you

there is rarely a quiet moment when you are around. you are always talking, always asking, always connecting.

you have many bruises. likely because you are always jumping, always dancing, always moving. 

you are so many things to our family. you are light. you are music. you are joy. 

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Words can't even describe how full my heart is right now. Our weekend was full of stuff: events, work, sports, music, but we were together for all of it, which made it so so fun for our family. Two fo the highlights for us included our favorite band, The Revivalists. We've had tickets for four of us (minus Ruby) to see their concert on Saturday night forever. This last week, however, Maddux thought maybe it would be too late and she'd rather stay home with Ruby and an older friend. We obliged, but not without trying (unsuccessfully) to sway her up until the hour before.

Eli, Lehr and I had a GREAT time at the show, obviously. The front row tickets helped a lot; long gone are the days where we used to arrive 30-60 minutes before their show and hold the front row without much pushback. Their set was a great compilation of all of their albums, giving us many 'old school' gems. We got high fives from Rob (sax player) once he saw us, and near the end, David (lead singer) put the microphone in Eli's face and asked him his name and age, then told the audience to 'give it up for Eli!' Then, "give it up for his PARENTS!" (We won't let Eli live that down any time soon.)

As amazing as the show was, Sunday was even better. Ruby's time in the hospital connected us with Josh and Songs for Kids years ago. We love the organization and have been as involved as we can in their fundraising and supporting their vision for future endeavors. About a year ago they opened up a recording/playing studio to allow for serving the kids who are still very much living with medical 'stuff' but aren't staying at the hospital so much. So they can come to the studio and get music lessons, or play with the musician volunteers, or attend mini concerts put on by musical acts that come through town. We attended the grand opening, but have been unable to check out any concerts. Knowing that The Revivalists worked with Josh in New Orleans in the past though, we knew they'd try to be at the studio, and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

I can't adequately express how cool the experience was. We've seen our boys up close and personal over the years, so as amazing as that is, that was not what put this over the top. The kids and families in attendance were all in, jumping and dancing and singing the whole time. And these kids were not shy about talking to the band or playing instruments with them - that had to be refreshing for the guys! The afternoon started with some of the SFK kids performing one of The Revivalist's songs that they'd been rehearsing. Then the boys did three songs, pulling kids in on the last one. As soon as they were done, Josh had any/all SFK kids find a band member and work with them on whatever instrument they had. It was chaos, amazing, musical, joyful chaos. Ruby made her rounds from Zack, to Ed, finally to Andrew. I tried to grab a few videos and phone photos, but honestly I just held my spot at the back of the crowd trying to take it all in.

The best (for us) was yet to come. Most of the families had left and the drums were open, so we encouraged Eli to sit down at the set (we'd told the big ones to 'back off' the whole time till now because this experience was for the SFK kids, not them). As soon as Eli did, Andrew's ears perked up and he joined in for a few measures. My favorite part was when he said to Eli, "Oh, you can really play!"

Pure heart explosion to see our favorite band of all time mashed up with an organization so near and dear to our hearts - Best. Weekend. Ever.

(Don't) Give That Girl A Hand

Because she doesn't need it!

Ruby had PT on Tuesday morning this week. Our therapist always gives us a handful of 'exercises' to work on for the next week, and we usually rotate through them in the course of our day. This week, however, I kinda stuck on one in particular: helping Ruby to stand without assistance or pulling up. (Or rather, helping Ruby to realize she doesn't NEED assistance to stand.)

Fast forward to Thursday after dinner (just over 48 hours after we started working on it!), Lehr and I were standing in the kitchen having a conversation. Ruby is crawling around and playing at our feet. Suddenly I see her out of the corner of my eye, in the middle of the floor, stand up from the ground and take 3 or 4 steps towards me! She was all smiles and giggle, very proud of herself.

I got her to repeat the stand a few more times before bed, and then our Friday was spent repeating again and again. I got all cheesy and used the prompt, "How big is Ruby??!?" to get her to stand and walk towards me. (Hey, it works!) Now she does it non-stop, which means she is taking more steps than ever.

Jumbled Lyrics

Once again, Maddux rocks my socks off.

Several months ago, she sang along to Cake's "Going the Distance" by serenading us with "She's all alone. All alone in a pile of leaves!"

This time she's back with jumbled lyrics to one of my favorites: Outkast's Hey Ya. Yesterday she told me to "Shake it. Shake it. Shake it like a polar bear picture."

