Home Again...and trying to catch up!

We are home again! We left July 21st for Perry, Florida with some of the youth group on a mission trip and had an incredible experience. I love the kids in our youth group. I don't think they always understand the depths of our feelings for them. In all honesty, we love them as if they were our own children, which means that we are proud of them when they do really well, sad with them when they are hurting and sometimes even disappointed in their actions when they mess up. (And like kids with their parents, that probably works both ways!) Most of all, we love them for who they are...and let me tell you, every single one of them is completely different.

This group was absolutely incredible though. They worked hard and got along very well. I would take every single one of them on a trip with us again in a heartbeat. We survived a nasty stomach virus that took out 7 of our group. (I think that is the right number; it is easy to lose count when they are dropping like flies.) We survived a bus with bad airconditioning on some VERY HOT traveling days. They didn't complain and even better than that, had good enough attitudes to start singing songs praising God on the very HOT bus! What a group!

I cannot tell you how tired I am though! We decorated the church building Sunday night and Monday during the day and held VBS every night. Our days were spent having fun as a group. We went to the beach, an amusement park, a state park where we took a boat ride, and a mall. Here are a few things I learned on the trip:

1. If you go to the beach, be sure to adequately put sunscreen on all exposed body parts after you have lathered up your children. I applied SPF 60 (yes, you read it right...60...my kids are pale, what can I say?) on the boys, and to most of my arms, part of my face and apparently random parts of one leg. Needless to say, I had a really bad sunburn on my left leg and my right leg was rather spotted. The tops of my hands sunburned and my cheeks and nose were pretty red too. When you are already funny looking...you sure don't need to look like a spotted, sunburned freak!

2. The tilt-a-whirl is kind of fun once, but don't push it by doing it twice in a row after the age of 30. Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE fast rides. Put me on a roller coaster and I am happy for days! However, ever since I hit 30, rides that spin in circles and I don't mix very well. Sometimes, if the carousel is going too fast, it is just too much for me. I would love to say it is an inner ear thing, but I think I am just turning into a wimp! All the spinning rides were worth it though simply because my boys loved them. When I was riding on a teacup-like-ride (that was actually a dragon) with the boys, David said, "Quit spinning it mommy. You're making me blurry!" For the laugh that gave me, I would ride any spinning ride with my kids!

3. If you are not a boat person, it is probably best not to go on a boat ride in alligator and snake infested waters. I was trying to be brave for my children and show them that these things aren't scary, but I almost lost all sense of calm when our boating guide saw a very large alligator and tried to steer closer. I was sitting at the front of the boat and not real excited about seeing the alligator (or any of his friends that might be hiding in the murky waters) up close. However, I did not have a heart attack and was once again able to get back on dry ground where there were no vermin with large teeth.

All in all, it was a very good trip. I will share a few more specific stories in the next couple of days. Brian's mom, Barbara, is here visiting and we have some fun things planned, but I will definitely try to update more now that we are home.

A Few Words of Caution

I just want to share a few words of caution with all of you. (If you have a weak stomach, you may want to pass on this one.)

1. If a child comes to you and says, "Those yellow things keep making my underwear wet," you really should investigate. If you don't, before you even know it, the small child and the floor will be covered in diarrhea.

2. If that same child comes to you and says he has a frog in his mouth, don't assume that he has a scratchy throat or that a glass of water will take care of it. Otherwise, you will be cleaning the vomit off of the child, the bed and the floor.

3. When your youngest child gets a stomach virus, within 24 hours someone...oh wait...probably you and your husband will get it.

4. If you and your husband get the stomach virus at the same time, there is no one to offer sympathy, hold a washcloth on your neck as you throw up or feed the children. (However, kids can survive on foods that don't smell such as cheerios, crackers, etc. for one day.)

Yes, we have been hit hard with the stomach crud at our house. It always happens when life is busy and at the worst time. The worst part about it is that this is the first time Brian and I have had something like this at the same time since we have had kids. The boys weren't real understanding of the fact that it was painful for us to get out of bed, let alone impossible to handle the smell of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. However, everyone survived and the boys were adequately fed "smelly" food today.

Now, we are left hoping that David does not get the virus and that it has left our house for good. Every time he gets a strange look on his face, I push him towards a garbage can and ask him if his stomach hurts. He just looks at me like I am crazy (nothing new there) and tells me he is fine. I guess only time will tell if he gets it.

Bi-Lingual Children

First, David's swallow study went well, and he has no physical problems in his throat that are causing eating problems. The speech pathologist was able to share some other possible reasons and suggestions for the problem, so we will be working on ways to evaluate those with an occupational therapist and explore some creative new methods for helping him to eat more foods.

On to a different subject...it seems my children are becoming bi-lingual. The influence of Dora the Explorer over the years and the newer show, Go Diego Go, has helped the boys pick up some Spanish phrases. For example, one day Nathan got stuck while he was doing something and started yelling, "Ayude me! Ayude me! Help me! Ayude Me!"

The boys also use the Spanish words arriba and abajo when we are driving and going up and down hills. As we drive up the hill, they yell "Arriba!" When we go down the hill, "Abajo!"

A couple of days ago, we were watching Go Diego Go, and David decided that it was necessary to translate for me. When Diego said, "Hola," David told me that it meant hello. He also translated the Spanish name of an animal, a color and one more thing I can't remember. At one point, the character Diego said a complete sentence in Spanish. David looked at me and said, "Oh, that poor little animal is hungry." Right after that on the show, Diego translated his own sentence and said, "This poor animal is hungry."

Needless to say, I was quite shocked and was quite proud that David was gaining such a command of the Spanish language. At least I was until I found out that David had already seen the show. (Little Cheater!) What a let down! No...not really. I am thankful that they have picked up some of the Spanish language and hope that I can do more to help them become bi-lingual. I would really like them to learn several different languages because I think it will help them in their lives. However, I don't think I am going to let them learn the same languages because I am afraid of how they would use it against me!

Daind-gels

This morning Nathan and I had a very interesting conversation. It all started because I asked him if he was excited to see his friends at church. Nathan is the only boy in a class full of girls at church and he loves all of his "girls". He has been known to not let Ellie, one of the little girls, leave class until he gives her a hug and a kiss. So, I was kind of surprised when he responded with a simple "No" to my question. He then continued with this.

Nathan: I am excited to see Daind-gels. (That's the closest spelling I can get to what he said.)

Me: Daind-gels?

Nathan: Yes, Aind-gels.

Me: Oh, do you mean ANGELS?

Nathan: Yes, Daind-gels...Aind-gels...Angels. (He finally got the pronunciation right.) I am going to see David's Angel.

Me: Oh, David's angel. Where is David's angel?

Nathan: (Pointed up in the air) David's angel lives in our house.

Me: Oh! That's good.

It kind of makes you think, doesn't it? This is especially touching to me today because David is having a swallow study tomorrow. In all honesty, I know that it isn't a big deal in terms of what others have gone through with their kids, but it is a big deal for us right now.

Ever since he was a baby, David has just had trouble eating and gagging on food. He would even gag if you didn't put the bottle in his mouth just right. He gagged on baby food and real food, good food and bad food, foods he liked and foods he didn't like and so on. He has had phases where he has done better and eaten well and phases where it seemed like we were starting from scratch. We hit a point this past Spring where it got bad again and he ended up losing 5 pounds in 3 months, which is a big deal when you are 5 years old. So, this test is being done to try and find out if there is something in his throat or swallowing that is causing the problem.

David and I have talked about the test a little and he knows that he is going to have some x-rays of his mouth done. The other day he was praying and he thanked God for the x-rays. It was pretty sweet. Yesterday, he asked me if Nathan could be with him because Nathan might be scared about the x-rays and it would be good if Nathan could see how brave he is.

I am thankful that Nathan reminded me today that David has someone watching out for him. He has a God that will send comfort and strength to help him through this even though it may not be very fun. I have a feeling that "daind-gel" will be watching over all of us tomorrow!

Oh the Things You Can Do With a Water Hose

The boys are so glad to be home and have been living it up by playing outside. They have had water fights, watered all the plants, hosed down the swingset and anything else you can do with water. At one point, they even made a water slide out of the slide on the swing set. I made the slide a little more fun for them by adding some dishwashing soap to it. (Who needs to buy a slip and slide?!)

However, I was once again reminded that boys will be boys. Nathan discovered that if he pushed the hose against his swimming trunks the water would squirt in just the right way to make it look like he was taking a leak. Needless to say, the boys spent about 30 minutes taking turns doing this while I kept trying to find ways to distract them from this not so polite choice of fun. I knew if I made a really big deal about it, they would do it EVERY time they went outside. So, instead I just kept saying things like "Boys, don't you want to slide down the slide again?" and "That tree really needs to be watered. Why don't you guys water it for me?" It didn't work, and eventually I told them to stop which resulted in hysterical laughing and silly comments by the boys.

And this is my life living with all boys! OH MY!

We're Home!

No, we have not fallen off the face of the earth! We have spent most of the last month on the road with limited internet access and little time to blog.

The boys and I started our travels heading to Nebraska to spend time with my family while Brian took a group from our youth group to Wilderness Trek in Colorado. The boys had fun spending time with Grandma Sandy and playing with their cousins, and I had fun getting to know my nephews and niece a little better and getting to be with my mom. I love where we are at right now, but it is hard being away from my family and only getting to see them twice a year. It was neat for the boys to get to play with their cousins and hang out at the farm where I spent every summer of my life while I was growing up.

Another highlight of our trip to Nebraska was going to see the movie Cars. David sat mesmerized through the whole movie. Nathan liked it pretty well too, although it was a tad bit long for him. At one point during the movie, one of the characters said, "Oh my gosh" to which Nathan yelled "He said a bad word!" Of course, the theater was quiet when he said it so everyone heard it.

