My dear sweet darling children. I am amazed at your abilities. Amazed that God has entrusted me with your care. You are so good. So creative. So intelligent and inquisitive. So forgiving, quick to have fun and look at the brighter side of things.

Andrew - you cleaned out the van as a surprise for me because you knew I would be driving kids from youth group around for a scavenger hunt tonight. You even pulled out all the rugs and beat them and used a wet rag to clean out anything left in the cupholders. You were sweating like crazy! It is an April evening and was 94 degrees out. You were thrilled to be doing it and I overheard you letting Amelia join in as well, using a gentle teaching voice to direct her as to where things went. Here you are enjoying some cold watermelon after finishing your surprise.


Amelia - every time you pull a candy out of the Easter stash Grandma and Grandpa just sent you, you run to me with an identical candy and say, "One for me, and one for YOU!" and then give me an adorable smile with light spilling out of your huge beautiful eyes.


Jacob - I had so much fun running with you a few weeks ago. What a great conversationalist you are! The time flew by and it was so great to be passing it with you on a cool Saturday morning when the world was still quiet. The next day at church one of the men in our ward came up to me and commented that he had seen us and said it looked like I was having a lot of fun with you. I WAS! Here's a funny picture of you from our road trip last summer.


I love you all! I love that you are all willing to work on things with me. I love the flowers Andrew always picks for me, the way Amelia does something (like leak a little bit before running to the bathroom or open her eyes during prayer), tells us about it, and then states, "But dat's okay." With her eyes kind of squinted, her head kind of nodding at a tilt, and always followed by a knowing little laugh of hers. I love that Jacob ALWAYS checks in when at his friends house within the MINUTE of when I've asked him to. ALWAYS. And even if it's just a check in he's already spilling out what a"marvelous" time he's having and what he and his friends are up to, and what they've eaten, and why they're laughing in the background, and "wait Mom, one more thing, David just told me this joke. You HAVE to hear it........" and I end up having to kind of cut him off while laughing and let him get back to what he's doing.

How grateful I am to be your mama.

Bye Bye Birdie

One evening a little birdie was found in the backyard with a broken wing.

Kids made a nest and put it in a shoe box along with a little bowl of water.

Very tender.

In the morning they discovered the birdie was flying in a new paradise.

Had a funeral.

Buried alongside graves of a caterpillar, a beetle, and something else I don't remember. Seems like it was a big something.

Oh - Jake said a prayer and then Andrew honored it's memory with a song. (I absolutely could not hold my laughter in while listening. Tried to say I was laughing about something else.) Let's just say the song was heartfelt.

Rest in peace.

Sweet Surprise

This evening Jacob announced the following:

J. "Mom, I think this is probably the best time in my life."

M. "Really? What makes you say that?"

J. "Well, we're all here snuggled up in a cozy kitchen, you are making cookies, I just finished almost completely cleaning the kitchen, Amelia is sitting down hunched over a dinosaur encyclopedia - which is, of course, upside down (hearty chuckle), and Andrew is just drawing some picture of....something. It feels just right in here."

Holy cow. You could have mopped me up. This really is such a surprise, because this same little boy has been having some serious struggles lately. School has been rough. I took him out a week ago, and we are kind of feeling out what the best thing is for him right now. He is on my mind constantly, and I have been worried about how happy he is, and what I could do better for him.

Today was one of those sweet assurances that all the effort we are putting in to our family life is doing something. Jacob has felt our love for him and he feels safe in our home. Not only that...it feels like one of the best times in his life! Yippee!

-And a little sidenote of humor....

yes, our little girl is pushing around a stroller carrying precious cargo - a gun(which she unfortunately knows how to use) and a dinosaur book, and then after a while she added a baby. Gotta love her.

Compsilators and Laughter

Imagine, if you will, Andy Roo wearing his green Robin Hood tunic, a new pair of flashy cowboy boots with big white stars on them, and a silver breastplate. This is what he chose to wear on our family walk this evening. You know how kids sometimes throw together funny combinations and it seems to work? This combo was not working. Every time I looked at him I wanted to shake my head. So anyway, while on our walk, the King of Secret Vocabulary informed us that we had better watch out because he had a Compsilator in his pocket and it was filled with poison! He then waved his stick - I mean, laser - at us and ran on ahead. I always wonder if the "special words" are a lack of understanding of the words we use, or a creative mind at work. I guess it could be both...he doesn't remember the word, but he doesn't let that get in the way. Who knows. He does make me laugh, though.

In other news: As I was out running errands this morning, Andy and Amelia were having fun as usual with each other. Andrew getting right in her face and making loud goobery noises, and Amelia kicking her feet and opening her mouth wide in delight. At one point I am assuming she had had enough. She started fussing and Andrew started consoling:

"Laaa-deee, don't be sa-ad!"

Continued fussing.

(this time giggling all the way through his words) "Laaa-deee, it's okay. You don't need to cry!"

Amelia stops fussing for a moment.

"Mom! At first I just told her she was okay, and then I put my laughter on and told her she was okay and she LIKED IT!! I should put my laughter on EVERY TIME!"

He can be such a goofy kid. And he loves his "Busta Bear." (don't ask. it's one of his many nicknames for her.) And she loves him.

In fact, tonight at dinner we had such a sweet conversation. Mike was asking the kids what they would want in a house. Andrew requested a tree house, and Jake requested "a nice room by himself." Then he decided someone would need to keep Amelia company so he would share a room with her, and Andrew could have his own room. But Andrew wanted to be with her and Jake. He stretched out his arms (he was seated at the table between Jake and Amelia) to each of them and said he loved them both. They both talked about how good it was to be together and how they didn't want anyone to be lonely, and all three had big blue eyes and smiles. It was so adorable and heartwarming to watch and listen to.

Oh brother, I am tearing up as I type this. I love my kids and I am so glad that they love each other. Amelia watches the boys like they are her heroes. She puts up with being wrapped like a burrito and rolled across the carpet, forced leg lifts, and disgustingly slobbery kisses x 20 all over her head, all with a smile and shining eyes. What a joy my children can be.