A Spring of Joy

Little Women is one of my favorite books, and as I watch Audrey toddle around our home, I will often catch glimpes of each of the girls in that book, and I wonder what her little personality will bring.

Will she be a Meg, responsible for helping out in our home and the moral compass for her siblings? Yet vain and concerned about her clothes and looks? Will she know that true worth lies within and not in riches or appearances? She’s already learning that hand-me-downs are fine to wear, and those second hand shops have some adorable clothes, I might add. She cleans out the dishwasher every day with me, and “helps” sweep the floor with the boys every day. What I love the most is how she gets so excited to help, and I pray that gift will be cultivated in her heart more and more.

Last night both the boys gave us quite a laugh during family worship. Each night before bed we read them the Bible, sing and pray. As Brian reads, Micah tends to play with his hands, hum to himself, point at the pictures over and over and ask, “What’s that, Daddy?” Obviously in “Micah-land”, we will sit with him and try to explain what Brian has just read. Asher, of course, knows all the answers and is more than happy to answer for Micah.

Tuesday was an amazing day outside–gorgeous, sunny, and warm. I think I spent the whole day outside with the kids. But the best part of my day was the 30 minutes before lunch. The boys were helping water the seeds I planted under the deck and then asked to play in the water. Why not? We set up the sprinkler, and they ran through it screaming and laughing in sheer delight. I sat on the swing with Audrey who snuggled into my arm and watched the boys without moving.

So far this month the boys have been quite busy learning all the fun tricks they can do on the swingset… like slide down the slide on their feet and give Mommy a heart attack. Here’s my list for May of fun things the kids have learned:

The past few months I have been increasingly frustrated at how difficult it is to find a cheap place where I can get the boys’ hair cut without it looking as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. And I’m way too much of a perfectionist to attempt cutting it myself. I gave up on the Hair Corral because they only did one haircut, and it didn’t work with either boy. Brian won’t let me buzz Micah’s hair, so that takes some of the simplicity out of things.

While I was outside with the kids this morning, we all piled onto the big swing on our swingset for our daily story time. The boys love for Brian and me to tell them stories we’ve made up; however, my imagination is waning. There are only so many coyote, wolf and bear stories I can tell! Thankfully today Asher asked for a dragon and knight story.

My boys love to watch Homeward Bound. They sit up on the loft entranced and talk about what’s happening throughout. I love to listen to them talk together like that! It makes me realize how they are such little persons.

As I was listening to them the other day, I had to smile… they both get so excited every time it ends. Micah always says, “Asher, they found everyone!” Then he calls down to me to tell me that everyone is home and happy. It is new and exciting to them every time even though they know how it ends. And then it hit me… I know how it ends, too.

Brian has a squishy ball to squeeze when he’s stressed that he got on a business trip to San Francisco. This morning I was fixing breakfast and Micah had just gotten up. He raised his arms, yawned and did a full body stretch. All of a sudden he says, “Mommy, I’m all stretched out. I need daddy’s smiley face ball to squeeze.” I asked him, “Do you mean you’re all stressed out?” He stretched again and said, “Uh huh, I’m all stretched out.” Oh how he makes me laugh!