Mac and it was great. I love my momma and daddy so much. They are absolutely the best. And now, I'm hoping that by the next time I post, I will be able to figure out this new blogger interface. It appeared during my absence from blogger and I can't figure out how to get anything to go where I want it to. Oh well, one more thing to tackle. :)