led by the Spirit

Was cleaning/sorting through some paperwork last evening in preparation for my 2nd grade religion class when this prayer just found me.

"Dear God,
Today as I reflect on what's ahead for me I ask for your guidance to make decisions that bring me closer to you.
Help me to know your voice and believe in the power of your gifts in me.
I trust that you will lead me amidst the uncertainties of life.
Give me the courage to follow you today as you lead me to tomorrow.
Amen."

I never ceased to be amazed at how clearly the Holy Spirit speaks to us when our hearts are open...and we're paying attention. I think I spent the last year oblivious...but suddenly, it's as if I'm being bombarded with thoughts/suggestions/words that are certainly not my own. And although a bit overwhelming and even frightening at times...I just have to keep listening, try to sort them out, and roll with it.
I've had the privelage of being invited to speak with FOUR women's groups in surrounding areas over the next couple months. FOUR. What in the world was I thinking to say Yes to them all?! It's that "keeping the heart/mind open, and rolling with it" thing. It's either gonna get me in big trouble, or please the Lord. Hopefully the latter. I know He's working to give me the words...just have to start putting it all into neat little categories and planning for these upcoming talks. Prayers would be greatly appreciated...the one above seemed a perfect find in light of the anxiety I'm beginning to feel about what I agreed to.

Lord Help me, and Thank you God.

Frank's fast fact:

Now preparing for preschool, this little guy is just FULL of fabulous factoids.
Today he blurted this out of nowhere:

"Jesus definitely does not pee his pants anymore!"

(but apparently did at some point?)
I'm still snickering.

I'm tellin ya, he's so full of it...'Frank's Fast Fact' may become a regular "column" in this here blog.

a letter to my angel

My dear little Cy,
It's hard to believe you'd be two already! In many ways it seems like just yesterday...
It's true that time does heal, but it certainly doesn't let us forget. Yesterday you were heavy on my mind. God slipped you into my thoughts several times throughout the day...what a gift. Your big brother John was filling out his paper "All About Me" in his religion class and on the part where he had to write how many people are in his family...he wrote 14. He always counts you. Sometimes when I see or hear him counting you it makes me feel uncomfortable, like there's something I need to explain. I'm sorry if you know that. He's so right, and I'm wrong. I realize that now. Because you do count baby boy! Forever will there be a place in my heart for you just as sure as there's a place for your eleven brothers and sisters here with me. There is joy in being assured that some day I will get to know you better...in heaven, when we're both with Jesus. I hope he's keeping you good company...I'm sure he is. And Grandma Alice too. I bet she loves knowing you and being Grandma to you there...it's important for you to be there for her too, cause I bet she misses lovin on all her grandbabies.
Yesterday afternoon as your other Grandma and I were moving furniture and cleaning, we moved the angel statue from on top the tv over the the fireplace. It looks so good there now. Grandma asked where the pretty angel came from and I said your name..."It was for Cy." Just like that I said your name...not in prayer, like usual...but in conversation. And saying it like that felt good...and real...and painful too. All that hurt of losing you came back. But that's okay, so I was so glad to remember that you're still there for me. My little boy. I love you. And I thank God for the gift of you, even though I never got to unwrap it. The gift of holding you will wait. And oh what a gift that will be someday. We must be patient though... I have all these gifts here who need their mama too.
In the mean time...I love you. Say hi to Grandma, and Jesus, and all our friends there.
I love you Cy,
Mom

prayers to st. joseph

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I failed to mention that over the summer we stuck one of these in our yard...

(sorry 'bout that. It seems I really let things slip here on the blog.)

Anyhow. This morning I got the call from the realtor's office that someone wanted to come thru today. (Yay!! WOoohoo! Cartwheels, Bring on the buyers!) And then reality set in as I scanned the kitchen counter top full of school papers, walls covered with "homeschool" art projects, tv room pouring with toys. And that was just what I could see while I stood sipping coffee in my jammies chatting with the receptionist on the other end of the phone. Oh my. "Today?! Seriously? Ummm...yes, that'd be great."

Needless to say, a cold beer and a pizza ordered out (to eat at my parents...cause we had to be out of our house at dinner time) tasted Damn good this evening!

It was a mad dash of picking up, dusting, and doing anything we could to make our lovely little home sparkle. I tell ya. Whew...I'm exhausted. I'm praying (as often as I can think of him) to our Dear Saint Joseph for his intercession on the sale of this humble abode...soon. Not lovin' the last minute scramble to get ready for "showings." Would love your prayers with us on this. God Bless!

s.p.d.

