My Man

My man . . .

The man i married, the father of my children and the love of my life . . . every day i stand in awe of him.  He gets up early every morning to go and do a thankless job all day long.  He puts in long, often stressful, hours of work; constantly stepping out of his comfort zone, and for what?  So he can put a roof over our head and give his wife money to buy things she really doesn't "need" but oh' so badly wants.  Every day he sacrifices himself for his family.  He is overworked and vastly underpaid . . . but does he complain?  No, he just keeps plugging away.  Loving his wife and boys in the most amazing and selfless way.  He is amazing at what he does, a strong, confident salesman with a great personality and strong character.  He is all man, and yet so sweet and caring when it comes to his wife and boys.

He is a great athlete and (at least in MY eyes) the strongest hunk of a man you'll find around these parts, and the most devoted of fathers! There is nothing sweeter than seeing him working on the car with David (my he is a handy man!) or gently rocking Scott so I can have a break, I couldn't find a better daddy for my boys.   He is the love of my life and the reason I  do what I do during the day.  Honestly I can't imagine life without him, God knew exactly what he was doing when he brought us together!  I'm so blessed to have a strong respectful man for a husband and best friend!  I'm so happy every day to see his passion for the Lord and the countless ways he sacrifices himself for us!  He is the head of our family, and yet he never used his position to "lord" over me, or force his way . . . instead he is a wonderful picture of the Love and Sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know I don't say "thank You" near enough, and all to often I take him and all he does for granted.  I don't praise him as often as I should around other people and I'm all to quick to point out his (few) faults.  So here is my tribute, as insufficient as it maybe.  Thank you baby for all you do and are for me and our boys!  May they grow up to be men JUST like their daddy!

We thank you Stephen and Love you with all our hearts! 

Lydia, David & Scott

Perspective

Some times when I read other people's blogs I start to get discouraged.  I have nothing to write about, nothing life shattering or world changing ever happens at our house.  Every "upset" is really pretty small and inconsequential in comparison to what other people go through and even if I had something Amazing (or horrible) to write about who would read this blog thingy any way?

And then I just stop my self . . .


I am blessed.

I am living the most wonderful life of adventure.  On this life long journey I get to travel with the love of my life.  Piles of dishes and mountains of laundry may not seem important but every task, no mater how mundane can be important, for it is not the task that gages the importance of a moment but the actions they produce.

Screaming children and happy husbands.  It may not be the world i'm influencing or changing but surely what I do all day, every day, is impacting the lives of three amazing and important men.

Influence.  If that's what I want, than that's what I have.  Every day I have the opportunity to guide David as he grows into the man he will be, to teach Scott about the love of a family, and to provide my husband with the joy of a well kept home and respectful loving wife.

How many women have no husband to love?  No children to hold?  No Savior to turn to in their need?

How many mothers don't have a spouse they can trust?  Children who love them?  Family that supports them?

Adventure is a mater of perspective.  Mine has been skewed.  Forgive me Lord.  My my life ever be built around living the adventure you have set before me!

The Blessing of Family

This last weekend we had the opportunity to visit Stephen's grandmother.  As I sat watching her on the floor playing "animals" with David I was struck by the privilege  we have of  giving David a chance to know his great-grandmother!  Family is so important, we learn so much from each generation, every person regardless of their age or "position" in the family has something to offer, something we can learn.

I think it's so sad that people lock away their parents and grandparents when they get to old to be "useful" these people gave so much of their time, money and energy to raise and shape us into the people we are today, and how do we thank them?  Put them away in some dingy nursing home and forget about them.  Oh' I suppose we might visit them a couple times a year so as to ease our guilty conscious.  

But why?  Ok, so maybe they need a little help, maybe it's inconvenient, or even costly to care for elderly relatives, but does that give us the right to ignore their need and pass it on to someone else?

I hope for the opportunity for a long time yet to come for my boys to be able to learn and enjoy their great-grandparents, we are also planning a trip for later this summer to go visit Stephen's great-grandmother - that would be David and Scott's great-great-grandmother!  

May we bless her with our presence and may she pass onto us some of her wisdom and life experience!!!!!

Lets Color!

Mama's Little Helper

David Just loves to help mamma!  In fact right this minute he is trying to "help" me write this post!

Well now, being the great mamma that I am, I've put a DVD on for him, nothing like the electronic babysitter!  But back to what I was saying . . .

David decided to help me make apple bars the other day, it was fun having him help.  And he thought it was the greatest thing!  He is such a little man.  He thinks he is capable of doing EVERYTHING on his own.        

       

He loved "stirring" for me, I didn't love it quite so much as him as he kept "stirring" all the flour out of the bowl and onto the counter!  Oh' well!  Just another one of the joys of motherhood.  Letting him help me cook was a good lesson for me in patience and remembering what is important, after all what is a little flour on the counter in the grand scheme of things?

He also liked to "taste" all the ingredient.  Who could have thought flour could taste so good?  Of course I had to grab the camera and take a few pictures, he was just too cute not to!

Helping mamma "measure" 

Every day I have to remind myself that spending time with my kids is so much more important than keeping the house clean or making perfect apple bars!   Some times it's hard for me to let David help me, I want to get things done quickly and "right"  But at this age all he wants to do is help, and I certainly want to encourage that!  He thinks he is so big and important when he can help me cook or put laundry in the dryer.  He is always trying to "help" Scott, whether it's wiping his mouth when he spits up or trying to pick him up and bring him to me when he starts to fuss, I just love his desire to be a part of what I do every day!  My problem is that I can be kinda particular in how I like things done, sometimes I don't even let Stephen help me as I want it done a certain way!  God is really working on this issue with me, people are more important than projects, and "perfection" in a given task is not essential.  

But as I learn to let go of how I want things done, I'm finding that I get more joy and feel more relaxed when I just let people help and care more about the experience than the outcome.  

So come on David let's go can beans!

My Cloth Diapered Babies

For about the last 6months I have been on-again-off-again using cloth diapers, just recently I decided to go full bore with them on both boys!  It has been a challenge in many ways, and also exciting.  I love the saving money aspect, I figure if we buy disposable diapers it will cost us approximatively $600 a year, per kid!  I know maybe I could do it for cheaper, but my babies, especially David, have sensitive behinds and so I have to buy the "name brand" diapers.

I love using the cloth for a couple or reasons, of course the monetary savings, and also for how much healthier it is for the boys.  No more dyes, perfumes or synthetic materials (well in less we go somewhere!  I'm to big of a baby to keep cloth diapering when I'm out and about)

I like hanging the diapers out on the line, they smell so nice and I think get whiter that way!

Personally, other than that I have to wash them every couple of days, i really have come to believe that changing the cloth diapers isn't really all that much different than disposables.

The one major downside i've found is that it makes my kids fatter and some of their pants won't fit!  Oh' well, they just wear a larger size!

On top of the cloth diapers I've also recently started potty training Scott, yes that's not a typo, Scott (not David) is being potty trained!  I know several mom's who have infant potty trained their kids and so I decided to give it a try!  It's actually going pretty well!  I've only been working with Scott for about a week and already I'm changing only half as many diapers every day!  Now if David would just show an interest in the big boy potty we'd be on to something!

Just a picture of my happy boy!  I love my babies!  Being a mommy is the best!!!!!