After a week in Nebraska, my mom, the boys and I headed back to Arkansas so that we could be with Brian for Father's Day. The boys made those coffee mugs with the paper inserts for Brian and also gave him some golf balls. While we were shopping for a present for Brian, the boys and I were talking about what he would really like to have. As we passed down the aisle with the vacuum cleaners, David said, "Daddy likes to vacuum. We should get him a vacuum cleaner." Nathan chimed in with "A blue vacuum cleaner." David then said, "Yeah, a blue vacuum cleaner because Daddy's favorite color is blue." It took a few minutes to talk them down from the idea of getting him a vacuum cleaner, but they eventually decided that he would like to golf more than he would like to vacuum.

We spent less than a week at home with most of the time spent getting ready to leave for a mission trip to South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. We went to Pennsylvania to do a Vacation Bible School for the church there. The people in South Williamsport were great and we had a lot of fun with the kids at VBS. Besides that, Pennsylvania is a beautiful state. We spent many of our free afternoons driving around taking pictures of covered bridges and old barns and looking at all the areas that had been flooded while we were there. (No, it doesn't take much to amuse people from Arkansas and Nebraska!)

After our week there, Brian, the boys, my mom and I took a short side trip before coming home. We headed to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania and spent a couple of days in Amish Country. We rode on the train in Strasburg, took a buggy ride to see Amish farms, and took the boys to an amusement park called Dutch Wonderland. We also shopped at outlet stores and spent too much money!

We finished off our Pennsylvania sight seeing by stopping at the Flight 93 Memorial. What a neat place to remember some very heroic people. Before we got there, we explained to the boys about what the people on Flight 93 did and the sacrifices they made. It was pretty tough for a 3 year old and 5 year old to understand, but I think that at least David understood part of it. They were both pretty quiet and respectful while we were there. At one point, Nathan asked where the people on the plane that crashed were. I told them that they had died, and in a very sad voice, he said, "But I want them here." I love the way that kids have a knack for voicing the way everyone feels.

After that stop, we started our long trip home. In an unfortunate incident, our travel size DVD player stopped working, which made a long trip home even longer for the boys. They did pretty good without it, but Nathan kept getting a little loud and David would yell, "Nathan stop being so loud. You are cracking me out!"

Our trips were great and getting the chance to spend time with my mom was good for my soul and sanity. Even with both of those good things, I must admit that it sure is nice to be home though. My mom left for home today, and I think she is also ready to be back in her own home and sleep in her own bed.

So, that is what we have been doing for most of the last month. I have missed sharing stories on my blog and will try to share some of the funnier moments in more detail over the next few days.

The Poopy Diaper Story...Just SMILE

A good friend who is also the father of Alan, the boy in our youth group that David and I took food to while his parents were out of town, linked to the David Strikes Again post in his blog. When he told me he was going to link to my blog, I told him that people might not think so much of his choice of links because I have a lot of bathroom posts involving poop.

Well, as good friends do, he linked to my blog anyway (poop and all), and I couldn't help but be reminded of the best poopy diaper story of all time. It is an old story, but it is a classic in our family and is worth sharing.

Nathan, who was probably 1 at the time, was sitting next to me on the couch, and he was holding a yellow, craft foam smiley face that was part of an Oriental Trading Company craft. Before I could even stop him, he popped the smiley face in his mouth. I tried to dig it out of his mouth, but unfortunately the smiley face had already begun the great journey into Nathan's digestive system.

As a parent, I faced the great dilemma of wondering if craft foam is toxic or dangerous in any way. So, being the amateur parent that I was, I called the company to ask them if their craft foam was toxic. (And yes, I am sure that they still talk about and laugh at the crazy lady that called to find out if craft foam would injure her toddler!)

Needless to say, Nathan had a little bit of a stomach ache that night. The next day, it came time for the first diaper change of the day. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the diaper and there sat the smiley face. (Brian is still jealous because he never had a diaper smile at him!)

David, who had just turned three, was quite curious as to why I was laughing so hard and came over to investigate. He looked at the diaper and saw the smiley face in it. With a look of utter awe on his face, he asked, "HOW DID HE DO THAT?!"

A Good Day for the Soul

The past few days have been very chaotic at our house. A friend of mine from college and her two kids came to stay for 5 days, and our house has been a flurry of activity with kids playing and other friends stopping by for a visits. At one point, we had 9 kids between the ages of 3 and 8 at our house. I never realized how 9 kids could have such different personalities or how much the energy level could increase with that many kids in one house!

It is always good to see old friends; however, I tend to get a little stressed with how my kids act. They are good kids, but I will be the first to say that they are not perfect and that those imperfections seem to shine through more often when they are out of their routine and not getting much sleep. David tends to get whinier, which can grate on anyone's nerves, and Nathan just gets a little naughtier.

This past weekend, Nathan used the "shock and awe" approach with our guests, although it might be better to use the term "shock and horror" for his antics. Soon after our guests arrived, I think he realized that they weren't comfortable with a naked child meandering through the house, so EVERY time he went into the bathroom, he would come out of the bathroom short a pair of pants and underwear. Thriving on the looks of horror, it continued the whole time our guests were here. Since they left, the fun of horrifying people is gone, and he has returned to his clothed self (most of the time!)

Our company left yesterday and we headed to the Petit Jean state park with some of the youth group. We had so much fun. We climbed rocks and walked some of the trails. We had a picnic lunch with all the big kids. The group then hiked down the mountain to see the waterfalls. It was supposed to be a 2 hour hike and I wasn't sure if it would be easy enough for the boys to do, so we stayed at the picnic area and hung out while the rest of the group went to the falls.

I must say that days like this are good for my soul. The boys and I had so much fun together. They played on the playground. We walked by the lake and talked about how lily pads float and looked for fish. We tried feeding the fish Fritos, but I guess fish aren't big on corn chips because we did not have any takers. We found a little toad and the boys watched it until Nathan tried to encourage the toad to jump by poking it with a stick and accidentally gored it. (Not a pretty moment or an easy one to explain to a 3 year old and 5 year old!) Except for the frog incident and some minor scratches and a splinter, the boys had a blast.

For me, it was fun seeing all the good in my kids come out. Sometimes I forget to see all those good characteristics in my kids, especially during times that are a little more stressful or when we are not in our normal routine. I loved seeing Nathan hug and kiss the little girl at the playground after she got hurt even though he had no clue who she was. I loved hearing David tell me everything he knows about frogs and listen to his stories about how everything in the world works. Most of all, I enjoyed seeing my kids be kids and play their little hearts out. They were so tired that they were both asleep pretty quick once we got back onto the bus to go home. And just to be totally honest, I will admit that I also enjoyed the fact that they slept on the way home! :-)

David Strikes Again

Here is another funny David moment. One of the kids in our youth group is at home alone this week while his parents are on a trip. I made some poppy seed chicken for him so he could have some home-cooked food while his mom was gone, and David helped me take it over to him.

Here was our conversation on the way to deliver the food:

David: Now, who are we taking this food to mommy?

Me: We're taking it to Alan.

David: The big kid, Alan? (That is how we distinguish all the kids in the youth group.)

Me: Yes

David: Are we taking food to his mommy and daddy too?

Me: No, just to Alan. His mommy and daddy are on a trip.

David: AND HE IS ALL ALONE?!!!!

Me: Yes, but he is older David. He is old enough to stay home by himself.

David thought for a second and then asked: Can he get a drink all by himself when he is thirsty?

Me: Yes, he can.

David: Can he choose to eat whatever he wants for supper?

Me: Yes, he can.

David: What are we taking him for supper?

Me: Poppy seed chicken.

David: With rice?

Me: Yes, with rice.

David: If he is old enough to choose whatever he wants for supper, then why would he choose rice?!!!

____________

**Edit**

We pulled up to church last night and David became very concerned and asked,"How is Alan going to get to church?" Brian told David that Alan would drive his truck to church, and David responded quite dramatically, "HE IS OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE??!!!"

(If the length of time we have been driving determines how old we are, then I guess I am ancient!)

Who is in Charge of Groceries?

Yesterday, the boys and I went to Wal-Mart. That right there is pretty much enough said, right?

As soon as we stepped foot in the store, the boys begged to go look at the toys and the fish. We browsed through the toy section first after I told the boys we were ONLY looking and received promises from both that they wouldn't ask for anything. Instead of asking if he could have the toys, David just kept saying, "That is a neat (insert name of toy). Maybe if I am lucky, I will get one of those someday."

After looking at all the toys and at the fish, we headed to buy groceries. Since David has very "specific preferences" about food, he soon began to realize that he didn't like what I was putting in the cart. So, when I put some lunch meat in the cart, he said, "Daddy didn't tell you to get that." I just gave him a strange look and kept shopping. He continued on with "You aren't following Daddy's instructions very well" when I put some green beans in the cart. At one point, he shook his head at me and said, "Daddy is NOT going to be very happy!"

Now, I really believe that it is scriptural and important to be a submissive wife, but my response probably didn't portray that idea very well to my son. I leaned down and looked David in the eyes and said, "David, Daddy is not in charge of groceries. I am in charge of groceries. Daddy will like whatever I buy!" David just crossed his arms and sighed. We finished our shopping and David didn't say another word about any of my choices.

The Journey

I haven't been blogging because we have been traveling. On Friday, we headed to Ft. Worth because Brian's cousin, Chris, was graduating from high school. The trip was fun and VERY eventful. I was trying to find a quote that I once heard about a journey that would sum up our trip, but I couldn't find the one I was looking for. In the process though, I came across these two quotes that help adequately explain the weekend.

