Ya’ll. This boy! It’s like he’s good at everything I want to be good at. He leaves me with my mouth hanging wide open all the time. That little Daniel amazes me at every turn.

I want to be just like him!

Today I picked him up at school, and his teacher told me she thought he was getting sick.

I waved it off. He’s still getting over this cold they had.

“Mom,” he said, while he waited on the playground for his brothers to get out of school, “I need to go to the bathroom.” I sent him back into school to go to the bathroom.

20 minutes later, I was all, “Geesh, Daniel. You were in there forever.”

What a clueless mom I am.

Daniel handled it all like a champ. He came in, changed his clothes, and packed his suitcase all by himself because he’s going to Nana and Granddaddy’s house this weekend.

I forgot all about his teacher’s warning. I thoroughly didn’t have a clue.

Meanwhile, his fever was getting higher, and he was suffering from some sort of stomach virus.

Finally, he came into my room, laid on my bed, and said, “Mommy. My stomach hurts so bad. I don’t feel good. I might throw up.”

Boy, nothing gets your attention like that sentence does!

I felt him. He was on fire. I took his temp. Yep. Fever. I gave him Tylenol and a smidge of food and drink. I let him lie in bed and watch Home.

I look at his gigantic blue puppy dog eyes and adorable carrot top, and I just think, “Wow. Daniel. I want to be like you.”

I can’t tell you how often I stumble upon Daniel in a room, washing the mirrors or sweeping the floor. Not even kidding. This boy is better than me.

Yes, he is.

He’s a server. He loves to help people. He accomplishes all of his tasks to the best of his ability, and if he is ever lazy, I promise you he must be sleepy or sick.

So yes, I want to be just like him. He’s bold too. There’s a girl in his class that he likes. Does he torture her by pulling her hair and calling her names? Oh but no. Instead, he told her he wants to marry her and always sits by her. Thankfully, she is still his friend! Ha!

I love all my children the same. Adore them. They fill my heart with so much love and pride, and I see so much of myself in them. Every bit of shyness. That’s me. Every bit of laziness. Also me. Every bit of hiding in their room to read. So extremely me. Temper? Me.

But this? This sweet, loving, serving, hard-working little leprechaun? Maybe someday. Maybe someday that will be me too.

I love you, Daniel. Feel better soon.

The post Why I want to be just like my kindergartener when I grow up appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I guess you know which stocking is mine.

This might have been the easiest Christmas in 14 years of April and Alan family Christmases. We only had to travel two hours, and we woke up on Christmas morning IN OUR OWN HOUSE. Have you ever??? I mean, we had almost never!! Do you do this? Do other people do this every year??  It was so nice!

I mean have you read my other Christmas stories???

Our Nightmare Before Christmas

The Funeral, Christmas Trip

New Years in San Francisco

Well, I’m happy to tell you this is NOT one of those stories. We did go and see our families, but we were able to do all of that and still be at our own house on Christmas morning.

Around 7 or so a.m., we heard Boy #1 begin talking to Boy #2. They simply chatted calmly in bed. Some of the boys woke up the other boys. I don’t remember who got up first, but a miracle happened…..

No one came and jumped on us…..

They gathered themselves in the living room, just the four of them in the living room to patiently wait for their parents to get up.

Whaaa???? We were so pleased with all this that we didn’t make them wait. We went ahead and joined them.

I love watching my children open their presents. Christmas is a whole other level of special for children. When is it that we lose that? Let’s get that back.

Yes, he’s actually CLAPPING. He’s so excited. There were a few To: Caleb and Daniel presents this year. They may look ages apart, but it’s actually only a 3 year gap. Some kids are tall. Some kids are shorter.

SO HAPPY

Be sure to see the 50 second JD video on Facebook, and share in the excitement.

We all went to church together. It was nice, though nothing topped the Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Eve service

There was something about the meaning in lighting these candles and taking communion with so many fellow believers that made Christmas more real to me this year. We sang Silent Night, and I wanted this moment to never end.

