Lillies of The Field

When it comes to describing my guys, delicate white flowers are the last things to cross my mind.

Correction: when it comes to describing my guys, fragile, flowery anything, NEVER crosses my mind.

I'm thinking more oak, sequoia, kudzu. But regardless of vegetative comparisons, their Heavenly Father still clothes them ...in their own Angry Birds, bow tied, Spider Man, splendor.

I don't have to look very far in this house to be overwhelmed at the overflow of God's provision for these unnaturally fast hem shrinkers.

Like any Mom and any kid, we've got our favorites and wish lists for shirts and shoes, styles, and needs. And God knows and cares about each one, which you'd think I'd know by now. But yet every turn of the season when I lug out the rubbermaid containers packed with treasured Braves t-shirts, and NIKE shorts it blows me away all over again. 

Clothing three little guys is no financial drop in the bucket. But praying over the need, and more importantly, not stressing (read: not worrying) about the need, and trusting God to clothe these "California Redwoods of the field" has lead to a "knock our socks off" amazing provision provided by the Ultimate Clothier.

Through consignment sales, hand-me-downs, birthday presents, yard sales, "just because" gifts, coupons, and outlets each of these little guys has never been without. Church clothes, bummy clothes, paint-in clothes, mud puddle clothes, dress up a little clothes, wrestle a brother clothes, beach clothes, and hiking clothes have all been provided.

So why was I in awe when 2 bags showed up the other night with pairs of pants in the exact size Harrison needed, shoes, the coveted light-up shoes, in the perfect and needed sizes, and shirts with beloved superheroes plastered across the front?

Because no matter how many Iron Man t-shirts show up in this "field", my awe will always be there. The kind of awe you get every Christmas and birthday no matter how many you've had. The kind that matches my little guys' faces when they see that new Iron Man t-shirt.The kind that will never forget it's God who provides every single need and leaves no closet empty for worry.

Home Away From Home?

Notes for future days on the farm:

#1:Remind boys regardless of what Disney says, animals cannot sing, choreograph dances, or carry on a conversation about favorite foods.

#2: Establish which side of the fence are for animals and which side are for people and that's the way it stays.

#3: It's best to not make up the names of animals in order to impress girls.

#4: Cow pies are not free modeling clay.

#5: Setting the animals free isn't considered heroic amongst the farming community.

#6: Informing the animals which cut of meat they taste best as or which preparation method makes them tastiest is not proper farm etiquette.

#7: Farm and boys really compliment each other well; both are dirty, loud, carry various smells, and need constant supervision.

#8: For boys who already act like they were raised in a barn, trips to a farm just feel like home :)

One Year Wils

My dear sweet handsome Wils,

Today marks an incredible 365 of knowing your sweet little face, your contagious grin, your soft little fingers, and your mischievous curiosity.

A year ago I walked into the hospital and 20 minutes later you were tucked inside my arms. I blinked and you were here. Today I woke up to my toddler wrapped inside my arms. I blinked and you are growing up.

You're such a happy, laid back, gentle little man. You go with the flow, you smile at everyone, you know no strangers, and you eat anything you can fit in your mouth.

The baby clothes have been packed away and your dresser is full of 18-24 month grown up shirts and pants. Baby toys are hardly touched as you chase after your brothers' cars, jets, soldier guys, and swords. 

You've decided to hold out on walking, but I'm pretty positive this is intentional since you smirk as you collapse to the ground. I wouldn't be surprised if you just stood up and ran to tackle a brother any day.

And while you are easy going, you aren't a pushover and you'll vocalize any disagreements you have with the current chain of events. We are currently working on not throwing food off your plate when you are finished eating, not growling at Mommy when you aren't a fan of my saying, "no", and not head diving off the stairs.

We've found you eating grass, playing in toilets, hiding in cabinets, raiding the fridge, rearranging closets, and dialing phones. We've got our hearts full, our love captured, and memories rich. We are so proud of the man you are growing into! Happy one year birthday Wilson Tyler! Grow in wisdom, stature, and favor, with God and man.

DC Road Rules...Second Edition

Now that we've fought for vehicular survival on the DC roadways for a year now, it's time to publish the second annual, DC Road Rules:

Right-Of-Way: Belongs to whoever has the best insurance, the biggest vehicle, the worst temper, or a death wish.

Lanes: These are the HHS mandate of Capitol Hill roadways...If you like your lane, you can keep it regardless of merging, light signals, or blinkers. If it was northbound this morning, it will be southbound by noon without the consent of the people. If you've never been able to make lanes work for you, just take one from someone else.

Pedestrians: Mainly 2 different types of pedestrians...

 1.Staffers -dressed in business attire and tennis shoes, will take their chances to cross even if the crosswalk isn't lit since their errand is way more important than the oncoming wall of traffic.

