take the time to be silly

Yesterday was that day! Yesterday was the day that I stopped and let all the other responsibilities and cares of the day just vanish. Before my boys headed off to school, I declared that last night was going to be silly hat night! We had never done anything like this before so the question out of their mouth was, "Are you serious?". Totally!! They had to come up with an idea, create their silly hat, while keeping it as much a secret as possible, and then wear it to dinner. When they realized that we were really doing this, the look on their faces was absolutely priceless!! While they were at school I ran all of my errands early so I could get home and work on my hat...see, it wasn't just the boys that had to creat a hat!! The whole time I was working on my silly hat, I was smiling. Smiling because I was remembering their reaction to the declaration, smiling because I was thinking about them making their hats, smiling because it was fun and smiling because I couldn't wait for my 2 joys to get home! All I could think about was spending this time being silly with them! All I wanted them to know last night, was that they are important to me. That being with them is fun and that this is home...a place of security, encouragement, laughter, fun and love! This is our home! As I worked with each of them on their hats, I looked at them with a new, found love. My boys are growing up right in front of my eyes and yesterday, I stopped. I looked. I admired. I listened. I watched in pure admiration of the young men my babies are becoming. I watched with tears as those boys sat in front of me creating something, so silly, and yet so important to them. I watched as they put their minds to work creating something that was unique to each of them...it was their own! When all the hats were completed, they were placed in their hiding places with gentle care until the big unveiling! It was FINALLY time for dinner and time to place our creations on our heads! The pure joy and excitement over this last minute declaration of silly hat night was something that I don't want to forget! We all went and got on our hats and came to the table...oh, I wish I could have captured that moment of pure happiness. That moment of not having a care in the world. That moment of my boys having fun and being silly! We enjoyed our night. We enjoyed watching each other try and keep our hats on our heads while we ate. We enjoyed watching all the glitter from Mama's hat fall in her food. We enjoyed being together and being silly!! Last night, the boys voted that this was to be a once a month activity. I know that this won't last forever, but I am going to cherish it forever!! Take time to be silly with your kids. Take time to make memories. Look at your kids like you have never looked at them before. Enjoy your kids...they won't be little forever.

Boys, I can't express enough how much I love you. I know that I am not perfect and that I mess up. I know that there are times when I nag or yell or complain. I know that there is always room for improvement! But what I want YOU to know, is that my love for the 2 of you is forever! You bring me so much joy! I'm so thankful that you are the precious gifts that God gave to me and your Daddy! I love you both so very much!

it's a dad's life

I had planned on blogging on Father's Day, but we had a busy day and I never got around to it! We enjoyed spending the day as a family...went to church, had lunch, loaded up the bikes in the car and went to the park and got POURED on and then we came home and watched Star Wars!! It was a great day! It does this Mama's heart good to see my boys with their Daddy! I love them all!!

And to my Dad, I love you and am thankful for the role that you played in my life growing up, but even more for the role that you play in my life now! I look up to you and respect you so very much and I couldn't be more blessed!! I love you and hope that you, too, had a great Father's Day!

This video is pretty funny, so enjoy:

i love creative punishments

I was looking for a new and creative way to "lay down the law" this summer and this is what we came up with! Now, I know that I may have some people who disagree with my methods because as I was doing some research the feelings were mixed. "Fun" and "Punishment" shouldn't be used in the same sentence and then there was the other side that thought it was a great way to make sure that rules were being followed. As a mom, I'm going to do what I think works for my family! I am guilty of telling my boys that if they do something again, they would be grounded, but then I forget that I told them that the LAST time and they get away with it AGAIN!! Anyone else guilty of that very thing?! I have decided that I'm tired of yelling at them for the same things! The "crimes" that were listed are the main things that we are having problems with and they are the things that the boys wanted to see the other punished for. I want to enforce the rules that our family has, but I don't want to constantly be yelling at them! I'm going to see how this works and I'll let you know in a few weeks!

my "tween"

Tween ~ that word used to be a thing of the past, my past! That awkward, growing up time when things that I could get away with as a kid, were no longer acceptable and things that used to be funny, were now no longer funny. That awkward time when I knew I wasn't a "kid", but I wasn't a teenager or an adult either. Where did I fit in?

