A Conversation at Breakfast

The other morning, I had one of those Mom moments when I realized why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job and wouldn't trade being home with my kids for anything. I had reassurance that leaving my profession behind and staying home is absolutely the right decision for our family. This reassurance came after a simple, yet very important conversation I had with my 3-year-old. It went something like this:

Caleb: Mommy, what's Easter for?

Me: Do you mean why do we celebrate Easter?

Caleb: Yes. Why do we celebrate it?

Me: Well, on Easter we celebrate when Jesus died.

Caleb: Why did Jesus die?

Me: Well, God loves us very much....but unfortunately we do a lot of bad things and that makes God sad. Do you do bad things Caleb?

Caleb: Yes. I sometimes don't share and I push my sister (love the honesty).

Me: That's right. Everyone does bad things. Some things seem worse than others, but to God they are all bad. It makes him very sad and he doesn't want anyone who does bad things to come to Heaven.

Caleb: But Mommy, I don't want to make God sad. And I want to go to Heaven to give him some of my Spiderman candy. That will make God happy.

Me: Well, we can't do anything to make God happy. The only thing we can do is love Jesus with all of our heart. That makes him happy.

Caleb: I love Jesus.

Me: I know you do. When you pray and tell Jesus you love him and are sorry for being a bad person at times, he will come into your heart and make you perfect and good in God's eyes. If you believe in him, you will get to go to Heaven forever.

Caleb: I want to pray and tell Jesus I'm sorry.

And so we prayed together. I'm NOT claiming in any possible way that Caleb truly grasped the concept of salvation, but I sure am glad that his heart is open to understanding the true meaning of Easter. After our conversation, I instantly thought of these verses from Mark 10:

He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

I am so thankful for the innocence of my son and grateful that God works in the hearts of even the youngest people. I know God is forming Caleb into a wonderful creation and I just can't wait to see how much more work He does in our child's life.

A Birthday to Remember

For Caleb's third birthday we decided it would be fun to go to an indoor waterpark for a couple days with my family. We found an awesome place in Lake Geneva, which is only about 2 hours from where we live. The entire hotel is geared towards kids...game room, activity room, and of course an awesome waterpark. For weeks, Caleb would wake up in the morning and after naps with one question: "Are we going to the waterpark now?". Needless to say, he was quite excited by the time we got there.

Both kids had a BLAST playing in the water. We already knew Caleb was a little fish, but now we're pretty sure Leah might love water even more (I guess we should have known that considering the amount of times she gets caught playing in the dog's bowl and even the toilet. I know, yuck. I never said I was in the running for mother of the year.)

My mom decided it would be fun to order a "birthday package". They decorated our room, gave us tokens to the game room, had pizza, and gave us a delicious cake. Caleb got to celebrate with his cousins James, Jacob, and Olivia. The Shaffer family was crazy enough to join us for the mini-getaway...but as tiring as it was for all of us parents, the kids had a blast playing together and it was great to hang out with Darrell and Brandi.

Caleb got to open a few of his presents while we were there. Some of the presents are being saved for his next birthday celebration with Nana Pam and my parents this weekend.

All in all, we had a great time celebrating the birthday of our sweet, little boy. Both kids are so lucky to have such a wonderful family to love. I'm sure they will grow up with just as many awesome memories as I have with my own grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Dear Caleb,

With a big lump in my throat, I can tell people today that my little boy is 3. Three sounds so old, so un-baby, so grown up. You are definitely not two anymore. Not just because March 21 is here, but because you have long surpassed your toddler days as a two-year-old.

I remember the trying moments of your infancy and toddlerhood. There were so many days in which we dreamt of future days when you didn't need every bit of our time, energy, attention, and patience. Yes, you still need us in many ways, but you are also so very independent. You have grown into a boy. A true boy. You love to dig, play, imagine, run, laugh, tackle. You love to watch tv, and I spend many moments of many days explaining why you can't watch another show or DVD. I also spend many moments answering so many of the other questions that your curious mind comes up with. I love your questions though, and I long for the innocence you portray to stay with you forever.