Too quickly, we were all headed back to our houses when so often I just want to curl up at the altar and soak it all in…

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”       Luke 2:10-12

…But it was back to Christmas as usual, and I can’t help but wonder. Are we entering a new phase of our lives?  There simply isn’t a BABY anymore. JD is 3 1/2 now. No one is a baby. Life is c-a-l-m-i-n-g down. No one wore a diaper, no one carried a sippy cup, and no one got out of their seat. No one even colored on himself.

Wow.

I think I might cry!

No one was sick this Christmas either. JD caught a cold, accompanied by a very pink eye, but even that ended in two days.

OH, and guess what! Once Christmas day was over, Alan took my minivan to the shop, and I now have a clean minivan, with a heater that heats, and a functioning defroster! Somebody get this man a trophy!!

I feel like we just had the perfect Christmas. I can safely say that because Christmas is fully over. Saying Christmas was perfect can’t possibly jinx it now.

Of course, I did find one baby to hold.

Ah, sparkling pretty lights. I may never take my Christmas tree down. Plus, I’m hoping Alan will do it for me. Hmmm…I wonder if Alan is hoping that I will do it. I seriously don’t even want it taken down. Let’s just leave it up until next Christmas!

Hallelujah! And may we never forget what it’s all about. This is an incredible excerpt from the Passion of the Christ. You do have to click the link to YouTube to watch, but it’s so worth it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDm-myjQgdM

Wishing you all a blessed 2017! May your kids behave. May your rain be snow, and may all your prayers be answered.

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”        Luke 2:13-14

The post This Christmas: 1st Year at Home, 1st Non Disaster Story appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Y’all know it was a rough year for me, physically. Thankfully, everything turned out to be mostly okay. I just have a few chronic conditions to manage, but it’s all under control now, and I have a good outlook.

A brilliant thought came to me the other week, as I was putting on my rain boots, Alan’s rain jacket, and heading out to shut the trashcan lid and bring it in from the pouring rain.

“What am I doing??? Why am I trying to do so much???”

“People used to have lots of children, especially wanting BOYS, ON PURPOSE so that they could have lots of workers for their farm! Here I have all these workers, and yet I’m putting on rain boots to go out in THAT??”

I turned to Caleb, who was playing Monopoly with Daniel, “Caleb, why don’t you put on my rain boots and go bring the trash cans in for me? The lid is open, and remember, Dad wanted y’all to take care of that.”

Caleb grinned—I’m not making this up. I was so relieved!– “Okay, Mom! Let me finish this turn with Daniel. Then I’ll head right out there.”

And he did! I was so excited. I stood at the garage door and filmed him going out in that rain, closing up the can, and rolling them back to the house.

Hmmmm….I could get used to this!

I’ve been looking for more ways to harness their power lately. Did you know that both my 2 oldest are 11 and 9 respectively, and they can both beat me at arm wrestling? I challenged them recently after Caleb proclaimed himself the 3rd strongest person in our family.

What!? I may not be much, but I’m stronger than a 3rd grader!

“Well, Caleb, if you are #3, who is #1 and 2??”

“Dad is the strongest. Then Joshua. Then me. Then you…”

“Oh, really, well, I think we should arm wrestle because I am stronger than you think!”

Yeah….no, I’m not actually, as it turned out.

Joshua can even do pull-ups now. We have a pull-up bar, and he practices incessantly. We had to move it out of Alan’s closet just to get Joshua out of our room.

And guess what Alan did the other week? He couldn’t take my messy, disorganized closet anymore, so he cleaned it up for me:

working hard

And the After:

After. That stack of clothes in the floor are the ones that are only 1 size too small. I’m holding out hope. Roll your eyes, but I seem to go up and down a size every season. Plus my hip swells and un-swells with the pain, so this isn’t unrealistic.

And of course, what would I have done this fall without Nonna and Nana helping when Alan was out of town? I am so over “toughing it out.” Stress makes people sick. Get help when you need it is my new motto!

Nana and Daniel

I also never have to carry my own groceries in anymore. We’ve been training them for years. Now I don’t even have to say anything. I just get home and pop the trunk. Sadly, I’m on my own when I shop during school hours.

Even Dan does his part.

Thank you all for being a part of our village. I hope you will get help when you need it too! That’s what we are all here for, to help each other out.

