A Spring of Joy

Last night our little family curled together in the middle of the hallway floor. Yes, the hallway floor. (I love impromptu moments like that!) Ash leaned his long form against Brian’s shoulder while Audrey snuggled in her Daddy’s arms. Micah folded up next to me with his head in my lap, and we prayed together for Asher’s first day of school. Later, after all three were tucked under their comforters, Ash emerged.

“That desk is so big.” My mind reeled as we walked into his school room last night at the Welcome Back Student Picnic. “He’s much too small for that.” Ash whirled around his new classroom, brown eyes taking everything in. “Look, Mom! There’s fish! And here’s the reading corner. And here’s where I will hang my coat and put my lunchbox. And here’s my desk.” He climbed in and sat down. And lo and behold! That little body fit perfectly in that much too big desk.

Twelve cents. Two pennies and a dime. It’s not much. Not a lot you can do with twelve cents. You certainly can’t buy anything for just twelve cents anymore.

We were sitting in the food court filling ourselves with grease and cheese in the form of humongous pizza slices. She was standing at the counter ordering. We heard the tinkling sound of change scattering over the floor. She bent and picked up a couple cents not realizing there was more she had lost. Or she was ignoring those pieces of money in her embarrassment of heads turning to see what had happened.

UPDATED :: (7/11/08) Albums seem to be working again– albeit slowly still.

UPDATED :: (7/10/08) Today Apple is transitioning .Mac to “Mobile Me” (yea, dorky name); but it broke links to our photos. I’ll fix and repost as soon as they finish and i can figure out what the new links are supposed to be…

Introducing Fun Photography! Christmas brought our oldest his very own digital camera, and he follows us around the house snapping picture after picture. He’s been learning how to use flash, center pictures, and find good subjects to capture. This is his photo album, cropped, edited and captioned on his own. He asked me to put it on my blog for everyone to see.

Okay, so I know ya’ll are just dying to see if Micah actually wore his pirate costume and walked backwards down the aisle at the wedding this past Saturday, but you will have to wait with bated breath a while longer. My sweet friend, Beth, is in town, and spending time with her is a much higher priority than posting pictures of the two most adorable ring bearers that will ever grace this Valley. CUTE doesn’t even begin to describe it! But back to Beth…

My favorite Beth conversation so far was this afternoon with Micah.

Saturday we were driving home from my brother’s house and we passed a church that intrigues Ash every time we fly by. This time he piped up from the back seat:

I wish our church had three crosses on top of a hill like that one does.

Why’s that, buddy?

Because every time I see it, I think about how Jesus died for me. Sometimes I forget, but every time I see it I remember. I want to always remember.

Me, too, buddy, me, too.

Jesus, help us to remember Your sacrifice today. May every moment be filled with the grace of the cross.

This morning a very somber Asher curled his lanky body into my lap. He sighed deeply saying nothing. I held him quietly, gazing at his long eyelashes as they curled around his beautiful eyes. I love his eyelashes!

(I used to joke that my second-born would be a girl with short eyelashes and small eyes and she’d whine about how her brother was prettier than her. Not so! My second-born does have short eyelashes, but he has the strong chin and sweet dimples that fit his impish personality so well. Then there’s the redheaded baby who has the same beautiful eyes as her oldest brother and the charming grin of our middle boy. Each beautiful in their own way.)

So, this whole “going back to being a mom full-time” after months of other people caring for my children while I recovered? Not so sure I’m ready. I totally want to be ready. In my mind I am ready. My body gives out on me about halfway through the day, but if I can get a nap (that’s a big if!), then I can continue. I think the question is, “Am I mentally ready?” Perhaps it’s because my children are crazy! Crazy fun. But also just plain crazy.

Our recent times of family worship have brought some deep heart smiles as I listen to my boys pray and talk to God. Bear, especially, is no holds barred, and it is precious and endearing. Here’s a taste of some recent prayers by our sweet 4-year-old. I love how he doesn’t ask God for things, he just thanks God. Even more I love how real he is. He just is who he is. I have so much to learn from my son!

Our son’s first tooth finally fell out this week with little fanfare. One minute it was there, the next minute he was cradling it in his palm. After weighing your comments, factoring in inflation, the falling dollar, family income, the mortgage crisis, crude oil prices, and the economic “stimulus” package working it’s way through Congress, we decided we’d give Ash a buck a tooth, except for molars. (We’ll deal with that when it happens.)

Night fell. The tooth was gently placed under his pillow. Under cover of darkness, a dollar miraculously appeared. Ash was quite impressed with his discovery. The next morning we had this conversation: