dear micah

dear micah,
i could watch you all day long....
you are so curious!
you love to look for bugs outside and your discoveries always bring you such joy.
i think you are great!
i love how you look, so little, sitting on one of your trucks as a make shift stool, while you are busy looking in the wagon for bugs or whatever else may be in there.
you are patient with beatrix and no matter how she treats you, you always want to be around her.
i am amazed at your persistence.
there are times when i look at you and see myself so clearly that it kind of freaks me out and than there are moments when i see daddy in a movement you make.
and i am reminded of the awesomeness of making a child with someone else and the fact that you really are both of us, put together.
i love your creativity.
your ability to look at something and ask such thought provoking questions.
i just love you.
from the moment you came into our lives you have brought such joy.
you are a gift from God!
dear micah,
i just wanted you to know how thankful i am you are in my life.
love, mommy

fall or spring?

yesterday we raked our leaves. yep, you read that right. we raked our leaves. every spring our avocado tree sheds its leaves and yesterday was nice and chilly so we went outside and raked those babies up. but first we had to make a pile to jump in.
and than we laid on our backs on the leaf pile and looked up at the tree and all of the leaves that still have to fall off.

we also had to look for bugs that might be crawling around in the leaves and using them "as a habitat".

and of course we had to throw those crunchy leaves up into the air and watch them all fall down on us.

and when we had had our fill of playing with them we placed them all in our compost bin so that they can become "magic dirt". and that was our fall, spring day.

well, we have to paint it!

we had to paint the birdhouse, according to my detail orientated son. and of course this one couldn't be left out of anything. i set her up at the table with some water and a brush. "safe painting" is what i like to call it!
she was pretty proud of herself.

and of course they had to have lunch sitting right next to each other too. it is pretty cute i have to admit. it is nice that most of the time they like each other and find a way to communicate that love. once in awhile bea doesn't mind micah's constant attempts at affection and most of the time micah doesn't mind bea's invasion of his space.
in fact, generally speaking, they seem to really enjoy one another's company.

winkin' and blinkin'

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

i will miss this one day, right?

i will miss this one day, right?

these days of waking up to kids crawling all over my head and accidentally kicking me in the face. these days that seem to stretch endlessly into the distance. these days that start off with trying to figure out what to feed two very picky children. i will miss the questions that start off with mama 50 times in a row, right? these days of no privacy when i am in the bathroom doing my business, or taking a shower, or putting on my makeup. these days filled with dirty diapers, dirty dishes and a dirty house. i'm gonna miss all of this one day, right? but then there are days when i am present and here. i enjoy the moment of making something with micah while beatrix runs around the yard causing holy terror and shrieking like a pterodactyl. it is fun to watch his face transform when he sees a milk carton, some pop-cycle sticks and glue turn into a bird house.


and there are days when i hang thier little clothes on the line. and i take a step away from them and just look. i take a long look and i see that they are very little clothes. little underwear, and shirts and pants and tiny socks, evidence that right now i am in the thick of it. i am thankful for the moments when i appreciate my little ones and where they are right now.
cause someday, way too quickly, i will miss all of this.

so cute

this day last week i put beatrix in a hotwheels onsey and her hair in a ponytail. i could hardly stand it. seriously, she was so cute in this outfit!

just so you know she isn't always cute!

fly away free

my friend flew away today. we packed her in the dark last night. we loaded cars in silence, stacking boxes, squeezing hands as we passed one another. her life in bags and boxes. she has a son and her boyfriend has been cheating on both of them. it has been a slow painful death to watch. as a friend, one can only do so much. you witness certain actions, than you tell yourself i would never stand for that, but would i? would i be so quick to give it up? to admit something i have put so much effort into is really over?
her sister finally came down to rescue her. to give her support for the move. to tell her that it and he really weren't going to change. that she was worth not settling for this kind of life. that there is still hope for her and her young son. she sat in my house last night looking defeated and full of sorrow. i held her hand, rubbed her head, we both sighed. she looked around my house and said, "this is all i have ever wanted". i said, "what do you mean?" "this, lydia, this family life, your home, your husband, your kids..." i looked around the house trying to see what it was she was seeing. "you know, it has taken me 13 years and alot of hard work to get to what you are seeing right now. we still have our moments of fights and arguements. and i went to counseling several times in our marriage." "really?" she asked in surprise. "yes" i admitted, "one of those times being the year after i got married." i could tell she was thinking about what i had just told her. i wanted her to know that i wasn't leading a life of perfection, that it wasn't what it appeared to be at that quiet and clean moment. we all go through tough things. hers was last night.
we packed her up last night...in the dark she gave me her plants. she nurtured these and loved them. they were a true gift. i told her every time i watered them i would think of her and send prayers her way. she stole away in the night, without him knowing. she was gone before he got home from work. she felt bad for him until the moment she flew away today. i know because she told me.
i pray that like these new little sprouts of green she will have a second chance at love. that she will learn to really love herself and not see her worth entirely through someone else eyes and that she will grow. away from the weeds and filth and pollution that was their relationship. it polluted her soul and made her feel like nothing. nothing.
i packed my friend up in the dark last night.
i hope she can fly away free.

