A BLESSED BUNCH

I spent my drive to work with the radio off, not on purpose, rather by default. My thoughts were wrapped up on a photo taken August of 1997. Ben was 5 years old, wearing a light sweater, new clothes, and hanging down held by his hand on his right side a pencil box (which contained crayons and not one pencil). In his left hand he held tightly a lunch box he "had to have" which was a giant green and blue fish with red lips. (No Ben, I won't post the actual photo) The picture I have tattooed on my brain of that day he is leaned back against a curio cabinet and his eyes sparkle with a smile of enthusiasm, eagerness, joy and wonder.... this was his first day of school! I realized 20 minutes into the ride that I was meditating on this image and how quickly time goes by, how many moments we take for granted with our children; not on purpose, but because of our busy lives and what we chose to do with our time. And now, today after work, I was going to take Eli to the Elementary...

Isaac looks like he ate a little too much playdough..lol.

 Thanksgiving and Christmas brought about great closeness with the Lord.  It only seemed fitting to spend New Years taking a nature walk through the park.  Sometimes I like walking behind my guys and just listen to their conversation with Dad.   Eventually Lexi and I continued on with the walk while my guys went to the zoo.  She's such a great dog.  Has the attention span of a 2 yr old, but she is a good buddy.

A few days before Christmas Eli decided "we need to make gingerbread cookies" although he had never had them before. Isaac helped press down on some cookie cutters as well...but really enjoyed eating them more than making them. Megan, Chelsea, Ben, Eli, Isaac and I walked a few blocks from our house where Santa visits once a year. I think the teens enjoyed it more than the kids...lol

All parents go through it; it's not like I'm the first. But when a day like today happens, it gives me a sense of desire to suspend time. Just long enough to grasp everything God wants me to learn in the moments He has given me. And not that I ever could see or understand ALL that He has done or was trying to teach me, but I still sit in awe of Him tonight. Today He blessed me with unexpected eye opening experiences. Ben responded to my invitation for a bike ride early this morning, much to my suprise and delight, with a yes. We took a route we hadn't before, the roads were quiet, we stopped and talked to some horses (no response back : ) ) and had some really great conversation together. After breakfast we got ready and headed out to shop, but first stopped by Wawa's for a coffee. It only felt normal to ask him, although it was the first time I had, "would you like a coffee", and he replied, "sure". Hmmm, I thought....that seemed refreshin...

The house is quiet, the kids are sleeping in their beds and I sit here in the dark listening to the droning sound of the refrigerator motor humming. I found myself just sitting here unaware I was jumping in thought from my husbands expected arrival home any minute now, to "I wonder how many more weeks until the CCC college kids come home?". I thought about a friends recent surgery, Ben's guitar playing and how quickly he has picked it up, to Isaac's soon to be 2nd birthday. But I found myself resting....rather, visiting a friend in thought. We were sitting on our deck having a ice cold glass of tea. Her voice was as sincere and kind as it was sweet to listen to. It was fragile and shaky; letting me know there were years behind every word she spoke. Her laughter made known she was confident in who she was and that her life had been good. We stood many days on the boundary line where our yards touched just catching up with each other. She'd ask how "Ri...