"Vive la difference!"

Okay, I know this may be an obvious statement, but boys are definitely different than girls! It used to be that when the weather warmed up & the girls went outside to play, I was greeted with weed bouquets & cakes made of sand; there were houses constructed of construction scraps & frolicking barefoot in the grass. My boys went outside this morning & were instantly industrious. They got into Phil's tools & soon were building a "kingdom". Noah had the auger & was methodically drilling a deep hole to his kingdom, while Daniel collected Noah's dirt & tossed it into a new pile. It was so cute to see them imitating their dad, and I love to hear them talk in their "manly" voices. Noah informed me that Daniel was his soldier helper. I wanted to squeeze them & kiss them & tell them how cute they looked. But being that they are boys, I respected their space & kept my "oohs" and "ahs" to myself. It wasn't until later when Phil stopped in and pointed out that the underground electric & phone lines posed a potential danger, that I felt bad. Usually I'm the protective one, worrying about them getting hurt & all, but I was distracted by how adorable they looked and thankful that they were working together & not fighting (for once!). The other day they were driving around in the pink Barbie car. :) Noah was driving @ top speed while Daniel was doing all sorts of stunts. So I had to have the "Do NOT hang out of the car & touch the grass OR sit on the hood OR stand up OR be dragged behind the Barbie car while it is MOVING!" talk with my sons. The twinkle in their eyes told me they will eventually think of some other stunt that doesn't fall under any of those stipulations.

Things are changing around here as my girls grow up and my boys become more independent. Abbie still frolics around the yard, but soon she has her nose in a book & is too busy to bring me weed bouquets. Plus, she knows they're weeds now & they just don't cut it anymore. Grace would rather be in the dirt with her brothers or chasing a soccer ball, and isn't too interested in having her mom squeeze & kiss her anymore. The days of bugs & dirt & death-defying stunts are before me & I wonder if I'm fully prepared for this adventure. But at least it will be an adventure & hopefully I can keep laughing at the crazy ideas they come up with!

Skin MD Natural

Several weeks ago, I was offered another product to sample. I have to be honest, I still haven't formed an opinion about it yet. Skin MD Natural is similar to a product I tested a couple months ago. I like that the Skin MD Natural is a very light, unscented lotion that doesn't leave your hands feeling slimmy & greasy. But I have noticed that my fingertips are more cracked than they have ever been. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that I'm not consistent enough in applying the lotion (the directions are to apply 2-8 hours until moisture level improves, then once every 12-24 hours). I like immediate results. If an application of Skin MD doesn't seem to do the trick, I go back to the greasy, gloppy lotions that at least soften my rough, dry hands for the time being. So as I said before, I still haven't completely formed my opinion on Skin MD. I think to give it a fair try, I have to put away my other lotions for a while & just stick to this one & see how it does. I'll keep you posted.

Graduation

Well, today is the first of many "graduations" I will get to experience as a parent. And I must say, I'm not physically ready for it. Seriously. I just rode my bike for 1/2 a mile & my legs feel like jello. Pathetic.

We've successfully graduated four children out of diapers & into "big boy & girl" underwear...or panties, as the case may be. Grace graduated from Kindergarten last year, which is an odd tradition, but not one I want to explore right now. Abbie & Grace have graduated from the safety of the back yard to playing in the front yard unsupervised. And today Abbie graduated from bike rides around the block with her Dad, to riding her bike to & from her piano lesson solo.

We are forced to deal with our children's quest for independence at an early age. I think it starts when they are infants & are in charge of their own sleep schedule. Do they know how they torture us with sleep deprivation? Soon they're crawling & going where they please. And before we know it, they will move out of the house & be making major life decisions for themselves. Scary. My job as a parent is to set structure & boundaries, but also learn to let them go & let my kids grow up. The apron strings aren't being cut, just fraying one little strand at a time.

What my Grandma taught me...

Dorothy Mae Narwold was quite a woman. I wish I had had a chance to know her better. She died of cancer in 1989 when I was in 8th grade.

My grandparents were passionate about missions and reaching people for Christ. They dreamed of serving overseas in Africa, but when my Grandma contracted polio in the 1950's, they knew their dreams would never be realized. But that didn't stop them. They actively served on mission teams, supported missionaries, and welcomed people into their home. It was because of their love for missions that 3 of their 5 children when into full-time ministry overseas. And their dreams were multiplied.

