Living Life, Valentine's and Snow

I am two weeks out from chemotherapy, and feel better every day.

I haven't posted because well...I've been busy living life!

Here are some random things that we've been doing:

Our old microwave died and we had to buy a new one.  Who knew that the packing would be such fun for two little boys?  

They enjoyed utterly destroying it with hammers, screw drivers and their own feet.

I can go to the park again with my family!  Here we are at a local park (Udall) - the boys rode their bikes while Bryan and I walked/jogged along behind.  (I mostly walked...I am much weaker than I want to be!)  And I greatly enjoyed the scenery of the Catalinas in the background.

Ben took our picture for Valentine's Day.  He forgot to aim the camera at Dad.

(I still have a double chin.  Thank you steroids.)

Then Sam took our picture for Valentine's Day. 

(I think we have budding photographers, no?)

Finally, Mom took our picture for Valentine's Day.  Thank you Mom.  

(We were at Macaroni Grill.)

Mom and the boys, also at Macaroni Grill on Valentine's Day.

At another park (Agua Caliente) on another Saturday.  It was a beautiful (though windy) day.  

I so love and appreciate being able to do things with my family again!! 

SNOW?  Did I mention that I live in TUCSON?  As in, Arizona?  I love the contradiction of a cactus being snowed on.

So my crazy Arizona-born boys wanted to play in the snow -- Arizona-style.  They had a blast!!

My desert bush - Texas Ranger (yes it needs trimming) - and our palm bush (tree?) all covered in snow.  There are supposed to be mountains in the background, but they disappeared for a while.

It snowed for about an hour!  But it was very wet, and didn't stick.  It's all gone now.  So sad.

That's all the excitement I can take for now.  

We're still cleaning up mud and sand from clothes, the floors, the bath tub after the boys' adventures in the snow.

Ben and Fluid "Damics"

One afternoon at lunch, Ben was taking a big drink from his cup.  It was the kind of cup with the lid and straw.  (We are slowly graduating from sippy cups to regular cups.  I don't trust him with open cups right now.)  He took a big drink, then slowly let the juice back down into the cup, then took a big drink and finally swallowed it all.

I was watching him, wondering what he was thinking about, when suddenly he looks up and says:

"Mom, how come when I suck the drink up my straw, it goes really fast up the straw, but it goes down really slow in the cup?"

Dark brown eyes with their long curly lashes, staring at me expectantly.  He's adorable.

Huh?

This was not what I was expecting from my adorable four-year-old.

And I knew it was a science-y type question, and I am not a scientist.  I studied French, and English Literature.  I could tell him what cup, straw, and drink were in French, but I was not up on my fluid dynamics and volume displacement theories.

So I told him that I didn't know, and that we should ask Daddy about it that night at dinner.  Well, we forgot about it.  Some time later (several days, I am not sure), he asked the same question again at lunch time, and again I told him that I didn't know, and that we needed to ask Daddy about it.

Finally, a few nights ago at dinner, Ben remembered to ask his question.  Bryan was surprised, and asked him if he'd been watching a show that talked about that (Ben likes Sid the Science Kid and sometimes they talk about stuff like that in the show), and Ben said no, he just saw it happening in his cup.

So Bryan began to pontificate about the workings of fluid dynamics, and actually did a good job (I thought, anyway) of breaking it down in four-year-old terms.  Ben seems to understand, gets excited about it, and true to form, suddenly interrupts his father.

"DAD!" (he's very emphatic when he interrupts) "Dad! Can you talk about the damics part now?"  (as if to say, "I'm done with all this fluid stuff, get to the good part about damics!")

With no time to think, I burst out laughing.  Ben realizes he's said something funny, so he repeats himself.

We try to get him to say "dy-nam-ics"...the best he can do is "dy-man-ics".  Good enough.

So if Ben ever tries to tell you how Dad taught him all about damics, or dymanics, you'll know where he got it from.

The Man in Our House

He's kind of a big deal in our world.

Dad.

Da-da.

Daddy.

Bryan.

For one thing, he is the strongest person in the house.  Lifting little boys over his head with no problem, even as said boy is pulling around...wire?  What is that?  I don't know.  (We practice safety in our home, as you can see.)  And by the way, Ben WAS happy here - I caught him in a weird moment with my camera.  He wanted Daddy to lift him again, and again, and again.

