Culture Shock

Lord, we thank you for all you've blessed us with...

but it's just not enough!

Stellarrrrrrrrr

Furniture delivery?

Repairman?

Nope, that's just Stella!

Our new mode of transport.

Main difference #1: Our kids will all be able to have shoulder belts once the twins are out of a 5-point harness.

Main difference #2: Peace.  The boys are able to be separated strategically and the result is almost tranquil trips.

Main difference #3: I frequently have to exit out the passenger door when parked in our garage because it's too tight in back and too tight in front for me to squeeze past.

Main difference #4: We are now one of "those" families.  At least now it's all out in the open.

Encourage meant

I came downstairs to this a few mornings ago.

The boys had already made a little trip to the mailbox to send their "Cheer".

I reminded them that it's a good idea to ask me before going ahead with something like this - the trip to the mailbox alone is still unsettling for me.  Oh, and the scissors in that cardboard - I really don't care to picture that either.

This is all about blessing a military family.  I'm fine with that.  It's a good thing.  

The following morning, I sat reading the back of the box as I ate my breakfast, and I contemplated the second step in the light blue box.  Hmmm....write an encouraging message...I wonder how the boys did on that?  

"Hey boys, did you send your card with a message at all?"

"Yeah, Mom!"  Tone: What kind of a dummy do you think I am?

"Oh!  That's good.  What did you write?"

 "You make good cereal."

Hey, God can use anything, right?

Is there a draft in here?

One of those days where I'm sitting on the living room floor at my wits end.  Our fireplace had been running in place of heat on a chilly November morning.  Our children had been running obnoxiously into this room, around that room, over the coffee table, off the side of the couch...

As they all dashed upstairs in their play, I noticed a big white spot on the front of the fireplace.  My hands remembered the time it had taken me to scrape off baked crayon just days after we'd had our brand new fireplace installed.  They didn't want to do that again.  They wanted to hold a cup of ice cream or pet a soft kitten,

On top of that, the boys had taken all the cushions off the couches and had been jumping around, and now Josiah was bringing me handfuls of cotton.  From somewhere which he knew not.  I pleaded with him to tell me `WHERE did you get that??' but he would just point at different spots on the living room floor.

Then the moment came.

Isaac came peacefully strolling into the living room, into my stressed out thoughts.

He stood in front of the fireplace, which was now OFF due to the fact that I didn't want the spot to burn any more than it had already.  Maybe he was cold.  As soon as we had turned on the fireplace, the boys had stripped down and the little ones were just in their diapers.

Like this.

You know those "Aha!" moments that come every once in awhile?

I had one.