My Boys

My boys. I so love them. They are such fun, uncomplicated, and sweet in unexpected ways. And they are funny. Nowadays, I hear the constant clack, clack, clack of Kendamas from morning till night, I hear talk of armpit hair, and grumbles about taking showers. I am constantly running out of band aids, clean socks, and food. But they all come up during the day and give me hugs. Some still give full arms-wrapped-around-my-body hugs, and one has grown to give me sideway arm-around-the-shoulder hugs. I tell them a boy is never too old to hug their mother good-bye in public, and they jokingly roll their eyes at me, but do it anyway. Being a mother of boys has been an enjoyable adventure for sure!

My last post had a crazy amount of feminine pictures of my Olivia, so I only think it fitting to have a few of the boys. Unfortunately for me, my boys aren't into posing for anything other than spontaneous, candid photos, and even their patience for those are pretty limited. Still, I am grateful. We have a fun time and they aren't bothered by me requesting pictures with my big camera in public.

Yesterday afternoon, I took my three boys out for a little change of scenery. We have school and  chores and such, but an outing of sort is becoming a Monday ritual. Finding myself with just the boys was unexpected, and the simple fun we had was memorable.

Here, we found a Bronco we liked. We could picture ourselves heading to the beach with the surf boards strapped to the roof, windows down...

Our outing consisted of perusing through an estate sale warehouse; Michael enjoys watching the auction which takes place each Monday. Next we hit a little chocolate shop, then the boys hung out on the sidewalk while I checked out a little clothing boutique (and saw some cute sandals I think Olivia will love). Finally, we looked through an antique store that always has cool things the boys enjoy.

These pictures surprised even me. Look how big he is getting?!

And then there is this boy. I can't post pictures of him (and maybe this is pushing it), but because I have a feeling much of what we are experiencing now will be forgotten (in many ways, this is my hope!), I wanted to remember these feet. He has been with us 10 weeks, and of those weeks he has spent 8 weeks in casts. The first one was from a broken arm; in talking with the orthopedic doctor, that break lead to the discovery of a structural problem of the feet. This is being corrected now.

He played gaga ball at school, thus tearing the "big and tall" men's socks I make him wear over the casts to keep dirt and stones from creeping in. By the end of the day, they were all drooping forward and torn, but he was so proud of beating three other boys. Sister tattled and said the shoes kept falling off during the game.

Two more days and the casts come off. I'm not sure what comes next, other than a good, long, soapy bath!

>>:<<

These words from Sunday worship, here again tonight for me to remember truth:

O grant me wisdom from above,

To pray for peace and cling to love,

And teach me humbly to receive

The sun and rain of Your sovereignty.

Each strand of sorrow has a place

Within this tapestry of grace;

So through the trials I choose to say:

"Your perfect will in Your perfect way."

I don't always know much, but I do know there is purpose in the things God ordains for our lives; most of it, however,  we may never understand on this side of eternity.

~Katherine