That past is now a thing of my present. Not my present, but my Dylan's. This was a year of change for Dylan and it was hard, as a Mama, seeing him struggle to find his place. School was different, his friendships changed and his relationships at home were changing. I saw him struggle with kids that used to be his friends, now being mean to him. I saw his interests change. Now, that doesn't seem like a big deal, but Dylan is like his Daddy when it comes to technology and computers and there aren't too many kids his age interested in those things. Explain to a 4th grader that not everyone is going to like him and that he isn't going to please everyone. That's a tough one, especially since my Dylan is a people-pleaser and likes to have the admiration that comes from making people happy. He is not that different from the rest of us...if we were all honest with ourselves, we would admit how much we like a pat on the back from a friend or a co-worker! We have been stressing to him how we need to forget about the praise of men and seek the applause of our Heavenly Father! That's a hard one, even as adults! Another verse that we have really been concentrating on this year was Psalm 139:14 and I love this version (International Children's Bible): "I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well." I love that!! Who doesn't want to hear that they are special and amazing and wonderful? God says that is how He made us! It's not easy being made fun of or being teased or feeling like you don't fit in...it's hard growing up, let's face it! I'm thankful that I can encourage my "tween" with promises from God about how special he is! Jeremiah 29:11 promises my Dylan that He has great plans for him. Plans to prosper and not harm. Plans to give him hope and a future! I have an amazing kid and I can't believe how lucky I am to have the chance to teach him. It is alot of responsibility knowing that it's my job (Jason's too!) to train him up in the way that he should go! The Bible tells me that if I do this, that when he is grown he will not turn from that. I'm praying that I do the best that I can as his Mama and then I'm leaving it in God's hands to do the rest! Being a parent is hard work!

The fact that Dylan is a "tween" really hit me in the face the other day when we went to the library to sign up for the summer reading program and he decided to sign up for the tween/teen program! Zachary was all signed up and ready to go! He has to read, or have read to him, 15 books and then when he fills up his sheet he gets to pick a prize that, most likely, will end up in the trash in a week, but it's his prize nonetheless! Dylan would have had to read 4 hours to fill his sheet and then he would be able to pick from the same prizes that Zachary was picking from! Instead, he decided to go for the 5 hours and his name in a drawing for a cool weekly prize (he has his eye on a $10 iTunes card!). After the library, he was given his first "job"!! He has been wanting to volunteer for a few years, but the requirement is 13 years old to be considered "crew", so he is unofficially volunteering each Wednesday helping with crafts! He was so excited that he came home and started working on his name tag to print and wear on the days that he helps out! He thinks he is hot stuff!

It does my heart good when I see him thriving and happy! As hard as the year was for him, he has come out on top and he is going to be fine. He is a great kid and God is going to use him in a BIG way! I love my firstborn!

facing my fears

When Dylan went into Kindergarten, the hardest thing I had to deal with was putting his life in the hands of someone else. I stood and watched him get onto that bus for the first time and my heart hurt. For the first time in his little life, I was having to trust someone else to watch out for him and protect him. I struggled with this for quite some time. I know that my precious boys belong to my Jesus, but I am human and that part of me wants to protect them forever!

This morning, I had to face this fear. I stood outside and waved to my little 3rd grader as he got on the bus. I don't stand outside every morning, but this morning we were all dressed and ready to start our day! Dylan gets on his bus and he waves at me until he can't see me anymore ~ pricless! I stood there waving and signing "I love you" until his bus was out of sight. Zachary and I were standing there with Dabby when I heard the most awful sound ~ the screeching of tires and the breaking of glass! (My stomach is sick even as I write that!) I ran to the end of the driveway and see the bus sitting there with a huge cloud of smoke billowing up from it! My heart began to race and I went into "protective Mama mode"!! I grabbed Dabby and yelled for Zachary to get in the house. I jumped in the car and drove to the end of the street to see the bus stopped, a red car smashed up, broken glass on the street and my "baby" sitting on that bus!!

I jumped out of the car and it looked like everyone was ok ~ kids on the bus were fine and the lady that was driving the car was out of her car talking to the busdriver. I looked around and thanked the Lord for His protection! It could have been so much worse and yet, nobody was hurt. I guess the lady had lost control of her car and the busdriver slammed on his breaks to avoid hitting her. She ended up hitting the bus and damaging her car, but she wasn't hurt except for the seatbelt pulling across her shoulder. Dylan got off the bus and was very shaken up, as you can imagine! I asked him if he wanted me to take him to school and he took me up on that offer!!