28 “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”

Ephesians 4:28

10″ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.”   Hebrews 6:10

Merry Christmas! Have you signed up for our newsletter yet? It goes out every 2 weeks and has stories that are not on the blog. This week’s is an inspiring story about this Christmas tree:

The post “Get help when you need it” is my new motto. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Surprise Welcome Home Party at Kristy’s house. There were 23 neighbors in attendance.

On Friday night, I snuck into my home town.

My parents were expecting me at 8:45pm, but truthfully I arrived at 7:30 or so, but I didn’t want them to know that. They were still staying at the rental house, but I did not go straight to the rental house. I went by my childhood friend, Kristy’s, house. We were on a mission, you see.

I grew up playing with Kristy and the other neighborhood kids. Kristy’s grandparents lived next door to us, and she spent a lot of time over there. As kids, we climbed trees, rode bikes, swung, swam in her granny’s pool, and played a good deal of make-believe and front yard baseball.

Then six or seven years ago, grown-up Kristy bought the house across the street from my parents! Pretty cool, huh? That tiny street is full of people who have been living there for most of my life.

They’ve been watching the destruction and re-building of my parents’ house up close and personal. They dealt with the smells, oh, you don’t want to know about the smells, the rubble looters on the day of the bulldozer, the construction crews, and the watching and waiting. They never complained.

Kristy said, “I’m telling you, they could’ve built it faster.”

Mrs. Sara (Kristy’s granny) lamented, “Well, the only problem is they built it closer to the road than it used to be, and the way it’s shaped I can’t see Terry on his front porch, and I can’t see Terry on his back porch. How am I supposed to know he’s okay???? How am I supposed to know it if he falls?”

She’s right, that’s a problem when you have good neighbors. Kirsty reassured her it’d be okay because she can still see him from her front porch.

Neighbors that look out for each other. Such a beautiful thing!

A month or so ago, Kristy hatched a plan for a surprise party. We had no idea what day they’d finally move in, so she planned it for December 10th, and lo and behold, what day do you think they finally moved in? Well, December 10th, of course, so it was pretty easy to get my parents over to the right place at the right time.

Chris, Kristy, and me

We decided the best story to tell to make sure my parents were at the new house unloading at party time was to say that pizza was arriving at the new house at 11am. This was pretty easy. I just used Alan’s obsession with pizza coupons as my cover story.

“You know how Alan is about his pizza coupons. Well, he’s already got the pizza scheduled to be delivered at 11am tomorrow at the new house. It’s a little early, but he wanted to make sure he had plenty of food, and that way when my brother gets off of work, they will be able to get straight to work with the heavy moving then.”

No one doubted that story for a second.

By 11am, every one of us was in place at my parents’ new house, but there was one part I hadn’t thought through. Now how do I get them over to Kristy’s house? Everyone was focused on the mission of moving… Hmmmm

“Hey, um, y’all, I talked to Kristy out in the yard, and she said when Dad gets here to have y’all stop by her house real quick. I think she has a Christmas gift for ya.”

And to my surprise, it was that simple!

They just said, “Oh. Okay,” and started off across the street.

“I think I’ll come too,” I said, motioning the boys to come on. John David was of course shoeless. Alan got his little shoes on JD as quickly as possible, and we all six followed Mom and Dad across the street.

Mom said she did think it was weird that we were ALL coming.

Kirsty opened the doors and motioned for us to all come in. I’m not sure how long it took Mom and Dad to figure out this was their surprise party or that we weren’t actually having pizza. Pretty funny! This was so fun to be a part of.

We all ate together. Mr. Byrd, a neighbor I remember as the one who would buy whatever I was selling from my school fund-raiser every year, said a beautiful blessing before the meal.

We laughed over the surprise, and caught up with everybody.

Then we walked everyone over and gave them a tour of the new house, for those who hadn’t seen inside of it yet.

I know. I know you’re dying to get a peek inside too, and I would show it to you, but Mom’s not as big on posting the minute details of her life on the internet as I am, so I’m going to literally just show you one peek. I’m going to give you Kristy’s porch view of the new place:

Mr. Byrd, Dad, and Chris and Kristy’s porch view of the new house.

