For the Agents in My Life.....

My little bro Aaron is a Border Patrol agent for the Rangeley area here in Maine. My cousin Jodi is a Supervisor for the Border Patrol in the Houlton area; and my older brother, Clay, will also be an agent in Houlton in just a few months. This little ditty is for them. I almost peed my pants.

One of THOSE days....

Today has not gone as planned.

This was the big day that Jesse was going to get his super cool remote controlled car for being completely potty trained. It's been sitting up on the window sill in the bathroom for weeks, and he's been waiting.....

Well, today I had to go into work, and Kev is super busy, so I thought this would work out great. Whip out the prize before I leave and then the boys would be completely occupied for HOURS while Mommy was off to work, and then Daddy could get done what he needs to do, as well.

Hmn. Not so much.

Right before I leave, we discover that the car is a dud. Doesn't work at all, and Jesse is completely devastated. Awesome. Then, I get a call while I'm AT work and Kevy tells me that the boys were downstairs playing in the basement....you know, since the car wasn't working at all.....and they decided to give every single one of their stuffed animals "baths" in the basement where it has flooded. THEN, they proceeded to bring each and every soaking wet with muddy basement water stuffed animal up into my (freshly scrubbed because company is coming) living room to let them have their naps.

Awesome.

Good thing it's just my little bro coming to dinner.
Welcome to my life, Aaron......

A Child's Top Ten.....

I came across this article this morning. An interesting and encouraging read. It was written by Erin Kurt, who has her B.Ed and spent 16 years as a teacher and nanny around the world. Now, she applies her expertise as a parenting expert.

"What do you think matters most to your children? You driving them to lessons and practices, or is it the smile and hug you greet them with after school? If you guessed the latter, you are correct.

Sixteen years of teaching and giving the same assignment every Mother’s Day has led me to the exact same conclusion. You see, every Mother’s Day I would ask my students to give me advice on being a mother. They were to think about things their mother or guardian did for or with them that made them feel happy or loved.

Year after year, in every country I taught, and in every type of demographic, the students were saying the same things and had the same message: It’s the small things that their mothers did that meant the most and that they remembered.

Many moms today feel as if they are not good mothers unless they are racing around, shuttling their children from lessons, to practices and back to lessons again. I’ve had mothers tell me that they want to give their children every opportunity they did not have. While this thinking might bring the mother some comfort, it really does not do the same for their child who is potentially feeling overextended, stressed and tired.

After speaking endlessly about this topic with my students, it became clear to me that children today are involved in too many activities and are in turn becoming less in touch with themselves and their families. In addition, my students told me they really wished for more time to “just play”. Of course many of them enjoy their extra curricular activities, but it is not necessary they said to be allowed to do everything. What they enjoyed most, and what made their hearts happiest was when their mothers did simple things for or with them.

Here is a list of the top ten things students around the world said they remembered and loved most about their mothers.

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2. Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
3. Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6. At night talk to me about about anything; love, school, family etc.
7. Let me play outside a lot.
8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.


Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Perhaps it is time we start taking their advice. Maybe we would all feel a little less stressed and be satisfied with the fact that doing little things really is… good enough."

I'm A Wanderer!

Well, I am home from my week-end away without my babes. It was quite glorious to be away for a week-end and equally glorious to be home again with my men. In true Kevy form, I came home to quite the spotless house because he knew that would mean far more to me than a dozen roses or other such fluff. My love language is hard core "Acts of Service," and hearing both the dishwasher and the washing machine whirring as I walked through the door screamed "LOVE" from the rooftop! I'm weird like that. And he knows it. That's why I love him so.....

I got 75 pages of scrapping accomplished - 55 completely finished, journaling and all - with 20 more done ALL but the journaling. That's my goal as soon as I get done here. We'll see how that goes. That was my goal during yesterday's nap, too, and I got about 3 sentences written before the hoodlums awoke from their slumberings. That's why I do this once a year. I usually don't touch an album from the time I leave one scrapbook retreat until the time I go to the next one. At least little Rancey Pants has 75 pages of love recorded for him. It may be ALL he gets. We shall see....