"Traveling tends to magnify all human emotions." - Peter Hoeg

"In America, there are two classes of travel: First class, and
with children." - Robert Benchley

On Friday, we headed out in the afternoon to Ft Worth. After several peaceful hours in the car, we decided to stop for a nice supper at Cracker Barrel. Lucky for us, the peaceful weekend stopped there. Nathan gagged on some food and threw up EVERYWHERE. Since we are experts in small children gagging and throwing up, Brian and I have a system already worked out. He is the napkin hander guy who passes napkins to me, the pounder and catcher girl who is responsible for pounding the small child's back and catching whatever comes out of his mouth. Unfortunately, we only had four napkins and Nathan apparently had a pretty full stomach. Needless to say, life got very messy.

To add insult to injury, the "nice" lady at the table behind us made some very rude comments as if Nathan had purposefully thrown up to ruin her day. I wanted to get in her face and put her in her place, but the need to take care of the situation at hand won out. I got Nathan cleaned up and then realized that he had gotten my clothes dirty too. So, I changed clothes in the van (very discreetly!) while I waited for Brian and David to make their way out to the car. Then we were off again for another "peaceful" car ride.

At least it was peaceful until Brian was pulled over by the state trooper. Did you know at night you can only go 65 mph in Texas? David was quite excited about the policeman and the flashing red and blue lights behind us. He even asked us if the policeman was there to show us the way to Dallas. That lightened the mood a little bit. The trooper gave Brian a warning (which lightened the mood even more) and we were once again on our way to Ft. Worth...at 65 mph.

Saturday was a good day. We spent time with Brian's aunt, Becky, and cousins, Chris and Meagan. We enjoyed getting to visit with them during the day and then went to Chris' graduation that night. It was a nice graduation, but a little on the long side for the boys, especially Nathan. At one quiet point in the graduationceremonyy, Nathan gave an overdramatic and very loud sigh, which brought about some stares, smiles and laughing from the people seated around us. (They were thinking the same thing...Nathan just had the guts to verbalize it!) Overall, they did a good job, but at the end of it, were more than ready to leave.

Sunday was another great day. We spent the afternoon with Becky, Chris, Meagan and Becky's husband Pat just hanging out at their house. The boys decided to put their feet in the pool and pretty soon they were wading on the steps of the pool in just their underwear. Nathan decided it was time to be a little braver and stepped off the step into a section of the pool where he couldn't reach the bottom. This led to me jumping in the pool to rescue him. (Did I mention I was wearing my jeans, T-shirt, socks and shoes?) And for the record, I don't think I will ever forget the look of fear in his eyes when I pulled him out of the water. I just wonder what was going through that little mind of his during that moment.

Anyway, since I was already wet, I stayed in the pool a little longer and took Nathan for a swim. I didn't want him to be afraid of being in the water, so I helped him "swim" for a little while and then all of us that were soaking wet dried off and put on new clothes. We spent the rest of our time at their house relaxing in the shade and playing with the dogs, which was a HUGE step for David since he was terrified of the dogs when he first saw them.

That is pretty much a highlight of our journey. There were a few other things in there like a movie and a shopping trip to buy me some new clothes to wear home since Nathan kept sabotaging mine. In spite of some of the "moments", it was a very good trip. Although, I will admit, it is always nice to be home.

Where's the Manual?

Nobody warned me that raising kids was going to be so confusing. I love my children very much, but sometimes, I just don't know what to do with them. Yesterday, I received a call from school about David. Not only had David been moved to red (green is good, yellow is a warning and red is really bad) during naptime, but he was caught wandering around the room...TWICE...trying to find people to talk to. Then last night, he and Nathan did something that David knows is wrong and from what I gathered, David was the instigator and the leader in the whole thing. So, then I am stuck with the ultimate parenting dilemma...what punishment do I dole out to make sure both of them know I am not happy with their actions and to prevent it from happening again? After I finally decided how to discipline them and took care of that part, I spent the whole night wondering if I had done the right thing (while they slept peacefully and didn't think about it again!)

Then this morning, I was reminded about the blessings that little instigator bestows. Brian dropped David off at school and was approached by Jacob's mom. Jacob is a little boy in David's Pre-K class that was born with an extra chromosome. He is THE SWEETEST little boy, and David and Jacob have become the best little buddies over the past year. Jacob's mom apologized for asking any personal questions but said she had heard that we were keeping David in the Pre-K program another year rather than sending him to kindergarten and wanted to know if it was true. Brian told her that it was true, and she was so excited that they would be together for another year. She then proceeded to tell Brian how David had been such a blessing for Jacob. She talked about how well they play together and how David has helped Jacob.

Now, the decision to keep David back and not send him on to Kindergarten has been soooo hard for us. We have been back and forth on what to do. We have prayed and cried (well, I have cried) and gotten frustrated with each other and ourselves on what to do. I think we have found peace in our decision now, but Jacob's mom made something even clearer today. David and Nathan aren't here to live life as I have planned or Brian has planned. They are here to live life as God has planned, and He is already using them. I always concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing to mold them to become Christian men, but I forget that they are also already molding me and the people around them.

Knowing that still doesn't make all those tough decisions easy, but it really does help put everything in perspective. I would still love an owner's manual that tells me what to do in every situation, but that would be too easy and probably a little too boring. So for now, I will stick with teaching them through God's word and with a lot of prayer. Even more than that, I will work at trying to seek out those blessings every day so that I can focus on the goodness in my children rather than those moments that are quickly making me gray and tired.

I am a player...I am a BASEBALL player

David played in his first T-Ball game tonight. Now for anyone that knows David, it is a given that if it involves throwing a ball, David will love it. Right? Well...not really.

At the two T-Ball practices, David ended up in tears and attaching himself to either Brian or me. For a child that is talkative and a bit of an attention seeker with the youth group, he is quite shy and timid around kids his age. Add to that the confusion of 14 five year olds on a baseball field, and you just don't have a positive experience in David's eyes.

In addition, his only other team experience was soccer last year, and that was even worse than the baseball practices. We would literally bribe him to just get him to stand on the soccer field for the game. It wasn't that he didn't like soccer. He loves to kick around the ball. It was all because in the first game, he headed to the wrong goal and the parents laughed. It wasn't even intended in a mean way. Everyone was just laughing at the fact that David was kicking the ball towards the wrong goal and a herd of 4 year olds were following behind him. The embarrassment of that situation coupled with the fact that 5 other little boys were constantly running towards him (one time resulting in a head on collision) ended the desire to play soccer for David.

So, this T-Ball game was a BIG deal at our house. Brian and I didn't care if he ever touched the ball, hit the ball, or if he ran the bases backwards. ALL that we cared about was David staying on the field and having fun. For a rather competitive mom, that is not an easy thing to say, but honestly, I really just wanted him to enjoy the game.

And he did! You would have thought the kid hit a thousand homeruns by the smile on his face and my face when the game was done. (Unfortunately, Brian wasn't able to go because he is still sick.) David hit the ball both times at bat. He ran the bases well...except for when he forgot to run from second to third even though the coaches were all yelling, "Run! Go David! Run David!" (I blame that on the fact that the batter's helmet was too big and he couldn't see without holding it up though!)

While his team was in the field, he played in the dirt, and one time even sat down. His coaches tried to coax him up, and when they couldn't, his head coach went and sat down on the field next to him as the game went on around them. The coach sat there and talked to him, and eventually David stood up and "played" the rest of the game. When the game was done and we were walking to get his free snowcone, David looked at me and said, "I love my team! I played baseball and that was so much fun!"

I could have cried right there. It touched me to the depths of my heart to see him proud with himself. I am so thankful he has a kind-hearted coach willing to sit down on the ground to encourage my child to give his best effort in a loving way. One of the moms pointed to them sitting on the field together and said, "Now that is a good T-Ball coach. That is what it is all about right there." I couldn't agree more.

When we got home, David asked me where his hat was. He said he had to put it on to show his dad that he was a player. As he climbed out of the van, he said, "I am a player...I am a BASEBALL player." Then he repeated "I am a Baseball player" over and over until we went inside the house.

At the End of My Rope...But Still Laughing

Have you ever reached the point where you are really busy and life just gets even more hectic by certain turns of events. Well, I am there right now. It's finals week. I am frantically grading proposals and finals and trying to get grades done. Brian has been very sick with some kind of stomach virus that I am praying no one else in the family gets. We are honoring our seniors this Sunday at church and not only is Brian in charge of it, but I have to prepare the meal for around 80 people. Then you have to throw into the mix a T-Ball game and practice, making calls to relocate our home Bible study, trying to find a sub for our home Bible study, as well as all the usual things that go along with raising two busy boys. Needless to say, life is a little on the stressful side in the Lewis house.

BUT, I am seeing blessings in the small things right now. A dear, sweet woman from church is getting the brisket and stuff for side dishes from Sam's to save me a trip to Little Rock. She is also my back-up cook in case I get the nasty stomach virus. David and I had a fun time making a thank you note for the little girl who gave him the shaker last night after church and that was a lot of fun.

Probably the best blessing so far though, came in the form of Nathan just being Nathan. I was working on proposals upstairs when Nathan popped his head in to tell me hi. I noticed that his hair was all wet and asked him why his hair was wet. He started looking for an escape route at that point and I knew something was wrong. So, I took his hand and asked him to show me how he got his hair wet. He hesitated and then asked if he was going to get in trouble. That was enough to let me know that this wasn't going to be a pretty adventure. I told him that he REALLY needed to tell me the truth, and he finally took me to "the place".

Can you guess where he led me? (If you have read very much of my blog, you know.) He took me straight into the bathroom and pointed to the toilet. I asked him how he did it and he started to show me how he dunked his head in the toilet water. At this point, all I could do was shake my head and get him in the tub for a bath. I cleaned the kid up and sent him on his way to play, and then I just laughed and laughed and laughed.

I am not sure if I was laughing to keep from crying, laughing over the fact that my child is obsessed with the toilet, or laughing because I really need a good night's sleep and am overloaded on caffeine. Regardless of the reason, it sure felt good.

WHAT Did You Learn at School Today?!

