Thankful

I have been reading my friend Holly's blog and CaringBridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mathesonbarber that she set up to blog about her 5 month old son. Mattheson has been diagnosed with a form of lukemia so rare that Brenner Children's Hospital has never even seen it before. He is starting treatment at Duke the day after Christmas. I am vascilating between grief for Matt and Holly and their family having to go through this and joy at seeing/hearing their faith and trust in the Lord. And I know - KNOW - that He will be faithful to walk with them down this difficult road... and that in itself is bringing an almost overwhelming emotion. The Lord is so faithful and has been to me and to my family over and over again. And with Christmas tomorrow I am so grateful and thankful for all He has done and this is the song that is on my heart right now; for me and my family and for the Barber's.

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks unto the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say "I am strong"
Let the poor say "I am rich"
Because of what the Lord, has done for us.
GIVE THANKS

Too Much Time

So Chandler has too much "free" time on her hands. She does a pretty good job keeping herself entertained, but every once in a while I come across something like this...

I was wiping off the table and noticed this recent carving addition to our tables appearance. I called Chandler over and asked her, "What is this?" "I carved my name," she replied. Very calm, very matter of fact, like it was an every day occurrence. It actually is not very deep; she did it with a pen, and I am planning to replace this table very soon. But it does make me think that maybe, just maybe I shouldn't have anything new around for the next 5 years or so! With these two boys there is no telling what might be coming. I really want to replace the table, and I won't wait 5 more years to do that. I'll just have to be on heightened alert!

A Chicken, A Bee, and a Lion

Ok, I am back. Sorry it has taken a while... I just haven't felt that creative "thing" going on! Well, we didn't do much Trick or Treating, but we did walk down to Alec and Donna's for some treats and play time. As you can see, Garrison was hysterical in his chicken outfit. Josiah is a bee; unfortunately the underneath part of his outfit with the black pants/sleeves and the hood with the antenna would not zip and he got tired of waiting for mom to fix it. He LOVES bees, so this was perfect for him. Chandler wore her lion outfit, which she wears around the house on a regular basis.

She was very concerned that Bennett and I were not keeping a close enough eye on Garrison as we walked down the street. Garrison is our fearless one. He will walk right off the couch, run headlong wherever he is going, climb, jump, fall, tumble, doesn't matter - Garrison just keeps on going! Josiah on the other hand is the cautious hold my hand, help me down type. They are quite a pair. I get asked about once a week if they are twins. Josiah is in the lower percentage for height and Garrison is at about the 95th percentile - so couple that with the closeness in age and people think they might be twins. At a certain level, I guess they might as well be!

With three kids I feel like I spend most of my time just taking care of basic needs (food, semi-clean clothing, safety). I was thinking the other day that I should get down and play with them more. Then I realized, once I start playing with one, no matter what the other two are doing, they want to get involved. Then that starts a kind of mommy tug of war; both boys want to be held, but not together; Chandler wants me to play pet store... And that reminded me of the time I was dealing with one of the boys, Bennett was dealing with the other one and Chandler wanted one of us to do something for her. "We need another parent" she expressed with some exasperation, "we have three kids, we need three parents." Sometimes I don't disagree! I've heard that once you have three, adding more is just not that big of a deal because you are already outnumbered. I don't know that we will be testing that theory!

That runs us right into the issue that we always seem to be running late. Chandler is so used to hearing, "Hurry up, we have to leave now... school is already starting... we're supposed to be there already..." that if I don't say one of the above she'll ask, "Are we late? Has school/church/gymnastics already started?" Now I know why my mom always wanted us to put our shoes on and be completely ready 10-15 minutes before we even had to leave. I can hear her saying, "Get your shoes on" and thinking, "Why, we aren't leaving yet." Sorry, Mom!

Just a few minutes ago I was in the other room and heard Bennett come in from work and holler, "NO!" At first I thought someone must be doing something horrible, but it only took me about 2 seconds to realize what was going on. I had cut Garrison's hair and this was the first time he had seen it. Garrison has really great hair; lots of it with lots of body - Daddy wishes he had hair like Garrison's. I like his hair longer on top too, but it was getting so thick and heavy I felt like he needed a break - so I "trimmed" it. Well, if you have ever cut your own hair or someone elses, you know that a trim often ends up a "little" shorter than originally intended! In my defense, I was thinking that cutting it now would ensure that it has time to grow back before the holidays... ok, maybe not by Thanksgiving... I think he looks cute with it shorter, just different. Daddy is not very happy with me right now.

Our Kids

It's amazing how different your kids are. You hear that from people, but to watch your children and see each of their personalities emerge and how different they are...

Chandler is very smart (and a little bossy). She loves to learn and always has. Since she was three she has loved volcanoes (just like her daddy) and she loves her brothers. Josiah is a lover. He loves to be held and to give hugs. Everyone loves Josiah - with his big smile and blue eyes. He loves school, snacks, and music. He's my sweetie.Garrison is a character. I don't know how else to describe him. One of his favorite things to do is take whatever Josiah is playing with and run away holding it above his head (with Josiah running after him hollering); he doesn't want to play with it, just take it.

They keep us on our toes but they keep us entertained. They are each so different and each so amazing. I can barely remember life without them, and to be honest, I don't really want to!

Cleaning Up

My boys... Josiah dumped out Chandler's collection of cut up pieces of wrapping paper. I went over and told him he needed to clean up and got him started putting them back in their box. When I came back a minute later, Josiah was sweeping and Garrison was using the Swiffer! They are so funny. Now Garrison gets the broom all the time. He dropped a crumb the other day and went straight for the broom. If I can harness that "desire" to clean...

Ok - I give!

Ok, I give! I have been inspired by Sarah's heartfelt posts, Rachael's consistency to keep her blog updated, and Maggie's sweet, colorful stories about her children. I didn't want to do this, but I did drag Rachael (amidst much protest) onto Facebook; the least I could do was give this a shot. So here we go - hope it doesn't disappoint...