Friday, February 25, 2011

Mothering Highs


Without a doubt, one of the highs of motherhood is getting to laugh with the kids. Shared laughter is pretty wonderful.

So yesterday, as the boys, MG, and I walked into Lowes together in the rain (no umbrella), I noticed that our M was huddled to my back right. "What are you doing, M?" I asked. "Using your purse umbrella," he responded.

I don't know what it was about the moment, but his response totally struck me funny. The boys and I giggled as we walked in, completely soaked save for the purse umbrella. I noticed a lady watching us from the side--she initially must have thought we looked pretty ridiculous all huddled together, but then smiled as she saw us laughing. It warmed my heart.

Thank you, dear Lord, for moments like these to refresh me.
Thank you for rain and splashy boys and sweet, raindropped baby girls in arms.
It is precious seconds like these that renew me on this marathon journey...

TGIF and blessings,

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Surviving

Good Wednesday, dear ones. How are you mid-week?
I wish I could report a brilliant start to our week... but it hasn't been. It SO hasn't been and that is why I haven't been on here for a few days. Sometimes life is like that, isn't it?--so we are trudging through. The two boys above are home today, both on antibiotics. T is enduring a third round of strep in a month. We're on a third antibiotic and praying this is the end to a horrible string of illness! I have a call in to the ENT and we are going to get on the books for a surgical consult for getting his tonsils out. It's time.

J, on the other hand, developed an unusual bump on his rump Friday that sent all of us reeling. To make a long story short, the little guy has an "abscess" (hate that word!) rather than a pilonidal cyst they originally thought present. Yikes! We are just grateful no surgical intervention was needed and we're allowing nature to take it's course. Which has translated to--lots of soaking and cleaning and now... draining. Yuck. I'll leave it at that.

To top things off, we were locked out of the house yesterday with the baby asleep inside! Our garage door keypad went caput after I closed it as we ventured outside. It. would. not. open. Ugh!! Thankfully, my neighbor, C, came to the rescue, offering us a place to stay warm while we explored our options. A locksmith ended up rescuing us about an hour and a half later. Lovely. I've never been happier to walk into our warm, inviting house. It was luxurious. And our little lady slept all the way through--I was able to monitor her through the back door window that allowed me to see the monitor in the kitchen! She had a great nap and was none-the-wiser upon waking up minutes after we arrived home. Thank you, Lord! It was clearly just "one of those days".

This, of course, is all following a really great trip we had to DC on Saturday. We went to the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles and the boys got to see a real space shuttle!! Totally cool. We are planning a trip down to FL to see my parents in April, coinciding with NASA's (potentially) last shuttle launch. For the boys to see the shuttle up close now was great preparation for the launch! Not to mention they are completely space crazy at the moment, so this was a cool way to feed their interests.
Outside the museum on a very very windy day!
Daddy and his space rangers

Mom's turn!

Afterward, we went to the home of dear, dear friends of ours from ND law days. We haven't seen them in ages and it was a delightful afternoon spent catching up and the kids playing. Our boys had a ball playing with their sweet, sweet children. We had such a good time, we ended up sticking around for dinner and heading home past bedtime. We cherish their friendship! Thanks B family! What joy to see you!!
Dads and babies, MG (~8 mos) and D (~6 mos)

So that's that from the land of G-ville.
We are here, thanks be to God, ever mindful of praising Him through the highs and the lows. Hope this finds you well.
God bless,

Friday, February 18, 2011

Don't Blink

Our little MG is not only scooting around in Army-crawl fashion these days, but is also waving and saying "Bye bye"! We are *just loving* these new developments... You could say she's schooling her brothers so far in the maturity race. lol!! You go, baby girl! :) Enjoy and Happy Friday!


*Also, enjoy the brotherly "encouragement" there at the end. Poor, sweet sister. lol :)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Birthdays and such...

Our big boy, M, had his 6th(!) birthday party on Saturday. It was great fun for all of us--a few of the boys even left saying "this was the best party ever", so I took that as a compliment! We aim to please over here in G-ville! :)

We had good friends...
M and his best buddy, L

The bounce house (of course!)...
An obstacle "car circuit training" course outside...
Here I am, showing the boys how to flex their muscles. I can still get away with behavior like this! Not for long! :) lol

We had Pin the Tow on the Mater...
And finally pizza, cake, and presents!!
What joy for our boy! We hope this commences a wonderful year seven...

