Giving Thanks

What a fun week!!  We had Thanksgiving, our elf, Jingles, arrived, and Zadie turned six months old!  On Thanksgiving Day, I made sure that Lucas named some things he was thankful for.  He said, "God, Jesus, mommy and daddy, Lathan and Zadie, and our house."  A pretty good list for a brand new four-year-old! After naming things for which we are thankful, there was a knock at the door.

This package had arrived!!  It was super cold (thanks to being in the freezer overnight), and it was from Santa, so we determined it must have come from the North Pole!!

Lucas was a little apprehensive about the contents...

but it was just a friendly little elf, who Lucas named Jingles.

After we properly welcomed Jingles, we went to my grandmother's for Thanksgiving lunch.  We stuffed ourselves on Turkey and desserts, and then we decided to have a family dodge ball game (which my team totally won!)

We avoided the black Friday madness, spent a quiet weekend at home, and today, sweet baby Zadie turned six months old!  She has brought so many blessings into our lives, and we have been so proud to be her parents for the past half year!!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!  Our lives are so full and blessed, and we are oh so thankful, not just in November, but throughout the year!!

Birthday Boy!

Oh my!!  Look who had his birthday party today!  I cannot believe my little Lucas is 4 (or will be, Monday)! It seems like only yesterday, I was holding him on my chest, full of wonder that I had just brought a little life into this world.  And what a little life he is!!  He is the sweetest, most considerate  boy I know.  Do you know what his birthday wish was?

It was that all his party guests would come back to see him again! How sweet is that??  He had such a great time at his party, and he told everyone that brought him a present that it was "just what he always wanted."  Sweet boy.

The past four years have made Lucas a big brother twice,

but God knew just what He was doing when He sent us Lucas first.  He broke us in with an easy baby who is a fantastic big brother!!  We are so looking forward to seeing what kind of wonder Lucas will turn out to be!!  Four years and growing every day, and every day his mommy feels more

 and more blessed!!

Under Interrogation

Oh, my sweet Lucas.  He is at the age where he is FULL of questions!!  "Mommy, how did the babies get in your belly?" "Mommy, why don't we ever see God?" And his latest, "Mommy, what happens to us when we die?"  This latest question was brought on by him accidentally walking in on a viewing of Pet Semetary (thanks, Scott).  He saw the scene where the little boy was hit by a truck (great, huh?)  Anyway, this brought on a slew of questions and lots of worry from my little man.  He asked me what happened to that little boy.  Seeing as how he was spared from seeing what actually happened in the movie, I told him the little boy went to Heaven.  Now, he has asked a lot about why I don't have a mommy, and he knows she also lives in Heaven.  So, he has tried to resolve this in his mind, and I have tried my best to help him understand the concept of death and the afterlife.  So far, we have established the following: (These are on simplified, three-year-old terms)

• You don't have to be old to die.  When God wants you to come and live with Him, you do.
• Mommy hopes you don't go live with God until you are at least 100.
• Mommy and daddy will try their best not to go live with God until we are at least 100.
• People who don't love Jesus don't go to Heaven (This is still touchy for him.  He has asked EVERYONE if they love Jesus since learning this fact)
• Babies go to Heaven even if they can't say they love Jesus yet

That pretty much covered all his questions, for now.  Whew, this stage has me sweating.  Some of these out-of-the-blue questions really challenge me in my way of life.  I never want my child to doubt God's existence, as is the way of many these days, so I want to be so careful about his foundation of belief.  I don't want God to be like Mario or Diego or some other fictional character that he loves. I want him to see that God is real, and the only way he can see that at his age is through my actions.  My prayer is that I can steer my children in the right direction through my words and behavior until they are old enough to understand and believe on their own.   

 

 

Bonding with Daddy

Friday night, my boys went camping. Well, not technically camping, but they set up a tent, made a campfire, and toasted marshmallows in our front yard.  Scott and I set up the tent together, which was a testament to our strong marriage, and then the boys were good to go!  

Zadie and I stayed around long enough to enjoy some s'mores (I even ate one of Lucas's WAY overdone marshmallows) and then we went inside to sleep in our comfy beds.  After about 30 minutes in the tent, Lathan wanted to come in too.  So mommy and babies stayed in the house, but my big boy and his daddy slept in the tent ALL NIGHT!!  My brave boys!!

Lucas decided that he wants to live in the tent from now on.  I had to convince him that living inside would be much more comfortable in the long run! He has been promised a monthly camp out from now until he gets too old to enjoy it.  Scott loves bonding with our wonderful boys, and camp outs are just one of the ways he does it.  Other ways he regularly spends one-on-one time with our boys:

• four-wheeler riding
• raking and jumping in leaves
• swimming (in the summer)
• water balloon fights
• bonfires
• making and wrestling in forts made from sheets
• playing Mario on the Wii
• deep conversations in which he answers a lot of tough questions from a three-year-old

Scott takes every opportunity to spend time and do activities with our sons, so this is not a comprehensive list. These are just the activities that he does so regularly they have become routine! Sometimes mommy joins in on these super fun activities, but most of the time, I hang back and let Scott and his boys build their memories through "manly" bonding.