In other news - I am now breaking out in poison ivy here and there, and Jesse's continues to spread. His little face has cleared up, and he no longer looks like a monster, but he now has it on the palm of his hand, his legs, and even his little bum. Poor thing. I think we're cursed. Not sure how we're going to handle this issue, but everything I've read says that you are really only able to "manage" poison ivy - never fully eradicate it. That's awesome. But, I have heard of a shot that you can get every year to make you immune. I'm totally looking into that....and asking for a double dose.

It's a yucky rainy day in these here parts, today. I don't mind one every once in awhile - it's kind of cozy. And we have nowhere to be tonight, and nothing to do, so I think we shall all make cookies together! It's that kind of a day....

Tidbits....

WELL, I am kicking it for the weekend with a couple of friends to go scrap-a-di-doo-dah-ing SANS KIDLETS!!! Holy heavens - I am quite excited. I have never left one of my babies for this long at this age, but Ransom is in great hands with Daddy-O, and he takes a bottle just fine. I go once a year to one of these little retreats, and whatever scrapbooking gets done during those three days is what gets done in my year. I have not touched a picture since this time last year. So, I'm excited to put Ransom on the map! I have always said that I will do for all of my kids what I did for my first....each successive child will have just as many pages in his album as my first baby, so this weekend will be the attempt to keep my word to Rancey-Pants.

Although, I have ALL boys, and I'm quite sure that NONE of them will give a flying flip about scrapbooks that their Mommy made when they're older, but this at least appeases my conscience of any guilt.....in this area of their lives at least.

In other news, I am leaving Ransom with a horrible bum rash....not sure what's going on there, Jesse with poison ivy all over one side of his face....still not sure where he got it....we think it's maybe where we're building a tree fort. AWESOME. And Kaden with a bit of a cold. Good times. But Kevy is a rockin good sport about these things, so I am off like a flash!

One other really really cool thing that happened during the week - and this should really be a separate post of its own - is that Kaden accepted Christ as His Savior on Wednesday night. It was so special, and I want to remember the details forever.

We had been to some friends' house for supper and over the course of our dinner conversation my friend told us of a mutual acquaintance that we both knew who had suddenly passed away. Comments like: "He was so young," and "What a shock," and "We're so surprised," were thrown around while we were talking about him. Unbeknownst to us, Kaden was taking all of this in and processing it in his little mind. And after tucking him in for the night and praying with him, he came out of his room, tears streaming down his face, telling us that he's been thinking about when Mommy and Daddy are going to die.

In that moment, I knew that this was going to be the time that he accepted the Lord into his life. We talk about it all the time, he's memorized verses and told his AWANA leaders "how to get to Heaven," and it's been drilled into him each week in Sunday school, so we've known that he KNEW the truth. We have just never wanted to push the issue or force him to "pray the prayer" - we've wanted him to really understand and to maybe even initiate with us when he knew and when he was ready.

So, anyway...it was just a really sweet and tender time. Very special. In typical Kaden fashion, he was quiet and subdued, but we both feel that it was genuine and that he fully understood. It's been neat to see him continue to process through in conversations that have followed since then. And it's been so cool to see him starting to make his faith his own. What a privilege to guide these little hearts. What a responsibility!

May the Lord always find us faithful.......

Conversations

Overheard by the boys today:

Kaden: Jesse - where did you just wipe your nose?
Jesse: On the towel.
Kaden: But, WHERE did you wipe your nose?
Jesse: On the TOWEL!
Kaden: Jesse - WHERE did you wipe your nose?
Jesse: On the towel. That's the deal. I'm not using any more words!

Far Away......

Kev and I love this music video by Lecrae. We get teary every time we watch it. It's raw and it's real. So good.

Spring Approacheth

And this means:


Our first feeble attempt at gardening in which I have absolutely no doubt that we shall kill every thing we try to grow. But, I am determined to teach my city boys that plants do indeed come from the ground and not the store.....


Many a backyard tromp to try and find a few of last year's nests.....