2. Tourists- Very dangerous, exercise extreme caution due to tour maps blocking their line of vision, their lack of clearing crosswalks by light change due to excessive weight bought on by backpacks, souvenirs, cameras, water bottles, ponchos, and pushcarts, and their flighty unpredictable actions around national monuments may cause them to randomly stop for photo opportunities.

No Turn On Red: Look both ways, or don't, and turn.

Car Horn: Remember to keep randomly using this. I still can't determine the rhyme or reason, but you're not in the "cool" group if you aren't honking.

Yield Signs: A vintage decorative throwback to simpler times of horse and buggy transportation. One day they'll update the roadside decor with more modern signs of, "You Snooze, You Loose".

Parking: Allow a 5 1/2 hour minimum in your schedule to achieve this.

Turn signals: Pretty sure this is a ticketed offense. Everyone seems pretty hesitant to use it so play it safe and use road rage.

Rosetta Stone Can't Teach Jeffrun-ese

Harrison started talking early and a lot. Right off he was speaking full sentences with unabridged stories and he hasn't stopped since.

Jefferson had no need to talk with a built-in brother translator and communicator. He took his own time to speak his mind and still seems content with letting Harrison continue being the family spokesperson.

Wils' first words have been more sounds since he's surrounded with big brothers who could win an Oscar for their sound mixing skills. So he's currently fluent in guttural male territorial growls, war cries, and car engines.

But my J-Man wins all the points for creativity and uniqueness. Quite pleased with speaking his own language, a mix of Minion and Yoda, he keeps us guessing, laughing, and in a state of "huh?"

I'm not fooled for a moment though. Behind those eyes that disappear with his smile he knows he's master of his word game. Besides, all I have to do is mention baseball and the conversation takes off with discussion of pitching and home plate...sans the minionese ;)

Spider Man (For Real)

Just follow this chain of events. Due to the graphic nature of this content, parental discretion should have been better advised...

1. Crazy hectic morning; making coffee, packing lunches, cooking breakfasts, starting laundry, two boys wrestling, and one attached like a leech to my ankles certain I will make him starve before I feed him breakfast.

2. Out of the corner of my eye a large spider runs across the floor and so I do what every brave house wife does in that circumstance; grab the nearest cup, cover it, and leave it for Matt to deal with....except I forgot.

3. Hours later the forgotten spider and the forgotten cup were left forgotten in the dining room corner as we all talked in the living room. Wils was crawling the loop around the house when he suddenly became very quiet and never emerged from the dining room...

4. The cup was overturned, empty, and tossed away...no spider...and Wils was happily chewing complete with "mmmm" sounds. Matt began frantically digging out pieces of arachnid from our child's gum line. Certain his tongue would swell or he'd break out in spots, his only complaint was being denied his wriggly protein.

5. Once relief set in, gagging took over; on our part, not his. Gross, eww, and gross were the only sensible words we could speak for the next half hour. In the future I will be dealing with 8 legged home invaders immediately by calling a big brother to dispose of it, saving it from a later certain death of consumption by our own Spider Man.

Udvar-Hazy

I'm spontaneous and completely free-spirited.

I married a steady, constant rock...also, he is completely not spontaneous.

And this match is perfectly perfect or else we'd be hitchhiking to Cancun with 3 kids next weekend for the fun of it.

He's the tether God designed just for me to make sure I don't get blown out to sea due to my feet-off-the-ground mentality.

But Matt's really good at recognizing when I get an itch for a last minute thrill and bending a bit in the flexibility department.

Plus he knows that if my need for adventure isn't met I'll find some project to begin that I am in no way qualified to attempt...

...for example, recent attempts have included axle boot replacement and bathroom remodeling.

So when I woke up last weekend with a wild idea to go somewhere last minute for the fun of it, Matt graciously agreed in fear of otherwise backpacking the Appalachian Trail later.

Of course with 3 little guys it's not exactly just jumping in the car and going, but nothing fruit snacks and extra diapers held up too much as we headed for Udvar-Hazy.

It's an Air and Space playground and since Harrison's birthday was all things 'fighter jet' it happened to also meet his adventure need.

Wils was thoroughly unimpressed but we'll keep trying. If he's anything like his big brothers a place like this will be his dreamland one day...

I mean, what can I say? Jets just do something to these boys...I have no words.

Our spontaneous adventure was filled with space shuttles, rockets, bombers, and observation towers...not too bad for a last minute, rainy day thrill.

But it's been over a week since our day of last minute and the warmer weather is starting to pull at my adventure heartstrings.

Thankfully, God gave me three adventure loving boys, so we've got 5 miles of hiking, 3 lakes, and 3 playgrounds under our belts so far this week...oh the adventures ahead :)