Calling Glory

the dark is breaking into day. soon enough you'll find a door. just don't give up. keep on moving through these storms. step inside His heart and then you'll see a LOVE that is so amazing.

for all those moments when life may seem too much hard, this song is a good reminder...keep on moving through these doors, soon enough you'll find the door...just don't give up.

i've got that song stuck in my head :) and little boy giggles.

from our morning....

i love you soooo much Lucas. said caleb. lucas giggled. and then my heart melted.

i love these pre nap hug fests they've been having. a room filled up with little boy laughter is the very best kind.

a trip to the library after c's OT. a bag full of books and helpful boys. one of my favorite places to take them. we even (without meaning to) found a perfect children's book on gardening, i mean...it's those kind of moments that i just want to do a happy hop and shout hurray! we loaded up in the car with two boys and a bag of children's music cd's, stories on cd, and books for little boys and books for mom and dad. library adventures are the best.

 

Happy Wednesday :)

 

 

 

 

planting hope.

                                                                      via image
funny that I should read this while in the midst of all our gardening...planting my days with hope. I love it.



and this song...i love it too.

moments from our morning.

cuddle fest

busy bees

 

 brother band

 they really seem to be into cuddles these days

 more cuddles

play.thenthrowthingsonthefloor.routine

 

many moments in our day have tears or tantrums. a very assertive and independent one year old is emerging. more mobility for little brother means he's in big brother's stuff and space a lot of the time. but there are so many sweet moments between the two of them. those sweet moments far outweigh the fighting. everything just melts away in those brotherly moments and i feel insanely blessed by them and the love they have for each other.

 

so yes, not everything is as rosy as it seems over here :) but we certainly have some rosy moments! and i like to focus on those :)

 

rose moments from our day.

quiet play with play dough. hug fest. play date with good friends. muffins. lunch just the three of us. afternoon naps. a 'friday' workday today as i have the rest of the week off! happy heart. sunshine through clouds. bible study and then bachelor with hubs tonight :)

i have a video i took of the boys dancing and singing, lu diaper dashing it. so hopefully i'll get that up soon. as new challenges emerge between the boys and their personalities/ temperaments/developmental milestones and the 'getting along' thing...i feel as though i actually kind of love it. they are learning how to communicate and interact and who better than your sibling? i can remember many days with my sisters...fights, tears, bites, hitting, throwing, etc. and that was not just the early childhood years...it intensified as we were hormonal teenagers!! but we were and remain the very best of friends. i'm so grateful lucas and caleb have that in each other. best buddies. through tears and hitting, even some biting now and again...there's so much love and laughter and giggles and smiles that far outweigh the hard days. lucas adores his big brother and watching their bond fills me up with the greatest joy! even when they are driving me nuts one moment...a second later they are hugging and laughing and i'm smiling ;) cause it's all good! this roller coaster ride we're on. it's a trip!!!

and i'm gonna plant our days with hope ;)

Happy Tuesday!!

a girl, surrounded by boys...means

worms

yes, definitely my most favorite moment of the weekend. his pride. their curiosity. my horror combined amusement..(don't worry i was a snail collector as a child...we didn't only play with baby dolls. my middle sister though...she made us pick rolly pollies for her cause she wouldn't touch (growing up with two sisters and no brothers...it makes this having all boys thing really fun and definitely different!)

so this boy thing. it's kinda fun.

i love watching their beautiful father/son bond

 

planting. watching and tending. learning patience and trust. The quiet peace in the beauty of the unfolding of nature as it emerges into the beautiful. Watching my boys with their daddy gardening is one of my favorites. It beautifully symbolizes our Father's love and patience with us....it reminds me of...having childlike faith. and The faith of a mustard seed. The symbolism and their sweetness. It wraps around my heart and I curl up with it, like a good book.

we had a happy and healthy weekend (mostly healthy...dave has a bout of shingles, but he's on medicine and we're just gonna pretend that it never happened, because really who wants to talk about shingles?...)

we enjoyed....

sensory play with water beads (i'm all about them. they are the coolest!)

morning cuddles. early morning running. (feels good to be in a running routine again.) grocery trips with little helpers. warm soup. outside play. dirt and worms. long afternoon naps. church followed by future choir boy singing, a baby shower for twins consisting of an afternoon of girl talk. heavenly) happy play. healthy boys. music. home.

 he liked mama's homemade spinach/parmasean dip.

 captured on camera...happy boys at play (lasted but a good minute, but still.)

music therapy while swinging. he makes me proud everyday. love his dimpled smiles. and happy he's more regulated after a rough decemeber.

weekends are never long enough, but it's a short work week for me and that is making this a really happy monday!!!

hope everyone had a great weekend!

some friday LOVE!