Oh, and he's doing this with another little boy breathing and slobbering into his face.  Pretty awesome.

Also he is the official Tickler of the house.  Able to tickle two little boys, upside down, at the same time.  Amazing!

Skills.  Girls like guys with skills.  And my guy has LOTS of skills.

(Napoleon, anyone?  Are you with me?  I know Bryan is.)

Also, he is Cuddler Extraordinaire.  Little Sam was pretty sick in this photo, and he just wanted to be with his Daddy.  So Daddy just let him be.  And all was well with little Sam.  Sometimes there is no greater comfort to our boys than just sitting/laying with their Daddy.  Or, if it's Ben, it's asking him endless questions about God, or the world, or space, or anything else that Ben can think of in order to stall bedtime.

Bryan's patience is practically endless.

For Father's Day, they expressed their love and appreciation by choosing a gift that represented their special and meaningful relationship with their father...

What else, but a Cookie Monster t-shirt?  Nothing else would do.  Bryan wore it proudly...to church!  And all day.  And maybe even to bed that night.  I can't remember that far back...I was sleeping.

Which reminds me...he still gets up with the boys at night if they have a "daddy emergency"....like a bad dream, or a need to go pee and tell him all about it, or that they are too hot/cold/awake...this is amazing because Mama sleeps through this.  I don't know how he hears them.  It's as if once my babies get past the infant/middle-of-the-night-feeding stages, I am deaf to them in the night.  I think that they just know that Daddy can fix just about ANYTHING, and Mama is not much use to them until the morning, when they are hungry and waiting for their breakfast and chocolate milk.

He was born on Father's Day, actually, so he gets quite spoiled during this week!  (Kind of like my birthday and Christmas!)  And we had fun spoiling him.  All the usual father-ly-type gifts like electric trimmer, car radio, clothes...nothing terribly huge but all useful and much-needed!  (His 2002 Corolla had a cassette player...and Bry's got a 25-mile round-trip to his job every day.  Yeah.  It was time for an upgrade.)

And now that I've totally embarrassed him for the year, I'll stop bragging on him now.  He would rather fade into background and not be noticed.  Ever.  But, he married me, and I talk a lot.  And when I can't talk, I write.  Therefore I blog.  And since he's got SO MANY SKILLS...he's going to be talked about.

So, thank you

Strong Man

Tickler

Cuddler

Fixer and Comforter of all problems

I hope we, your family, can bless you as much as you bless us every day.

I love you.

Christmas-y stuff

We FINALLY got our Christmas tree up, thanks to Ben and his constant prodding...

No "day of rest" for us on Sunday afternoon!

Don't judge us for our style - Ben went to town decorating the tree himself:

He was quite meticulous about how he added each one to the tree, and explained in detail to his dad why he'd arranged them in this way:

But Bryan can't really remember what Ben said about it, because it kind of didn't make sense.  Apparently it made perfect sense to Ben - which is really the important thing here, isn't it?

These are shatter-proof ornaments, by the way.  They are taking the place of my lovely lavender and silver glass ornaments, which will not reappear until the boys are past the taking-the-ornaments-off-the-tree-and-throwing-them-inside-the-tree phase.

Oh, someday I'll get my beautiful purple and silver tree back.  But I'm quite happy with our brightly-colored hodge-podge tree for now.

I did add some of my own ornaments, up high and (hopefully) out of reach.  I finished up a Hallmark series this year.  I am actually not "into" angels - but these were so pretty, I went for it.

the last holiday angel in the Hallmark series

I'm contemplating adding more ornaments, but so far have had little motivation to do so.  For one thing, I've been concentrating hard on not going through another bout of strep throat.  So far, I seem to be failing.  I'll let you know it goes.

Also, I've been working diligently in the evenings to finish this sweet piece:

excuse the hoop-marks

And it's funny, because I'm not really "into" angels...hmmm...well anyway, this is a Little House Needleworks   design, "The Angels Sang".  I just love the simplicity and country-style.  So homey and warm.  I'm stitching it on 30-count Straw linen by Weeks Dye Works.  I think I might frame it -- but am also considering making a wall-hanging with some twigs/branches -- something "earthy" if that makes sense.  We'll see!