Brian and I were talking to David yesterday and asking him all about his day. He has yet another girl showing interest in him. She colored a picture of a ladybug and catepillar out of a coloring book for him last week at school, and yesterday he brought home a shaker (you remember the paper towel cardboard tubes filled with beans shaker, don't ya?) that she had made for him. Her mom sent me an email and told me that Emily had wanted to make a craft for him because he had been playing with her and she thinks he's great. (We think Emily is pretty smart!) His teacher also told me that she has been following him around and trying to hold his hand a lot. When we ask David about her, he just kind of ducks his head down and gets embarrassed. It's pretty cute!

After hearing about the girl situation at school, I asked him what they learned about in school. He started in with, "I don't know. I don't remember." Now, I KNOW that this child remembers everything. He can tell me about something that happened when he was 2. So, I usually don't let him get away with this little avoid-the-discussion tactic. I continued by asking, "Did you learn about flowers?"

David: "No."
Me: "Did you learn about kites?"
David:"NO"

At this point he started to get into my little game and asked, "Do you want to know what we learned about? We learned about frogs and...and sex." To which I practically yelled, "WHAT?!" My head started to spin and I was thinking, "What in the world are they teaching my sweet, innocent little 5 year old."

David gave me the strangest look and replied, "Frogs and...and sex, you know dragonflies and other little bugs."

Then it hit me... Frogs and INSECTS. (Note to self: work on pronunciation of the word insect with David.)

What's in a Name?

Daddy's home! Brian has been gone to California since Tuesday, and for two little boys (and mom), that is entirely too long. It was a bit of a stressful week for him to be gone because of everything we had going on last week, but we managed and everything worked out pretty well.

I must admit though, it was rather discouraging to get a call from Brian in the middle of the week as he drove through the canyons and hills of Malibu in his good friend's Porsche 911 convertible while I was at home convincing Nathan that there is nothing funny or proper about going potty on the living room (or bathroom or bedroom) floor. However, I am glad that Brian was able to go to the lectureship and to some really good classes. It gave him a chance to be filled spiritually, as well as gain some useful tools to use in his ministry. As an added benefit, he was able to spend a little time with his good friend, Nathan and his wife and kids.

I am very thankful for Nathan and Brian's friendship with Nathan. It is one of those friendships that has lasted through time and they are really more like brothers than friends. Since we don't live close to them, Brian and Nathan just don't get to see each other very often. Although they get to talk on the phone, it just isn't the same as when they get to see each other and spend time together. Brian walks away from those times with Nathan renewed and ready to face the world. (I know; it sounds corny worded like that, but I don't know how else to describe it.)

Now, if you haven't already guessed this, our little Nathan is named after the best friend Nathan. Names are really important to me. I read an article the other day about how your name tells if you are going to be successful, and honestly, I just don't buy into that kind of stuff. However, I do think that it is neat to be named after someone special to the family.

Both of my boys are named after people who mean the world to us. David is named after my grandpa, who was my hero and mentor, and Nathan's (the best friend Nathan, that is) dad, who baptized Brian and played a big role in Brian's conversion and spiritual walk. Then his middle name comes from Brian's uncle, who was more like a father to Brian. With Nathan, we knew even before I became pregnant with him that, if we had another son, we would name him Nathan.

Both my boys have big names to live up to. We don't care if they are successful in the eyes of the world, but we hope they walk in the knowledge that they were named after men that we love and respect very much. We hope that we teach them the qualities that these men possess and how to impact others in the way these 4 men have impacted us.

Right now though, the only thing they associate with these great names is how I say them when they are in serious trouble!

What Do Mommies Do?

Kids are so humbling. David was walking around with a clipboard this morning making up checklists. (Sorry Brian, I did not mean for him to inherit the list gene!)

He came up to me and said, "I am making a checklist for you. What do mommies do?"

So I asked a rather dangerous question: "What do you think mommies do?"

Here is his checklist in the order he told them to me:

1. Put on makeup
2. Get dressed
3. Dry hair
4. Brush teeth
5. Spit the toothpaste out of mouth
6. Make lunch
7. Make supper
8. Make dinner
9. Play croquet

At the beginning of the list, I was nodding and agreeing with him. When he got to number 8, I did ask him how many meals he thought we ate in a day. I get the impression that dinner is his fancy word for a snack.

Number 9 just made me laugh. I asked him if he even knew what croquet was. He was a little put off by my laughing and responded, "I know what croquet is! It is....well, you....what is croquet?"

Since I am already ready for the day, have spit the toothpaste out of my mouth, and it is not time for lunch yet, I guess I will break out the ol' croquet set and go do whatever you do when you play croquet.

I Am in Charge

I never knew that 5 year olds felt such a need to be in charge of something. In the past couple of days, David has been telling me, "Well, those are my toys and I am in charge of them" or "That's my room and I am in charge of it." Usually these comments are made after he is told to pick up his toys in the living room or his bedroom. My motherly response has been that if you are in charge of something, then you are supposed to take care of it and put it away when you are done with it. (If only I would practice what I preach!)

Today, Nathan walked in the room wearing a pair of David's Rescue Hero underwear. They were HUGE and were sagging almost to his knees. I started laughing and told him that he had on a pair of David's underwear instead of his own underwear. He told me he wanted to wear super hero underwear today so he had picked some out from David's drawer. I guess Bob the Builder just wasn't cutting it today.

David then walked over to him and looked a little more closely at the underwear. I thought that there was going to be a big fight over the fact that Nathan was wearing David's underwear since David has become quite protective of his stuff recently. I quickly told Nathan that he needed to take off David's underwear and put on a pair of his own underwear.

David put up his hand to stop me and said, "No, it's okay. He can wear them if he wants. They are my underwear and I am in charge of my underwear."

What?! Who in their right mind wants to be in charge of underwear? I think I need to work on finding some more normal things for him to be in charge of. In the meantime, I should let him know that there is some underwear in the laundry basket in the boys' bathroom that needs to be washed, dried, folded and put away.

The Sky is Banging!

Last night, we had some serious thunderstorms. Needless to say, I had two scared little visitors who were not impressed by the amount of lightening and thunder going on outside their windows in the wee hours of the morning. David made his way to our room first and snuggled in next to me for safety. About 30 minutes later, Nathan trotted in, poked me in the arm, and said, "The sky is banging out there and it is too loud for my ears." I asked him if he was scared and he nodded. So he climbed in bed too, and everyone was safe.

Well...everyone, but me. You see, Nathan is a nightmare to sleep with. He doesn't often make his way into our room and climb into bed, but when he does, my patience is tested beyond belief. He flops around, pokes me in the face, messes with my hair, lays on top of my arm...and that is what he does in the first five minutes. From there it just goes downhill until I return him to his bed.

After about 15 minutes, I told him that if he touched me again I was sending him back to his own bed. I felt bad because I know that he was really frightened from the storm, but I desperately needed more sleep at 4:00 in the morning. So, what does he do? He leaves me alone and starts picking on David. How typical!

Now I Know My ABC's

Nathan was singing his ABC's tonight and came up with a version that I have never heard of before. This is how it goes:

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - K - E - L - M - N - O - P

Q - R - S - T - U - B - W - X - Y AND B

NOW I WONDER WHERE YOU ARE

NEXT TIME YOU CAN BE L - M - N - O - P

(He may not have it all right, but at least he can rhyme!)

And to give David his fair share of blog time, here is his version of the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
United States of America
to the hall which it stands
one mention, under God, invisible
with liberty and justice for all.

Here Comes the Cleaning Bunny

Easter weekend was a whirlwind of activity at our house. We started it off with a Spring cleaning of sorts. Ever since we moved, there has been a bunch of "stuff" in our garage that we have needed to go through. There were boxes from every room in the old house containing that junk you just can't live without even though it hasn't been touched in the past six months. So, I had a "great" idea. I decided we were going to do a clean sweep of the stuff in the garage.

Now, if you haven't seen Clean Sweep on TLC, you have missed out. It is a show with a team of people including Peter, a master organizer and declutterer, and an interior decorator, carpenter, and a bunch of helpers. This group of people work with the homeowners to declutter 2 rooms and completely redo them. So, I am thinking, "It's just one garage. We can go through all the stuff in a day." (First mistake!) So, we get up Saturday. I put the sheets on the ground for the keep, toss and give-away piles. Then I decide that we probably need to make it even more organized by sorting our keep pile by room in the new house so we don't have to sort through it twice. (Second Mistake!)

We carry all the stuff to the back yard and the boys go nuts looking through all of it and grabbing stuff that they must have. I never knew they had so many favorite toys! We sort and sort and sort and sort. It just never ends. We had stuff all over our back yard. It was the most horrific thing I have chosen to do!

The end result...We have stuff to put away in EVERY room of our house. We have a ton of stuff to get rid of and probably need to have a garage sale to accomplish that. I ended up with a horrible sunburn. One of my arms is so sunburned that it turned purple, which I don't think is normal.

So, the next time I have a "GREAT" idea, I am going to go hide in my closet or something. Yes, I am glad that we have sorted through stuff and this is one of our few weekends that we could get it done. The problem is that I really thought we could get everything done Saturday and Sunday, and...well...to put it nicely, that did not happen! The moral of the story is either don't accumulate so much junk or don't believe what you see on T.V.

The state of our house left the poor Easter Bunny wading through a bunch of stuff to leave Easter baskets for the boys. Nathan proceeded to eat all the chocolate in his basket for breakfast Sunday morning while we were getting ready for church. (Sorry Sunday school teachers!) During rest time, he snuck into David's room and ate all of David's chocolate. (Sorry David and Christian Soldiers teachers!) Our house was so messy that we drove down to the Big City for lunch and a somewhat relaxing afternoon before evening services. It was a busy, but fun day!

Hope all of you had a clean, decluttered and fun Easter weekend!