Maddux's Big Ole Heart

That girl. She's always had a big heart. Always been a bit of a 'little mommy'. Always taken care of and looked out for those around her.

As soon as she could write, Maddux has been making cards (randomly) for teachers. In the last year or so, that has expanded to friends. Now we've moved on to neighbors. She will not just make one for the neighbor kid friends she has, but for their whole family. Most of the time I'm totally unaware; the receiving neighbor will text me and thank me for Maddux's nice card left in their mailbox or on their front porch. Almost 100% of the time, that text will catch me by surprise.

Maddux's awesome heart also includes her family. She will leave Lehr or I (or Lehr AND I) notes and pictures all of the time. Their sentiment ranges from "You are the best mom/dad/parents!" to "I can't wait until fall when we can jump in the leaves together!" to "Mommy and Maddux are GIRLS!" They can be random or very focused, but they are always awesome.
Maddux's heart centers on Eli often. Recently on a night when we are coming down on Eli a little harder due to his inability to not talk back, I found her in her room making him a card, telling him that he is the best brother ever. (This, coming from the sister who does everything in her power to make his life better, to the brother that does not exactly return that favor.)

That girl is a keeper.....

Snuggle Puppy

If you've had a baby in the last ten years, you've likely received this book as a gift at some point. It's a great, short board book to sing to your kids when they are little. All three of my children have enjoyed hearing, reading and eating that book. But the theme only really applies to one of my children: Ruby.

She is a Snuggle Puppy. Big Time. When you pick her up, she throws one arm around your neck and melts into you. MELTS.

She does not need to be held all day, nor does she have to be rocked to sleep. I still pick her up numerous times throughout our day together, just to steal a hug. (Silly that I say 'steal', because she gives them away so freely.) And Lehr will rock her to sleep almost every time he puts her down at night. Not because she needs it, but because he does. And both of us (mostly him) have been known to go in and pick her up and hold her for a few minutes before we go to bed. She sleeps through it, but there is something about holding a sleeping, snuggly baby that helps everything that happened that day disappear.

Mixed Up Lyrics

A few times a year the kids cozy up in front of the computer with me and pick some songs to make a new CD for their rooms. Eli's are usually pretty predictable, and they tend to flow somewhat: The Revivalists and Kings of Leon or Jack White and The Black Keys. Maddux's tend to be more random, as one might expect. She will put the Frozen soundtrack in with Butch Walker, for example.

Maddux has all of her previous CDs still in her room, and she cycles through them often. She will put them into her player and always be surprised by what music comes out of the speaker, because she forgets which songs she used to like and used to listen to. Yesterday afternoon she put one in that she hadn't listened to in a long time. This particular CD contained music from Bon Jovi, Cake, and They Might Be Giants. At dinner time, she was singing a few songs back to us. 'Livin' on a Prayer' was a jumbled assortment of words, but 'The Distance' was very, VERY entertaining and awesome. Maddux's rendition went like this:

He's going the distance. He's going the speed. She's all alone, all alone in a pile of leaves.

She sang it with a straight face and was genuinely surprised that those weren't the exact lyrics.

Bucket List Finale

Here we are at the final week before school starts and our Bucket List is less than half complete. This is to be expected for us though; the last three years have found the same result. We make such a big list and then things like camps and swim team and fun random play dates happen and the big stuff gets pushed to the back burner.

I'm totally ok with that though. I love the unscheduled moments of summer. Going to the pool for a quick dip and meeting several friends there which leads to us staying the entire afternoon. Or playing in the front yard before we run an errand only to remain in the yard, the cul-de-sac, the garage for the better part of a day, drawing with chalk and playing whiffle ball and throwing water balloons.

This year I very intentionally made NO plans for the final week of summer. No camps, no meet-ups with friends, no appointments. This allowed for us to pull out a few big ticket items at the last minute.

Monday night we got a sitter for Ruby and took the big kids to Stone Mountain. They've been once or twice, but just to barely walk around the bottom village area. They've never seen the laser/firework show. They had a great time lounging on the green with us and identifying the Confederate soldiers before it got dark. (OK, that was just Eli....he identified them for all of us.)

Tuesday I took them to the pool for a guaranteed three hours AND told them we could get a treat from the ice cream truck. Of course, that was the one day in the history of our neighborhood that the truck didn't show up. Usually it's there about once an hour! We played with friends and ate lunch and just enjoyed not looking at the clock.