As soon as I finish my angel piece, I'm starting another design by LHN - a brand-new one called "This is My Joy" -- just picked it up today at the needlework store.  Can't wait to begin it!  I've never stitched with silk threads before (I chose the Collard Green and am going to stitch it on 30-count Cocoa linen by Weeks Dye Works) and I've heard silk is amazing.

excuse my very bad with-flash photo

Okay now you're updated!!

And just "who" are "you"??

;)

10 years...11 Thanksgivings

I'm a week late with Thanksgiving photos...we also don't have our Christmas tree up yet!  What can I say - we are such a happenin' family.  Lots of things are happenin' in our house.  Colds, family visits, hot water heater going ka-put...oh yeah...we are totally with it.

But one thing keeps me smiling.

Bryan and I are in our tenth year of marriage.  In other words, we celebrated nine years in August.  But this was our 11th Thanksgiving together.  Not only that,  but we were blessed to spend it with our Aunt Claire again -- we aren't able to do that every year, but it worked out this year.  Incidentally, we also spent Thanksgiving with Aunt Claire ten years ago.  So we had our photo taken on the exact same couch...though it was moved to a different spot in the living room.

2001 version of Bryan and Kimberly:

2011 version of Bryan and Kimberly:

You can see how we've been "updated."  Less hair (for both of us)...more to love.  ;)  I remember warning him before we were married that I knew his love for me would grow over the years, because I would grow!!  Ha!  (It's the second baby, I tell ya.)

We look a little more comfortable together in 2011 than we did in 2001.  Ten years ago, we had barely gotten back together after an awkward break-up (my fault...and another story).  We were just a few short weeks away from being engaged!   Ah, memories.

Here's another reason the 2011 Thanksgiving was so different from the 2001 version:

These guys.  They weren't there ten years ago.  Well, of course Aunt Claire was there!  But Ben and Sam were not there...they were still only the sparkles in our eyes!  They are a rather fun addition to the festivities. We think we'll keep them.

My parents were just here for five days - arrived the day after Thanksgiving and just left on Wednesday.  I'll post some pics of that soon -- we had a great time.  The boys love their "Papa" and "Gabby."

Happy weekend!  I hope you have more success in putting your Christmas trees up than we've had...since we are apparently unable to accomplish this feat in our house.  For now.

Stylin' Saturday Link Up

Linkin' up with Wendy over at Tales from the Motherhood....




No cute kiddo pics this week -- although I did take plenty of those.  Just nothing in the way of stylin'.  I guess I could post yet another photo of Sam wearing only a diaper and Spiderman sandals, with a pacifier in his mouth and a monster truck in his hand.  (He still recommends these accessories, by the way.  He's just not into change in his life right now.  He needs the stability that only a paci and monster truck can provide.)

THIS week I'm featuring my studly hubby.  He was kind of embarassed when I asked him if I could take the photos.  He isn't a "limelight" kind of guy.  But he did it!  10 points for Bryan.  Way to support wifey's bloggy obsession hobby.

Here he is...do you notice anything different than most normal guys?  No, not his rugged jawline...no, not his hard-as-rocks arms (though they are nice to squeeze -- but only I can do that)...

His feet!  His...shoes?  sandals?  What in the world are these?  I'm still not quite sure.  But he wears these all the time, even to church.  He says they're really comfortable.

Guess what?  He made them.  Himself.  As in, he had some black rubber (or whatever it is), traced his foot, cut out the pieces for each foot, and tied the cording. 

He found some video on YouTube.  Yes, there is a video on YouTube on how to tie these sandals.  There are several, actually.  (I'm convinced that you can learn how to do most anything on YouTube.)

But he's not a hippy.  He runs in these sandals.  Have you ever heard of "Barefoot Running"??  Well, it exists.  Bryan runs often, but he has some knee and back injuries that cause him pain while running.  And he actually doesn't like to run!  (Oh I admire his discipline.  I don't like to exercise at all, so I make it a point to never do that...but that's fodder for another post.)  So one day at work, one of his co-workers was telling him how his son had gotten into barefoot running.  Bryan was intrigued.  So he came home and researched this concept.  He decided to try it. 

Not only has he ceased to have the knee and back pain that he had before, but it's made running more interesting to him.  Double benefits! 

