Rainey Day

It rained all day here today. Perfect chance to get out Hudson's little rain jacket and model it from the inside :) He and Pierce stood at the door waiting for daddy to come home...and I snapped some great shots. I just love the raindrops on the window, the tiny fingers, the side profile, the smile, all of it. And I do love rain. Its' smell. Its' freshness. Its' promise of new life. And I loved seeing it through Hudson's eyes today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Jokes Getting Older...

This second grader enjoys telling jokes. And his little brothers are now repeating them often. I am thankful that they are cute and light and innocent....and I love the smile on his face when he shares them...over & over again :)

 

They are new jokes to him - but, as I am sure you will remember - these were around in our day as well... talk about a blast from the past as he laughs over these...

R:"what is that under there?"
brother: "under where"
R: hahahaha - you said underwear....


R: "What is your name??"
me: "Carolyn"
R: "what color is the sky?"
me: "blue"
R: "what is the opposite of down?"
me: "up"

R: Carolyn blew up - hahahahahaha


R:"first say "i" and then spell "cup"
Chase: I - c - u - p
R:hahahaha - you just said I see you pee
(sidenote: Pierce tried to greet me at the breakfast table with this one)


R: "do you like seafood"??? (and then opens his mouth to show what he's chewing on)

And, of course the "knock, knock" jokes..although he hasn't really gotten into those ones yet.

Those are just a few that come to mind. They were old to begin with but are even getting a little older in the family now.... :) Anyone have a few more that I can help him with to add to his repertoire??

Cub Scouts Pine Wood Derby

The Pinewood Derby is a huge tradition in the world of Cub Scouts. Benjy has memories of working on the derby car with his dad. So he was excited to carry on the tradition with Reece for the first time. They investigated a few ideas on the internet and Reece chose his design and cut it and sanded it and painted it.

A huge thanks goes out to our friend Larry Ellison (who raised his own 3 boys and has a little derby experience under his belt). Larry showed Reece how to use his band saw and helped him assemble the axels (after a bit of a last minute panic at our house the morning of the race when what we wrongly assumed was a quick and simple task turned into the requirement of just a wee bit more precision and tools) Thank you Larry - you saved the day!

Here is our handsome Cub Scout with his hot car on the morning of the race...

And then the visit to the pit stop to check all of the weight and size restrictions. Reece's car was underweight and so Daddy and Reece added a few quarters and pennies to get closer to the ideal weight.

Some of the fierce competition...

And....theeeeyyyyyy'rrrrreeeeeee off!

Here is a quick (no pun intended!!) glance at one of Reece's early heats (listen carefully to Pierce's voice of awe!!)

One of my favorite parts of this day was watching Reece walk back and forth between the starting line and the finish line (each car had 8 races)...almost bursting with joy (but doing a darn good job of not smiling - he was so serious and so adorably humble!) And the other thing I loved was watching Reece's little brothers cheer him on. I seriously think Chase was more thrilled than even Reece was - he was jumping up and down every time Reece's car was on the track. I caught this perfect photo of Chase giving big bro a high 5 as he passed by.

And with complete and total surprise...Reece's car was fast. He won second place and a rather large trophy to declare his efforts!!!! Quite a shock since my personal hope was that it would simply go down the track like it was supposed to :) Shows what little I know about pinewood derby racing!!

Daddy and son - both so happy!

The official race results! (we could sense a few of the other Dad's were a little disappointed that this new kid on the block came in and took their trophy :) )

And the happy brothers who cheered so well!

What fun and unexpectedly surprising success.

Loving Words Are Powerful

 

Valentine's Day was extra special this year because it taught me an important lesson.

As always, the boys filled out little Valentine's cards for their friends.

Pierce got especially into it sitting at the table signing his name to each card. (So cute to see him work so hard)

 

Benjy and I had a special date planned but our babysitting plans fell through. So, instead, we all ate supper together - and we talked to one another...sharing things we love - or at least like - about one another. I had made each of the boys a little valentine from me - and as we spoke, I recorded the words inside of the card so they could always see that through all the craziness of brotherly teasing, pestering, fighting - they love one another.

Little did I know the importantce of that last minute idea. It was powerful and I hadn't really expected them to care that much. We have reread those cards to them - at their request - over and over again.

Chase slept with is card by his pillow that night :)

 

Pierce made a game of it to be silly and act out each of the statements inside the card...so he requests it over and over again.

I think we too easily overlook the power of speaking affirming words to one another - simple compliments that say "I like you because..."

 

Happy Valentine's day boys. You are very much liked and even more loved!

My Day

So, although this post is long overdue, I did celebrate my birthday at the end of January...and I wanna remember it. My boys took good care of me - and even though Benjy was in Texas - he pulled off some great surprises from a distance...

My family and friends were good to me too. I shared lunch and good conversation with one, I received phone calls, texts, and many, many facebook messages, I received a pizza delivery from another so I wouldn't have to cook on my birthday. I had several cakes baked for me to celebrate - one the day before...another the day after.

But the one cake that I ate ON my birthday was the sweetest because it was baked and decorated by none other than my own kids (yes, i did supervise the potentially hazardous events in the kitchen...and talked them slowly through a few things...but they really did do all of the work) I tried to empower them to make decisions and before long realized they weren't ready for all of that seeing it was quite a lengthy battle of which pan combination they should use to pour the batter into :) But then they got to work and it was a special cake, generously covered in raspberries - my fave!

I also received a special delivery at the front door - an edible arrangement - a bouquet of fresh fruit and chocolate sauce (mmmmmm) - sent from Benjy. I seriously had to fight off the kids to get any of it - they were wildly excited!

What a fun day....I am so blessed. Check out the pics!

The Sincerest of Compliments

 

This morning I invited Pierce to sort laundry with me.

With enthusiasm he hopped on over to join in the fun. I explained that all I wanted was for him to put the clothes that looked mostly white on one pile and the ones that had colors on another.

He began to sort, looking often for affirmation on each article of clothing he picked up.

Within moments he looked up at me and in his own simple yet sincere way said, "Mommy, you are really good at this"
(Ha! I guess everyone's gotta be good at something)

It made me smile and elevated this all too common task to almost fun (I said almost!)

 

Normal Days

Lots of my days are just normal. They involve caring for kids, running errands, making meals and folding laundry. At first glance, there is nothing amazing or necessarily noteworthy about most of them. They are just normal days.

But are they?

I am reminded this weekend, as I think about tragedy in the lives of families I knew from high school, or dear friends who have given up on their marriage, or the many, many, many other things going on around the globe - both exciting or full of sadness - I am reminded that there is great comfort in the plain, old, normal. It is where the majority of life is truly lived. Where we spend most of our time.

And there are noteworthy things in the normal and everyday if you have the right perspective. Because a lot of normal days eventually turn into a lifetime. I am working on appreciating the everyday. The little things can be full of gratitude and magic. We can stop looking for the rare and glamorous spotlight moments in life and start finding thankfulness and joy in the regular, everyday stuff (largely inspired by the reading of the terrific book I am in the middle of called One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp - you really, really should pick up a copy)

So today, celebrate the normal that you are living...and appreciate it. Find joy and thankfulness in it.

After all - today is what you have.

"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day, I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

*** the above quote came from a blog reader, Sadie, who shared that her 83 year old mother has the above quotation written on a yellowed, curled clipping stuck to her bathroom mirror - inspiring and wise, don't you think???