When It Rains...It Pours...AND Floods

I think it is going to take us at least a week to recover from the events of yesterday and today! Brian was gone all of yesterday and most of today. The boys and I are expecting him back any moment now and let me tell you, it won't be a second to soon! I don't know what it is about Brian being gone, but every time disaster strikes and it's always a test of my coping skills!

Things were going pretty well Friday until a little after 5:00 p.m. I had gotten some laundry done, cleaned the house, worked on my online class and was getting ready to grade some papers when it happened. For the second time of being in this house, my washing machine overflowed. What a mess! And of course, it happened right after 5:00 when our appliance repair guy had already left for the day...actually, had left for the weekend. So, I cleaned up the mess and emptied the water from the washing machine and was left with a ton of soaking wet towels to wring out and dry.

This was all on a day when, if you read the last post you know that neither boy took a nap. So, in addition to having a flood in my laundry room, I had two grouchy little boys. The mess was not horrible though, and I got it cleaned up, fed the boys, put them to bed about 7:00 p.m. and settled into my comfy chair in the living room to get some work done.

Well...not quite. Nathan started coughing...and coughing...and coughing. I checked on him several times and then finally had him come sit with me. Needless to say, I didn't get just a ton of sleep last night.

The dawn of Saturday would surely bring a more relaxing and less eventful day, right?

Wrong! Around 8:00 a.m., Nathan accidentally pulled David's arm out of socket helping him up off the floor. (or as David says, "My arm got sock-ed) I got David calmed down, and then started rushing around to get everybody ready to go. I also had the great dilemma as a parent. Do I wait until 9:00 when the clinic opens to be able to take David to a pediatrician who he knows and is going to be more comfortable with or do I take him to the Emergency Room? Knowing that David would probably handle the doctor's office better and seeing that he was staying pretty calm, I opted for the clinic.

David wanted to tell his Daddy about his arm while I was getting everybody ready, so we called Brian, filled him in on the injury, and then headed to the doctor's office. David did remarkably well; however, even after the doctor said it felt like it was back in the socket and the x-ray looked good, David was still in a lot of pain. I convinced him to put on the sling that the doctor gave us and thought the soreness would get better in a few hours. I even called my mom to see how long it used to bother me after my arm would come out of socket.

Now, seven hours later, it still hurts bad when he moves it the least little bit. The doctor told us if he was still having problems tomorrow to take him to the Emergency Room to have them try to put it in socket again and if that didn't work, he would need to see an orthopedic doctor. So, it looks like tomorrow may be an exciting day too. (As Aunt Judy would say, "Bless his heart!")

As an extra bonus, while I was typing this, Nathan proudly came and told me to come see what he had done in my bathroom. The sweet boy had cleaned part of the floor with a scrubbing brush...and toilet water. (Did I mention that he had just gone the bathroom in the toilet?) I guess I now need to go mop my bathroom floor!

Calgon, take me away!

Naptime...A Horrid Thing

Naptime has become a difficult thing at our house...again. Nathan has always been a fairly good napper. We have had short periods of time where he tried to assert his independence and refuse to take a nap, but he has now reached that stage where he almost doesn't need that nap (almost being the key word). If he doesn't have it, life is a nightmare from about 5:00p.m. until bedtime. The key is convincing him to fall asleep because he tries everything to keep himself awake. Today was the ultimate naptime moment!

The first time that Nathan came out from his room, he said, "Look mommy. I need to wear my yah-yo's." (Yah-yo's translated is overalls.) I took off the yah-yo's and sent him back to bed.

The next time he came back, he was wearing every pair of clean underwear from his drawer...all 12 of them. It then took 5 minutes for him to get all the underwear off and for him to get climb back into to bed. This episode came with a stern warning that he needed to close his eyes and go to sleep...or else!

Well, about 10 minutes later I hear the door open. Nathan walks out very slowly with his eyes closed, and he is snoring. He walks over to me with eyes still closed and snoring loudly. I walk him back to bed while he kept his eyes closed and snored even louder. I make him climb up in bed and he never once opened his eyes. I think he thought he had me fooled...or at least his hysterical laughing when I closed the door suggested that.

Oh my! At least I am still two steps ahead of this one...well, for now that is!

Little Gems

You know how people say things that just stick with you forever? Sometimes they are funny; sometimes they are little nuggets of wisdom. Here are some funny little gems from the boys:

David: In his prayer Sunday night..."And thank you that our house wasn't blown away by the tormado." (And I didn't mean to type tornado. He really calls them tormadoes.)

Nathan: Monday morning when he woke up..."MOMMY, it stopped raining. It's not night anymore. The floods came up." (They are studying Noah and the Ark in Bible class.)

Nathan: Every other morning..."Mommy, it's today! Get up mommy...you can do it!"

David: Looking at Carissa (his girlfriend) with an awed look on his face while at Playworld at his birthday party..."She's so beautiful!"

David: After I tucked in his shirt..."Can I unplug my shirt when I get to school?"

Nathan: After I asked him if he was daddy's boy..."Yes, and you are my girl!"

Nathan: After being asked NOT to go potty in the bathtub..."But I like it. It's fun!"

Confessions of a (crazy) Mom

I stooped to a new low last week when Brian was out of town. Nathan and I were out running errands and he announced he had to go the bathroom. We were nowhere near a bathroom, and I didn't really think it would be appropriate to stop and let him go potty in someone's front yard. (Call me crazy!) I knew I had to think fast because when Nathan has to go, he HAS TO GO! He had been having a lot of accidents in the days leading up to this, so I knew I really needed to prevent a bad situation.

This is the point that the story starts going downhill...

I remembered that I had seen a cup in the car, and I thought, "I can use the McDonald's cup and everything will be okay, right?" WRONG! I got out of the car, threw open the van door, and the cup was gone. (Since when did I start throwing the trash in my van away?) All I could find that would even remotely work was a Sippee cup. I thought about having him go on the parking lot, but there were too many witnesses. So, I did the unthinkable, I rationalized the use of the sippee cup. After all, I can thoroughly wash and then sanitize a sippee cup through the boiling process. And this was an EMERGENCY. So, I then had Nathan go potty in the sippee cup. At some point while he was peeing in the cup, he looked at me and said, "This is so much fun!"

So, where does this leave us now...

First, I tried boiling the sippee cup and it melted in my pan.

Second, Nathan is now even more obsessed with his bodily functions than before this incident. He actually told me a couple of days ago that he had made two big poopies...one looked like his daddy and one like him and they were so cute. (I am not sure we will ever be able to pay for enough counseling for this kid!)

Last, and probably the most frightening, I would probably do it again if I had to. (Maybe I am the one that needs the counseling.)

The Birthday Bash

I know what you are thinking...I have not posted in a LONG time. Life has been crazy and I honestly have not had a lot of extra time. In my defense, I did try to post once, but our internet went down and I lost everything.

So, to catch you up real quick -- My cousin is now back home after his surgery. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. They did have to cut his nerve, so he has no feeling on the left side of his face, but it seems like the pain is being managed with medicine right now, which is an answer to many prayers. Thanks to everyone for the emails and for praying for him!

At our house, we had a BIG day yesterday. David celebrated his 5th birthday. Man, talk about time flying. It seems like it was just yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital. I pulled out some of his baby pictures and showed them to David. We talked about bringing him home from the hospital and how much we adored him. He loved it.

I also thought to myself about all that happened along the way to get him to this day from the tough pregnancy with 3 months of bedrest, being told he might have Down's Syndrome, the emergency c-section delivery, the problems he had after birth with his blood sugar and eating to the "growing-up" problems that have made us worry, cry or pull our hair in frustration. I don't know if I thought about all this because David turning 5 just seems so impossible or if it was because I really saw him yesterday and was so thankful for him and being at this point with him.

I have always thought that David was a kind-hearted little boy, but he truly showed me his heart yesterday. He offered to let Nathan help him open presents and even said he could have one if he wanted. David and I went on a date for lunch and talked about growing up. He told me that when he grows up he wants to be a Big Kid (a.k.a teenager like the ones in the youth group) and a race car driver. He thanked me all day for everything we did. The moment that touched me the most though was when he blew out the candles. I asked him if he made a wish and he said, "I wish that I will stay with Daddy and Mommy and Nathan forever!"

If I could bottle up time, this would be one of those moments I would keep forever. I would pull it out when he is throwing a fit or yelling at his brother, just to remind me of how thankful I really am for him rather than getting caught up in the frustration of the moment. He is a blessing.

So to my dear, sweet David, you will always be with me and Daddy and Nathan forever because you touch us with your kind heart every day. But, if you want to live with good ol' Dad and Mom for forever, then you better get paid a lot as a race car driver because we charge a lot for rent!

Some of the Greatest Superheroes

As I write this post, my cousin, Doug, is in surgery to remove a tumor from his trigeminal nerve. The tumor is right in the center of his head between his brain and his brain stem. It is serious stuff and all of your prayers on his behalf would be greatly appreciated.

Doug's surgery started at 9:18 a.m. and will probably last 6 to 8 hours. They will biopsy the tumor, but right now the doctors are pretty confident it is benign. The main concern is that he could have permanent double vision and hearing loss. The doctors are not sure if the feeling will come back in his face and there is the possibility that the pain could get worse, which seems . So, please, please, please...offer up prayers for his health and for there to be no complications. These doctors are good, but God is better and is in charge right now.

Doug has obviously been on my mind a lot lately, and it has taken me on a trip down memory lane. Doug is my oldest cousin and we are 11 years apart. (I am the youngest of the family.) In between the two of us are his three younger sisters and then my older brother. The six of us spent our summers at my Grandparents farm in Nebraska and we sort of grew up with each other. We played together, put on programs with crazy skits together, worked together, had adventures together, teased each other and fought with each other. I think that we would all say that we love each other very much. My cousins seem more like siblings than cousins to me. I have spent my life idolizing each and every one of them as well as my brother, all for different reasons.