(Can you tell that John got a cell phone...and we're texting more?! I'm all about abbreviations, and shortened phrases. s.p.d. That's my lingo for school picture day.)

See the young'ns here at home want to be doing all the same cool stuff that the big kids do at school, so today they fancied up (i.e. washed the lunch off their face without my nagging) and begged for a home-school picture day. (Okay...I don't really home-school...I won't even pretend to be equipped to know how to do that...but we call coloring, and cutting/pasting, and sorting skittles by color into little cups "homeschool." And everyone's happy.)

So anyways...kids wanted home-school pictures. 'Cept there's one problem...I stink at photography...and my camera stinks even worse than me. So it went something like this...

lets see...that's my big foot and Anne's tiny too-cute toesies. Apparently not as well balanced as I first thought...

oh, but this is a little better...or at least it would have been if my camera took the picture when I pressed the God-forsaken button. What's with the seven minute delay?!

there's that dang delay again! Get back here Annie!!!!

"What do you mean the sun's in your eyes?!"

Work with me, Frank!

Yep...go ahead...eat that mulch...I can wait. (probably need a little more fiber in your diet anyway.) No really...it's okay. AhhhhhH!!!!!!!!

Aaarggghhh. The frustration of it all. Seriously.

Okay, luckily...not so seriously.

We regrouped...laughed a little...and came out with some good ones. Maybe not school yearbook worthy...but perfectly imperfect for this (not-so) homeschoolin' momma of many!

There's my Frank-o! (hold the ketchup, heavy on the CHEESE!)

And Rose...what's not to love about that laugh (and the thumb-suckin' gap in her teeth! Yumm!)

Oh, and Princess Lucy...why yes...she would LOVE to have your vote for Prom Queen!





This belly laughter is priceless...better than any posed smile I nearly hurt myself trying to capture! Love you Annie!!!

and of course...every class needs a couple of clowns...pictures are so much better when we're "dressed up" for them!

first day of school pics

(better late than never, right?!)

Sam (5th gr.), Emma & Alice (6th gr.), Grace (3rd), Mary & John (2nd), Charlie (kind.)

In just a couple weeks Frank and Rose will head off to preschool.

Meeting up with some of the neighbor kids to head off for their first day.

(Rosie was the only young one to venture out in her pajamas to see them off.)

Later that same day, the rest of the crew posed with Charlie just before we walked with him for his first day of afternoon kindergarden.

sunday night laundry scramble

I mentioned last week that I'm taking a "hands off" laundry approach to our quieter school days in an attempt to fully enjoy time with these little ones. Yep, that was just silly. Don't get me wrong, our days at home without the "big kids" has been dreamy...games, puzzles, snuggly books, bike rides, all the good stuff!! But after a few days of school, a crazy-busy weekend of football, shopping, extended-family dinner, late night campfires with 'smores, church, and hiking at Brukner Nature Center...I'm reminded this evening by 4 young ladies that...
"Mom!!! Tomorrow's picture day! What are we supposed to wear?!" (the boys could've cared less...actually they hoped I'd forget.)

Oh Lord. Help me.

So it's midnight, and I'm just wrapping up laundry. Fortunately, I've kept the washer/dryer running daily. It's just the fold/put-away piece of the equasion that I'd been neglecting. It's all done now, though.

This week, in addition to coloring and shape-sorting, I'll be teaching home-ec/laundry education in our tiny tot home school. No more waiting till there are mounds to put away. Mama needs her beauty sleep.

g'night all. and God Bless!

so BUSTED!

(and lovin' it!)

"Who me? (innocently holding her little foot up) It wasn't me mom!"

as school begins...

I'm attempting to make blogging routine again. But, as you know I'm a little out of practice, so bare with me. For now I'll give you a "yes...what she said!" post. Why reinvent the wheel?!

As I scanned a couple of my favorite reads this morning, I came across this post written by G~ at her Momastery blog. She writes a thousand times more eloquently than I ever could...and shared this most awesome post about recognizing our kids treasures/gifts that MUST be read/shared by as many as possible.

AMEN, I say to her. AMEN!

Please take the couple minutes to read it...grab a few tissues first...it's beee-ute-i-iful!