Wednesday I took the kids to the Aquarium. It had been at least two years since we'd been; Maddux didn't even really remember it. We had a lot of fun going through all of the exhibits, and we ended with the dolphin show. Eli and Maddux had never seen dolphins perform in any way, so they absolutely loved the show with it's fin waving and spinning and jumping. Good stuff.

Thursday morning we went to Gigi's for Ruby, and then met Daddy for lunch. That's always a treat for the kids because we get to meet him at his office and walk to a restaurant.  When we got home, I filled up Ruby's plastic pool. And pulled out the tarp for a slip-n-slide. And turned on the sprinkler. Back yard fun, to the max.

We had to do the school Meet-n-Greet on Friday, so that ate up most of our day. By then we were tired from the week's events anyway :)

Ode to Maddux

Here we are again. July 3rd. Lucky #7

This last year has found you rocking 1st grade, having a blast on swim team (your last time in the 6U division), losing your first few teeth, doing more photo shoots for Mommy's practice, mountain biking and hiking, and continuing to be that sunshine in everyone's day.

Swim Swim Swim...you love to swim! You've got such a talent for it, too. This season you swam with the 7-8's for practice even though you had to compete with the 6U group. A few times the coaches did need you to swim up for a relay and you always rose to the challenge. Because you were such a strong swimmer this season, you qualified for county also. And at county, you did really well in both events, earning a 7th place in the 25backstroke and 10th in the 25 freestyle (the best showing of anyone on the team under 10 years old!).

Unfortunately we did have lice for the first time this year. Eli's class (and pretty much the whole school!) became quite full of it just before Halloween. He brought home one bug that may or may not have spread to you. We combed through your hair so many times I thought every piece would fall out of your head! As usual, you were a rockstar through it all, never complaining about the many many MANY times Mommy made you get a comb-through last fall.

In the last year we have seen your faith become stronger; you make comments in your everyday life that indicate what Jesus means to you. This makes your dad and I so happy, Maddux. You are the hands and feet of Jesus to so many people around you, even without you realizing it. You make and leave friends and family nice notes, you help kids who need a friend or assistance, you think of little gifts to give friends when they come to visit you...
One of my favorite things about this last year has been the "Between You and Me" journal you and I have started keeping. I love learning new things about you, Maddux. I hope that we keep a journal like this forever!

Your awesome fashion sense hasn't wavered at all; you are still mixing colors and matching patterns that no one else would have put together, and it always turns out fabulous. Whenever I put a good outfit together for Ruby and someone compliments me on it, I give you the credit because you have taught me how to dress. Pair that with your awesome goofy-ness, and you are the person that makes everyone else smile. You are beautiful, inside and out, Maddux!

You love the outdoors. This last year you started building a little 'house' in our side yard with your dad. If you're not working on that, or playing in the creek, you're climbing the trees in our cul-de-sac, or reading in the grass. I love that you love being outside!

Obviously the biggest event for you in the last year was becoming a big sister. And what a big sister you are! You are the first one in line to pick out Ruby's clothes, change her diaper, entertain her, feed her... Whatever she needs, you are more than willing to provide. I cannot begin to tell you how amazed I am by your innate ability to care for and about Ruby. You are the best big sister God could have picked out for her!

At the end of the summer you will attend your first all-day camp at Winshape. I can't wrap my brain around you being old enough to do that! We've already talked about second grade and all of the other big things that take place when you are seven.

We're not ready, Maddux. Please stop getting bigger!

Gifts From The Heart

As we are in the season of Christmas, gifts are on everyone's mind. Because Maddux is who she is, she thinks at least about giving gifts to others as she does about receiving. This, I love.

When it came time for me to make my annual chocolate covered pretzels for my instructors, Maddux and Eli always ask to give some to their teachers as well. This year I asked if they could think of at least one other staff at school to give them to, preferably someone who may not have a specific class that would be showering them with gifts. As expected, Eli didn't think of anyone, but Maddux immediately asked to bring some to 'the lady in the lunch room that always helps me'. This could mean any number of people, as I have to imagine that Maddux receives help many times each day. But Mad Dog did have one specific woman in mind: the cafeteria staff worker who consistently helps my girl with opening her milk or her orange or her cheese stick or anything else packed in her lunch. Love it. Of course we made them for her and Maddux delivered the next day.

