Spilled Milk (Okay Dumped Milk)

Amazing is the only word to describe my boys.   Amazing.   I was driving home with them after a long day at work, and there was no room in the car for silence.   The boys alternated from screaming at each other to laughing all in one breath it seamed.  I had a headache.   I was tired.   I need some Excedrin and a nice soft bed.  

Then I look in my little handy dandy built in child view mirror (love you Toyota Sienna)  and I  see it.  I see the two little bubbles of life in my back seat.  I see the billions of times that those cells had to divide to get everything just right.   I see my brown eyes, I see Steve's dimples, I see my moodiness, I see Steve's amazing concentration, I see my empathy, I see perfectly formed fingers and hearts, and yes I hear those amazingly strong vocal cords.  

I get a lump in my throat as I think of my patient who so politely told me he had had brain cancer, although he had used a long technical name with such ease my jaw dropped.   As this beautiful  little 10 year-old-boy told me about his illness,  I felt a tear on my cheek.    He was so strong and wise.   Bless him.   Bless him for telling me his story so today I am a better mom.  

Life is not fair.  Life is unfair.  But boy is it an amazing gift.   Millions of things can go wrong, and sure hundreds of things have gone wrong in mine, if not thousands.  But just today as I see Adam with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard at Nathan pouring milk in his brand new shoe...and then on to my freshly shampooed car  mats....and I do realize that millions of things are going right.  

Summer Fun.

Nathan trying to get at least one drop out. 

Adam trying to entice the frog into playing with the ball. 

Nathan after a long day of playing outside

Adam's big cheese for the camera

The Boys and a Frog

Steve caught the boys a frog on Father's Day.   To see them play and hear them laugh was their gift to him.   

Fun with Markers.

No.

Stop that.

Don't touch. 

Get that out of your mouth. 

It seems like these days I am more of a referee and a fun blocker than anything else.   I have those days where I feel like I have not said or done anything except give my children boundaries, boundaries that they need to be drawn ever so close and hard these days.  

This weekend as we were away from home with my parents, I did get a chance to shift my perspective.   Although these boundaries are important, so is letting your children fly, and telling them that they can.   They need us to set limits and rules, but we also need to give them the confidence to challenge, and dare I say it, break the rules.  

So as they sit in my arms for a entire two seconds, before they are off to jump off the furniture or open the drawers, or throw things off the loft, let me whisper in their little ears, "You can do anything"  "I love you so much it hurts"  "You are so special"  "You have the world by the tail"  

I pray they have the confidence to break the rules....but let them wait until tomorrow....(it is Dad's day to watch them on Wednesdays)

A Day at the Beach

Steve and I took the boys down to a beach on Lake Michigan one lazy Sunday afternoon.   It was sunny and warm.  The water was cool and calm.    The boys had so much fun throwing rocks into the water.    They even enjoyed splashing their little toes in the cold cold waves.   I enjoyed sitting with my hubby on the beach watching the waves, and listening to the giggles of the boys as they played.   

       The best part was people had brought their dogs to play, and the boys got tons of wet doggie kisses.    One man brought his Irish Wolfhound, which even as a young pup stood about 4 foot tall on all fours.  Nathan kept saying "Horse, I see horse"

Job Preferences.

Little sticky hands. 

Little runny noses.  

Hair that won't lay down. 

Goldfish by the pound. 

Dirty floors.

Bikes inside.

Sandbox with no sand. 

Matchbox cars. 

They never ask about these preference's  on the "What job should you have?" questionnaires.

I just ventured up to peek at my sleeping babies....and Adam was fast asleep on the floor next to the door. Nathan was all tucked in his bed.   I heard heaven in each inhale and exhale.