My Grandma celebrated life & loved having company over for dinner. We adopted many "aunts" & "uncles" into our "extended" family that didn't have a loving family of their own. Valentine's, Easter, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and Christmas brought new faces to the table, and lives were blessed. After their children were grown & married, my grandparents opened their upstairs bedrooms to college students & single people; and our family grew. She welcomed people with open arms. Grandpa prayed fervently for people; Grandma showered unconditional love on them.

One furlough, all her children were home & she decided to do something special with each one of her grandkids. For our special day, we visited a nursing home. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Sitting across from her at the restaurant later, she told me she knew it wasn't how I had hoped to spend my day, but to remember the joy I had brought to lonely people that didn't have family or anyone that cared about them. Then we drew dolls on our placemats & played tic-tac-toe. I went home happy. In high school, I loved my job as a dietary aide in a nursing home & was motivated to get my work done so I could spend extra time w/ the residents.

My Grandma never taught me to crochet or how to make soup, though I've love to attribute my "natural" abilities in these areas to her. But she did teach me to love people. Some people leave an impression, others leave a legacy. I'm thankful for the legacy she left for me.

Spring Break

So it’s back to reality & back to blogging. It seems like we’ve been on vacation forever. Which incidentally, is Daniel’s new favorite word. Everywhere we stayed, he asked if we could stay forever. But to picture it properly, you have to imagine this face saying, "Fah-ev-UH?"

We spent 5 days in Chouteau with Phil’s family – 5 families, 10 grandkids, & 10 adults. We sure packed a lot into those days! We spent the last 2 nights @ a hotel. Daniel was in awe. “Mom, you can watch TV and make popcorn in the microwave! And you can dry your hair here too, Mom!!” We left Tuesday morning for NE to visit my cousin (Jared, Bethany, Eli, Ezra, & Lydia Stewart – thanks for all the fun times!). Their boys are the same age as Grace & Daniel. We livened up their home with our crazy, loud kids & we had a great time together! We squeezed in a quick visit to Phil’s cousin that lives in the area & got to experience the “country” for a few hours (Joe, Lisa, Caleb & Rebecca Harder). And of course, no trip to NE is complete without a historical stop to Grace University where Phil’s parents attended college, met & fell in love. We also picked up an extra passenger on our way home. Long story short, Grammie hitched a ride to Omaha with family & is headed back to OK with us tonight. So we drive toward home, with the wind at our back, feeling fuller than when we left. We may have picked up a few extra pounds from all the good cooking, we have countless memories to carry with us, and our souls were refreshed with laughter, fellowship, & family.

It's about time!

Okay, so I know I ranted & raved about the famous AWANA cars, but I never shared photos with you. So here they are. Enjoy!

Abbie won 2nd place for design. Her bunny lost to a cute mouse atop swiss cheese. Grace won 1st place for design in the Sparks division & Noah won 1st place for design in the open class. Phil said he felt bad that we dominated the competition, but I know that inside he was beaming with pride. And I laughed at him when he told me, as he always does after all the work has been done, that NEXT year he will just let the kids paint their block of wood. I always know that by the time NEXT year rolls around again, he will have been bitten by the bug & will spend countless hours & sleepless nights designing exquisite cars in hope of winning the trophy for design. (Oh, and by the way, we know that the honeybee doesn't have antenna; there's a size limit & that would have exceeded it.)

Okay...time to get back in the game!

There's something motivating about the stress of a packed schedule & preparing for a trip. Or maybe it has to do with the warmer weather & the sunshine. At any rate, I can't sit & mope for much longer. It's time to get up & be happy! ;)

So...where do I start? It seems like the last several days have flown by with a flurry of activity - from volunteering for school functions, to small group activities, and church obligations. Phil was in a meeting last night, I have one tonight & we both have one tomorrow. We've also entered a new phase in our family - the realm of extra curricular activities. We put it off for as long as we could. Grace loved soccer last Fall, so we signed her up again for this Spring. Abbie has her first piano lesson after Spring break. We had been trying to teach her on our own, but we are terribly inconsistent & unfortunately, it never was high our list of priorities. So she's looking forward to actually learning something!

I've had the itch to simplify & get organized, so I have been going through clothes & closets, getting rid of things I haven't used in the 5 years we've lived here, and rearranging everything else. It's amazing the things you find that you forgot you had! Not having much storage space has been a mixed blessing. Though it's a challenge to make room for everything in the house, I'm thankful that I'm forced to let go of things I would otherwise hang on to. Now to tackle the filing cabinet & 10 years worth of paperwork!

We're looking forward to a fun week of vacation with family. We'll be @ Phil's parent's for several days & the kids are excited about seeing their cousins. Then we're off to Omaha to visit my cousin & her family.