 

Happy Friday!

what I'm loving today...

brother bike rides (lu tried to escape getting dressed by mad dashing it to the bike for a ride)

water color painting

watching them find favorite corners of the house to play (lately a favorite for lu...take everything out of basket...find activity...sit for a long time and be busy!)

(c starting and finishing a task by himself...this made my heart happy to see him so engaged in playtime for a long time!)

sunshine (this pic was from earlier in the week)

little lunch time toes

and more painting.

 

I love fridays :) no where to go and no chores to do. It's our relaxing day. We walked (in the fog...this was pretty exciting for all of us!), played, read books, painted, laughed, sang, danced, rode bikes (them...not me), and picked out a recipe for baking, post naps.

A perfect way to head into the weekend :)  

 

Happy Friday Friends!!

quiet mornings.

we welcomed in a quiet morning today. it was all the more beautiful to me because we still had to drive to morgan hill at 9am, but somehow the clock seemed to linger. We lingered over in the art area with colored pencils and water colors, stickers and scissors. I sat and enjoyed these little boys of ours. I love moments like these where time slows down and I am able to just squeeze in every second of  beauty.

I love those moments where the boys play happily, they are busy doing their own thing or playing together without it turning into upset. These moments don't happen all the time and that is why I hold onto the quiet and peaceful ones, they make our hurried mornings, or tearful brother boy fights, or melt down over changing from pjs to pants all the more worth it, cause I know we have plenty of rainbow moments. Speaking of rainbows, it's a rainy day. I love feeling warm and cozy and listening to raindrops on the window.

Happy Thursday!

favorite moments.

today, this was my very favorite moment.

pre-nap cuddles that turned into wrestling somehow. this must be a boy thing?

their love for each other continues to amaze me. I do love having little boys. My sisters are my very best friends and these brother boys? They are best friends too. I pray this will always remain. Our joys.

our morning was double booked. OT then dentist-and first time flying solo (nani has always been here for dentist trips) Well I'm happy to report....there were only tears during the cleaning. Pre and Post? Happy boys! Music/Headphones/OT did the trick for C I think.

 theydon'tknowwhat'scoming.

 my favorite thing about the visit? dr. mike gave me a supermom sticker! yeah, I kinda rocked it :) lol. I was proud of the boys and proud of me too!! Have I mentioned how much I adore their pediatric dentist? He actually hugged Caleb at the end. Lucas bit him during the cleaning and dr. mike...smiled. Yep, He's a saint in my book.

rightbeforethetearscameout.

2 Corinthians 12:9 "And my Grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness" ...For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong"  

 

my other favorite moment? running in the rain. It was short, I'm still trying to work my way back up to 3 miles...I'm at 2. But it was needed. I inhaled sweet rain scent and relaxed. I love the smell of sweet, fresh, misty rain. Swimming or running in it...even better :) I came home and giggled with the boys while they hugged and wrestled and I felt very blessed. Just another day, full of some hard moments, but full of happy moments too :)

Happy Wednesday!

starfish, cuddles, and phone convos.

Love this story. It really is true no matter how small something may seem, it can add up big. Beautiful things happen out of the ordinary.

There was once a wise man who was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead, was reaching down to the shore, picking up starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.

When asked why he was throwing Starfish into the ocean, the young man answered "The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them in they'll die". The wise man replied "But don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach with Starfish all along it, and that you can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another Starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves.
"It made a difference for that one," he said.
 "Starfish Story" based on "The Star Thrower" by naturalist/philosopher Loren Eiseley:

From our day.
Lucas has a sinus infection and is on antibiotics, I'm glad i trusted my instincts and took him back to the dr. Poor guy is going on week three of being sick :/ I'll be glad when everyone is healthy again. This makes for lots of cuddles..I don't mind a bit.

 Caleb's been in a dancing/singing/marching around the house playing drums mood. Happens every morning. It's a cheerful way to start the day :)

 I took this clip of Caleb having a phone convo with nani and papa while going to the beach (i'm not sure they were aware that they played in our backyard with us today :) oh the imagination of a three year old!!

 Happy Tuesday!!