Lifesavers...

I had a bit of a crazy week this week. I am really glad that it is close to the end of it. After getting everything worked out for my kids today, I got to work and had an email from the girl who was supposed to watch the boys this afternoon, saying that her daughter is sick. Suddenly I had to arrange, from work, for someone to watch the kids. Lucky for me, I have an amazing friend named Stephanie. She is visiting her family on her way from VA to move to TX. She not only was going to watch my kids this morning, but when we called and told her the afternoon person couldn't do it anymore, she agreed to stay all day. It is so nice to have friends who are fantastic and will help you out in a pinch. I really appreciate her help today.

In other news, well...there really isn't any other news.

Ok, really...I was listening to the radio on my way home from work--because let's face it, I have a 40 minute drive, what else am I going to do? I think, sing really loud, listen to the weather a LOT, catch up on my 30 seconds of news, try to decompress from my day at work, plan my evening, and again...sing really loud! Anyway, I was listening to the radio and this song came on the radio--it goes through the stages of a girl's life and at each stage--teenager, newly married, young mom--it tells what she's doing, and how she is so eager to be moving on to something else. And, the chorus says that "you're gonna miss this. You're gonna want this back..." Whenever I teach Sunday School, I always give my class a challenge. I try to take these challenges myself as well. A couple weeks ago, we were discussing trials, and expressing gratitude while in our trials. As I was listening to this song, I started thinking about how much I struggle with my kids. I really do--I am so not a little kid person. And mine are awful most days. But, I really love them. I need to continue working on appreciating them even when they are being pests (like right now when one is climbing on the counter, and one is in the fridge!). Benjamin is so smart. He remembers everything. He loves to cuddle. He always wants mommy to "nuggle Ben." Plus, he is getting to be such a good helper and such a good listener (when he wants to be). He is so cute, with the most beautiful, big eyes and long lashes. He loves his brothers--is very attached to them, in fact, and frequently cries when they are gone or the three of them are separated.

Sam is the most charming little thing ever. He can charm his way out being in trouble, no matter what he did--for example, one night he dumped an entire cup of water in the floor, just to be a brat, and when I was yelling at him about it, he crawled up in my lap, kissed me, and pointed at the picture on the wall across the room, saying, "Look Mommy--it's my Jesus." Really, how could I keep yelling when he was pointing out Jesus? Plus, he is a SUPER cute little boy. He is creative--just the other day, he was making sssnnakes to give to "Nanta" when he comes on his "Nanta train." (Santa--and we saw a Christmas train in December with Santa on it.) He made about 25 of these nnnnnakes out of playdough. He is very mischievous, and is not afraid of anything--except being tossed in the air by Cameron. When that happens, he grabs Cam tight by the neck and will not let go until he is sure he isn't going to be tossed again.

And Levi...what can we say about Levi? He is the sweetest baby. He is always smiling and happy. And he thinks he is eight. He only wants to eat big people food. And he wants to only play with the big boys' toys. He only wants to sleep when everyone is sleeping--even though he is super tired. He pulls himself up on the furniture and walks around it--and has been doing so for almost a month now. He really is growing up SO fast! He has the cutest little two front teeth--right there on the bottom. And they are super crooked. His hair is completely unruly, and we've already had to cut it once--he totally needs it again! His eyes are incredibly blue, and he has the plumpest little thighs out there--but he is not really a big baby. He is just sweet and beautiful and pretty much perfect!

I am grateful today for my boys. They force me to do things differently than I normally would. They also force me to be unselfish. Plus, they are stinking cute and make me happy with all the weird, cute, funny things they do.