I can vividly remember hearing my cousins and older brother sing all the words to THE most popular songs of the late 70's and early 80's and getting so frustrated with myself because I didn't know the words and had a hard time even understanding what the words to the songs actually were. I thought that they were so cool, and I wanted to be cool just like them. I only cared about knowing the words because they did. (Looking back it is kind of frightening that this mattered to me, but you can't reason with a pre-teen girl.) I also remember how I was in awe of Doug because he was soooo adventurous. He would try anything, and I was always a little more on the cautious side (otherwise known as the boring kid). Now I have Nathan who reminds me of Doug on almost a daily basis!

As all of us have grown older and started our own families, we just don't get to see as much of each other as I would like. They are all still some of my greatest heroes -- still for different reasons but now also for some of the same reasons. Over the years, my reasons for admiring them have obviously changed. It is not so much about the fact that they know the words to all the songs or will try just about anything anymore. It is now about the character that they show during tough times. With Doug, it is about the way he jokes to keep everybody from worrying about him. It is also about the way they love their kids and how they are raising them to be servants of God. All of my cousins and my brother have seen a lot of good times and a lot of hard times, but they have all upheld the knowledge that God would see them through and be by their sides during the good and the bad.

On this blog, I have shared my boys' favorite superheroes, so now it is time for me to share some of mine. Doug, Sandra, Jane, Linda, and Steve, you are all my superheroes. You have been since the day I was born. Thanks for all you that you have taught me and continue to teach me! Mom and Judy and Larry, you guys were the ones who taught these guys how to use their super powers and become these superheroes. Thanks even more to you!

And for everyone else out there reading this, be sure to tell your superheroes thanks today!

A Nathanism

Quote of the day from Nathan after he spent a little time alone in the bathroom:

"THAT is the biggest poopy I have ever heard!"


Enough said. :-)

Spring Break Super Hero Fun

It is Spring Break and the boys have been playing like crazy. Yesterday, they were pretending to be super heroes. At one point, I saw David dressed in a long-sleeve t-shirt, his batman underwear, a batting glove on one hand and my beanie from when I was a Brownie on his head. Apparently, the outfit is what makes a great superhero. (I am not sure what powers he had, but honestly, I was too afraid to ask with that outfit!)

I have been Spring cleaning and trying to (finally) get all of our stuff put away from the move. I spent the day in David's room purging his collection of paper and reorganizing toys. I had to work hard to convince him that there are small children somewhere with no toys and that he no longer needed the baby toys that had infiltrated his room. He finally agreed and even helped go through some of his toys. After yesterday, I decided that my children have way too many toys, and we really do need to adhere to the "one toy comes in - one toy goes out" rule.

Today, I will work on Nathan's room. While his toys are already a little more organized, Nathan will be working on scrubbing his "artwork" off of the furniture. He so kindly announced this morning that I needed to come quick and look at how he colored his room. He used a colored pencil to color his furniture. He stood there with pencil in hand and asked, "Isn't it beautiful mommy?" I told him that his art was beautiful, but he needed to only color on paper. He then bowed his little head and said, "I am sorry that I colored a beautiful picture on my room." I sort of felt bad until I saw him glance up with a sly little smile and then when he realized I was looking, sobered up quick and bowed his head again. (Note to self: Watch out for that kid!)

Everything I learned this week

I have learned some very valuable things this past week, and I thought I would share them with you.

1. Apparently, I am going to be a grandmother -- David's little girlfriend, Carissa, announced that she is going to have two babies and David is the father. (Oh My!) They will be named Charlie and Lola (FYI -- This is from a show on Disney.) When her mom asked her if David was okay with those names, she said that he would be soon enough. And just in case you are wondering, Carissa informed her parents that she and David would be getting married because David said so. (How's that for a submissive wife?) I don't know how much these kids will enjoy being in Junior High and having parents that are in Senior High, but it will make some good material for the Jerry Springer show.

2. Pupils that are unequal in size can be a bad thing -- Brian had a small collision with a kid in the youth group during a flag football game. The kid was running towards Brian while Brian was diving to catch a ball and the kid's knee hit Brian in the head right at the temple. He had a headache that day, but it became worse the next day. He was kind of whining about it, and I wasn't being real sympathetic until I looked into his eyes and noticed that one pupil seemed rather large and the other seemed rather small. I kindly suggested he rest and call his Aunt Becky who is our favorite neurologist in the world. She advised getting it checked out if he continued having problems because it could be a sign of a more severe brain injury such as bleeding in the brain. Aaaagggghhh! (I think his headache got a little worse after hearing that!) So, the next day he went to the doctor to get his head checked out and walked away with a mild concussion and a great sense of relief. Through this, I did learn that 20-25% of the population's pupils are different sizes all the time. So now, you have also learned something new this week...unless you already knew that.

3. While he is creative, David is not the one to go to if you need a definition for a word -- If you have read much of this blog, you have probably come to the conclusion that David likes to talk. Well, not only does he like to talk, he uses words that he doesn't fully understand the meaning of out of context. Now, in his defense, I did this as a child; however, David has perfected my feeble attempts at using big words by adding a new twist to it. If he gets the least little hint that he has used a word wrong, he will then ask us if we know the definition of the word and then define it for us using his own definition. For example, the other day he said, "We'll have to intact them." I kind of snickered, and before I got a chance to ask him what he meant, he asked, "Do you know what intact means?" I shook my head no and he said it was when people were trying to get something...like when people were trying to get balloons. He then asked me if I knew what Tacky meant. So, I shook my head no again, and he said it is when something bigger is going to happen. It gets really funny when he realizes he said something wrong and then says it is a word in Spanish that means whatever he was intending for it to mean in his sentence. Silly Boy!

and finally...

4. Little boys come up with the best stalling tactics for bedtime -- Our boys have refined the art of stalling at bedtime or naptime. A few of my favorites from Nathan are...
"The puppy is ruffing at me." (referring to the dog next door that likes to bark)
"I can't sleep out there. It's raining." (as if we were going to make him sleep outside in the rain.)
"My pillow is wet/hot/bumpy." (There might be one drop of water from his cup on the pillow and it will always affect his sleeping. He doesn't realize that he drools like a madman while he is sleeping and soaks his pillow during the night.)
David just wraps his all up into one -- "These sounds are trying to keep me awake!"

Like I said, this week has been full of new and exciting revelations. I hope your week has been just as much a learning experience!

His Batteries Are Dead

I have come to an important revelation about toys. Manufacturers have crossed the line in the number of toys produced that require batteries. It has reached the point of insanity when every toy that enters our house requires AA or AAA or C batteries. I remember the good ol' days when toys were extremely special if they required batteries (like the doll that would eat and then wet her pants or my brother's programmable remote control car.)

Now, you may be asking yourself, "How did Stacey come to such an amazing and profound conclusion?" (interpreted to mean, "Will she just get to the point already?!") I realized this because of my children's attitude about batteries. My boys now think that if something doesn't work correctly, it needs new batteries. If there is something wrong with the computer, bathtub, couch, etc., one of them will say, "Maybe it needs new batteries." If I disagree with them or try to explain that the broken item doesn't require batteries, they will just look at me with a look of pity for not understanding the world of battery operated items.

At the end of last week, the boys were playing in the other room and laughing so hard. They came into the room where I was at and I asked David what they were playing. He told me they were playing the battery game. I asked him about the game, so the boys decided to show me the game. Nathan would lay down on the floor and not move at all. David then said, "Nathan your batteries are dead. I will get you some new ones." He then put new batteries into Nathan's back, and Nathan immediately jumped up and started dancing around the room. Then he threw himself back down on the floor. David looked at me and said, "Uh-oh, his batteries are dead again."

A little frightening, isn't it? I think I can use it to my advantage though. Every once in awhile, I threaten the ultimate punishment of taking the batteries out of a toy, and it usually gets the desired results. When they are running around like wild animals, I may have to threaten to take their batteries out if they don't calm down. I'll let you know if it works!

Curious Nathan

In the true spirit of Fun Friday, we had fun until we all dropped yesterday. The boys and I started out the day with a trip to the playground to meet some friends. We then went to the Present Store (a.k.a Dollar Tree) to pick out some fun gadgets with the dollars that Grandma Sandy sent in the boys' Valentine's Day cards. Our next stop was to pick up Daddy for a 2 hour car ride to watch one of the high school girls' teams in the state basketball tournament. (That was a little bit of a hard sell for 2 little guys, but once they found out Rebecca, one of our "Big Kids," was playing, it was a pretty neat thing.) They weren't real excited about a quick stop at a furniture store either, although David thought it would be a great idea to get a couch and TV for his bedroom. (I know men like their toys, but I honestly didn't realize that it started this young!) The ultimate thrill of the day, though, was our last stop at the movie theater to watch Curious George.

If you haven't seen it yet, it is a pretty cute little movie. After it was over, Brian pointed out that it did start a little slow. When he said that to me, I just looked at him with an "Are you serious? Don't you remember that this is a kids' movie?" look. Some people's expectations are just a little too high! The boys seemed to like it though. Keeping in nature with their personalities, David helped to commentate the movie and Nathan sat entranced with a silly little grin on his face.

For me, it was a strange moment of deja vu. About 5 minutes into the movie, I realized that Curious George is the epitome of Nathan. George had the exact same expressions as Nathan, and he even had that same look in his eyes when he was about to get into trouble. It was funny and frightening all at the same time. I looked over at Brian and started to tell him about my revelation, and I didn't even have to complete my sentence. He was already thinking the same thing.

On the way home, the boys conked out pretty quick. After they were asleep, Brian and I started talking about the similarities between Curious George and nathan and laughing at the irony of our lives. I told Brian that during the movie I wondered if I should work harder at seeing the wonders of the world through Nathan's escapades and learn to appreciate his curiosity a little more. I was feeling pretty proud of my deep revelation until Brian responded to my deep thought with, "I was just wondering if animal control could help us at all." Hmmmm...that might not be a bad thing to remember either!