It’s not a re-built house. It’s a completely new house. The old one had to be bulldozed and carried away, down to the last scrap of concrete. Nothing could be left. What wasn’t burned was all damaged by smoke, water, and asbestos.

Everything is gone. The trampoline burned too. When they were clearing the house away, there was a huge storm that came through, and lightning stuck the last of the tall pine trees that still stood from my childhood. And as they took away the dumpster last week, they killed the mailbox too.

It was as though God decided that he couldn’t just partially fix it. It had to be completely made new.

We may not understand the ways of God, but his ways are best, and I know that this house is going to be a great blessing to my parents.

Isn’t it funny how God even arranged it for Alan and me to move back down here for two years, so that we were here for all of this? I got to see construction of the new house in all of its phases. I got to pore over paint and tile samples with Mom on my coffee table.

And I got to be there for move-in day, even when we didn’t know until 3 days prior that it would be moving day!

God moves in mysterious ways.

I wish you could see what all Kristy has done with her house too! She bought it after the housing market crashed, and completely re-modeled the place, knocking down walls, moving the kitchen, painting, and putting in new floors. It’s inspirational to look at what she’s accomplished without even hiring a builder, a little at a time!

It makes me smile to see Alan getting to talk to these sweet neighbors, these pillars from my childhood. When I see Mrs. Sara I always smile and think of how she used to call out to us from her front door, “Y’all play purdy now!!” Maybe I should start calling that out my door to the boys and their friends.

Our neighbors didn’t just feed us and visit with us, even though that would have been more than enough. They also SHOWERED my parents with gifts, AGAIN. I say again because they’d already helped after the fire, but they just kept on giving!

opening gifts

Kristy, our lovely coordinator and hostess

They were given a big, beautiful set of Rachel Ray cookware, which I could tell Mom was excited about, as well as all sorts of other useful blessings!

Mom and I have always admired what Kristy can do with her vinyl cricket (cricuit?) machine!

An Emotional Gift

The most emotional gift was this large framed floorboard from the original house, which Kristy wrote their name and anniversary date on. I cried when I saw it, even though I knew she was planning it. Mom cried. I don’t know if Dad cried.

The day of the bulldozing, Kristy had looked for some wood from the house, but there was none available that wasn’t too damaged, so she found a whole plank from the Pergo floors. This made it even more special because Mom and Dad had put those floors down themselves around 10 years ago, and we’d all just loved those floors.

Kirsty laughed about almost getting caught salvaging that board from the rubble. She said she left the kids with Gail and ran over to dig around for something she could save for Mom and Dad. She had just discovered a good board, and all of a sudden there was my dad! He was there to try to save some china, and she quickly dropped the board off to the side, and said, “Oh, here, let me help you with that!” She said she felt like she was almost busted. So funny, because Dad would have had no idea what she was doing anyway.

We laughed, we ate, we cried, and then we hugged people and got back to work!

This was such a blessing, what the neighbors did for my parents, and I just wanted to share it, the fact that things like this still happen. There are people who are still kind, giving, unselfish, who want to help other people, and we make each others’ lives better in the process.

Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this, Kristy, and to all the neighbors for blessing us in such a big way. We are so thankful! Our cup runneth over.

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”  –Hebrews 13:16

May we all strive to be this kind of neighbor. Merry Christmas, y’all!

The post Moving Day, the Surprise Party, and the Power of Good Neighbors appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I have been focusing my Bible reading on joy this past month. See, I have every reason to have joy, but I also have just enough daily life aggravations to sometimes forget to experience joy.

And that left me wondering, “People are always saying to choose joy. How do you do that? Is it a choice?”

Sometimes it is a choice, and you can focus your mind in such a way, and pray, and be doing right things so that you do experience more joy.

But sometimes life is hard, hard, hard, and only a nitwit could possibly be joyful under the circumstances. I don’t think God expects us to be happy during a tragedy, but what about when there is no tragedy?

Right now there is no great tragedy in my life, but there are oodles of nuisances, nitnoid problems, stresses, and hard things.