Keens!!!! Oh how I love my keens...perfect for walking, puddle hopping, and chillaxing. Also great for funky tan lines and horribly smelly feet......


Oh SO many a backyard hotdog, pudgy pie, and marshmallow roast and fun little fires at ANY time of the day. ALL of my boys are pyros.....(is that how you spell that? You know what I mean - they like to play with fire...the kind that's hot.....)


Many, many, many fun swing rides on this old tree.....for all three of the boys actually, until we set up a tire for the big boys.....


And quite possibly...chicky-doos..... if I can convice hubby that this would be FUN!!! Don't you think? Another little adventure of sorts.....along with a little goat perhaps......

A Nine Day Drought......

My hubby is heading back home to his little family today after being gone for NINE DAYS. Whew! It's felt like a month in more ways than one. We are not overly fond of being away from each other or of splitting the family up too often, and other than taking our youth group kids to Africa almost five years ago, this is the longest that we have ever been apart.

Not a fan of it.

After having been on my own for these several days with three crazies and all of them sick at one time or another throughout this entire time, my respect level for single mothers has jumped to a new level. I have always had great respect for Moms who do this on their own - I have just never had to do it myself to be able to fully and wholly appreciate these amazing women. And for goodness sake, it wasn't even two full weeks, but I'm thinking of a handful of ladies right now who I am going to make something special for "just because" they are doing this on their own. Kudos to you girls. There's a special place reserved for you in Heaven! Whew!

Overall though, it's been a pretty good couple of weeks. I am quite positive that I would never have received the "Mother of the Year Award" during this time, but we've done some fun things, I've tried to keep sickness at bay, the boys haven't killed each other, they've still eaten somewhat nutritiously, and I've managed some decent quality time with each one.

We kicked it up to my parents house for half of the time, and this was my saving grace and sanity! Time up in the wide open spaces is so good for ALL of us. We went 4-wheeling as often as we could, I successfully flipped both boys off into a mud patch on our way to some snow!, we had hot dog roasts in Grampy's little cabin outside, we planted seedlings just for fun, Grampy had all kinds of projects to keep little hands busy, Grammy had special tea parties, and we got to see our favorite cousins. It was good.

And so today, we eagerly await the return of Daddy - the stability and heart of our home. We're going to make a welcome home banner, the kids are going to make him a bunny cake - "because Daddy loves bunnnies" - (who knew)?, and if life cooperates, I'm going to try and whip up a special supper.

I appreciate time apart because it makes me that much more thankful for all of the little and big things that Kev does for us - things that I don't ever worry about, like: building fires to keep us warm, keeping my car gassed up and tires blown up, tag teaming getting ready for the day, tag teaming sickness in the night, protection if someone tries to break in! - I received specific instructions on what to do should that have happened!, help with packing, loading, and unloading the car for trips, dealing with our current mouse problem, fixing things that break, and just the lightheartedness, stability, and fun that he brings to our home. Again - huge respect for all of the single moms....

Hurry home, my Love! Welcome to the funny farm!
We have missed you!!!!

In Other News.....

Somehow, we are once again infected with the plague over here. Well, really just another nasty, snotty, coughing, sneezing cold, but it feels like the plague when two of my three littles are under the weather. And it literally just came upon us in an instant. So quickly in fact, that Kev and I thought Jesse must have had an allergic reaction to something. We were driving home from Sunday morning church and one minute he was fine, and the next we wondered if he was hacking up a lung!

Last night was joyous - up multiple times to wipe noses, soothe tears, administer medicine, soothe the oldest who kept getting woke up by his brother's hacking, setting up the vaporizer, refilling it in the middle of the night, wiping more tears, wash, rinse, repeat.

I'm on my second pot of coffee and it's not even 8:00a.m. yet.

Methinks p.j.'s, Planet Earth, many stories, fresh squeezed orange juice, naps for ALL, and no other agenda for the day will get us through. I don't mind. It's nice to be able to check out of life for a bit, and not have to be anywhere or do anything except BE with the boys.

Here's to a third pot 'o joe.......