Just another day...

Nana came by for visits this night.  Showering her little folks with love and attention.  What a great sport getting into a teeny tiny tent.  I can barely get in and out myself when I get guilted into going in.  If I could justify trapping her in there I would so she would stay forever.

We had given the boys sink baths in the kitchen and she inquired why she wasn't able to have one too.  Other than the fact that she weighs ton and is way too big...there was no real answer.  So into the sink she went.  Sometimes its all they need, to know they are just as important and as loved as the rest.

After baths the boys spend a bit of time in the diaper.  Mostly because they have exhausted us to this point and catching them and fighting them to put clothes on is more than work. We recharge for a moment... and its real fun to observe Drew post bath.  Its like he has lost his mind or his battery has been overcharged.  Grinning ear to ear, he darts from one side of the room to the next.  Kind of like what puppies do after a bath to get warm.  Its so hysterical to watch.  Its almost worth the trouble of cleaning two octopus in the tub just to see him in action.

George is happy post sink time too but he is the more relaxed of the two.
 He always looks so sweet and innocent but who knows what he is really up to.  I think the quiet ones are the ones to be watchful for.

Taking a breather.

Most of the big folks get wet during night time rituals so we have to get changed as well.  Addy and I happened upon these adult pj's at Walmart and she insisted I get them. They would be the perfect kitty costume for trick or treat.  They are so ridiculous I know,  but to tell you the truth , the most comfortable pajamas in my drawer.   My husband is next in line for a pair...if I can only find giant sized ones.  He agreed to wear some...although I am assuming he based his answer on thinking I wont be able to find him some.  I will.  Oh yes I will.  I will post pictures too

House of footie pj's. Poor Daddy...odd man out.

Drew.  The one kid in the house that actually bears a little resemblance to me and my side of the family.  Figured the nuttiest of all the kids does.  Fits me and my side of the family well I suppose.

In our cat like get ups.  At this time of night I sometimes get a little bit of Addy snuggles before I get the expected and obnoxious, 'Mom !...you're squishing me.  You're giving me a headache!"  During the day she is on the go go go and its hard to get her still.  I savor these moments.  My thoughts are these moments will become even rarer as she approaches the big '5' birthday. Little does she know I will still expect this when she is twenty seven.

Jungle Gym daddy. If you look closely you can probably I Spy them all. He enjoys laying just about anywhere and letting them  go nutso. I sit back and encourage them to expel all available energy reserves. This is his relax time if you can believe it.  When he comes home from work it is ALL hands on deck if we want everyone ready for bed by eight. Even after the kids are to bed it is not all that relaxing around here because the boys alternate wake ups ( and we cant bear to let them cry)  If that wasn't draining enough, this seasons colds make for frequent unhappy breathers and even more needs for Mom and Dad.

George is all over the place.  My house used to be situated nice....every piece of furniture in its place but we have taken to moving things just to keep George out of danger.  He will b-line towards a visible plug 100 feet away.  The kid is a daredevil.  He loves this corner of the living room so much that we actually had to move the living room couch up against the cabinets too thwart his attempts.  We have nothing else up our sleeves so I'm hoping he gives up.  Until he starts getting on the couch alone....which is just about to become a reality.

Mr. Blue eyes, what are you thinking about? Please be kind and keep out of trouble.

 

Addy. Addy. Adddddyyyy.  Quit it with treating the floors like a feed trough.  No lie, this happens twice a day. The kid does what she wants in the name of 'helping the boys'. Thank goodness for the dust buster. Best invention to date.

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted."  

Psalm 89:15,16

October for reals....?

I wait all year for the fall.  Its like a taste you can only experience once in a great while.  Its playing mean tricks though because instead of gorgeous brisk days that we have been pining for all year...we are shoveling snow.  Not inches....feet.  This has every good Mom furious as our laid out plans of happy kids ( outdoooooors all afternoon), sunshine coming through the windows, leaves blowing around and showing off their colors has been destroyed and turned into wet EVERYTHING. Its also made way for generous amount of time by the back door putting on endless layers of clothes for the young ones while they whine.

Ok...done with the dramatics.  I am over the idea of a perfect fall.  I am not angry anymore that Trick or Treat had been cancelled.....even though I think its a crime of sorts. Lord , I hope I live to see another fall because I did not get my fill enough.

Here is fall...New England Style.

 

Andrew meets snow for the first real time.  Mom does not like the cold so this is typically as far as I go.  It was a first so I had to take part.  He enjoyed playing with Daddy and having a ride on the sled with the big kids.

