Giving Him All the Praise

He is worthy of all our praise.

Since I last posted I have witnessed firsthand the power of God's healing hand. The weekend of February 7, 2009 was one of the most challenging times of my life. In the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, holding my mom's frail hand and caressing her wavy red hair, He was right by my side. When I felt sick to my stomach with worry, I knew that He loves her even more than I do. When I felt like screaming, "Somebody figure out what is wrong with her!" I knew that He already had the answer. And the solution. Returning to the hospital with a heavy heart, He provided strength that I needed. Not knowing what the future held, there was peace that He had a perfect plan.

My mom is at home now and doing well. I give Him all the praise.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:1&2

"Because he loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him." Psalm 91:14&15

The things they say

Children say the funniest things! While I wish I had time to document all the hilarious things that come out of the mouths of my boys, there were a few from yesterday that struck me as funny.

While wiping the peanut butter off Bryce's face after lunch I commented on what a cute face he has to which he replied, "Don't say cute, mom. Cute is a bad word." Apparently he is too mature for such doting from mommy.

Later, while playing together with his 101 Dalmation toys, I picked up one of the plastic dogs and said in a little puppy voice to the toy that Bryce was holding, "What's your name?" Bryce looked at me (trying not to roll his eyes) and said, "Dogs don't talk mom, they say 'woof'."

That afternoon on our way to run an errand I told the boys that we needed to stop to get gas because we were almost on empty. The boys, I've gathered, must think that I put off filling up the tank until the last possible minute because Grant said, "But mom, we're going pretty fast still" as if we ordinarily rolled into the gas station on nothing but fumes.

My baby boy

My baby boy is six months old now which means that he has officially entered my favorite baby stage (6-9 months). While I love babies at all ages and stages, I've narrowed down these three months as my "favorites." At this age babies are very interactive, smiling, laughing, starting to babble, small but not extremely delicate, chubby and cuddly, but (perhaps most importantly) not yet mobile. So, in my opinion, it makes for a very fun three months.

Davis has always been characterized as a happy baby. When I tell people this I follow it up with, "I mean he's an especially happy baby." I realize that my opinion may be affected by the fact that he is my fourth baby and perhaps I am more laid back than I was with my first or even second child. But, really, he is such a happy baby. This past week I took him in to the doctor after several nights of waking up during the night (he has slept through the night since he was six weeks old--8-10 hours without waking--see what I mean!). Low and behold he had two ear infections, poor little guy. The doctor must have commented at least three times during the appointment how surprised she was at his content and happy demeanor with his ears looking the way they did. Yes, I am am very grateful for such a happy baby boy (and experienced enough to appreciate it).

This past Sunday Brian and I participated in a baby dedication service at our church. During the service parents stand at the front of the church with their child and promise to God and before the church to raise their child in His nurture and admonition, acknowledging that children are a blessing from the Lord. As parents, we commit to do all that we can to teach, train and encourage Davis in the Lord but know that it is ultimately his decision as to whether he will accept Christ's forgiveness and make Him Lord of his life. It was a special day of reflecting on the huge blessing and responsibility of parenthood. Our pastor read the meaning of Davis' name, "Beloved Son," and the scripture that we chose for him. Psalms 86:11&12 "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, I will glorify your name forever."

In the words of a little boy...

As the mother of boys, I am enjoying experiencing life from the vantage point of a little boy. The video clip below, if you haven't already seen it, is a touching story from a little country boy. While boys can be rough and tough, they can also be sweet and sensitive and this radio segment shows just how the Holy Spirit (I believe) spoke to one little boy.

Note: You will want to turn off the music on the playlist.com icon at the bottom of the page before viewing.

Strike! (well, almost)

Yesterday we made the most out of a day off of school with a trip to Bowl America. Gramma watched the two little ones while Aunt Susie and I took Grant and Bryce to the bowling alley. It was the boys' second time bowling and the first time for me in a long time, so we made good use of the gutter guards. Everyone had a blast and we wrapped up the afternoon with ice-cream at McDonald's, or "Happy Donald's" as Bryce calls it.

Quote of the day:
Opening the the doors into the bowling alley, the stench of cigarette smoke hitting the air, Bryce said, "I smell something (referring to the smoke)" to which Grant answered in a matter of fact way, "It smells like bowling!"

Happy Birthday Grant!

This past Tuesday our oldest son, Grant, turned six. We had a fun week of celebrating this big milestone. On the eve of his birthday, I explained to Grant that six years ago he was in my tummy. On the evening of January 12th I went into labor and daddy took me to the hospital where he was born shortly after midnight on January 13th. Somewhere in that conversation I must have said something about how much he has grown, because I later learned that he somehow got it in his head that at the instant he turned six he would have a tremendous growth spurt.

Later that night after the boys had been tucked in, Brian went to settle down Grant and Bryce (they share a room and the anticipation of the birthday was apparently causing a sleep delay). When Brian opened the door to their room Grant was laying on his bed, arms stretched up, and exclaimed excitedly, "Look, dad, my sleeves are already shorter!" As if his arms were literally stretching out as his birthday approached. The following day Grant explained to me that when he was five he was this tall, holding his and at eye level, and now that he was six he was this tall, hand at the top of his head. I didn't go on to explain exactly how "growing up" works, but we'll hope he figures it out eventually.

On the morning of his birthday I woke the boys with a special treat: birthday pancakes (pancakes with a candle for the birthday boy). This is a new tradition for us, but a fun way to start the special day. All the boys had fun singing "Happy Birthday" at 7 am and Grant was kind enough to allow Bryce and Carter a turn at having a candle in their pancakes as well. We brought in cupcakes for his class at school where Grant was crowned the birthday boy for the day.

The big event, however, was the Pirate Adventure birthday party on Saturday. We do "big" parties for the boys every other year, so this was the first party that Grant was truly able to anticipate. He was so excited to be having his friends come over to celebrate with him. I tried my hand at cake decorating and managed to pull off a pirate ship cake which actually turned out looking like a pirate ship (I figured it could be a wrecked pirate ship if it didn't turn out so well). We served a pirate lunch of peg-legs (corndogs), goldfish crackers, cannon balls (grapes) which the kids could eat with those little sword toothpicks, and cocktail shrimp for the pirate parents. The little buccaneers played "pin the X on the treasure map", colored a pirate, and went on an amazing treasure hunt, organized by Gramma, which ended in the uncovering of a real treasure chest with the loot of party favors for all the kids. Grant thoroughly enjoyed the day.

The pirate ship cake (with gummy sharks in the water--watch out!).

Grant blew out the "cannons."

All the little buccaneers.

Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy.

Gramma leading the treasure hunt.

The treasure map, complete with the clues the kids found on their hunt.

Grant with his new Bible.

Grant and his friend Jacob (aka: Darth Vader and a Clone Trooper) sporting Grant's new costumes.

Sippy cups and speech impediments

I can tell that Carter (our two year old) is getting the hang of being a big brother by this scene that I observed:

Carter coaching, while leaning over Davis, "Say moult (milk), Day-dis! Say moult!" as he gently (sort of) offered his little brother a sip from his beloved Lightning McQueen cup. This instruction went on for quite some time.

Fortunately, Davis is a very patient little brother.