The Good, the pure, and the lovely

Or Why My Brother Is The Best Brother In The World My brother recently received a very strange message.  It began something like this,  "Hi Tim.  You've given me a very difficult moral and ethical dilemma - To Share or not To Share . . . . "  I believe these pictures might explain better than my words can. Chocolate covered strawberries.  Let's get a little closer, please.   These beauties arrived courtesy of my brother. I tried the delightful Dark chocolate. It tasted even better than it looks. Not even this morsel of chocolate was left when I was finished with that first strawberry. So, to answer as to how I handled my delima, well, I shared (a little, anyway).  And yes, YOU may think that you have the best brother in the world, but I will always know the truth . . . . I do!

or Why #1 Is Called #1 and Why #2 Is Called #2 Me, "Little Man, if you put #1 in the potty you get on 1 candy and if you put #2 in the potty you get 2 candies !" Little Man, " Tree, tree (three, three)!" Me, "Yes, if you do both, then you can have  3 candies ." ~ Picture courtesy of Wikipedia http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Plain-M%26Ms-Pile.jpg

Our Family Vacation Back in February, we took a lovely vacation in Florida.  While we were there, our boys experienced the joy of the ocean for the very first time.  Daddy and Little Man Big Brother feels the waves. Momaw The Three Musketeers Looking out to the great beyond.

How does it happen that time flies so fast?  My babies became boys before my very eyes.  Now, Brother in the Middle is six!  We celebrated his birthday his whole "birthday weekend" long.  Special breakfasts, out to eat, special dinners, treats for his Sunday School class.  Birthday weekends are special things, and his was no different.  How did this happen, my little boy growing another year?  It wasn't one particular moment, but a long string of moments collecting together to create a whole year.  He has changed since last year.  He has learned, matured and developed.  It is with great wonder and amazement that I watch this little boy begin to unfold into a man. 

Little man turned two today.  My baby . . . . sigh.  Where does the time go?  It seems just yesterday that we welcomed him into this world.  Today two, tomorrow twenty-two.  For now, here are some special memories from this last year.  Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

Long before the "I can do it myself!" that comes during the two's and threes, comes the "Can I help you, please?" of the ones.  Yes, the ones.  It is amazing to me, that every one of my boys has wanted to "help" by the time they could walk.  They like to help sort laundry.  They like to sweep the floor with me.  They like to dust and push the mop around and . . . . . the list goes on. Yes, it usually ends up making more work for Mommy.  It takes more time but, it's worth it.  The kids learn to be helpful.  They learn that they are able to contribute and that their efforts are appreciated.  I know the teen years are coming (all too soon, if you ask me).  They might not be so eager to pitch in later, so I am cherishing these blessed years now. Big Brother looks on as Little Man takes his turn sweeping.  Little Man loves to get a turn pushing that machine!

Recently, I have been thinking about serving others.  A friend just mentioned to me the other day that she saw a need to get her children involved in community service projects.  That resonated with me.  I took what she said to heart, and when I saw a notice in our church bulletin about a "Valentine's Day Cookie Drive" for our United States Service Men and Women, I jumped at the chance. When I brought the subject up with the boys, they grew excited.  "Mom, we just made cards for them in our Sunday School class.  We can make cookies, too?!?!"  What a blessing.  They have already been talking about this in Sunday School, and now we get to continue at home.  When Friday rolled around, we "rolled out" the cookie dough.  It was so much fun to work on this project together.  The boys were thrilled to be doing something for someone else.  Even Little Man got into the spirit when he helped carry the cookies to the car. Watching the boys as they worked to b

Usually in January, we are bundled up.  There may be snow or ice in the air.  We are often thinking about ice, sledding, shoveling snow, laying down salt and maneuvering treacherous roads.  On this, the last day of January 2012, we spent part of the afternoon outside.  Instead of the usual pursuits, we enjoyed a walk and a bike ride.  With the high temperature reaching (near) 60 degrees, the day felt more like early spring than mid winter.  It was a treat!  Little Man began by pushing his "bike". Brother in the Middle had to keep practicing to remember how to ride, but he got it figured out! When Little Man made it on the bike and joined Big Brother for a ride down the hill.

You know that your odd ways are rubbing off onto your kids when you're watching a cooking show together and your child comments as the host dumps a bag of frozen food into a pot, "Mom, she just cut off the top of that Ziploc bag with scissors.  That's wasteful!  Now, she can't wash and re-use it!"

We are desperate for winter fun.  The unusually warm and extremely wet weather is making us long for the cold, white days of winter.  We're so desperate that we're resorting to "skating" on a half frozen puddle. "Boot Skating" is one of my favorite memories from childhood.  This day, it was "gym shoe skating". Speed skating might not be possible on this little "rink", but the fun was worth the cold, wet feet.  (Thanks, Grandpa for the warm foot soak afterwards!)

Last week, Big Brother turned 10.  He has officially entered the "double digits".  It is such a blessing to watch him grow and mature.  For his birthday, he made a special request for chocolate cake.  We found a recipe for Molten Chocolate Lava Cake on The Pioneer Woman that really made us salivate.  It turned out splendidly.  You can find the recipe at http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/07/molten-chocolate-lava-cake/  and try it for yourself! As for my big ten year old, may you grow  ". . . in wisdom, and in stature and in favor with God and men."  (Luke 2:52)