BTS

That's Back To School...back to business...back to alarm clocks, and homework, and snack-packing, gym shoe reminders, milk money, lunch accounts, practice schedules and other after-school where-a-bouts, clothes picked out and lined up before bed...oh, and bedtimes for heaven sakes! Bedtimes...before dark. Oh, the horror!

Admittedly though, despite the necessary evils that come with it...we're genuinely excited about the start of a new school year. I feel "accomplished" when I'm dressed and coffee'd up before 7:30. I can't say that was true...EVER...during the summer months. Early bird is just not in my nature. But its a good change. The kids were ready to bust out the front door this morning, and greet the neighbors who were gathering outside for first-day pictures. All of them excited to meet their new teachers, and sniff fresh notebooks...and sharpen pencils...and place that first doodle on their crisp folders.

A new beginning. An ending too. Funny how life keeps us moving along...ready or not. Now seven backpacks lined up on the window seat in the kitchen. Seven. SEVEN! That makes me pause and count again. Yep. Seven. That's just 4 left at home...for a couple more weeks until Frank and Rose line their backpacks up for the start of preschool. Oi.

What will Lucy and Anne and I do those quiet afternoons? (lots of folks ask me...) With all that quiet? What will we do? "Soak it up!" I say. Hopefully with lots of books, and snuggles, and games, and whatever it is we can do to enjoy these days ahead. We will talk and dance and laugh and sing...I hope EVERYDAY! Cause just yesterday...there were only two backpacks lined up...and now there are SEVEN, soon to be NINE. And I don't want to blink...I want to enter this "quiet" school year with my eyes wide open...hands far removed from the temptations of laundry and dishes...and SOAK UP those couple hours of quiet with my babies here at home. In all the hustle and bustle of our daily life, I've come to be certain of a couple things...God's love for me is everlasting...and time is not. Make the most of each. (oh...and no diaper is truly leak-proof, no matter what the label claims.) Of these things I can be sure.

Happy back-to-school year everyone! Soak it up, and God Bless!

theme for the day: constance

It's not at all unusual for me to throw out a "theme for the day" at mealtime here, just to stir things up a bit. Yesterday's lunch was "stick foods." We had corndogs, pretzel sticks, and strawberries served up on toothpicks. Of course we had popsicles for dessert.

Apparently our good Lord likes theme days as well.

Today's theme: "constance." I don't think that's a word used too often anymore...but it was stamped on my brain all day long as the Holy Spirit continued to show me examples.

The word first crept in on my drive to work this morning. After a long sleepless night, with a feverish/restless baby Anne, I sat drinking my coffee, numb and praying for the strength/energy to do a good job today. For only an instant, I'd wished away the sleepless night...wishing I was better prepared for the day ahead of me. And then I was overcome with tears at how grateful I felt for just such a night. Shame on me for wanting to wish it away! Oh, with busy days of what sometimes seem mundane household duties ...the infrequent opportunity to snuggle all night with a baby that's growing much too quickly is truly a blessing indeed. The day will come too soon, when she will depend on me no longer. And then my tears increased to imagine a day when there are children in this house no longer. Who will need me? What will I do then? You see in all the chaos now, and the quiet that is to come; as our duties change through the years, leaving us uncertain of what's to come; I am reminded of God's constance. His steadfastness. His faithfulness. His love for me never changes. And whether I acknowledge Him or not, He is there. Waiting for me. Loving me. Always. Without fail. He is the strength and energy that gets me through a beautifully busy day. He is within me as I care for those who need me most...at home, at work. Constance.

There are four nurses pitching in to cover hours for a full-time nurse gone-a-traveling with her husband to Alaska for the month. I'm one of them. Four women, trying to fill the huge shoes of an amazing nurse, who's constance and quality of care for our residents are top-notch! It's not a terribly difficult job, but there is something about the continuity and compassion she brings to the office. She sets the bar high. Anyhow, as I struggled through e-mails and caught up on notes and requests for the last week, I missed her terribly. And was reminded once again: constance.
Yes Lord, I'm listening. I know You are too. Thank you for the gentle reminders.

Okay, so I recognize...just as I struggle to make a fruit work on "stick day" (strawberries and toothpicks), God also gets a little clever. As my mom was heading out the door after watching the kids for me all day, she mentioned that she wouldn't be over for coffee tomorrow morning.
"Whatcha got going on?" I asked.
"Not, much. Going out for the day with Connie."
(of course~my Godmother~her given name: Constance.)



Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

raspberries.

She's been giving us the raspberries for months.
Yesterday...we gave them back.

After squeezing the life out of them...

And sucking on them a bit...drooling and dribbling of course....

Ooooooh....sour...

...and sweet....

...SHE LOVES THEM!!!!

I LOVE SUMMER!!!

I love library books.
And backyard baseball before the breakfast dishes are even cleared.
I love naked-toes.
And grass-stained feet.
Freeze pops.
Tents made with blankets and pins on the clothesline.
Kids riding bikes and "meeting up" instead of calling.
Piggy tails and sweaty necks.
Sand in the bathtub after a day at the beach.
noon-time picnics in our backyard.
juicy pink watermelon...though my kids don't know about spitting the seeds. They were raised in the "seedless" era.
blackened grilled hotdogs...who needs a bun?!
pitch and catch
babies on blankets in the grass under a shady tree
I love quiet evenings...early backyard campfires.
(with or without marshmallows....though WITH is better.)
Chasing lightning bugs, and capturing them in a peanut butter jar overnight.
Evening breezes and snuggle blankets with popcorn on the back patio.
The hum of a box fan bringing cool night air.
The feeling that we can do anything, go anywhere, at the drop of a hat...but choose instead to be right here...enjoying our own backyard.
living a busy crazy life, at a snails pace, and finding God in it all...through the eyes of our children.

God is good.

celebrating good health

(More to the point...celebrating one healthy kidney!)

You see, this little guy was born with a condition called sumthin' sumthin' blah blah blah...kidney disease. (Okay, so I do remember the whole name, but we'll call it MCDK disease for short.) Anywhoooo... we follow up with a specialist every year to keep an eye on the "bad" kidney, which has slowly been shriveling up into nothingness since birth. Now, it's officially gone. No more yucky Left kidney. Just one healthy "beautiful" (yes that's a direct quote from our good doc!) kidney remaining, and functioning perfectly.

No more follow-ups...no more worries about that business.

So we celebrated good health; celebrated one perfectly healthy beautiful kidney the best way we knew how....with a fun lunch.

The two of us stopped by a Chipotle on the way home (we were first-timers) and toasted good news with a burrito the size of John's head!

Cheers!
No lookin' back baby!
~neither of us were sadly disappointed to learn that kick-boxing, cage-fighting, and ATV riding (among other things we're not likely to try) are off limits to keep the "good" kidney safe. We can live with that.

...and lest I not forget. Praise God! And many thanks to the Blessed Mother for her kindness and intercession.

"Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."

8 months

Today, she cries when I walk out of the room...
In a few years, she'll be begging for some alone time.

Like clock-work, that whole 8 month=seperation anxiety has kicked in. She can go from laughing to tears in a heartbeat as I step out of her line of sight, and right back to giggling when she spots me again. It's almost comical, except that those crocodile tears just rip my heart right out of my chest. Oh, sheee's goooooood.

Oh, and new this week...Annie's STANDING! That little turkey is pulling herself up to ev-ry-thing! Her first successful attempt, was to the back door...checking out pretty flowers? or trying to escape? Hard to say...I'll choose to believe she's just interested in the pink pretties.

reality bytes.

Not every day is a summer-fun-adventure. In reality, some days I'm pleased to have everyone dressed, teeth brushed, and beds made by mid-morning. Shooooot, seriously... Dressed and teeth brushed. For this reason, I try to have a mental list of small jobs that I can accomplish during a naptime, or rare "quiet" time, just to feel as if I've moved mountains.

Today's mission: clean out the van's glove box.

You see, last week while trekking Tawawa Park one of the kids stubbed a toe and needed a bandaid. Surely I must have a bandaid somewhere in my van, right? Right?! I tore the entire contents of the glove box apart looking for a bandaid and found every useless thing, but no bandaid. Let's see...there were cassette tapes (too bad our van doesn't play cassettes.) There was a phone charger cord, from the OLD phone. Lots of christmas cd's, torn envelopes with grocery lists jotted down, even zoo maps and other stuff of which I have no use for.

No bandaid. No napkin. No tissue. The only useful item seemed to be the garage door opener...which doesn't help with a stubbed toe.

