I LOVE JUSTIN & other fun stuff...........

A tribute to Justin: the man of my dreams & love of my life.

Last Sunday, Mother's Day, Justin did something really sweet for me. It may seem like a pretty basic thing to some of you. He & the boys gave me flowers & cards. What's the big deal about that? Well, we were on our way out to the car for church. As I was rushing around, trying to do all of my last minute things, all of my handsome men came walking back in through the front door they had just gone out of. I had thought they were outside, waiting for me in the car. Each of them handed me a rose & said "Happy Mother's Day, Mom. We love you." They each kissed me on the cheek (which is an INCREDIBLY rare thing for some of them now-a-days!). They presented me with cards. One was from the boys, one was from Justin. The boys' card thanked me for always making sure their undies are clean. Justin gave me a bouquet of roses. His card boasted of his contribution to my ability to BE a mother to all these boys! :-) This simple gesture was one of the most touching things that has ever been done for me (maybe only a little less touching than the gift of couches I received from certain family members for my birthday last year!!! ;-). My husband was teaching his sons to honor & love their mother.........and he was honoring me. And they all did it together. Of course, I cried.

Sometimes Justin comes across as rough & insensitive. Maybe sometimes he IS rough & insensitive. And he hates it when I blow his cover & prove otherwise! But too bad. I love that man. I may feel sorry for myself at times when he doesn't say all the words I want to hear or write me mushy poems. Some of you know about that book called The 5 Love Languages. Mine love language is ALL five of them really (poor Justin!). His is simply........"acts of service". And does he ever SERVE! He works so hard to support his family. He works all day at his job, then he comes home & works on selling E bay stuff. He fixes everything that ever gets broken in this house (and that is a LOT with six boys destroying everything they touch!). He takes care of our yard & fixes our cars. He even fixed the little radio nobby in my van before my trip to Seattle in November, which I also thought was so sweet. He does many things to help his mother & sisters. On Wednesday this week he helped his sisters move for the 2nd time this year & has helped them some in setting up their new place. True.........he often gets paid for helping them. But I know, without a doubt, that he would do it for free!!! It's how he shows his love for his family. And he shows his love for me by helping me with laundry, making me dinner frequently, making me a cup of coffee, giving me back rubs...........pretty much doing most anything I ever ask him to do (except for buying that truck........don't get me started!!! ;-). He is a loving father. No man ever loved his kids more. He has started reading The Hobbit to them......again. Daddy-wrestle time is the boys' favorite thing to do in the world. I just don't know what I would ever do with out this man................or what all his boys would do without him. Seth says that his daddy is his hero. Nope, he's not perfect (despite HIS insisting that he IS! :-)...................but he's MY hero too. (BTW......He has bought me cards & flowers many times before. It's just the WAY he did it this time that was so special.) I love Justin!!!!!!!!Stuff the boys made for me, plus cards & flowers.

See? Acts of service!!! He's helping me not spill on the baby! :-)

Did that hurt so bad, honey?

MY PARENTS came to visit this week from Monday through Friday. It was a wonderful time of them spoiling us all rotten, trying to make up for missed birthdays & Christmas. I miss them already. Love you, Mom & Dad!

Boys Are So Sweet!

When I awoke this morning, my baby boys looked so cute sleeping that I had to take yet another snugly, sleeping-baby picture. Watching them sleep just makes my heart melt. They look so angelic, peaceful, innocent & SWEET. I love this picture (and the 500 other sleeping baby pictures that I can't stop myself from taking). However, when I went to retrieve my camera to take this sweet picture.....................
I found THIS..............

..............and THIS on my camera! I loaned Jarod my camera last night so he could do more "art". This is what happens when you give a 9 yr old boy free reign with the camera. He gives you "art" that looks like something from Calvin & Hobbes. I'm pretty sure Jarod is Calvin, BTW. Actually, I think they ALL might be. Poor little dinosaur.

A couple hours later, I am milling around the house, still trying to start my day. Seth & Jarod come running into the house calling for me to come look at Gideon. So I do, and I find THIS:

Don't worry, they only hung him by his arms in MY HOODIE (which didn't survive, poor hoodie!)......not his neck.

Such nice brothers............so proud of their handiwork. Poor little Gideon.

Then I come inside to find Titus playing pretend with this dinosaur & elephant. He is muttering something about the elephant needing his daddy. (I'd say SO!!!) Poor little elephant.

A few minutes later I hear a commotion outside & go check to see what is going on. I see the salt shaker. I see the boys huddled around the salt shaker. I know this is not a good sign. I quickly grab my camera, take a picture..........and then tell them how mean it is to salt a slug & that they should never do it again. If they want to kill one of God's precious creatures they should lop it's head off quickly instead of torturing it. (Don't worry, it was a tiny slug & a LOT of salt. I think it did die relatively fast.) Poor little slug.

Boys are so sweet.

PS. No elephants or dinosuars (or Gideons) were injured in the producing of this blog post. The slug & the hoodie will be remembered fondly.

A Lazy, Sunny Sunday

I LOVE my tree. It only blooms a couple weeks out of the year. I'm sad when the flowers die.

A flower that I haven't killed.

Fun with shadows

A trip downtown to the fountain for some fun & ice cream.

Cutest 6 year old alive!




Statue of Liberty

Someone was woken up from his nap too soon.

Ice cream made him feel better.

Another milestone: Isaac can bring his hand to his mouth! Yeah for coordination! A very good sign! His jitters are definitely better than they were! He gives us all huge smiles. He giggled in his sleep the other day. Oh, and.......last week he weighed in at 13lb, 7oz.

Easter

Milestones

Isaac turns 8 weeks old tomorrow. I told you all I'd be documenting his every milestone..........watching closely to see how he is developing. Well, so far he seems perfectly normal to me. He still shakes sometimes. Some days I think it's better & some days it seems worse. It's hard to say. But it only happens when he is cold & exposed or feeling startled. He smiles, he eats like crazy & he is growing FAST. Today he started PLAYING! Well, playing as much as an 8 week old can! He was so fascinated by that toy in the pictures with the circles. He actually touched it several times............and I'm pretty sure that's just what he was TRYING to do!!! I can just see the little gears in his head turning. I think he's going to be OK!

He played with it so much he pushed

it right into his face!

AAAWWWwwww.........good job
STARING, baby!!!

He just LOVES those circle thingies!!!

My baby is so pretty.

Jarod turned 9 years old yesterday. The day before, I let him bake his own cake. He loves to cook & bake & has taken many lessons from his awesome Aunt Emily. I had to supervise, but he did most of it himself. We had a nice little family party at home. Jarod & Micah (who can NEVER be apart for longer than 5 minutes, so of COURSE they BOTH went!!!) stayed with Emily last night for a sleep over. She took them out to do all kinds of fun stuff for Jarod's birthday, including to a kids' cooking class! There will be more partying to come on Wednesday with Grandma, aunts & cousins.