For instance, this morning was “Sunday dress” day at my boys’ school. See, it’s grandparent day, which we are actually thrilled about, so the school is having the kids put on a presentation, and they want them to look nice. Perfectly reasonable, so it’s my job to make sure the House of Many Little Men is well represented. I’m not complaining about it, and if I had children who enjoyed dressing up, this would not have caused Alan and me serious tension and a pinch in my left shoulder that will not go away.

By the time it was done, I gave up on “well represented” and settled for “at least meets the rule requirements.” They marched in to school wearing nice shirts, khaki pants, belts, and rough-looking tennis shoes. The mere idea of brown Sunday shoes scandalized the boys past where I could push after already dealing with everyone’s dissatisfaction over not going to school dressed like homeless people  wearing t-shirts.

I was crazy excited to hear he did a good job listening and is doing well in kindergarten. Kindergarten is so emotional for mommas!! Note his collared-shirt. Totally meets the “Sunday dress” requirement. 🙂

I love my sweet boys. They had well recovered by the time I dropped them off. They happily told me they loved me and went inside. They couldn’t wait for their grandparents to arrive and visit the Book Fair. You’d have never known what a battle ground getting dressed had been.

But I took a little longer to recover. Why is that? I don’t know. My nerves were shot. Getting kids ready for school any day is tiring. Doing it on “Sunday dress” day is straight up torture. (And YES, I’m beyond thankful I don’t have to braid anyone’s hair!!  It was enough of a struggle just to get all of their hairs to LAY down!!!) I thought to myself that it would take a whole lot of extra Jesus to help me this morning.

When you feel like this, I hope you will turn to your Bible instead of to other things, like  bad food or alcohol. I know. I know. Everyone loves to joke about numbing the pain with a nice glass of wine or a whole box of chocolates. But that is temporary. For true joy, you need God’s Word.

This is a fallen world we are living in, and we all sometimes need help in the joy department. Joy is important. For me, joy is knowing I’ve done the right things, and I have a clear path in front of me. Joy is letting go of any pent-up feelings of resentment that I am harboring. Joy is being directed by the Lord, and feeling what I’m doing is useful.

I will be writing more about this. It’s much too big a topic for only one blog post.

I hope you will take a little time to open your Bible today, and see what God’s Word actually says. The world puts a ton of misinformation out there about our Christian beliefs, and some so-called Christians can discourage you with their attitude. Don’t let that happen! Don’t let the negativity get to you. Open up that Holy Bible, and the Scriptures will speak to you in ways you don’t expect, if not right away, then just keep reading.

Well, John David got soaked in the water hose, and I have to go change him now. And no, he’s not wearing “Sunday dress”. Maybe when his grandparents arrive, they can change him into nicer digs for me. Ha!!

“There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for all those who promote peace.”    Proverbs 12:20

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”   Matthew 6:33

“When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”   –C. S. Lewis

The post The Importance of Joy appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

So today, why don’t we take time to remember? Do we remember?

There was this movie called The War Room, which starred Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore even had a small role in it. In the movie, an elderly woman served as Priscilla Shirer’s mentor. She had something hanging on her wall that I’d never seen before: a list of answered prayers.

It was a powerful film. I hope you get a chance to watch the whole thing later, but for now, here’s a dramatic clip:

This movie was GOOD, but because it was Christian you didn’t hear about it much. Go digging for it on the internet. It’s well worth your time. I mean I saw it a YEAR ago, and I’m still remembering things I learned in this movie!

Amazon sells it for $10, or if you have Starz, you can watch it for free:

The other big thing that stuck with me was having a closet to go pray in.

Here at my new house I finally have both a list and a closet to pray in, and I am loving that.

I even made a pretty list to write my lists of answered prayers on. In only 30 minutes, I filled up four of these sheets, so if you want to use this, you may want to print 5, not just one. Yep. I turned it into a free printable, so I can share it with you.
Each list is the size of a sheet of copy paper. Click here to print it. : answeredprayerWord

I have a black and white printer, so mine didn’t have the pretty colors after all. Sad! But yours can so long as you have a color printer.

I feel like I’m living the longest answered prayer ever this year.

My list was long, and I won’t bore you with my list, but I do want to share this one with you.