There are many different kinds of barefoot running shoes on the market, but they're rather expensive, especially for this thrifty man of mine.  Being the handy guy that he is, he went into his garage-cave and came back with the supplies.  Being the mechanical/designer engineer that he is, he fashioned the sandals himself (watching afore-mentioned YouTube video).  People tease him about his "Jesus sandals", but he teases back that maybe since Jesus wore them, that makes Bryan more holy?  ha ha.  He's totally kidding.

But he's totally stylin'! In a hippy-running-Jesus sort of way. :)

Check out Wendy's cute post today!!

"Five Things" Friday

1.  Ben had his first visit to the dentist last week, and he was such a good boy!  His favorite part of the visit?  “The water vacuum.” (Ben loves any type of vacuum.)

He still likes to talk about the “tickler”toothbrush, the “water sprayer”, and the “water vacuum.” 

2.  If you read this post (funnily enough, another "Five Things" post) – you know we were in need of new grill.  Behold the loveliness (the one on the left, not the stud-muffin on the right)….

We love this thing.  Actually, I think I may like it even more than Bryan does.  I’ve cooked on it more than he has so far.

3.  The boys conned Dad into “sleeping” with them. 

I can tell you for sure that there wasn’t any sleeping going on.  But lots of monster trucks were waved around, and many giggles were had.



4.  One night this week, I opened up a package of country-style pork ribs to grill.  I was so excited for this meal – BBQ pork ribs on my brand-new grill (uh…I mean OUR brand-new grill)…cucumber dill salad, of which I was going to document the making so I could post the super-simple recipe here for everyone’s cucumber enjoyment.  

But instead of yummy food ready to be cooked by moi, I found BAD, terrible-smelling meat, and a moldy cucumber!!  So I called Bryan…

...and he was our hero and brought home a pizza for dinner.  And one of the pieces was this GINORMOUS slice here!  I can’t remember who ate it.  We might have shared. 

Much better than rotten ribs and moldy cucumbers.

5. One evening, the boys wanted to watch “The Hulk” movie…as in, the Incredible Hulk.  This is them watching him transform from Bruce Banner into the big green monster.  

Apparently holding one’s ears makes the transformation more bearable.

LOVE these guys!

Happy weekend, everyone! 

9th Wedding Anniversary

We can't believe that it's already been 9 years of marriage for us.  What a full and wonderful time it has been.  Here we are back then...9 years ago today...this part of our church's campus doesn't even exist anymore.  There is now a big building behind where we are standing in this photo.

Ah, look at us...so young...so thin...so much more hair then (both of us).  Also much more well-rested (not having the kids then, of course).

Here we are, just this past Saturday (see what I mean about both of us having less hair? Even I cut mine off).  We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant located in the Lodge on the Desert resort.

Behold our steak dinner. 

Well, this was mine -- Bryan got exactly the same thing (we still have the same tastes in food!).  I'd never had such a fancy steak!  So I had to be a dork and take a picture.  (Don't worry, I waited until I thought no one was looking.)

It doesn’t seem like it’s been nearly a decade – we have been together for a decade, married for 9 years – yet at the same time it feels like 9 years ago was a lifetime ago.  Today, when I think of "nine years ago", I think of that we slept well.  Ha ha!  Well, we were sans enfants then, so of course we got to sleep whenever we wanted to.  Anyone without children gets more rest than those of us with young ones waking up in the night, wanting us to sleep with them, playing musical beds…I wonder where these examples are coming from? 

I am thankful that we waited five years to add children to our marriage.  We had a lovely time together during those first five years.  Of course we had our bad days and times – the summer Bryan broke his neck and back was not lovely – the summer my mother nearly died of a brain aneurysm was not lovely – but through those times we did grow stronger.  But the time we went to Disneyland together was awesome, and our spring in Paris (ah, Pair-eee) was wonderful!  We got along beautifully – I remember people warning me that the first year of marriage would be difficult, so I braced myself and waited for it.  Nope, we were fine.  No big surprises, thanks to our solid friendship we had before we ever started dating and thanks to our thorough pre-marital counseling at church.  He threw his clothes on the floor sometimes, just like I did – he didn’t make the bed, just like I didn’t.  He liked to help me cook dinner and then he’d wash dishes.  He liked my cat.  He let me have the bigger closet.  He made bubble baths for me when I’d come home from a long day of school.  We bought our first home and tackled home improvement projects…and had a blast.

