God is Love.

      I'm so insanely far from perfect... and so is my sweet boy.  But one thing I DO know is that filling his mind with things that are true and right and honorable and pure and lovely and of good reputation and excellent is THE way to go:)  There is no way messed up and nuts-o Julie can raise a kid.  But there IS way that a perfect and beautiful God can raise a man of integrity through me.  And so we started small, with the 2nd shortest verse in the Bible.  It's been 4 days of learning and tonight-with no prompting- my awesome dude strolled over to me and said "First John 4:8".  And then, in typical Eli fashion, he continued "9, 10, 11, 12."  

Its a mom's proudest moment:)

September weekends

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  ~Elizabeth Stone

"Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them"  ~Richard L. Evans

"You will always be your child's favorite toy"  ~Vicky Lanksy

'Every child born into the world is a new thought of God, an ever fresh and radiant possibility." 

 ~Kate Douglas Wiggin

"He lives the poetry that he cannot write. Others write the poetry that they dare not realize."

~Oscar Wilde

"The most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things."

~Plato

"Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet: there's always one determined to face in an opposite direction from the way the arranger desires."

~Marcelene Cox

PS: "Parents of young children should realize that few people, and maybe no one, will find their children as enchanting as they do."  ~Barbara-Freakin-Walters 

But that's ok :)

Kitten Mittons

Chinese-freakin-buffet  and a cheap fish store with my runny nosed little squirts. Those bouncing, pouncing, kicking screaming barrels of laughs.  Joys of my life.

It's a good life.

9.5 weeks

AAAAHHHHhhhh...

2 months!  Punkster is 10 weeks old and growing weed-like.

 We're just about 14 lbs and only on once a night wake-ups-4 AM on the dot.  Yes, his brother was a little ahead of him sleep-wise, but that was... well, when I had 1 boy and thought that deep down I could raise him perfectly if I just TRIED hard enough.  I read a book and arranged a schedule and did AWESOME but this time... I'm just tired.  And strangely enough, he's doing ok:)  At 10 weeks, I'd say waking up once for 20 minutes isn't too bad.

He's sweet.  He's gorgeous.  He talks and gurgles and eats and spits up and burps and we're all in love. He is our angel and we are proud of him already.

So what about the rest of us?

Elijah is repeating nearly everything we say.

EVERYTHING.

Ben has recently become "Ben" instead of Daddy.  This is hilarious only to me.  Suddenly movies, TV shows, music... everything gets monitored.  You never know what he's going to pick up.

  He's still loving school and we are hoping to start Pre-K in January.  Honestly though, I'm in no rush for my first born to grow up any faster.  Today he asked for chocolate milk and when I told him "just a minute" he said "c'mon Mama!"   Personality? Check.

Ben is really just the most incredible person I know.

BEFORE

AFTER

He gets through the 40 hour work week and then spends his weekends gutting and rebuilding an apartment building for ex-convicts our church ministers to (they will be getting released in a few months).  He volunteers his Tuesday evenings for that very same church prison ministry.  He spends one Saturday morning every couple months doing a church clean-up day.  He faithfully attends small groups.  He teaches a Sunday School class about finances.  He spends time with his boys.  He loves his wife.  He takes care of us, and leaves us worry free about our futures.  We are blessed to have such a guy in our lives.

I am teaching high school art this semester which is a really fantastic change from last year.  The first week was incredible-my kids work hard, listen attentively, and are respectful. I spend the rest of my day in the library trying to get our books entered into the computer so we can ditch the card catalog that nobody really remembers how to use.  Work has become this welcome 3 hour break in my day-completely the opposite of what work generally is.  Nice. Relaxing. (?)  Wonderful.  I'm not quite sure how I'm subsisting on so few hours of sleep.  But things are working so far.

My brother and his incredibly beautiful fiance tied the knot this month, and it was probably the most fun I've had in years.

(Chad and Devon)

I fit into a beautiful dress, Eli made it down the aisle as ring bearer, we ate delicious food and danced like morons... it was the perfect wedding.

 It is so exciting to see our families grow.  October will bring with it the 3rd Jordi grandson and a load of new memories.  We are all excitedly holding our breath till he makes his appearance!

Life is good:)