Boys!

A boy is a strange animal! I know this from firsthand experience as many of you mothers of boys know. We grow up and like boys, but unless we have brothers, I don't think we really know how different they are. When dating them, they try to impress us and when we get married, they show us their true self! But it is still different than watching a boy grow up. Little boys are so sweet! They laugh and kiss their mommy and cry for their mommy, and then we laugh at them when they toot! I think that is a mistake! Yes it is adorable to see your son in the bath being surprised that a toot happened and then when we laugh, they want to keep doing it! And it is cute to hear them say "I tooted!" And we think this is great until they turn 8 and are saying this out loud in the grocery line! And then they are taught by another, older, grandfatherly, boy to blame the mom for this! Real nice!



But even at 8, 9, 10, boys can be sweet when they are one on one. I had the opportunity to have 7 boys at my house the other day and saw this phenomenon. I was talking to one of the boys and we were having a great conversation. Then abruptly it ended and he goes running back to the group with a totally different personality! He went from polite, mature conversationalist to "Hey Yolanda" as he called one of the boys a name and proceeded to tackle him! In fact, my backyard was one big wrestling pit!



But I am grateful for my boys! I have been given the awesome responsibility to rear my sons in a way that they grow up to be men, real men. Men who are responsible for their family; men who can cry, but don't do so just to be in touch with their feminine side; men who won't allow themselves to be put down and made to feel stupid just because they are a man; men who will treat women with respect and their wives as a queen; men who are leaders; and men who do scratch and burp and make all other sorts of sounds! A real man!



So I guess I will just have to let my boys be boys! Bring on the ring for the backyard, the wrestling match is about to begin!

New Life!

An exciting thing happened this Easter! My dogwood tree finally bloomed! I have been complaining about the fact that I have had this tree for about 4 years now, and it has never had a bloom. The leaves would come back every year, but no flowers to signify life! And on the weekend when we celebrate new life, I was given a gift! I have about 3 pink flowers at eye level and several at the very top of the tree!

And what is more special about this bloom is that the dogwood flower signifies the cross of Christ. Today that bloom shows the marks of Jesus on the cross, but tomorrow when it turns into a leaf, I can remember that Jesus did not stay on the cross, but that He is alive! What a blessing! A small thing like a dogwood bloom can be exciting if you look carefully and appreciate all that God has given us!

Happy Easter, Amy

Kid's Bridge Run

Nathan, Camden and I took one look at the beautiful weather and decided that we could not miss the kid's bridge run this year! Hampton Park is such a great place to have the run! Camden, my runner, who did not take a nap today, would not run in the right direction during the actual run! I think he was a little scared with all the people. I tried to get him to run with Nathan, but he just cried and tried to run into the mud puddle! After the crowd left, he ran the 25 yards several times!

Nathan signed up for the mile run and did it in a little over 10 minutes. Pretty good for an untrained runner since that is my average mile time on a long distance run! He wanted to run the real bridge tomorrow, but too many other plans already! He met up with his friend Rhen from church. He said he ran with her for a little while, then ran off thinking that he could not be beaten by a girl! He said he stuck his tongue out at her as he ran by! What a boy! Then he explained that they do that to each other all the time! I like him thinking girls are icky!!



Well, that was our fun day!! Amy

As all parents know, children grow up too soon! My baby is now in a big boy toddler bed, is trying to be potty trained, and likes to tell me what to do in pretty clear sentences! And Nathan is now 8 and acts like he should be 2-3 grades older than he is! Life just moves too fast!


But Nathan, my mature acting son, still likes to be a little boy! He wants to cuddle at night and have his favorite animals sleep with him! And now he wants to sleep in the spare bed in Camden's room!



The other day, though, Nathan was outside with Camden and I asked him,
"Aren't you glad you have a brother?" He said yes, but "I wish he would grow up faster! You told me he would grow up fast, but he isn't!"



Well, ok Nathan, he is not big enough to play ball with you yet, but if I could have my way, Camden would stay in the cute 2's! Who cares if I have to change diapers! And although Nathan has passed the cute baby stage of life, I would love to keep him in his sweet thoughtful years!