So then I was told, “Well, it’s the second year that’s tough.”   Okay.  I’d started graduate school, then realized this was not where I wanted to be.  I was a French major and was told that I needed to go abroad again in order to “assure success in the program”.  Bryan said, “well, you can go abroad, or we can remodel the kitchen.”  I wanted the kitchen.  So I pulled out of graduate school, got a job to start paying off school loans, and we were happy as clams.  I do remember a misunderstanding regarding the kitchen remodel…big lesson for me to not question a man who has worked endlessly all weekend on a project…but it was nothing that we couldn’t work through. 

Year Three brought him trying to kill himself in a biking accident (well it wasn’t intentional on his part, but I tease him that it was so) – the aforementioned neck-and-back-breaking.  That was a rough several months – not only did we have Bryan’s recovery, but I ended up with Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder and had to go through counseling and treatments.   Still, we were strong in the end. 

Year Four brought me paying off my school loans, quitting my job, finishing home improvement projects, and spending a month in Wichita after my mother miraculously survived a burst brain aneurysm.  (We did make it to Paris that year, though!)  I told Bryan later – NO MORE dramatic summers!!  Year Five HAS to be ALL GOOD!!  Of course we laughed because we knew that we had no control over any of these things.  If anything, we were greatly mindful of the sovereignty of God.

And Year Five was awesome.  We had our little Ben just a few months after our 5^th anniversary.  Just like we’d planned – to wait five years and then have a baby.  We couldn’t believe it actually worked out that way, but it did.  Oh that sweet baby boy.  We love him so much.  We have rarely gotten a good nights’ sleep since he was born.  Year Six was spent adjusting to having little Ben…Year Seven we welcomed little Sam…Year Eight was spent adjusting to having both little Ben and little Sam…Year Nine we spent still trying to get some sleep.

Adding children certainly adds stress, blessings though they are.  Our most difficult times have been since we’ve had the boys.  I think that children are God’s way of purifying parents – both personally and in their marriage.  In both marriage and parenting relationships, we are to continually “die to self” – which goes against the grain of every natural inclination in our beings!!  I thought I might not be quite so selfish…then I became a mother.  Then I learned what it was like to never be able to depend on eating or sleeping exactly when I wanted to – it also depended on the needs of another tiny little being, one who was helpless and really needed me.

Add to this mix the post-partum problems that I encountered with each of the pregnancies.  It isn’t just the mommies that suffer this – the daddies do, too, because they have to deal with the children (just as the mommy does), and then they have to figure out how to deal with the mommy.  And mommy doesn’t always know what is going on either…so both parents are kind of blundering around, trying to make sure the kids are fed and cared for, that somehow sleep is obtained, dishes and laundry are somewhat done, and not having a clue what in the world is going on and how in the world to fix it. 

These past few years, needless to say, have been a blur.  I think – I hope – we are on the “upswing” of all of this!  That we can look forward to taking a deep breath (maybe getting some sleep?) and enjoying our kids, one another, and this life God has given us together.  Because it is a blessed life, and around every corner He has shown us how He’s cared for us. 

Growing Up

Well yesterday was a big day in the Nickel household...Daddy finished the bunk beds that he was building for the boys and got them all set up in their bedroom.

They were very excited boys!  Daddy builds strong furniture -- "beefy", he calls it -- so it will survive any beatings they can dish out.  And the older they get, the more they are able to dish out the beatings.  To their toys and furniture, not one another.  At least not yet. 

Of course the real goal in building the bunk beds for them to actually sleep in them...we have been playing "musical beds" as a family for quite some time, and Daddy and Mama are more than ready for a good nights' sleep, in their own bed, without any little visitors.  And we did get that last night.  Whammer didn't come into our room until 5 a.m., which was not too bad.  And Benner didn't come in until about 6:30.  So then we were all together in the Parental Bed until nearly 7 a.m.  Then Mama decided that attempting further sleep was useless, and the coffee was probably ready by then.  I cannot get out of bed unless I know there is coffee waiting for me.  It is just not done.  And my boys know that the first thing that Mama does is get her coffee.  Well, after doling out the chocolate milk.  Which I learned to make the night before, so all I have to do is take the sippy cups out of the fridge, shake, and hand out.  And I grab my yummy coffee creamer while I've got the fridge door open, and then immediately commence the coffee making.  There is nothing like that first cup

But I digress.  (oh, yummy coffee...I am enjoying the second cup right now...)