We headed back home to pick Zachary up and get Dylan to school! As we're driving down the street, I see Zachary half way up the road walking towards me!! We stopped the car and little boy had tears in his eyes...he was scared and was coming to see if his "best brother" (his affectionate nickname for his brother) was ok! Dylan was telling me his side of the story. All he knew was that they slammed on the breaks, the busdriver was getting off the bus and yelling to the kids not to get off the bus and he sees this huge cloud of smoke. He didn't realize that it was just a cloud of dust, so he was freakin out that the bus was gonna explode or something and the busdriver told them to stay on the bus!!! By the time we got to school, everyone had calmed down and the heartrates had returned to normal!!

"Thank you, Father, for your hand of protection around that bus and the kids and the lady driving the car. Thank you that nobody was injured in this accident."

dylan

I just need to brag on my "little" boy! I can't believe that it was 9 years ago that he came into this world and changed our lives forever!! He continues to bring more joy into our lives than we know what to do with...most of the time! Those of you who know Dylan, know what a sweet, tender heart he has. When we were driving to Delaware in December, we found out while at a rest stop, that Mom Mom went to Heaven. Dylan looked at me with tears in his eyes and the sweetest look ever, and said, "That was Jesus birthday present this year." He is always concerned for others and their well being. When Zachary broke his arm, he was the one that was doing all the crying ~ kinda reminds me of when my sister fell against the fireplace at my aunt's house ~ I was the one crying and SHE was telling me she was alright...memories!

I love to sit and talk with just Dylan ~ I absolutely love the relationship that has developed between us! His goal is to always make you laugh and that alone just cracks me up. He is a character ~ otherwise known as "Hollywood", most recently! The boy dreams of Hollywood and being in front of the camera. He just had to do a commercial to sell a cereal he made up based on a book he read! He wrote and directed his commercial and was so excited to show it to his class, he begged his teacher to do it a day early! He was very excited to bring home his A+ for his report!!

Before I end this post for tonight, I just had to share this cause it cracked me up. A few months ago, Dylan came out of his room and said that he had something on his nerves and asked if there was something I could do to help get it off! I asked him what was bothering him and he replied, "I have NO idea!"

Dylan ~ I love you more than words can describe! My prayer for you is that no matter what you do, you will allow Jesus to have a special place in your heart and life!

off to the ER

It was a week ago today ~ our little boy decided to jump off his foot board and broke his arm. We found out that he apparently does this often but sometimes he only gets hurt a little; this time he got hurt big!

The weather in Ashland had been crazy! We were used to tornado watches/warnings when we lived in Missouri ~ we lived through a tornado! When we moved to Ohio we thought we would be rid of the scare...WRONG!! We spent quite a bit of time in our basement with blankets spread out on the floor! It was turning out to be a long week!

Jason had off on Wednesday, so we just enjoyed being together the WHOLE day! The boys were in Zachary's room messing around and things were starting to get out of control. I just voiced to Jason that someone was gonna get hurt. I heard this screaming, but couldn't tell if it was laughing or crying. Jason was coming out of the kitchen as I was heading to the room. As we got closer, I could hear Dylan screaming, "He broke his arm! He broke his arm!". I was trying to figure out how he knew that Zachary broke his arm...until Zachary came to the door and I saw his precious, little arm just hanging, disfigured. Jason scooped him up and they headed to the ER. I was left with a hysterical Dylan ~ he was crying more than Zachary was! I tried to get him calmed down and then I went into "CLEAN" mode! Whenever I'm faced with a crisis or sick child, my first instinct is to go around and straighten up. I know this is crazy, but this is me! I called a very sweet friend and she rushed over to pick Dylan up so that I could be at the hospital with Zachary and Jason.

I got to the hospital and saw that little boy laying in that huge bed and my heart sunk...again! They were just getting ready to take him back to xray his, obviously, broken arm and he looked at me and started crying, "I'm sorry I broke my arm, Mommie!" I was doing everything in my power to keep the tears contained in front of my boy! It was only 2 months and 6 days before this that he broke his collarbone and he was apologizing for breaking that bone!! I was afraid that childrens services was going to be giving us a call about our care of Zachary!

Needless to say, they haven't called and Zachary is doing amazingly well! Swelling is completely gone and he has complained of nothing but the fact that he is frustrated having to do everything with his left hand!! Things have returned to normal...the boys are fighting again, the laundry still piles up and the dog still has to go out!!

Life with boys ~ I wouldn't want it any other way! Man I love them...all three of them!