 

All three in the snow.  The boys were made for this weather.  I couldn't watch for long because neurotic Mommy came out and was having anxiety over the temperature, their poor little cold noses....etc etc.

 

Kids will really make the best of anything.  Life is so easy for them.  To have the mind of a child for just an hour a day could be good medicine.

Braved it with my George for a few. He was grinning ear to ear.This child wears joy on his face for every new occasion.  

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters. 

Proverbs 25:13

New Creations

As of recently I have required myself to get back into the things I once loved so dearly.  Anything creative.  Taking baby steps but enjoying every second.  Its funny how something so silly can make you feel alive again.  Like maybe I am a person other than the caretaker of many.

 

In the womb George and Drew were known as 'A' and 'B'....so I had a little fun with it.

 

This was just funny for our family because we are all deeply in love with condiments.  Only fitting that we refer to each one of the boys as one. We do love them so and they are very delicious little critters..

 

Now that the boys are all over the house we have been trying to enforce (gently) the no shoe house policy. I cannot keep up with the sandy floors or dirt covered hands and knees. 

Someone suggested having new socks aside for visitors to wear in case they did not have any or were chilly. So...I decorated some.  Most are ridiculous but its all in good fun. This was a good time.  Nothing too intricate but it got the job done.  Here are the feet of my Smom and baby sister wearing the super fashionable Gregg socks.  If this isn't incentive to come visit , I don't know what is.

New hobby .  Hair bow making.  This is so very amazing super quality goodness therapy. Did you follow that? Most nights of the week I sit for hours on the sofa with piles of ribbon in my lap. Hot glue gun going, lots of sore burnt finger tips, but this brings joy to my heart.  Oh how I love to create something out of nothing. (Kind of like making super awesome humans out of practically nothing at all.)

In creating anything there is something so magical. Imagine that same welling pride in the heart of God...master creator of all.  Pretty cool.  God you reveal yourself to me in the most unlikely of places.

 This is hair bows gone wild.  Every fashioned hair bow in the house on the heads of the craziest of people I know. 

 Yes, Dad is one of them.  He is the cutest.

The tiny parts of me that were becoming less recognizable  are starting to show themselves once again. I thought I was lost.  God is opening up so many things for me.  Allowing me to see that there can be more to life than exactly what is in front of my eyes.  He shows me I can take the gnarliest of material, scraps of nothing and the dullest of medals and create. I can make beautiful things. I can redeem what was once considered ugly. How perfectly does that apply to what we sometimes think is unfixable or damaged or forever changed. 

  

   No matter the circumstance you find yourself in, God makes a way for  you to start anew.  To basically start over as a new and pure creation. Forgiven, fresh and clean. A masterpiece. Be the shiny gift he intended you to be.  Pick up the broken pieces and lay them at His good feet.  Tell Him you are ready to rebuild.

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ , by whom we have now received the atonement. 

Romans 5:11

Love it...head to toe

The photo is of terrible quality but I had to make this a permanent part of our written family history.

I adore your choice of dress because its yours.  Uniquely Addy. 

Mom is so proud of you Addy for being such a smart and independent little soul.  Your ability to be comfortable in all settings , being just you, is something most of us are still striving to be able to do as adults.  Your Mom included. You are a tiny little inspiration and I hope you keep this beautiful side and enjoy life always like a fearless little child. 

I love you more today than yesterday and most surely even more deeply tomorrow.   You are a precious gift.

Hurting ears and aching hearts

Addison screamed bloody murder last night when I removed her shirt before bed to put her pj's on.  The darn ears.....second time this year.  Her first year of life was riddled with infections and I mean twice a month.  It was ridiculously horrible to watch her go through that.  Eventually the doctor put in tubes.  We didn't want intervention but were afraid that she would wind up with permanent hearing damage so we just went ahead and had it done around her first birthday.  After that....not one.  Until a few months ago. 

The appointment went great . Way better than expected.  During the  previous one they had to flush her ears ( while she had a painful double infection)....biting , hitting, crying, pleading, frustrated nurses, soaking wet Mom. That day was NOT a good time. Anyways, she does have an infection but the nurse and doctors were very aware of how traumatized she is when it comes to people near her ears and approached everything gently.  My Addy was cautiously brave.  

