The Family

A little overdue, but here are some pictures from when my whole family was together to celebrate my mom's milestone birthday about a month ago. It had been over a year since we had all been together so it was such a gift to have that time, even though it was a quick visit. We love being together, even with the craziness of having 7 grandkids ages 5 and under!

This picture makes me happy.
I can't believe everyone was looking at the camera!

The grandkids...

And the originals!

Mohawk Man

Mr. Newton's hair really needs to be cut, but in the meantime, it makes for some great mohawks.

Spring?

Where did you go, Spring? Please come back soon.

The Fisherman

Mr. Mister did a lot of fishing at Grandma and Papa's this past weekend. He is quite the fisherman, catching about ten fish over the course of the weekend. That's way more than I would ever catch.

I love this progression of pictures showing him in action!

Brotherly Love

We had a family gathering recently and decided to take 

a picture of all of the kids together.

Yes, they are all cute kids, 

but focus for a minute on Mr. Mister and Mr. Newton in the center.

The progression is priceless.

Poor Mr. Newton...

his mommy waited too long to rescue him from his big brother's grip.

I'm not really sure what to say about this. I really think it started with an innocent desire to put his arm around his brother.  But if you know Mr. Mister, you know that it's not easy to resist a hard squeeze, even with good intentions.  But I'm sure we will laugh at this someday when they are best friends or when Mr. Newton is bigger than his brother and returns the favor.

In the meantime, we will continue teaching him that he is only allowed to put the wrestling moves on Daddy.  

A Mouthful of Dirt

Already such a boy. I remember Mr. Mister's first time eating dirt. It was at the park and his mouth and face were covered in it. And a group of girls looked at him with unbelief on their faces and asked, "Why is he eating dirt?"

"Because he's a boy," I answered.

That is what boys do.

A Princess

Mr. Mister loves for us to tell him stories.  Sometime he wants stories about when Daddy and I were little or the pets we used to have or the things he used to do when he was little.  And sometimes he likes made up stories about adventures he goes on with his brother.

The other night Daddy was telling him a story about Mr. Mister on an adventure to rescue a princess.  He had to scale walls and ride his wild horse through the woods and battle his way through challenge after challenge until he finally rescued the beautiful princess.

At the end, Mr. Mister looked up at his daddy and asked in all seriousness, "Was the princess Mommy?"

His sweetness and sincerity pierced my heart. He really meant it.

In a moment like that, the shouts of no, the tantrums, the disobedience, the boyness that can push me to the edge all disappear from my mind.  And I realize once again (because I need a lot of reminders) that his heart is so valuable.  Yes, I need to discipline him for poor choices and actions that are not honoring, but so much more important than his actions is his heart.  Proverbs 4:23 says that the heart is the wellspring of life.  Instead of obeying because he's just following the rules or in order to avoid punishment, I want him to choose things that give life because his heart is set on things that give life.

I need this perspective daily.  I need this challenge.

• To call out life in my kids daily.
• To aim for their hearts and not just try to fix their behavior.
• To teach them that a heart connection with me and ultimately with the Father is really the goal and is way more important to me than them learning to sit still or clean up or obey rules.

And I need that challenge for myself.  Because when we pursue the heart of the Father, life flows out of that.  My own obedience is not out of obligation or moral duty, but out of a love for the One who gives life and out of a desire to experience life in Him fully.  That is what I want my boys to learn.

Embracing the Adventure

I read this post today on the Mothers of Boys blog that I love.  It was perfect timing.  I was feeling worn out this morning by all the banging on the drums, loud "singing," playing hockey in the kitchen while I was trying to clean up, endless questions, the distracted focus when I was giving directions, etc.  I was trying hard to see past the circumstances and treasure this time at home with my boys and everything it entails.  But was just hard and I think it's okay to be real about that sometimes.  After all, love is not a feeling. So this post by Jenn Rehmann encouraged me to "embrace the adventure and not struggle against it." Here's an excerpt....

My girls attended a co-op preschool group.  It was very orderly, very proper…and the boys were always in trouble.  This did not overly trouble me at the time, my girls managed to sit still.  But one day I realized- that no, this would not do.

I remember a trip to the grocery store, my girls obediently holding the cart as expected: my boy, vibrating in his seat/touching everything/making noise non-stop/talking non-stop.

I had an epiphany in the grocery store:

my boy was not disobedient, he was all boy, he was made of different temperament-a different mind, than my girls and I.

I had an epiphany that day, and chose to embrace the adventure instead of struggle against it.

This I know: Lessons bore him if too long, writing is torture.  Games with an edge of danger are better, mud, dirt and bugs are glorious, and anything can be a weapon.  Spiders and bugs are not bad, but are a mystery to be explore.  Injustice hurts mightily, boy tears are big, fat, hot and wet.  Boy arms around my neck are alarmingly strong, but missed when not applied as often.  Boy work is messy and smelly, but a freshly scrubbed boy in clean p.j.s is a gift from above.  He thinks I am beautiful and important, but often doesn’t hear my directions. His feelings are easily hurt, but he can infuriate me in 2 seconds.  Boy jokes are silly and I don’t get them.  Hockey must be the smelliest sport ever. 

I defer to my husband’s knowledge of all things boy.  But frankly, being home with my boy all day leaves me on the front-line of interesting situations: situations where I have to think on my feet, quickly- without the luxury of consulting his dad for the logic or attitude I should pursue.  Instead of over-thinking it during the day (of which I admit I do a lot of at day’s end when I should be sleeping…) I find myself  turning to this verse to guide my reactions, instructions and admonishments:

“But He has shown thee, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee:  But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”Micah 6:8

The Many Faces of Mr. Mister

Here are some fun pictures of the ever expressive Mr. Mister. As I was looking at these, I remembered that I wrote a blog post with the same name back in 2008, when he was 9 months old.  Check out this handsome boy below but then make sure to click on the link to see the old pictures. It will make you smile no matter what might be happening in your world today!

10 Months

Dear  Mr. Newton...



At ten months, you are a curious little boy who is so content to crawl around and explore. You especially like climbing the steps (with me behind you, of course) and banging on your brother's drum. You dance at the sound of any sort of music and still light up the room with your big smile. And you have such a fun laugh, especially when you see a dog or play with a balloon. You flap your arms and kick your legs and laugh your deep belly laugh.

You are getting your top two teeth and you probably need your first haircut soon.  I love how your hair sticks out in all different directions when you wake up or take your hat off or rub some avocado into it.

You are quite the eater! I think you are giving me a glimpse of life with teenage boys down the road.  You like pretty much everything and you give me a nice loud reminder if I don't get your food fast enough.  We are working on signs for more, please, and all done.  Today you proudly showed off your all done sign, not to be confused with a wave...

We love you so much.  I can't believe we are nearing your first birthday.  You are the sweetest boy and you make everyone around you happy!