My husband is a wonderful father. He knows how to include curious boys in his work. He remembers being a curious boy, and how he enjoyed working with his father as a boy (who is now a wonderful Grandpa, by the way) -- so he tries to include them in what he does, as much as is safely possible. So Benner can say that he helped build the bunk bed - and he really did. There are not many 3-nearly-4-year-olds who can say this! But Daddy let him do some drilling, and I-don't-know-what-all-else, and Ben is quite the proud little boy.
Working hard in the garage, just last Sunday.

Putting the bed together in the bedroom, yesterday.

Bry does plan to stain and varnish the bed, but he will wait until the boys and I are in KS for a week next month.

Is it wrong of me to envy him that week, home all alone?  Well yes.  He "lets" me go scrapbooking with my girlfriends -- one weekend each year, one Friday night a month, and they all invade our house one Sunday a month.  My girlfriends and I are scrapbooking addicts and we love it.  And Bry is patiently tolerant of it.  And he never goes mountain-biking (though I keep telling him to do it), or target-shooting (also keep encouraging him to do that), or camping anymore.  So hopefully he'll get some good "me time" while we're away.  In addition to the finishing of the bunk bed. 

What an amazing man. 

I am digressing again.  But at least it's about my hubby, and not coffee this time.

Which, by the way, is now cold.  So I'm gonna go re-heat it.  And get some make-up on my face.  Though Amazing Man tells me that I don't need it.  But he has to say those things.  ;)

Growing Too Fast!

Lately I've been lamenting the fact that Baby Sam is not going to be a baby for very long...I look at him and he resembles his big brother so strongly, then I look at Ben and how he's grown into this handsome, curious and active little boy, and realize that it was only 2 years ago that he was a little baby like Sammy is now. Sigh.

So I've been trying to treasure each moment that I can of Sam's babyhood. He's so cuddly (unlike his big brother), and sweet, and quite the handsome little man. This mommy cannot dole out enough kisses and hugs. I may be breaking some parenting "rules" out there by over-cuddling, co-sleeping, and nursing "on-demand" -- but I really don't care. I would have done all these things with Ben if he'd have let me.

Then there's little Ben, who though not a baby anymore, is still little and still my firstborn. He is talking so much, and remembering a lot more than we give him credit for. For example, yesterday Bryan told him that the object in his hand was a piece of foam. Ben didn't acknowledge it and moved on...then this morning Ben found it again and said "foam!" If he's trying to tell me something and I can't understand him, I say "What are you saying, Ben?" and then instead of repeating it - he says "what are you sayin' Ben?" It's so cute. We are starting to have small conversations and it's wonderful.

So if I don't update this blog much -- it's because I'm busy trying to soak up every minute that I can with my boys!! They are God's precious gifts to me and I don't want to miss a thing.

I love this picture - it is evidence of the chaos in our house at times! Two whiny boys and a Daddy who has a great sense of humor in handling them. Bryan was saying "we ARE HAPPY, dang it!!!" It was so funny. We have to laugh during these times or else we'll go nuts. :)

Happy Birthday, Ben!

This past Sunday we celebrated Benjamin's 2nd birthday. It was a fun day with a few of our closest friends with us to make the day extra special, and Aunt Claire was gracious to host the party at her house. Ben still has no idea about birthdays, but he did enjoy the balloons, cake and new toys! For the occasion, as a new mommy I could not help myself but dress the boys in matching outfits, hoping for a cute photo with my two beloved sons together, Ben holding Sam in his lap...this is what I got. Ben would have absolutely nothing to do with posing, or even sitting next to his baby brother! He was more interested in Aunt Claire's clock - he was quite sure that it needed to be closely inspected. Sam behaved quite well in his corner of the chair, and was content to sit with his Daddy for while, too.

Sam is now 2 months old - we laugh to think that we now have a 2-year-old and a 2-month-old. You can imagine our exhaustion. It is certainly wise on God's part to not allow us to know the utter exhaustion that awaits us as parents, or else we'd never have children. We love our boys so much and would never change anything, but we do look forward to a time when we can sleep for longer than 2 consecutive hours at a time.

