WayfaringStrangers

Today everyone woke up happy. The boys have been sleeping well this week (woohoo!) and we all felt rested and pretty un-grumpy. After lounging around for a few hours and toying with the idea of a chick-fil-a/target combo excursion, I decided we just needed to go for it. Do you know how long it takes to get 2 little rambunctious boys dressed, shod, and coated? Too long. It's always, always a butt load of work getting us out of the house. But we made it.  We crammed into the tiny white car (van is having repairs- ugh) and set off. Made it down the driveway and then Graham noticed he'd forgotten his baseball. This time I decided that, no, I wasn't going to go back into the house to look for a baseball whose location was unknown. This denial of said baseball led to unpleasant behavior. Thankfully, said behavior improved and we made our merry way along. Our community is about 25-35 minutes away from 3 separate Targets and Chick-Fil-A's. Most of the time it doesn'...

Life has been quiet lately. Not necessarily calm...I over committed my self in some areas lately and have felt overwhelmingly busy (work! lead a devotional night! teach more riding lessons!). By "quiet" I mean that we haven't been traveling and that major life changes are pretty non-existant. But things are settling down. I had my last day with one of my tutoring clients today and can already feel a load lifting. I loved  the kiddo and his family, but it was stressful piling my kids in the car 2x a week, driving an hour to drop them off at the sitter, and then tutor all morning. We always ended up cranky and disorganized by the end of the day. It's the right thing to do to clear my plate and just focus on my boys. Behn's parents visited last week, which was great as always. Extra help and company is always appreciated. My parents got an adorable puppy. We have only played with him twice, but my little guys are loving him. Maybe now that I'm not working so ...

The other day I was doing what moms around the world do every day. Folding laundry. I looked down and saw these little boy socks and my eyes filled with tears. Graham's socks. He's getting tall and smart and outgrowing shoes and socks. But these socks, they still look so little. Not baby socks, but not big boy socks. I've had him in my arms for almost 4 years, this boy. Lately we've had a lot of ups and downs. 3 has been hard and also good. But he's still a little guy, my boy who made me a mama. I forget how precious that is, amidst the backdrop of tantrums and kids fighting and being tired and trying to get them to eat healthy. I forget that this is a precious journey. I love having little socks to wash and put on little feet, I love seeing little tractors set up side by side because another little boy in my house loves tractors. I am grateful to catch these moments of grace. I wish I would catch them more and see  the good all around me. Mamas get wo...

My last post was heavy and honest. BUT there are so many good things going on, too! Let's talk about that for a bit! First of all, it's October. The middle of autumn on the east coast, and it's lovely. The leaves are peaking and the cool air has come and pumpkins abound. Here's something cool that happened: last weekend, my parents kept the kids for 2 days and a night! How great is that? The kids did well (I'm told) and Behn got to go camping with his brother while I got to spend a night with 2 of my best friends. It was SO GOOD to see Kiri again for the first time since she moved abroad. And it was also SO GOOD to see my friend Dee for the first time in a year. I needed to be with my friends. We drank wine and talked about everything. It was pretty amazing. (I want to insert a picture here. Dee and Kiri, you have to tell me if it's ok because the only pic I have is the one I took a minute before I left and we all have bedhead. You still are very pretty, t...

Remember earlier in the year when I said having 2 little boys was getting easier? And that having a 3.5 year old was awesomesauce ? I take it back. We are in a hard phase right now. Why? You tell me. I'd really like to know. Whew, it's been so hard lately. It's concerning. Without going into too much detail, just know that I'm exhausted. I feel under attack. I feel alone. I'll read a blog or book that makes me laugh- that finds the humor in this mess of early childhood. It's good. I need that. I laugh. I feel a little less alone. Then I'll read a blog or book that encourages me. Something Biblical, that reminds me this is a spiritual battle, a calling, and that all the hard is worthwhile. I feel inspired and for 5 minutes I try to be like Michelle Duggar, with her gentle voice praising her 'little ones.' And then there's a tantrum and whining and fighting and the house is trashed and I crash. Ugh. I'm just being real here. I do...

It's lovely October. It's a Friday night and the house is a mess and I think Behn fell into a deep sleep while he was putting Graham to bed. These are tiring days, with all the work and running around and the endless children's energy. Fall is here, and the days have been perfect: chilly evenings paired with warm afternoons. The first of the leaves are changing and falling and little Graham has been especially excited to collect acorns this year. I didn't write much in September; that wasn't on purpose! My goodness, how full life is with 2 active boys! I can barely sit down to drink a cup of coffee and pray or eat a meal, let alone type out any coherent thoughts. We are always on the move in this house! September was full of the good things. For one, we had a bunch of family visit. 6 out of the 8 siblings in my family were here in town. We met up at the county fair, then the next day had a family lunch and baby shower for my brother and sister-in-law. I wish I...

I am in a cranky and ungrateful mood right now. But I looked back at some of my old posts and enjoyed reading about God's faithfulness in Another Appliance Story and The Chest Freezer Story . It reminded me that I haven't relayed how God recently gave us some more undeserved but much-needed gifts. Our dryer broke again. I think we've been through 5 old, stinky dryers over the years we've been married. Sometimes one will last a year or so, then break and if Behn can't fix it then someone will give us or sell us another. Anyway, our dryer broke. And this time we couldn't fix it and so we just started hanging our stuff to dry (which I like to do anyway). I threw it out there on Facebook that we were looking for a used dryer, but after an hour I took the post down because I felt like I was whining or complaining. Just before I took the post down, someone from our church saw it and a few minutes later overheard her co-worker saying "I am moving and need to ...