While Maddux made a card for her teacher and we sent in pretzels, the day before the holiday party found Maddux scurrying around for another present for her beloved teacher. She took one of the plastic bags i used for the pretzels and found a variety of gems from around our house that Ms. W may like. The items that made the cut were (overly) scented lotion (only used once by Maddux), two unsharpened pencils, an eraser, and a small page of stickers. While inwardly I cringed at the gift, especially the (overly) scented lotion, it warmed my heart to see Maddux thinking so intentionally about what her teacher may like or need.

When Maddux got home from school I asked if she'd given the gift, and if Ms. W had liked it. Of course, she did. When I touched base with her teacher letter, she sent me this awesome note:
Ah it was absolutely precious. Maddux is one of the most precious children that I have ever met. She may drive me up the wall at times, But I love her more and more each time. She has a beautiful personality and an even bigger and more beautiful heart. Not to mention she is as cute as a button. You and your husband have done an amazing job with her. I wish you all a very merry Christmas. Enjoy your Jesus cake and spaghetti and meatballs :) Maddux wrote a beautiful and very structured story of your special family tradition. I was a very proud teacher!

Best Buds

I mentioned before that we've had more family time this fall, in large part due to the lack of baseball. One thing that has developed in that time, related or not, is the relationship between Eli and Maddux. They get along, and they play well, and she adores him. But in the last few months, I've started to see him seek her company out more and more often. He asks her if she wants to play, instead of ALWAYS the other way around, and he has started to compliment and build her up while they are playing, which is a totally new thing for him.

Last week, the kids had Career Day at their school. One of the speakers in Eli's class worked for Home Depot and brought DIY boat kits for the kids to take home and make on their own, with nails and hammers and such. Eli asked the guy if he could have two so that he could bring one home for his sister to make also. Joy does not even begin to describe what I felt when I saw him asking her if she wanted to go outside and build a boat with him. He even got two hammers so they could work at the same time.

My Precious Mad Dog

Oh that girl. Let me count the ways in which she rocks. I have been realizing more and more over the last few months how amazing that girl is. Even though I usually just comment on her 'crazy', her amazing spirit and helpful heart are definitely her biggest qualities.

A year or two back we received a book as a gift that was full of prayers sealed in tiny envelopes. We read it with the kids a few times, but honestly it has sat on the shelf for some time. Quite frankly, getting the prayers in and out of the envelopes is a tricky process and I ended up stressing out and pestering the kids more often then not during storytime. (Didn't want to rip the papers and ruin the book.) So much for fun story time, so away the book went.

About a week ago, said books surfaced again. Seemingly out of nowhere, it appeared at Maddux's bedtime.  Lehr read the book with her. On the last page is a slightly larger envelope and blank paper.  The page directed the reader to write a small prayer to God on there. We never got that far in the book when we used to read it.  But as Lehr got to that page and opened the envelope, he found that Maddux had been reading that book and wrote her own prayer. Amazing. And her prayer could not have been more encouraging. I love that with no direction, and not even during the holiday time of year, she thought to talk to God honestly about Christmas.

(Translation)
Thank You God,
I love the presents but I know that you are more important to me and I know your birthday is on that day.
Amen 

Perfect Gentleman

Yesterday Eli made my day. Maybe my week or month too. I already included this in my Honor post, but had to elaborate a little.

I woke up to feed Ruby at 7 and then went outside to workout when she was done. Just before I finished, Eli came out to say good morning...we chatted for a few minutes and asked if I would eat with him when I was done: "Mommy, can we sit and eat, just you and me?" I told him to let me shower first, but definitely; I would love to eat breakfast with him. On my way up to the shower he asked if I knew what cereal I wanted and I told him Cheerios. Never thought anything of it...

Fast forward fifteen minutes later when I come downstairs and Eli yells out, "Close your eyes, Mom!" I do so and he leads me to the table. I open my eyes and see a mug with cheerios and banana in it (my favorite combination and my boy knows that I eat cereal out of a mug), a bowl with cut up green apple, and some PB (two more of my faves). My jaw drops. He set up a little 'date' for us. The best part? He also had a little note next to my food that said, "I love you! Love, Eli"

For about ten minutes, Eli and I got to sit and chat about nothing. And he asked me how my breakfast was, and if I liked what he put out for me and it was perfection. He even got a little upset when Maddux came down about halfway through and tried to join us. Even though our date only lasted about ten minutes, you better believe I'll be holding on to that moment for a long time.