On our way to back from the pediatrician  we swung by the Elliot because my doctor had ordered some lab work ( that's another story).  On our way we drove by a homeless man. He stood by the side of the road with a sign that read, "Just plain hungry and homeless." I could see her face in the rear view mirror and because her mind and heart often battle the same way mine does, I knew she was going to have a hard time swallowing the idea and moving on. Its like a disease this over productive worry that stirs....Addy started the questions and I had to tell her the truth of how sad some things are .I felt so bad for her . How do you explain to a little child that we are just going to drive by someone in need but then expect our children to grow  to have a servants heart? Would I not expect her to end up hardening to the horrors around us? They do not give a manual for this kind of stuff.  Someone has got to do it because I m no good here. 

She was trying to find a way to fix the situation. 

"Call Daddy and tell him we need to buy him a new house'.....(like a punch to the gut)

Maybe if I invite him to my birthday party he will have friends!" ....(if only it were that easy)

" Maybe we can go to Walmart and buy him a pillow and blanket so he can get comfy cozy in the woods." ....( I couldn't go there in my mind)

This went on for a while. After all of our appointments were done the questions and suggestions started once again.  She made me pull over and shop for food so he wouldn't be hungry. Grabbed a little carrier and let her load it up .  Bread, peanut butter, grape jelly, pop top veggies, m&m brownie, crackers, peanuts, bananas, ginger ale.....just let her do her thing. Who knows where he would put all this or if he even wanted it, but I wasn't going to put my grown up reason into anything. She was making a difference.  One most of us don't because we think  that we cant do something huge so we don't do anything at all.  You know what though....nothing gets better because the 500 people after us are thinking the same thing.  

Watching her tiny hands load up all these things reminded me that size and age has little to do with your ability to have compassion or your ability to do right. If she hadn't been with me, who knows what I would have done.  I would have wanted to fix this problem, desperately wanted to make this right but I would have felt like I couldn't do enough...so why try?  

This day  .....I didn't feel God pulling on MY heart, I heard Him through my daughters. She finished loading up the box, I paid, and we delivered. She stayed in the car for obvious reasons....he was still a stranger. She watched out the window with a huge grin. I handed the bag to him and explained they were from my daughter ( waving at the window).  Luckily I had a mini Book of John with me ( yes, I am THAT lady) and I was able to share the word of God with him.  Before I walked back to the van I told him that I was so very sorry for the situation he found himself in, that I wished I could do more but that I would pray for him.  He smiled and was grateful.  I will never forget it.  I am going to be looking at a lot of things differently now.  I am going to do the little things and I'm going to encourage everyone to.  I'm going to let my kids teach me sometimes. 

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?"
1 John 3:17

Congratulations to the Alajajians!

This past Sunday Melissa and Andrew tied the knot.  We were so honored to be a part of such a special celebration. We look forward to making many more memories in the many many years of friendship to come.

   The day was probably the most gorgeous weather day of the year to       date....you just couldn't have asked for a better day!  All around a very memorable one.

( AND we got to enjoy it with hands free for food and dancing while the boys had a super fun day with Nana and Grampa).

 

 The cutest ring bearer and flower girl ever.  Nathan and Addy met one morning,who knows when, at church school.  Instant friends.Our friendship with Drew and Melissa began shortly after.Instant friends as well.

This is them when they first met up in the parking lot that morning before the ceremony began. They were slamming down as many Honey Nut Cheerios as possible.

They ran wild for a while before I was able to get them to slow down long enough to practice their big entry one more time.

Addy and Mommy.  All dressed up and ready to roll.  Daddy got My outfit together and I must say he did a great job.  He even bought the comfortable underwear that I was wearing.  Now THAT is a keeper.

 

 Cutting the cake.  It was as delicious as it was classy and beautiful. YUM!

 

We had such a fun time on this awesomely beautiful occasion.  Simply perfect and the Mile Away puts on an extraordinary reception.  Tasty dinner, a great time with the best of friends and dancing. 

 

After a hard night of dancing and partying Addy had to break for the treat of all treats.

We , unfortunately , do not have any more pictures of this event and are sad.  We forgot to charge the camera and were so bummed to not capture all the greatness we experienced.

 

Congratulations friends, may God continue to walk this journey with you, carry you when think you just cant, and always be the center of all that you do.  

We love you three and are looking forward to the rest of the story.

Love suffers long, and is kind; love does not envy; love does not promote itself, is not puffed up, does not behave badly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

One More for the Team.

A huge congratulations to our George.  

He has made the team......

 

 .......The toothy grin team!!

You cannot see them in the photo but they are there.  Trust me....I have felt it....and so has Addy, Daddy, Papa and Drew.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? 

You are not your own; you were bought at a price. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20