It Matters to Me!

I was shopping at my beloved Target, when I spotted a crate of awesome pumpkins for an incredibly low price.  I quickly threw three in my basket for the boys.  I didn't think too much about it and I didn't think that they would either.  I couldn't have been more wrong!  I picked the guys up from school and told them I had a little surprise for them but not to get too excited.  The boys spotted the pumpkins and they were extremely ecstatic. They snapped out of their seat belts and lunged for the van door to claim their favorites.  Trevor fought viciously for the latch first but quickly fell over.  Sky took the advantage and dashed out, running to the pumpkin of his desire.  Trevor pulled himself up and with great distress ran toward that exact same pumpkin.   After a few crocodile tears and gut-wrenching compromise, the boys settled on their favorites.  They reluctantly let me snap their picture.  If you zoom up closely you can see the tear-stained cheeks.  These pumpkins actually mattered quite a bit to my little guys!

Next, the boys decided it was a good idea to take the pumpkins inside to decorate with their own creative touch.  They each grabbed their new treasures and ran excitedly up the stairs.  I anxiously awaited a loud splatter of pumpkin all over the floor and prepared for deeply embedded orange goo in my already despised wall to wall carpet.  However, to my great surprise, they all made it to the kitchen safely.  They grabbed their Sharpies and began their artistic endeavors. They took it oh-so seriously and worked tirelessly to make their pumpkins a one of a kind treasure. 

I thought by this time the guys would be bored. Trevor and Skyler, however, were still ruthlessly focused on these orange, round vegetables!  Now came the very important task of placing the pumpkins on the porch.  The boys took to this task with great determination.  More tears were shed as they disagreed on the exact placement.  These issues were settled after a couple of bloody fist fights.  The two quickly became a great team and quite creative on their placements.  I cheered them on as they paced the pumpkins carefully on the steps.

Trevor and Skyler finally decided to make a giant pumpkin face on our steps. Get it?  Two pumpkin eyes and a big pumpkin nose?  The second step was painted with white rock to create the mouth.  The boys were so proud of the final product!

Wow, I never thought when I threw those three pumpkins in the grocery cart at Target that it would mean so much to my three cubs.  I guess there are many things that may not seem like a big deal to us "grown-ups" in our weary adult world.  However, they can be very significant to our children. These little ones still live a life of wonder, adventure and raw emotion.  Those pumpkins and the events that followed meant a lot to my boys and I would not trade those hours for anything in the world, even with the drama and tears.  I hope my boys will have great memories of these fun moments.  I also hope they know that what matters to them, will always matter to me.



Reese Samuel

Reese-Welsh Origin  "Enthusiasm"
Samuel-Bibical meaning "God heard", "Requested of God"

Reese loves life and has contagious enthusiasm!  Anyone that has ever met him knows this to be true.  He lives in the moment and enjoys everyday.  He consistently exclaims, "I love this day."  He understands that life is a precious gift and moments are meant to be savored. 

Reese has such an amazing imagination, full of wonder and awe for life.  He can easily slip between swimming dangerously with the mighty sea creatures of the deep to being a professional chef in his kid-friendly kitchen.

He likes to dress up as exciting characters.  They are full of hilarity, bravery, strength and zeal. 

Reese enjoys fighting for what is true and just in the world.  Whenever Piggy or Mickey Mouse are unruly, they face punishment.  These stuffed prisoners must be contained so they can do no more evil.

 

He loves his scooter and can scooter like no other!

This lively four year old has the best sense of humor.  He loves to laugh and enjoys making others laugh too.  He keeps us thoroughly entertained with his funny sayings, faces and unique outlook on life.

Reese loves his Mommy and he is my little shadow right now.  I know it won't always be this way.  He is happy to be where I am, whether it is merely a daily trip to the Piggly Wiggly, special programs at school or a yummy lunch date.

Reese is our miracle. He was deeply prayed for and a true gift from God.  Reese was born ten years to the month after my husband and I got married.  He came at God's appointed time into our family, much later than we desired but it was at the perfect time.  He came after we received our great loves,  Trevor and Skyler.  His older brothers came from foster care and were later adopted with great rejoicing!  Reese was appointed to be the young brother of our special boys.  What a blessing he is to us everyday!  Reese seems to  truly appreciates his life and lives it with fierce joy.  I pray this is how he will live everyday that God appoints for him in this life.





Finding the Funny Among All the Fuss

Most of my summer weeks are extremely exhausting. This week was no exception! I have three active boys at home.  There were numerous fights, spills, bruises, yells, squeals, breaks and bloodshed.  There were too many timeouts to count and even some that Mommy should have taken for lack of patience.  HOWEVER, with all of that said, there was also a lot of funny moments and quite a bit of laughter.  It is so important for us mothers not to take ourselves or our kids too seriously. I have to work on this every single day.  One thing I do to remind myself  is to keep my I-Phone camera with me at all times.  That way, even in the most frustrating of moments, I can capture funny moments in my kids life at that exact moment and at that particular stage in their lives. 

For instance, I took my kids to the dollar store and let them pick out a few toys.  It amazes me that for a few dollars, I can truly entertain my boys on a hot summer day.  My four year old, Reese chose a plastic skeleton door- knocker as his first toy.  He then chose a giant spider and a plastic scorpion.  I guess I should be a bit concerned but I actually thought it was quite the hoot.

There was another funny moment when my boys felt it necessary to put on their "naked shirts" (boys term for going shirtless) to stomp on ant beds.  I never know what is going on in their little heads.

I also thought that it was giggle worthy and inspiring that my middle son, Skyler, went out on the basketball court by himself and proceeded to play quite competitively with some really huge teenagers.  He seemed completely unaware of his small size.  He looked so little and breakable out there among the giants, but he just kept playing and had a great time.

The boys and I found it surprising that as we sat eating our yummy and unhealthy Taco Bell, Trevor's tooth popped out and into his taco.  It was a fun and dramatic moment for the boys.  They could barely contain themselves at the pure hilariousness of the moment!

This is just a glimpse of the funny things that happened in the last few days. I am finding that amongst all the chaos, scuffles and sneakiness, there really are many events in my daily grind to make me chuckle.  I am so grateful to my mother who truly taught me the importance of a good, heartfelt giggle.  I hope to pass that legacy down to my children.  In the meantime, I am going to keep my camera handy, because the kids give me plenty to laugh about right now and I don't to miss a moment!