pictures!

A few months ago, a friend was needing more pictures for his new photography website, and we were more than happy to provide him with a few subjects. Here are some of the best from that quick little photo shoot:








Thanks, Landon!

quotable

Quotable moments from recent days:

B: Don, oo doe I pooped on da poh-ee?! [it's a big deal around here, worth sharing with everyone]
S: Yeah, I didn't poop on the potty, though. You POOP on the potty on Sunday mornings and I PEE on the potty on Sunday mornings.
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After watching a friend change her newborn boy's diaper:
S: Roderick has tiny little baby feet.
B: Da, and he has a tiny dil pea-dut.
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Upon seeing dolls in a book:
S: Mommy, next time can we get dolls?
M: What would you do with dolls?
S: I would just THROW dolls! [duh!]

the man

I love so many things about Chris, but watching him be "Daddy" is definitely one of my favorites. Probably because he's such a good one. He comes at everything important in life with unmatched passion and enthusiasm, and fatherhood is no different. So whether he's rough-housing, playing catch, disciplining, teaching about life or God, telling jokes, or indoctrinating little minds into Ohio State football or Cardinals baseball, you can guarantee he's giving it all he's got. And that, my friends, is a fun and amazing thing to witness. I'm so thankful I've got an insider's view of it. And unfailingly thankful for the man behind it all.

"it sounds like a good day..."

Earlier this week the biggest boys and I were eating our morning snack on the back patio. After a morning of playing outside, the air must have felt a little too hot for Sean's liking, because it wasn't long before he told me, "Mommy. It sounds like a good day for you to spray water on us." (We're still working on his sensory words--most things "sound" like something to him, whether he's experiencing it with his eyes, ears, hands, nose, or mouth). I got what he meant. It sounded like a good day for that to me too. And so we did.

Normally, if I had planned this sort of thing, we would have taken the time to put on their swim trunks, taken off their socks and shoes, probably lathered their white little bodies in sunscreen. And after a good half hour of prep work, their anticipation and excitement would have almost completely waned, I probably wouldn't have gotten any pictures, and the baby would've been awake inside, yelling to be retrieved from his solitude.


But instead, I seized the moment and went with it, something I'm trying hard to do more often. The dishes and the laundry and the mess will always be there. Moments like these won't.

I'm thankful I have these little guys to help me notice what sounds like a good day. I'm afraid I might miss it otherwise. And I have to agree with Sean--this most definitely sounded like a good day.

brains and watermelon

Sean's the resident expert on pretty much everything. Today while he and Ben were eating watermelon slices, I heard him say, "No, Ben, don't eat the green part! Don't eat the green part! It's not good for your brain!"

What? I have no idea where he got that bit of information. But it made for a good laugh.

finding the sunshine

Today was one of those days that I'd like to erase. It started off crazy from the moment I stepped out of bed this morning and never really got much better. I could blame it on the boys being abnormally crazy-loco all day long, or on my having to do the single-parent gig for the next 36 hours. But honestly, this time, I'm pretty sure it was just me being off. Needless to say, bedtime with the boys tonight included much discussion of anger and sin and forgiveness...and explaining to a surprised 4-year-old that even Mommy and Daddy disobey God.

I did, however, manage to notice the rays of sunshine when they broke through the clouds today: Jonathan cracking up laughing at himself blowing raspberries on my belly; Sean sweetly singing "Here I Am to Worship" (there's something about innocent children singing praise songs that completely melts my heart); Ben's whispered interruption of Sean's prayer tonight upon hearing him thank God for our cookies (WHAT COOKIES? [let it be known--no cookies were eaten today, by anyone in this house]); and then my favorite...

We started to read Mommy's Best Kisses tonight and after I said the title Ben looked at me and said, "Yoo my best mobby." Sweet little boy. On a day like today, this mommy needed to hear that (even if I am his only mommy).

As Anne Shirley said, "Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" Yes, that's a nice thought indeed.

more laughs from boy land

I've been meaning to write this one down so as not to forget it:

A while back we were eating out with friends from church, and Sean and Ben were eating with their "big friends," as Sean calls them (aka teenagers). The big kids apparently had tried striking up a conversation or two with Sean that never really went anywhere, until they started talking about energy drinks. One of the kids said they like Red Bulls, another said they liked Monsters. At this point, Sean started getting all excited and stammered, "I...I...I like DINOSAURS!"

Gotta love it. Poor guy, though, didn't really understand when everybody started laughing.

And then tonight we experienced a classic from boyhood. Sean and Ben have discovered that it's great fun to climb onto the shelf that's on top of their toy box and jump down from it--a good 4 foot leap. Ben did it tonight and hurt his foot when he landed on a toy, and then immediately started wailing and limping around. We had him sit on the couch for a few minutes to check out his foot and make sure we didn't need to make a trip to the ER. He sat there crying until he'd had enough and then got up to go play...or so we thought. We watched him as he stood up, whimpering, and slowly limped over to the toy box to go at it again. And then he got mad when Chris wouldn't let him climb back up. Crazy kid. What does he think this is, the X Games?