I want to tell you about my support system this year. The hardest months were November 2015-April 2016. It felt like my physical body was crumbling. There were days I limped around with hip pain, and no one could tell me why. I would toss and turn, and I could not sleep because of that obnoxious hip, but no one could fix it. But the worst part was the fevers, because they would zap my energy and leave me feeling useless. Oh! And then the heart problem started. Then when they told me it was v-tach, and I read about v-tach, I thought, “Oh, great. I’m dying? I could just die any night in my sleep?”

Since my doctors couldn’t figure out my hip problem, they labeled me as having “many somatic complaints,” and they sent me to a counselor. Nice. So basically, if you have a sickness that docs don’t know how to fix they decide you need counseling. And there are lots of problems doctors cannot fix.

Many women would fall back on family during times like these, but when you live on the other side of the country from your family, you’d better hope you’ve made some friends.

It felt like a recipe for depression, my friends.

But that wasn’t how it turned out.

Sometimes God sends people who are the answers to our prayers. That’s what happened for me. I want to tell you about three people who were answers to my prayers.

Analise, my substitute

Analise

I hired Analise to watch the boys each Friday while I went to my weekly doctor visits and tests at the cardiologist, the rheumatologist, the counselor, the physical therapist, and the chiropractor.

Ladies, don’t ever feel like you are “just a nanny.” Analise was 1000 times more than just a nanny. That is a noble calling. I could not have made it through this year without her, and she was a source of happiness for my boys who were having to cope with having a mom that was “always sick.” She was fun and energetic, but she was also mature enough to handle two boys who were supposed to be doing their schoolwork, along with two pre-schoolers.

Analise was a gift from God. She was the answer to my literal cry for help.

My unofficial support group of friends: Every single one is a blessing. Laura is the one on the far right.

Laura

Laura was Daniel’s best friend’s mother. She had Daniel at her house about as much as I had him at mine, and I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t. I would also come home to little gifts from her all the time: bath fizzies, Bama cupcakes, and her signature sidewalk art.

Laura offered that touch that reminded me that I was still a person of value, even when I was sick and confused.

The incredible women in my home school support group. Paola is the second from the end on the right, on the sofa. Man, I miss these ladies!!

Paola

What you might not know about me is that I have this need to follow the rules and …..win. I like winning. That’s right. I too want to win and win biggly. (Hehe!) I crave success. So when I started failing, it was quite the avalanche of pride. Oh, what a humbling year it was.

I could not keep up as Joshua’s grammar/writing teacher. He had his computer program for math, but grammar was on me. But our grammar/writing tutoring sessions were every Monday afternoon. No matter how hard I tried, doctor appointments kept falling on Monday afternoon. And fevers. And just my general mess!

Fail. Fail. Fail. I felt like I was constantly failing. Joshua actually had to direct himself for most of his school work for most of that school year. I felt like I was setting him up for failure.

When we would make it on Monday afternoons, we’d be behind on assignments, because of me. Plus, JD’s entire day would be thrown off from the lack of nap at daycare, and Joshua would be in misery because he wasn’t getting much out of that class as unprepared as he was.

I didn’t have it in me to stay for Monday afternoons any longer. It took so much of my energy reserves to finish a Monday that I finally realized I could not keep it up.

We could handle the three-hour Monday morning tutoring sessions, but packing a lunch for all of us and staying for the afternoon became too much.

So it was with great humility that I wrote Paola (the Essentials tutor, Joshua’s teacher for the 2 hour afternoon session) a long note explaining why we had to drop Essentials with only five or so weeks left in the program.

And what I got from Paola was something I won’t forget. I’d back that woman up for any battle she may ever need help with. Paola gave me grace. 

She agreed that our course of action was best for us. She sympathized with all we were going through. She allowed Joshua to continue turning in his grammar charts to her, but she didn’t pressure us for anything at all. In fact, when the year was over, she congratulated me on persevering to the finish.

Have you ever known someone who gave you the exact encouragement that you needed and more? I felt like such a flake that whole semester because of all the “no’s” I was having to say. But Paola and the other CC moms accepted us right where we were in life.

It wasn’t just Paola that gave me support last school year. All of my fellow Classical Conversations moms were understanding and helpful. If only I could have brought my California friends with me to the South!

