My Boys

I absolutely love having little boys. They're just so different from little girls, it amazes me.
Last night my dad took the girls to the FSU basketball game, so it was just me and the boys. Ryan was on the computer, so Gareth and I decided to build something with his blocks. We just had the best time stacking block upon block. Gareth even showed Gavin some blocks saying "Look Gavin, this is a red block. Red block, Gavin." The whole time Gavin just stared at Gareth. He loves his brother and sisters so much!

Don't get me wrong--girls are awesome, too. They LOVE painting their nails, getting dressed up, and playing Mommy, House, or Restaurant (things I used to LOVE playing as a little girl) It's like I get to be a little kid again :). I'm getting the best of both worlds.

Health

I've been reading prayer requests on another blog and there seem to be an awful lof of prayer requests for very sick little children. Children battling cancer, burns, and who knows what else. It awakens my eyes to see how blessed I truly am. My children get the occassional cold (have 3 times this winter already), but they're not battling for their lives in a hospital bed, sent home to "wait and see" or dying in my arms. They're healthy, rambunctions, nerve-wracking, wonderful little children.

Thank You, Lord for keeping them safe, for healing them from the things they do and will get, and for being our protector and healer. No one else can protect or heal like You do, Lord. Thank You for the gentle reminder that I have it very easy.

Amazed

The kids and I went grocery shopping yesterday afternoon and each child had a dollar they could spend thanks to Memaw and Pops (my parents). Gareth found some sour gummy worms that he really wanted. The girls didn't find anything and said they'd hang onto their money for a bit.

We finished our shopping and headed to the check out only to find six or so lanes open. Each lane had at least four people waiting in line, so I knew we'd be waiting for a little while. Gareth asked if he could have his candy and I thought "Sure, why not. That'll keep you occupied while we ait."

So he eats almost half of the bag of gummy worms. By this point, there's only one person in front of us at the check out. The girls decided they were going to get some giant Hershey's candy bars (Yum!) and had them all ready to put on the conveyer belt. Well Gareth's eyes became huge and he decided he really wanted a big chocolate bar, too. I started to tell him that he already chose his bag of candy and has already eaten half the bag, so he can't have a chocolate bar, too. He doesn't see my point and starts to get a little antsy, I can see he's about to start throwing a royal fit. Hadassah comes up and says "Mama, you can give him my chocolate bar. I'll take his gummy worms." Well, I'm almost in shock. "They're halfway gone, do you realize that, " I ask. To which she replies "Yes, that's ok." And still I'm just staring at her like "Who's this sweet little angel? Giving up her HUGE chocolate bar for probably 15 sour gummy worms? That's so selfless of her!"

So Hadassah traded her big chocolate bar for Gareth's half-eaten bag of worms. Later she told me "I didn't want him throwing a fit in the store. Besides, I don't really like chocolate bars that much anyway." Well, this girl has her Mama's sweet tooth. I KNOW she loves chocolate bars, she's just being incredibly sweet to her little brother. Then she asks me "Is that what God would've wanted me to do?" And my heart just melts. I tell her that's exactly the kind of attitude God wants us to have, sharing with people, showing our love.

I'm just amazed at this little person. What a little lady she is becoming!

I love my kids

I have amazing children, thank You, Lord. During the busyness of the week, I sometimes feel like I don't get to spend enough time with them. Especially when there's dinner to make and clean up, school to help with, cleaning to do. It can get overwhelming. That's when God reminds me to enjoy every moment.

When I feel overwhelmed with the things I have to do, either Zoe or Gareth will come over to me, give me a hug and say "I love you, Mommy."

When I'm exhausted at the end of the day, Gavin greets me with a huge bright smile, wrinkled nose, and arms that are flying in excitement.

When I'm tired and frustrated, Hadassah comes over and says "It's Ok, Mommy. Just take a deep breath and calm down."

They remind me to take a minute to read a book, roll a ball on the floor, color at the kitchen table, or just stare at the wonder of God's creation.

I know I'm supposed to be the one teaching them, but often times it feels more like they're the ones teaching me.

Gareth is closer...

Gareth had a HUGE potty training achievement this weekend! I'll spare the details, but by his own initiative, he went #2 in the potty!! We had a mini celebration and I am so proud of my big boy :) Now, let's just see if he can do that again next time around.

He's also doing a fantastic job at staying in his own bed at night. For a long time, he'd fall asleep in our room, be moved to his bed, and at some time during the night he'd meander back to our room. For the past week, he's stayed in his bed. What a good boy!