So, today I will spend 30 seconds with a garbage bag and another minute or so stocking a small Ziploc container with some bandaids, wipes, tissues, etc and overhaul our glove box. Major endeavor? Certainly not. But it will feel good to get 'er done, and that can provide a sense of accomplishment great enough to have me ready to take on the world! (or at least my little corner of it.) Baby steps...changing the world for the better...one mini-mess at a time.

Have a great day everyone!

thank you Lord...

For that threat of rain showers today.
It's okay if they don't come, but you see, we had our tents out last night for a little backyard camping...and our good Lord knows I need my beauty sleep. So "Thank you Lord." for gray skies and the need to take down the tents...I couldn't bare another night of camping.
One night of giggling and talking and tossing and turning and giggling some more and middle of the night treks into the house for bathroom breaks and worrying about kids wandering or sleepwalking or worse, strangers finding us vulnerable...all those silly things that go through my head. And I didn't even venture into the tent! Only the 6 oldest braved the backyard. The younger four "camped" with sleeping bags on the living room floor, while Anne and Dad and I sacked out in our own beds. Of course I didn't sleep much. The first few hours I sat up "policing" for shananigans. They all collapsed shortly after midnight. The rest of the night I spent tossing in bed, constantly getting up to peek out the window and make sure all was well. Uggh. I'm not ready for kids to be growing up, doing big kid things.

I do love the novelty of camping though...especially campfires with 'smores and silly stories, and songs. We always have a faux broomstick "microphone" for everyone to take turn entertaining the rest of us. And of course neighbor kids join us for after dark games like "ghost in the graveyard", "wolf" and "German spotlight". I don't know the rules to most of these games, but that's okay the rules change as needed. Just run and hide, and wait for some one to find you. And scream loud, cause the neighbors LOVE that.

We've had several of these campfire nights already this summer (sans the tents, thank goodness).

We've had a good share of lot's of other fun things too (in addition to the full schedule of baseball, softball, swim team, library reading club, etc.)

In fact, our summer is off to a fabulous start! Well...mostly...if you skip the first day of summer break, when Samuel needed a few stitches on his thumb. Bike wreck. Minor in the grand scheme of things, but kept him from baseball for 10 days. Big bummer! (right, Sam?)
He had to wear that crazy splint for a week or so to keep him from bending his thumb and tearing it open again. Nice.

Sunday, I took the oldest half over to the Starlite drive-in on St Rte 127. Of course we packed our popcorn, and sleeping bags for the cool evening! It was awesome! (We saw Diary of a Whimpy Kid followed by Soul Surfer...I highly recommend that second one!) Oh, and can you say "VALUE!" It's just $4 for adults, and kids 12 and under are FREE! Wooohoooo!

~nice face Mary~

Yesterday we headed over to Lake Loramie State Park for a little picnic and play time at the beach. Okay, so it's no white sand, clear blue ocean...but it's a nice (very clean!) little beach, and we were practically the only ones there to enjoy. It was Annie's first lake adventure, and she LOVED it!

We could spend a whole day just building sand castles and rivers and moats!

Baby Annie...in her little swimming suit...LOVE the rolls poking through that little cut-out in the side and strap hanging off the shoulder...Yes, she is ALL THAT!

Oh, this is my Goddaughter...Jamie. (I think she's a perfect 10!) She graduated high school this year, and my brother and parents and I drove down to Tennessee for the event! So proud of her! (and so grateful to John for holding down the fort for the quick bit I was gone!)





We all managed to squeeze in a daytrip to Ft. Wayne zoo last weekend. I don't think we've been there as a family in a couple years, so that was very nice. Lucy's favorite part (or at least the part she keeps talking about) are the trashcans that are shaped like various animals. Her favorite was the elephant trash-can. Umm. Hello?! Did we not see REAL animals there?! Apparently they weren't as interesting.

I unplugged the cable in the basement this week. Wow, has that been NICE! There's still the occasional quiet tv time in the family room, but for the most part it's been pure playtime. I love it!

We've picniced at several local parks in the past couple weeks, including Tawawa park in Sidney (love to wade in the stream there, and climb the "big rock") and Coldwater park, which is just a gem! I remember going there as a kid...and some of the same playground equipment is still there, like the giant swirly slide...but now much more!

Oh...time just moves so fast! We're trying to soak in as much of it as we can...making memories to last. Today, I'm grateful for those gray skies, playdough playing, Nerf wars in the basement, and quiet reading on unmade beds upstairs. Oh, and while I've managed to squeeze in a few more veggies than usual this week, I'm grateful that Grace's favorite barbecue chips were on sale this week...that sounds good for lunch today.