No Monsters Here

A couple of nights ago, Nathan came into our room around 3:00 a.m. and asked, "Mommy can I be with you?" More than just a little groggy, I woke up enough to ask Nathan what was wrong. He responded with "There are monsters rarrrring at me." I could tell he was a little scared, so I did what all the books and child psychologists tell parents not to do. I told him to climb into bed with us. So he clamored over me and snuggled in between Brian and me. Once he was comfy and sufficiently tucked into bed, he looked over at me and said, "Mommy there are no monsters here. I'm not scared anymore." Then with a sweet smile, he drifted off to sleep.

What a great moment! I looked over at Brian so I could share one of those special knowing looks -- you know, the ones that between a husband and a wife that say "Life just couldn't be any better than it is at this moment." Well, he wasn't looking back because he was too busy sawing some serious logs. (And I do mean that it in the most literal sense!) My guess is that unless Nathan ended up sticking a knee in Brian's rib or hitting Brian in the face in all of his tossing and turning, then Brian didn't even know he was there.

The moment was still nice. It reminded me of one summer when I was a little kid. I was staying at my Grandma and Grandpa's farm, and one night I woke up really scared and probably a little homesick. I went into my grandparents' room to get some comfort and Grandma told me to climb in bed with them. I remember laying in between Grandma and Grandpa and feeling so safe because they were sooo big and strong. Looking back, all I can think is how in the world do you fit two adults and a restless, floppy sleeping kid in a full size bed? Poor Grandma and Grandpa! They made it work though, and the memory is great. Maybe Nathan will someday remember feeling safe that night. My guess is that if he does remember it, he will just think, "Man, do my parents snore loud or what?"

The Dark Side

It has been a long time since I have posted. My greatest apologies to the grandmas! We are struggling through some illness that keeps being passed around the family and life has not been normal or productive for the past week and a half.

Through this whole epidemic, I have once again been reminded of the dark side of my children. Now, don't get me wrong. They are great kids, and I love them dearly. However, even in sickness, you can only be truly sympathetic for a reasonable amount of time before those little "quirks" begin to make you a little crazy. Now you may be sitting there saying, "What quirks? They are just sick little boys."

Well, take Nathan for instance. When he is sick, he becomes the most demanding momma's boy you can imagine. He will not allow anyone besides me to touch him, help him or do anything for him, which makes for fun times in our happy little home. The first night that he became really sick, Brian and I were putting him to bed, and he threw up everywhere. While I was comforting Nathan and calming him down, Brian asked what he can do to help. I gave him the option of giving Nathan a bath or cleaning up the mess. Can you guess what he chose? The smart guy went with the easy task of the bath, at least that is what he thought. Nathan screamed his lungs out the entire time I cleaned up the room. Seeing that Nathan was refusing to even get in the tub, I told Brian that I would trade spots with him and asked him to find our little hand held carpet cleaner. As soon as I went into the bathroom, Nathan was all excited about getting a bath and jumped in of his own free will. (Just mildly frustrating to a somewhat edgy dad.)

So, I get Nathan changed and nestled into the big comfy chair in the living room in time to find out the carpet cleaner is leaking. While I am trying to reattach the hose, Nathan yells for some apple juice. I filled the cup, but gave it to Brian to take to Nathan so I could clean the carpet. That was a mistake. The small child began sobbing uncontrollably and yelling, "I want mommy to do it!" The sobbing started the coughing, which resulted in a close call to more throwing up, while poor ol' dad stood there helplessly saying, "Nathan, mommy filled the cup. It's okay. SHE made it."

David, on the other hand, plays up being sick for all it is worth and likes to be waited on hand and foot by anyone and everyone in sight. He has this "sick" voice. You know the one that makes you think he is using his last breath to tell you something. He will say, "I have such a bad cough. I need to see a doctor. I am very sick, and I don't think it would be good for me to ___" and you can fill in the blank with any thing that requires effort or is not fun. He wants to be held and cuddled and fed lots of milkshakes. However, if the illness interferes with anything fun like a birthday party, playing outside, or eating massive amounts of sweets, then the sickness is gone quicker than you can say cough syrup.

So, here you have it -- two little boys with two entirely different personalities in sickness and in health. And don't get me wrong, I did feel sorry for the boys because they were both pretty sick little guys. Besides that, they come by their actions naturally. After all, taking care of two little sick kids and not feeling so hot myself, all I can say is "I Want My MOMMY!"

Yet Another Embarrassment to the Family Name

So, I went to pick Nathan up at "school" today, and you will never believe what I saw. It was Nathan running around the gym trying to get away from his late 60's-early 70-ish teacher, who is chasing him and repeatedly saying, "Nathan, please come back here." I wanted to crawl in a hole, but instead, the mean mom side of me came out.

Imagine Nathan's surprise, when he heard my voice say, "NATHAN ANDREW! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me. Then he gave me a huge grin and kept on running. (That is NOT how it happens in the parenting books!) When I finally got my hands on him, he got in trouble and then had to go apologize to his teacher. She responded to his apology by saying, "You'll obey next time." In a sing-song voice, he said, "I don't think so."

Nathan's teachers have the best attitude about Nathan's "free spirit". All three of them laugh about his candor when it comes to obeying. He will just openly say, "I not going to listen today." Then, he just doesn't listen. Other days, he will say, "I listen today." Then he listens all day. While he does have a little devil side to him, at least he warns you in advance so that you have time to prepare for it!

Now, I would love to blame this trait on Brian, but I don't think Brian was ever like this. I don't think he completely got it from me, but I do know three men in particular from my mom's side of the family who he reminds me of on a daily basis. And that gives me hope because I love and admire those men very much!

For now though, we just try to survive the day in hopes that we will still be able to show our faces at the end of it. If that doesn't work, we always have the option of changing our names!

The Car Ride

I remember a time when car rides where peaceful events in our house. When the boys were smaller, we would put them in their carseats and drive around until they fell asleep. Brian and I would talk about life, our dreams, the day's happenings or whatever was on our minds.

Those days are now GONE! We took a quick little jaunt this afternoon, and it was pure mayhem. Here is how the ride went in dialogue form:

David: Mommy, can I tell you something?

Nathan: Mommy?

Me: Yes David.

Nathan: Mommy?!

Me: Just a minute Nathan. David is telling me (interrupted by David: Mommy, Can I tell you something?) something.

Me: What David?

David: Can I tell you something?
Nathan: Mommy, I tell you something too. (At the same time David is talking)

Me: Just a minute Nathan. Go ahead and tell me David.

David: Mommy, can I (Nathan: Mommy?) NATHAN BE QUIET! I AM TELLING MOMMY SOMETHING! MOMMY, CAN I TELL YOU SOMETHING?

Me: David, if you talk to me that way, you won't be allowed to tell me something. Nathan just a minute. Now David, if you want to talk calmly to me, then go ahead.

David: Mommy, can I take your picture when we get home?

Me: Yes! Nathan what did you want to tell me?

David: Mommy?

Me: David, it is Nathan's turn. Nathan go ahead.

David: But I wasn't done!

Nathan: DA-ID BE QUIET! I TELL MOMMY SOMETHING! Mommy?

Me: Yes Nathan?

Nathan: (incoherent mumbling)

Me: What Nathan?

Nathan: (continues incoherent mumbling) while David says: You can't wiggle if I take your picture.

Me: Very Interesting Nathan! Okay David, I won't wiggle.

David: Well you can wiggle if you want.

Nathan: Can I wiggle?

David: Nathan, if you don't stop talking, you won't be able to be in the picture.

Me: David that's not nice. You are talking just as much as Nathan.

David: Oh he can be in the picture too.

Nathan: Thank you Da-id.

Then they hold hands for a few seconds and carry on a conversation with each other for a minute.

David: Mommy, can I tell you something?
Nathan: Mommy, I tell you something?

Brian finally put an end to all of it by declaring martial law (a.k.a. Quiet Time). So, next time you talk to me and think that I am either a little on the edgy side or that I have completely lost all sense of reality, just ask me if I have been on a car ride lately!

The Headstand

I was in the kitchen this morning and looked up to a strange sight. From the kitchen, you can see into the boys' bathroom. I saw two little legs parallel to the floor, but then they started to become more and more perpendicular. Imagine my surprise when I went into the bathroom and saw Nathan doing a headstand in the bathroom sink. The funny thing is that his headstand was pretty good!

Now some of you may be thinking, "Oh my goodness! I cannot imagine a child doing such a thing." Well, welcome to the world of Nathan. The child is fearless and will try anything. If he gets hurt or it doesn't work out well, then he will try it again and again until he does get it right. He does it all with a determined look in his eye and a smile on his face. How do you get mad at a kid with his head in the sink when he looks at you with such a great smile?

All of this leads me to sharing the strange dream I had the other night. (If you ask my husband, he will tell you that all my dreams are strange, but this one was especially disturbing.) In this dream, our family was in the middle of this big project and we needed some stuff from Wal-Mart. Brian was planning on going to Wal-Mart to get the stuff, and Nathan was going with him. So, I watched Nathan get in the car and decided I better keep on working on the project. Eventually I went back into the house and saw Brian sitting on the couch talking to some man. I knew the car was gone, so I thought to myself, "Oh no! Nathan went to Wal-Mart by himself!"

I walk up to Brian and ask him if he let Nathan go by himself to the store. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal and told me he would do great. I responded with, "Brian, first of all, I didn't tell him what I needed from the store and second, he is only 3. Even if he did know what I wanted, he couldn't read the labels on the packages. We will have to go find him!" Then I woke up.

Now, does anyone else think that it is a little odd that I didn't mention that fact that he doesn't know how to drive? A mom should catch that detail, shouldn't she? (By the way, in my dream, Nathan was driving a Camaro. We don't even own a Camaro. What does all this mean?!)

I guess my dream shows that I have come to assume that Nathan is going to do crazy things in life. Let me tell you, I have seen the glint in his eye when he tries to get behind the wheel of my van and I know what it means. If I ever make the mistake of leaving keys within his reach, he'll be cruisin' with the best of them. After all, this is the small child that has escaped from the church nursery in search of bigger and better things.

So for now, we lock the deadbolts at all times and try our best to secure all pieces of furniture to the wall. Then we just sit back, watch and laugh!

A Big Decision

David came back from his big day with Carissa at Playworld about an two hours ago, and it sounds like he had the time of his life. Carissa's mom called on their way home and said that they had played hard and that he was looking a bit weary. She also said that Carissa's older sister, Joanna (who used to be in our youth group, but has graduated and is now married), has figured out why David doesn't eat very much. She thinks he just takes little tiny bites so that it won't slow down his ability to talk! :-)

Before I took him to meet Carissa's family for the ultimate day of fun, we went to the store to pick out a birthday present for Carissa. Now if you haven't read the wedding shoes posting, you need to go back and read that to fully understand the meaning behind this, but after great debate and a tough decision, David finally settled on dress up shoes and a Cinderella crown that lit up when you pressed the jewel on the front. He was quite pleased with it because he thought that Carissa would look beautiful wearing it.

After he got home, he told me all about his day and then he did his usual nightly routine and I put him to bed. A few minutes later, he comes out of his room into the kitchen. Now normally, if he gets up out of bed, I know it is a stalling tactic and I am not real understanding of his reasons. Tonight when he came out, I knew he was really tired and I saw a big smile on his face. He came over to me and whispered, "Mommy I have something important to tell you." So I bent down to get on his eye level and responded, "Oh you do? What do you want to tell me about?" He smiled even bigger and whispered, "I have decided to get married. Guess who I am going to marry?" I smiled back and said, "I don't know. Who do you want to marry?" He said, "Carissa. I am going to marry Carissa."

So, I said, "David, Carissa is a very sweet girl." Then I asked, "So why are you going to marry Carissa?" He very matter-of-factly said, "I just decided to." I thought I would delve into this deep thinking mind a little more and asked, "What do you think made you decide to marry her?" And with the most intensity he could muster, he responded, "Because she makes me sooo happy and I love being with her!" I told him that was a good thing when you wanted to marry somebody and gave him a great big hug. With a smile that I just cannot adequately describe, he walked back to his room to go to bed. About 30 minutes later, I went into his room to make sure he was tucked in sufficiently, and he was still smiling! Sweet Dreams little guy!

I Wish I Had a ...

Our boys love Larry Boy. In case you don't know, Larry Boy is a creation of VeggieTale's Big Idea. Larry, the ordinary cucumber, becomes Larry Boy the superhero with a purple and yellow costume and super suction plunger ears. Since everyone needs a superhero, one that teaches morals and Bible verses is a good choice.

One of the Larry Boy movies we have is called Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space. The story line goes something along the line of this: Junior the Asparagus breaks his dad's collector's edition bowling plate. This little fib encourages him to lie and with every lie, the fib grows until he is this massive creature. It basically teaches you of how you can get trapped in a lie, but how telling the truth sets you free. Good little story line.

David absolutely loves the movie. He makes up his own little story lines about the fib and Larry Boy. He loves to color pictures of the fib and Larry Boy trying to save Junior. The appropriate word for the whole thing would be obsessed.

One day while he was drawing pictures of the fib, David said, "Boy, the fib sure does have a big bottom." I responded with something like, "Yeah he sure does." David then caught my attention by saying, "I wish I had a big bottom like the fib." I was like, "David, you REALLY don't want a big bottom like the fib." (meaning... TRUST ME, you really don't want a big bottom like the fib!)

He crossed his arms in his own stubborn way, and said, "Yes I do!"

All I can think at this moment is Why? What is wrong with this child that he would want this? I should have stopped here and just been supportive of his creativity for this dream desire (yeah right!), but I will never learn! So I asked, "David why would you want a big bottom like the fib? What would you do with a big bottom?" Probably not the best choice of words on my part.

David contemplated for a minute and then responded, "I don't know. I guess Iwould sit on a really big potty!"

Note to self: The less questions asked, the better. Life may be a little more boring, but sometimes it is safer not to know!

(By the way, if you are asking yourself if everything in this household comes back to something to do with the bathroom, sadly enough you are on the right track. )

I'm going to Disney World!

David has been invited to the birthday party of his betrothed. Okay, not really, but do you remember the wedding shoes post where a little girl name Charissa told him they were getting married? It's her party.

They are going to Party World, which is in another town about 45 miles away. David is pretty excited about this. He gets to ride in his Pre-K teacher's van (Mrs. Tammy is Charissa's mom), and go to this party without his lame ol' mom or dad tagging along.

So, on the way to school today, David was talking about the party and I told him to make sure and tell Charissa he could go to her party and to tell her thank you for inviting him. He then said, "Yeah, I will because I want to go to Disney World!" I am thinking, Uh-Oh! So I ever so gently break the news that this isn't a trip to Disney World; the party is at a place called Party World which is more of a mix between McDonald's Playground and Chuck-E-Cheese. He rather emphatically replied, "No, we are going to Disney World, and Mickey Mouse will be there!"

All I can say is that I am glad that Mrs. Tammy is the one who is driving him there and gets to explain where Mickey Mouse is! :-)

El-Shaddai--God of the impossible

This has been a very difficult week. Life has gotten very busy in the Lewis household. The classes that I teach are getting busier in terms of grading. I will be receiving my mid-term test in my Finance class today and it will be due in one week, along with the regular weekly assignments (plus I am working on a 15 page paper). I have dissertations that I need to review, and the church database to install on the computers at the office. Brian has a big weekend with the youth group including a late night ice skating trip in Little Rock on Friday, movie night on Saturday, and a SuperBowl party on Sunday. Then you have to throw in that one of David's friends has a birthday party on Saturday. Who knows what else will pop up.

Sometimes when life starts going fast, I tend to lose sight of the important things until something or someone brings me back to our real purpose in life. The little things become very overwhelming and I start to get frustrated a little more easily and my tolerance level shrinks quickly.

Well, several reality checks have hit me this past week. On Monday night, a good friend of ours lost her mother. Her mom had recently been diagnosed with ALS, so her passing was a blessing in terms of limiting her suffering. However, it is devastating for her family. My friend has said several times that it has just gone so fast and there wasn't time to talk about all the things she wanted to talk about with her mom.

In addition, one of my cousins left for the Mayo clinic because he has been suffering from excruciating migraines, numbness in his face and extreme pain. They are having a difficult time finding the cause, so now he is just waiting to be seen by doctors at the mayo clinic.

And there are so many other things that are far more important than a finance test or a super bowl party. I hate that these things have to be reality checks to make me hold my kids tighter or tell my husband how much I appreciate him and love him, but that is what events like this do. It makes us lean on God and offer numerous prayers and pleas for those we love and for ourselves. Thankfully, God is a loving father and he listens.

I know this is a long post, but I want to share one more thing with you. This was another reminder that I received from my cousin. Her daughter, Kristen, was born prematurely, suffered a stroke before she was even born and has mild cerebral palsy. She has faced many struggles that are just too numerous to tell about in this post, but Kristen is the most determined little girl I know. She is 6 years old and in a regular kindergarten! Here is my cousin's email:

In Bible Study Fellowship this year, we are studying Genesis. This week we are learning about how Abraham and Sarah experienced God as El-Shaddai. Our notes said, "El-Shaddai conveys the meaning of God as "the all mighty One to whom nothing is impossible."

One of the questions in our homework asked, "In what way has the Lord been your El-Shaddai (God of the impossible) this week?" I had an immediate answer!

Kristen started reading this week. Not just recognizing a few words, but she hit that "magical" time where all of the sudden they are reading! She was sitting on the couch reading her "Biscuit the Dog" book, and I was struck with a memory. I thought of when she had just turned two and we took her to St. Louis to the third leading pediatricneurologist in the U.S. who specifically worked with children who had had strokes. Kristen was only saying a few words, and was unable to eat solids. At the end of the appointment, we asked him when he thought she may start eating or talking. He said that based on the MRI and based on her current physical development being grossly delayed, she may never eat solid food and may never talk normally.

I was so sad! I cried off and on during our ride home. Jenna, then seven, asked why I was crying. I told her that the doctor had said Kristen may not eat or talk normally and that it made me sad. She said,"Well, when she was born the doctor told us she wouldn't walk until she was five. We didn't believe him, but we prayed. Why do we believe this doctor?"

Matt 18:2-3 "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

I was amazed at her statement of faith! I was ashamed that it wasn't my first response. I had focused my eyes on our circumstances instead of looking to God. My attitude was transformed in an instant. We prayed right then, and didn't stop!

God honored the faith of a seven year old. He honored the faith of a tired mom and dad, who temporarily took their eyes off of Him. And here she is, reading on her own. Eating on her own. He is a God of the impossible. I wanted to write this to all of you, because maybe there is something in your life that looks impossible. Don't focus on your circumstances, but have faith in who God is and what God can do!!

Isn't that amazing? I know this isn't one of my usual funny postings, but this is what is on my heart. This is what I want my kids to know most...that God is their God of the impossible. He is always there, always listening, and always preparing us for His service. Maybe it is not always in the way we think or the way we want, but He is using the situations we encounter to mold us. I hope you will pray for Brian and I as we teach this to the boys, and I hope you will help us teach them.

I also challenge you to think about the question that my cousin was challenged to think about..."In what way has the Lord been your El-Shaddai (God of the impossible) this week?"