Also, yesterday I go to attend C4 (Children's church) with Hadassah. It was fantastic! They really know how to get the kids involved, interested, and have fun while focusing on Jesus. I feel so blessed to be apart of a church where kids are given so much love and attention. It's not just a babysitting facility for an hour and a half, they really learn about Jesus, from birth on up. So awesome.

Feeding 5,000 on a budget

No, I'm not trying to make it a habit of posting daily--I just have some things to say :)

I was reading in Luke 9 this morning and the story about feeding the 5,000 really struck me today. Jesus and his disciples had just come back together after the twelve being sent out to minister. They were hoping for some quiet time together, but "the multitudes" followed Him. Jesus spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those needing healing. It got later in the day and the disciples told Jesus to send them away to get some food. Now, here's what got me. Jesus gave his disciples power over and authority over all the demons and to cure diseases. He tells the disciples "You give them something to eat." They reply they only have five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000 men (not counting women and children). So Jesus proceeds to break the bread, pray to heaven, and feed ALL of the people (with plenty of leftovers).

If Jesus can use 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed over 5,000 people (including 12 stubborn disciples) and still have leftovers, how much more can He continue to provide for my family--only six of us?

Jesus is Lord of all. Moms trying to budget for their family, moms who have plenty and give plenty, all.

Thank you for being my Lord.

Proud Parent

Hadassah is SUCH a smart little girl!! I was helping her with her math last night and was teaching her about the hundred's place. It took her maybe 3 seconds to catch onto the idea and before I knew it she was writing numbers like 546. My little baby!

Then she saw the work for her next lesson, which started with fractions, and she begged to go ahead and do them. So she looked at the shape with a shaded portion, was giving three fractions below it and had to figure out the correct fraction to go with the shape. She had 10 problems and whizzed through them. It was awesome! I love being able to see her have those "Aha!" or "I can do it!" moments, what a treasure :)

Gavin's check-up

Gavin had his 4 month check-up this morning and it went wonderfully. He's now 15 pounds, 14 ounces and 26 1/2 inches long. That's 75% for weight and almost 100% for height! He's a biggun.

Last night I bathed him in the baby tub, and his head almost goes to the edge now. Since he can't sit up by himself yet, I'll have to get in the big bathtub with him until he can sit up in the bathing ring.

The doctor was very impressed with how bright Gavin was during the appointment. He was cooing the whole time and kept grabbing the doctor's instruments.

When he had his shots (3 of them), he only fussed a teeny bit on the last shot. Then he had a vaccine orally (a sticky "juice" he drinks) and was almost standing up on the exam table. The nurse said he wants to start walking already--but we've a long ways to go before that ;)

Doodlebug

So ever since Hadassah was a baby, I've called her Doodlebug. I don't really know why. Maybe it came from calling her "Dassah-do", which evolved to "The Do", that eventually became "Doodlebug". Regardless, did you know that Doodlebugs actually exist?? Well this weekend we found out they do.

We went to Ryan's grandparents for a visit (we always have so much fun over there) and Hadassah and Gareth went "Fishing" for Doodlebugs. They take a flower or weed stem, stick it in a whole in the ground, and the Doodlebug latches. You pull it quickly out of the ground and voila! A Doodlebug! They're the ugliest things in the world: part insect, part worm. But the kids had a blast.

Christmas Break Rewind

Gavin started eating solid foods--rice cereal. He's still not quite crazy about it.

Gareth is 90% potty trained, we'll see how this week goes with Papa at home. He also gave up pacifiers (I know--he's 3 and still used them, we're terrible parents, yada yada yada) and is doing wonderfully.

The girls, well, they're still precious as can be. Unfortunately, they were both pretty sick on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but they're all better now. The only two stragglers are me and Gavin. Thanksfully he has a check-up scheduled for tomorrow morning.

We completed a successful project: "Clean out, organize, and switch the closets project." We have these wonderful organizer shelves in our two closets, and parts of the shelving was coming apart (that's what happens when you put too much stuff in them!) and we fixed them, organized the closets, and even switched Ryan and the kid's closet--woohoo!

We spent a few nights eating popcorn and watching movies (spent some days doing this, too). How I love Christmas break. I wish every day could be Christmas break.. no work, no school, no real "time table" to be held accountable to.. but that's life.

All 6 of us made it to church yesterday. That's only happened one or two times since Gavin's been born. Usually we have someone sick and Papa's been staying home with them. Hopefully we can get back into the habit of going again!