Peace to you all!

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

my summer to-do list

For me, summer is much like the New Years. It seems a good time to regroup, reconsider what's important, and resolve to make good with the gift of time and energy that summer brings.
Just like New Years though, I tend to overthink, and underdo.

Here's what's been rolling around in my brain for the coming months...

1.Enjoy as much outdoor time as humanly possible...parks, pools, lakes, walks & bikerides & running, backyard games, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, you name it! This only makes sense after the long winter.

2.Serve more veggies, and insist that someone starts eating them. (How depressing is it that I actually worry about this as a "summer priority?" But, sadly this is how my mom-mind works.) Somewhere over the last year or so, we seem to have become okay with the notion that potato chips count as a vegetable. And while, sometimes that's okay...it can't be a meal-time staple anymore. Or can it???

3.Organize my recipes...torn from magazines, written on old napkins or homework papers, index cards with spills and icky-stickies from Lord-only-knows-what all tossed haphazardly into a folder. Not conducive to good cooking. (Where's that recipe for Broccoli Fondue when I need it?!)This is actually something I'm hoping the girls will help me with. On rainy days. (refer back to #1)

4. Pray more. Maybe even on a picnic blanket...in the backyard...with popcorn. What the heck...Jesus was an outdoorsy type, right? (Again, referring back to #1.)

5. Unplug the tv. I'm so OVER it, and want the kids to be too. (back to #1...am I getting redundant?)

6. In general, lighten up. Physically, emotionally, spiritually...and see it reflected back in my family.

Yep. That sounds like a good start. Now to squeeze that in between swim team, baseball, softball, piano and guitar commitments. We should be set to get started by mid-July. Well...we'll have to see about the veggie thing. Baby steps.

in case I forget to remember...

Days are blowing by at lightning speed.

I try not to blink...and yet I find myself waking up in the morning and wondering who stole those days away. Those days when there were only babies, or only toddlers in this house. Now there are 'tweens... wonderful and awkward all at once as we all adapt to changes that "growing up" brings.

Anyhow, with each new stage of Anne's baby-hood, I can't believe how much I forgot to remember ten times before.

I love the workings of her tiny hands. Amazing. Those tiny matchstick-size fingers working to pick up a cheerio, only to drop it just before it hits her lips. Mesmerizing.
I love when she stops just to stare at them too. Busy grasping a toy, or reaching out, when her eyes lock-in on the hands...and just stare intently as she wiggles chubby fingers back and forth. Truly a miracle of creation.
I love the way she sucks air and squeals when she hears my voice first thing in the morning...or when she sees me sneak from around a corner into the room.
I love when her rice cereal hangs on her toothless gums and appears as if she's wearing baby dentures at breakfast...just a glimpse of what it might look for her to have a full set of teeth someday. Funny.
I love the fine fuzz of hair on her naked shoulders.
I love the way her toes grip my upper lip when I kiss the bottoms of her soft padded feet.
I love the way she likes to sit on my forearm, her back against my belly, my other arm holding her belly from falling forward...all the while kicking her legs wildly as if dangling them off the edge of a dock into the water.
I love bathtime...because she does too. Splashing wildly and giggling outloud in the water. Fussing only when it's time to get out. My little fish.
I love the way her ear leaves a perfect imprint on my arm for long after she's done nursing...like angel kisses, a reminder of our special bond.
I love wrinkled-nose, squinty-eyed silly faces.
I love those first days of learning to crawl, when everything goes backwards, and legs find themselves wedged under couches...and she gets so frustrated. But she's learning and growing.
I love how the other kids melt like butta' around her...even grumpy brothers can't bare to walk by you without a hug, or silly face, or tickle. Babies shine with Christ's light.
I love how she can fall asleep on Daddy's shoulder at the drop of a hat...though she's never done that for me. He's had that "touch" with all of the kids...perhaps God's gift to Daddys.
I love the end of the day, when I nurse her into a sleepy little coma in my arms, and she smiles with eyes squinty closed. Because everything in that moment is right with the world. And in that moment she reminds me how much God loves me...and how good He is.
I love the way she makes my heart weaker, and stronger all at once...prepared to love more, and hurt more.
I love you Anne. Uniquely. And yet in the same way I've loved each of your siblings before you.
This time though...I'm writing it down, so I don't forget to remember.