As much fun as one birthday is, though, I have to admit I get a little tired thinking of doing three more of these this year! Thankfully, the little ones are still just family parties, so I'm off the hook for a little while longer. I've also heard of families doing parties for big birthdays, like 10, 16, etc. and then chilling out the other years. We might have to resort to such a plan--why overdo it?!

God bless you on a Wednesday,

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Where is J?

The other night GG called me upstairs, "Honey, you've got to see this" with a snicker in his voice. The boys had gone to bed hours before and GG and I were just about to turn in.

We crept into J's bedroom, opening the door and noticing immediately that his lamp was on.
Then, we looked over at his bed.
No J.
We then looked out into the room. No J.
My mama instincts were starting to kick in--where was my baby?? Thankfully, GG was laughing, so I knew all was well.
I then walked a little further in and saw this...
What a little sweetie (or stinker!), sleeping in the corner with the light on! lol GG and I had some good chuckles.
Nothing a good daddy can't fix...
At least he was sleeping, right?! lol. :)
No reports of antics since, so here's to hoping!!

God bless your Tuesday,

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Re-Grouping

It is on a day like today, a 60 degree, beautiful, taste-of-spring, Virginia kind of day that the G clan needed some re-grouping. You know, the kind of cleaning-up-shop sort of re-grouping.

We had just enjoyed some wonderful time with good friends of ours from church. They are the family with whom we are adventuring through a year of at-home catechesis or FIRE, as it is nationally known. We've grown much closer to this family in the last two years-- the husband is former navy, the wife is a former PT, and their three children range in ages from 4 to 8. They are darling. We are having a great time re-inventing the curriculum for our little clan--our group's children are YEARS younger than the other families participating in their own FIRE circles. Whenever all the circles get together, we are on the edge of our seats, hoping all of our young ones will behave! It has been great fun...

Needless to say, today was FIRE lesson #7 and we hosted. GG took us through an informative and fun look at the altar components and the Consecration. Each child had the chance to serve as priest and altar server after GG explained the roles. It was a great lesson and I was so proud of my GG. But can you guess who I was less than proud of?

My two oldest, M and T. Their behavior stunk. Aside from when they were actively participating, they acted silly, whined, and showed very little reverence and respect for the lesson and the people involved. I would pull them aside and correct them as we went along, not wanting to remove them completely from the lesson (which would probably have given them exactly what they wanted!) On the contrary, our friend's children were behaving impeccably. They were setting an impressive standard, which made me even more mortified by my boys' behavior. Iron sharpening iron, I tell you. We needed some improving and PRONTO!

Afterward, GG and I sat our crew down and rehashed the family rules. We talked about tightening up in the days to come. About how the bar would be raised significantly. There would be no second chances. There would be an opportunity to do right OR there would be a consequence. The boys understood--"Yes ma'am. Yes sir." Enough said.

Thank you very much. I'll let you know how it goes.
The afternoon continued beautifully. The boys played pirates indoors and out. The latter part of the afternoon they helped with yard work in the backyard. How glorious it was to breathe the fresh air!! It was so good for all of us. Perhaps it helped everyone get out their ya-ya's! Boy do we need to do that from time to time.

So there you have it--just keepin' it real with a glimpse of a day in the life of G-Ville. We don't claim to be perfect, just forgiven. Praise God for that.

God bless,

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Cutest Class in the World

Call me crazy (in love), but I'm rather particular to the little boy, top row, second-from-right. My T sweet.

I tell the boys all the time they are "the most wonderful baby bears in the whole wide world" (based on a book we love--thanks Carol!) Tonight Thomas was adamant, saying, "Mom, we are NOT the best boys in the world. I may be sweet, but I'm not the best." lol.

I totally disagree.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Joke of the Day

M: Mommy, why do palm trees have wood?

Me: (always the perpetual science teacher) Palm trees have wood to deliver nutrients...

M: No, Mommy, this is a joke. Why do palm trees have wood?

Me: I don't know.

