Lesson Learned...

You should never brag about how great your sons are doing without their pacis on the very public world wide web. Because I learned that no less than 1 hour after making those statements, you will be made a liar. You will be calling for your boys while you're emptying the dishwasher, expecting them to come running or answer with the usual "yeah, mommy?", but there will be silence. You will then stop what you're doing, trying not to panic, but really almost freaking out since there is not one sound coming from anywhere in the house. You will look in every hiding spot and then look in every closet, only to find your precious boys in the very back of the last closet you looked in with the doors shut, standing perfectly still with hands over their mouths, hiding the very pacifier that you just bragged about giving up.

Seriously.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Today it is snowing here, and we are snuggled in like three bugs in a rug. Not too much is going on this week, and honestly I haven't taken too many new pictures to share either. So we're just taking it easy right now: alot of coloring, alot of playing chase, alot of reading, ALOT of puzzles, alot of pla-doh...you get the idea.

One thing that we HAVEN'T been doing is giving them their pacifiers. I forgot to mention it here, but two weeks ago we finally took them away. I know, some of you out there are probably horrified that they were this old and still had them, but hey-you just have to choose your battles. Anyways, the first day was pretty bad, but we survived and they did too. With all that weeping and wailing that went down, it's a wonder that I stood strong, and didn't give them back to make them stop the crying. But I did, and now it's just no big deal. ....And that in and of itself is quite a BIG deal since most of you know how much they loved those things.

Since I've been slacking with the picture taking this week, here are a few bathtime shots I took a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!

In The Buff

My boys love to be naked. On most mornings, with very few exceptions, while I am changing them out of their jammies and into their clothes for the day, they always ask "Mommy, I be naked pwease?" Most of the time I say okay, and let them run around for a few minutes, and I always think to myself that I wish I had the camera out so that I could capture how sweet these moments are...there's just something about a naked baby. So today, since we had no schedule to keep and nothing planned for the day, when they asked I said "sure" and grabbed the camera. Here are a few of my very favorite shots.



Thank you, Lord for giving me boys who love each other so very much, and who truly enjoy their days together. May it always be so.

Train Up a Child....

We are all doing much better since our bout with the flu last week, and all of us are feeling much better. Thanks to so many of you who called to check on us, and offer what you could to help. It really meant so much to us!

Now that we're all better, we are getting back out into our usual busy schedule. This morning my friend Sara and I took our 4 boys to a great little place to play with Thomas the Train. Basically the three big boys entertained themselves for an hour and a half playing sweetly together while Sara and I were able to catch up and hold sweet baby Scott. My parents, Sara's parents and the Gentry's started getting us together to play when we were a little younger than these boys. So for our kids to be the same age and play so well together is really special to me. Seriously, Sara, thanks for introducing us to this place...they just LOVED it! They were making choo-choo sounds the whole way home and asking to go to Miss Sa-wuh's house.

Here are Drew, Camden and Ben playing at one of the many Thomas the Train tables set up for them. Camden showing me Thomas
Drew and Ben working really hard on the railway lines
Trains, trains and more trains
And to top off the afternoon we went back to Camdens house for some yummy lunch. It was such a fun morning, and I'm hoping that all that playtime will lead to a really long naptime! :)

We have the flu. All four of us. We've had it since Sunday, and it's taken it's toll on us. I got it first, thankfully, so I am on the mend first. And that's good because as it turns out, my precious family needs me to be well. As I type, all three of my boys are letting their bodies rest...and rest is surely what they need.

As un-fun and difficult as the past few days have been, I hear a voice gently reminding me to be thankful for these days when we all pile on the couch together in jammies and lean on each other a little more than we did yesterday.

Thank you, Lord for the good times and the not-so-good. (And thank you especially for mamas who drop everything they had planned for the day to leave the house at 5:30 a.m, drive 4 hours, and be your servant to us!)

We are so thankful today, even if we do have the flu.