Sometimes God uses people to answer our prayers, and truly even to teach us what grace feels like.

Grace, hope, and love. I hope that he will use me to bless others as greatly as my friends and family have blessed me.

What a year of answered prayers. I can’t wait to see what God does next. I want you to all know that I am doing much better now. Thank you so much for loving us through the hard times.

Be sure to get the printable and share what God has done in your life.

The post A Place to Write Out Answered Prayers appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”  –Lady Bird Johnson

Spring is one of those things you can’t help but notice. That’s the way it is with beauty. It is inspirational. When beauty surrounds you, you can’t help but feel better.

I took this photo on my walk the other day.

It’s funny how on my sick days I often feel too miserable to want to do chores, but I’m rarely feeling bad enough to not want to go out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s positively healing, isn’t it?

Even paths that lead to nowhere look best in spring.

I think that when you are surrounded by small, needy preschool darlings, (And they are darling. They can’t help that they are needy), you need to frequently step away for at least 20 minutes to regain perspective. It’s a battery re-charge that is REQUIRED to go on providing love to others. My favorite place to re-charge is a walk.

Nature is so obvious with its beauty. The Lord’s handiwork surpasses anything man can make. I’ve never been as inspired by concrete as I am by a good cliff or a stately tree. And yet, also, I love what man does with a green space. I’m always inspired by gardens of order and symmetry. Wild nature or well tended gardens, I love it all.

Do you know what else is obviously beautiful? Small children.  I’ve been mommy-ing for 10 years. I’ve rarely been truly depressed in that time because these little devils keep me so busy and challenged and yet so darn happy!

I can remember only one phase of feeling depressed, and it was during my second pregnancy. But we had just moved. Alan had to work long hours, and it was just a bad combination of hormones + circumstances. Plus, I was pregnant, so even though my depression was caused by hormones, I couldn’t take anything for it because I was pregnant.

Thankfully, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and with the pregnancy hormones gone, I was actually happier postpartum than I had felt in years. (I do realize it’s usually the opposite that’s true. I am grateful it didn’t hang on.)

These children bring us so much joy.

learning to blow bubbles under water

Little minds at work. Work, minds, work.

JD and his locked up latch board. He was quite proud of his accomplishments on this board. Don’t you love it when they are excited to accomplish things?

I passed this cat on my walk. I’ve always thought cats were prettier than dogs. Sorry, dog people. I will always be #teamcat.

The day I took this photo I thought my living room was so messy. Now I’m looking at it and thinking we were doing pretty good for four kids. Don’t you think?? I should chill.

P.S. How cute are my new Clarks loafers? And they are oh-so-cozy!!

JD, the ultimate Classical Conversations toddler, playing his tin whistle

I feel like JD is the quintessential Classical Conversations little bro toddler. We have to keep up our CC memory work next year because we’ve come too far to let it go. Next year, the big boys will be going to a Christian school. Daniel will be going to a neighborhood kindergarten, and JD will be home with me, but I still hope to keep up the CC memory work.

Let me tell you what JD walks around the house singing lately:

“us, us, ui, um, uuuuuu”

Yep, those are Latin noun endings, I forget which declension that is, but still, I think it’s hilarious that my two-year-old is walking around singing Latin.

I’m taken with these trees. Lovely in the day time, haunting in the evening.

my little ball player, tracing his w’s

I hope you are all having a great week. Alan and Caleb just got home from baseball practice. It’s Alan’s final stretch in completing his thesis, but you know Alan, that didn’t stop him from signing up to coach both Daniel and Caleb’s baseball teams. He’s also still teaching TNT boys at AWANA on Wednesday nights at church. He could probably use prayers even more than I can!

But we aren’t fooling ourselves. We know that we’re living a beautiful life here in California. And today we are counting our blessings, and thanking you all for always being so supportive.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—shout for joy before the Lord, the King.”     Psalm 98:4-6

because this old picture just never gets old to me *hehehe*

Okay, one more quote, because this one is just too good to not leave you with:

“Imagine a world without beauty and dare to say that the beauty is vanity.”  –positivethesaurus.com

Beauty isn’t vanity, is it? It serves a purpose, and beauty is no less of a gift than any other.

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