M: Because they have wood. Ha ha ha ha... (legitimately laughing)

T: (not laughing) That joke was the most super funny joke of the night.

lol. What is it with kids and horrible jokes?
They are hysterical!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

What I'm Pondering Tonight

-a new case of strep throat for our T and the possibility of saying good riddance to these pesky tonsils. To be continued...

-a new baby on the way. Overjoyed for this dear, dear friend of mine from youth. She is brilliant in all ways. Shining. Lovely. Hooray for life! Hooray for new life for my bosom friend!

-a new running regime, getting ready for this race. Training day #3 was today. Intense. I'm going to try to run it hard. We'll see if my old body can take it. :) So far, so fast. TRX is tomorrow. Last week I ached for a few days following. Narcism at its best.


-a new year for my son and grandfather. We had a fabulous birthday weekend in PA. It was a joyful time in all respects. Joy in a hotel room--when you put 6 people in a small sleeping space, how can't there be joy?? Joy for dinner--spills and all! Joy at my g-parents' small duplex--complete with G boy dancing to cap the night (have I mentioned we all love to dance?Especially in the kitchen; especially around dinnertime). Joy at breakfast the next morning--always joy when family is near. Joy. My grandpa cried tears of joy when we arrived. He's the cutest and he's now 90. Joy. M is the biggest 6yo on the planet. He's also star of the week in his class--a very shiny star. Joy.



Wishing some joy on you from afar tonight.
Blessings,

Friday, February 4, 2011

What's a'Happenin' Hot Stuff?

Name the movie. Anyone? Anyone?

lol. One of my all-time faves. It is so quotable and makes me laugh every time I think of it! :)

So, happy Friday to all. Here's a quick update on our current status, starting with the wee'est of the G's...
1. Our little girl got her first tooth! The lower right front tooth made its appearance on Saturday, which explains a bit of unusual mom/dad preference and fussiness the night before. If only we had known! :) Unfortunately, we're now also dealing with the vicious diaper rash that seems to always accompany my kids' teeth arrival. Her poor bottom is so sore--no amount of Boudreaux's (Butt Paste) is helping! Last night I let her "air out" on the carpet while the boys started dinner. That turned out great (heavy sarcasm)--she pooped and peed on the carpet and then dragged one of the boy's books through it. Gross! As GG put it this week--our little flower has turned into a bit of a stink weed! :) Cute stink weed, no doubt! We love you to smithereens, dearest pink one.

2. J is in a big boy bed!!!! He made the transition at Mimi and Papa's house this past weekend and then continued the fun at home. We've only caught him out of bed a few times and he always goes back to bed very willingly. He actually seems to sleep better than in the crib. Probably because he's not confined to such a small space! G-ville morning noise has also since decreased by decibels as J no longer needs to call from his crib for someone to come get him! :)

3. M had his first piano lesson! The teacher comes highly recommended and actually shows at our home every Thursday for a half hour. I was greatly amused being a fly on the wall in the other room while M introduced himself and got to know his teacher. He talked enthusiastically about some of his interests, including Lightning McQueen, Mater, and the song "Real Gone" from the soundtrack. According to the teacher, M really began to thrive when later put to some more challenging piano work. He apparently needed "something to sink his teeth into". I got the picture that the teacher wasn't sure M was ready to start lessons during the first part, but turned things around as the lesson continued. I guess we have no where to go but up!! :) Practice starts after school today. The mama is not so sure I'm ready to venture to the role of taskmaster, but might as well start while we're ahead! (Read: Mom, I'm sorry for the many, many times I put up a fuss before practicing the piano. And for the many times I just didn't practice and paid for it at my lesson. Let's pray its not hereditary. :)

4. We had a great mid-year conference with M's kindergarten teacher, who loves him and thinks he's right on track with reading and writing. What joy to be able to sit and talk, laugh, and share stories with an outside person, who also loves your child! This was an awesome Mom moment for me. M tested well in reading in the fall, but still made some improvements to his reading this testing go 'round. The sky's the limit for our big little man. We are ultimately so thrilled he loves school so much!!

5. Tomorrow is M's 6th birthday and Sunday is my grandfather, Mickey's, 90th! We are heading to PA to celebrate with my parents and grandparents. No snow is going to keep our crew from such a wonderful bit of life celebration. We'll make it, without question!!!

Hope you have a great one!
Enjoy a blessed weekend,
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