happy saint patty's day!

As many of you know my husband LOVES holidays and this one is no exception! So like any normal family on spring break we are having a Saint Patrick's Day party. Complete with potatoes! I bought a bag of them from Cosco on Monday and decided to make all of them cause I have no idea how many people are going to show up. Like good Irish folk we will just eat the left overs for the rest of the week. I held up this potato next to Beatrix's head and no lie it is right next to her. No illusion here! hahaha! This potato could feed a family I would think!
Once again I have updated two weeks worth of posts during one nap time. I hope you are all wearing some green today and that you have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

a cook and a boat builder

Beatrix eating pirate booty (cheese puffs) and helping me bake bread.
While Micah was painting his boat.


Checking the colors so that they match just right.
Can you say precision?
And in fact the boat he made looked just like the one on the box.

pastor shirley and mr. jim

We started going to a church in downtown west palm a couple of months ago. And we love it. Most of the congregation is older than us, by ALOT! The church was dying until Pastor Shirley answered the Lord's call and came to help the sinking ship. This woman is a prayer warrior and she started praying right away that young families would start coming. The next week we showed up and the Lord has blessed both of our families through each other.

Last Friday night she and her husband Jim invited us over for dinner. The Sunday before she was asking Micah what some of his favorite foods are. He said macaroni and cheese, fruit, meat and bread. She asked him what he would like for dessert and without hesitation he said a truck cake. She looked at me confused and I said, "oh Shirley, don't worry about that." Micah said, "when I turned three mommy made me a truck cake." Well, the subject changed to something else and I thought it was forgotten, but when we showed up for dinner last Friday what do you think this wonderful lady had done? Made my little man his very own truck cake, complete with trucks that he could take home! It was such a fun evening and the kids loved Mr. Jim. He is very creative and kept Micah busy looking at his insect collection and than they made fish out of construction paper and paper clips and "fished" with a pole and a magnet.

I am so thankful for them and for our little community church. It has been really refreshing to be around some "wisdom" with the elderly in our church. They love seeing the kids and it is good for Micah and Beatrix to grow up around elderly people so they can learn respect and that people of all ages bring value and worth to our faith.

busy baby

Beatrix is starting to look less and less like a baby and more and more like the busy toddler she is becoming...sigh...

first soccer pratice at OneTrueMedia.com

Matt's dad had a saying that i am sure i am going to butcher, but it was something like watching a bunch of little kids at something like this was like trying to wrangle rabbits. ??? anyway i kept thinking about that while i was watching the two young coaches corral all of the kids and trying to keep them interested and focused. i know it is kind of a long video, but for some of you i am sure it won't be long enough. *wink*

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

soccer

March 7th, Micah started soccer. Our neighborhood park was offering lessons for two months and I asked Micah if he would like to sign up for it. He of course said yes! I told him about it over a month ago so February was a long month in our house of patiently waiting. I found a pair of kleets for him at a thrift store and he was super excited to try them out at practice.



Taking a water break. Beatrix unloaded my purse while she was waiting for M.
And I finally had to walk over and borrow a ball for her. She really wanted to play too. Mostly she just carried it around the park while daddy followed her, drinking his coffee and yelling encouragement to Micah.

playing outside

A day in the life... Last week another teacher at Matt's school sent home a box of toys and clothes for the kids. Aren't they the lucky ones?! There were quite a few noisy toys like the popper that I remember playing with when I was little and a leap frog "computer" toy thingy that came with the coolest toy of all... a pretend phone!! They both thought that was something pretty special. I grabbed the camera to take a couple shots of them and than I called my friend Amy. We were chatting away like old friends do, and I told the kids to go around to the back yard. I quickly locked the front door and went around to the back after them....can you guess what happened next? Yep, I started laughing to Amy and I said, "I think I just locked myself out of the house." Sure enough I had. We ended up playing outside until daddy came home to rescue us.