Okay, back to Ben's birthday...I was excited to order an Elmo cake for Ben, since he really likes that little red monster. Score double for Mom that Elmo was riding in a car on top of the cake!! (Ben's second love is cars.) I had thought I'd be "Martha Stewart" and make the cake...but I didn't have the energy or the time (since Bryan had to spend the weekend replacing the doors that the burglars had kicked in the week prior, so I had both boys all weekend without much break)...so Safeway was my Martha Stewart, and I was not ashamed.

Ben is such a fun little guy. He is busy -- so very busy -- constantly. He is talking more and more, and repeats nearly everything that we say. When we think back to when he was born, and how he's grown in the past 2 years, it's unbelievable. Unbelievable that we are parents...unbelievable that Ben is a real little person (with a very real will of his own)...unbelievable that he's survived our parenting! Ha! (We have no idea what we're doing.) And it's unbelievable what a blessing he is to us, and how we ever did NOT have him in our lives - and now little Sam, too. How boring life was - what did we do without our boys? We probably slept more, but other than that...nothing else could be more important.

With that thought (and I know it isn't a very well put-together one)...this tired Mommy is heading for bed, to grab some sleep while she can.

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow

This morning Benjamin and I enjoyed a "gourmet" breakfast together, sitting on the back patio. The weather has finally cooled off in Tucson, and we are outside as much as possible! Our lovely breakfast consisted of cinnamon coffee (or, "foccee", as Ben calls it) and cinnamon pop-tarts (otherwise known as "top-parts" in our house). Yes, I know it was not the most nutritious meal, but it's been my favorite since college, and Ben is certainly my boy - he loves it! He even dipped his pop-tarts in the coffee, just like Mommy does. It was such a special time. He is so talkative, and loves to tell me about everything around us -- "blue! chair!" (he was sitting in a little blue chair) -- "big! rock!" (he is obsessed with rocks) -- "foccee! hot!". Then we blew bubbles, or rather, Ben put the wand to his mouth and spit. It was so much fun!

We were able to enjoy our breakfast while Daddy was at Home Depot, buying new exterior doors for our home (since our current ones were kicked in, or attempted to be kicked in, by the burglars on Tuesday -- see previous blog). We have spent the past couple of days putting our home back together after the burglary, going through things to see what all is missing, working with the insurance company on a list of the losses. Yesterday morning we were feeling pretty good, as if we were getting a grip on the situation, processing what we'd lost (and what we hadn't lost!). Bryan even bought a new camera for me, the same kind as the one that had been stolen. He knew how upset I was about that, since I take pictures daily of my babies.

But what nearly ruined the day yesterday was that we realized that the burglars had taken our movies -- nearly all of them. We had most of our movies in one CD folder - at least 80 of them. These are movies we'd collected over the past 7-8 years. And we would not have cared so much about the loss of all those movies, except that we had also stored some precious home videos of Ben as a baby in the back of that binder. As Bryan put it, "It was like getting robbed all over again." We were crushed. Then we remembered that we'd made copies of those videos for our parents, so that made it a little easier to bear. But for me personally, it still hurts to think that someone out there has video of my baby, and though they more than likely will NOT watch it, it still bothers me. They will probably trash the videos, and that hurts too. There were many things taken from us that were valuable only to US, and knowing that the burglars will just throw those things away just pierces my heart.

But our day was NOT ruined yesterday, and of course we are not letting this burglary ruin our lives or any part of them. Benjamin is such a joy - he is mostly oblivious to the situation, and very excited about every little thing. Cars, blocks, rocks - you name it. This is one happy little boy. Bryan and I are praising God for him this weekend. We went out to dinner last night (another "gourmet" meal, this one at Arby's) - we needed to get out of the house after our disappointing day - and we had never had so much fun. Ben was excited about the cars driving by...he was excited about his chicken nuggets...he was excited that there was milk to drink...he pointed out Sam's hair, socks, and pacifier with great authority. We were laughing and so grateful to God that little Ben was unaware of our low spirits, and that he was able to raise them without even knowing it.

Bryan and I are so grateful for our family. We are realizing how blessed we are to have our sons and one another. We know that the things of this world will always pass away, but the things of God will not. We have been pointedly reminded of this fact during the past week! So once again, we rest our hope and peace in Him.