Yet despite your 110% boyness, you are a true sweetheart. Not many three-year-olds say thank you to their mommies for making breakfast, getting them dressed, driving them to the store, and doing all of those other seemingly thankless tasks. Yet you, in all your kindheartedness, slip in random thank yous throughout our ordinary days. Your sweet nature leads you to demand hugs and kisses before bed and before anyone you love leaves your presence for more than a few minutes. Your sweet nature makes you tell everyone that you have a little sister named Wee-uh, and she's your favorite sister, and you love her...and because of your fondness of her, we can't go anywhere without you reminding me that Leah has to come too. Your sweet nature leads you to still have moments when you want to snuggle, be held, be rocked, be read to.

When I think back on how quickly this past year has gone, I'm scared by how soon you'll be four, five, six, and so on. With each new year, we are learning that there are so many changes, milestones, and new memories. For you, this past year has meant potty training. Against the advice of many people, we went full speed ahead and got you trained just a few months after turning two. This past year meant giving up your pacifier. Saying goodbye to this last tie to babyhood was much harder for me than you. This past year meant a LOT of learning: recognizing letters (and even some of their sounds) and numbers and shapes and colors, how to pedal a bike, how to put on your coat, getting yourself undressed, and so many other accomplishments that we can't believe our little baby boy is already doing. This past year has meant the last year before you're in school. You can't wait to go to preschool, even though Mommy is dreading the first day she has to drop you off and send you out into this big world.

Fortunately, in this big world, there is still a God who is watching over you day in and day out. He has blessed you beyond belief over the past three years and continues to do so everyday. We pray to God for your heart, your friendships, your passions, your dreams. It's amazing to already see how God is forming you into a wonderful little boy. We hope that as the years go by, you will become as in love with Him as He is with you. There is no other explanation, besides the work of an awesome God, for how a tiny miracle that was brought to us three years ago could be growing into this beautiful creation we see today. And there is no other explanation, besides the work of an awesome God, for how one life can bring so much joy to so many others. You are loved, sweet birthday boy....so very, very, very much.

St. Patrick's Day

Despite this picture...

...we had a blast celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year.

A few of our neighbors decided to get together and hang out to celebrate the holiday and the B-E-A-utiful weather (unfortunately, this nice weather hasn't stuck around). The three moms got together early in the evening so that the kids could play outside and eat some yummy snacks. One of our neighbors made fun hot dogs that she put on a green stick. I made a cute fruit rainbow (thanks to the awesome suggestion of one of the other moms). The host made super yummy corned beef for the adults. The kids had a blast running around and playing, while the adults enjoyed some delicious food and good conversation (the husbands joined us later in the evening). It was so nice to get to enjoy the company of great neighbors and the taste of spring weather made us all that much more excited for winter to be over!

Must See TV

Last night, Tyler and I sat down to relax and watch a bit of tv. We don't watch it often, so when we do, we spend most of the time just flipping channels. A new show happened to catch our eye last night. It's called Coming Home and it's on Lifetime. The show focuses on military families and the joy they experience when soldiers come home after months away. By the end of the show, we both shed quite a few tears. We were reminded of how lucky we are to have each other, our kids, and our time together. I can't imagine how hard it is to spend such a long time away from a loved one. They miss all the big moments and even those ordinary moments that we take for granted in a given day.


So, today, I'm remembering that there is so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful that even when my husband comes home late from work, he's at least coming home on a daily basis. I'm thankful that even when I'm sick and tired of cooking another meal, at least we'll all be sitting down to eat it together. I'm thankful that even though life seems hectic, it's not nearly as stressful as it would be if I was parenting solo.

I'm thankful that even when I can't stand the sound of another cry or scream from my challenging one-year-old or listen to the thousands of questions asked by my soon-to-be-three-year-old, at least I get to see them every single day! No matter how trying they can be, it is such a blessing to be able to watch them grow and change each day.

Before you leave our blog site, I challenge you to think about something you're taking for granted today. Is there something you ordinarily think is a burden that might actually be seen as a blessing when you look at it from a different perspective?