Favorite Things

I know this happened with at least one of the other kids, but I can't find a blog post about it anywhere. Just one of the many 'forgotten' moments, I guess....

Right now one of my favorite things about nursing Ruby is her hands. More specifically, what she does with them while she's eating. I know she does not totally get the correlation between her movement and the end result, but she is very consistent in what she does. Ruby's top hand always comes up and grabs my shirt and 'holds on' while she's eating. I often grab her little fist and kiss it during nursing, so maybe that's why she stretches it up towards me? Either way, I love it. The other hand, the one that is usually 'down' is starting to end up around my back (just a little, since her arms are not that long yet). Once it's there, she opens and shuts her hand, somewhat randomly, which ends up like a little massage or back-rub. Love, love, love.

For REAL

Ruby has been giving me little 'reflexive' smiles for about a month now. As she's drifting off to sleep she would turn up one, and sometimes both, corners of her mouth and give me an adorable grin. Today she gave me an extra helping of those just after therapy when she was half asleep/half awake. But I know none of those was a 'real' smile out of pure joy.

Fast forward to tonight. Just before Ruby's bath (after the big kids went to bed), Lehr and I were hanging out with her in her room. I had Ruby on my shoulder and she was messing around, holding her neck up and checking things out, like any other 'big girl' would do. At one point she locked eyes with me and was absolutely rocking a steady neck...it was unbelievable. Then she totally, 100% smiled, SMILED, at me. (Lehr was there; he can vouch for me.) It was so awesome and so so so adorable. I don't know how I've gone the last two months without getting to see it. And now that I know she can do it, you know I won't let her go a day without flashing me that toothless grin.

Next time, I'll have a camera.

Butterfly Kisses

My newest (and Ruby's first) favorite thing:

When I'm nursing Ruby and she gives my upper arm butterfly kisses with her long lashes. Life is good.

Wonders

WOW! Just when I think the kids aren't getting any of the responsibility/values/'stuff' Lehr and I are trying to teach them, they shock us and show us they are listening and they ARE getting it.

Tonight we had our usual dinner as a family and then cleared a few dishes off of the table. At this point Lehr and I got sidetracked looking outside at the yard and stopped what we were doing to go out and walk through a few details for the project we're working on. The kids waited patiently while we did our thing, coming outside a few times, but mostly staying in. They called to us once or twice, telling us we needed to come in so they could show us something. When we finally did go in, they yelled 'Surprise'. They had cleaned up the kitchen table, emptied dishes, napkins, mess, and cleaned the floor and table. They even put the fruit bowl back in the middle of the clean table when they were done. All as a surprise for us. Amazing.

Glimpses of Love

I've mentioned before some frustration Lehr and I have had over Eli's seeming ambivalence towards his sister and in response to her never ending acts of kindness for him. He has come very far in this department, but we still pray that one day he'll be more spontaneous in his love for her, rather than being prompted by us.

Today, in a span of less than four hours I witnessed two awesome displays, both originating 100% from Eli (no guidance or initiation from me).

1. While at Eli's camp 'show and tell' day, Eli's group was playing a game of whiffle ball. Maddux mentioned she wanted to have a chance at bat, but she was being pretty shy about it and standing back with me. Eli overheard this and made sure that she got a chance to bat before anyone else batted twice. That meant he had to stop his best friend from taking a turn, and I saw him standing up to the other kids quite assertively, reminding them, "It's my sister's turn now - step back." Seeing him sticking up for her so passionately was awesome because it's something that we have never (and I DO mean never) seen him do around other kids, let alone his friends. 
2. As the kids were playing outside, I told them it was time to come in. Eli obeyed right away while Maddux chose to ignore me and play outside for close to five minutes longer. As Eli and I were inside waiting for her, the skies opened and poured rain. Eli ran upstairs. Maddux ran towards the house, hysterical. (Yes, I was chuckling to myself...gotta love those natural consequences.) Eli returned before Maddux made it into the house (she was a ways away); in his hands he had a dry set of clothing. He told me, "She's going to need some dry stuff to change into." After I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I thanked him and praised him and he returned upstairs to play legos. This is absolutely something Maddux would do for Eli, but I would have never imagined him to think of it, let alone go into her room and choose an outfit for her as she disobeyed. (Remember, he is a rule-keeper, so it really bothers him when people disobey or don't follow the rules.)

Siblings

Many times I have commented on how much I LOVE the phase Eli and Maddux are in, as siblings. For so long (so it seemed), Eli wouldn't give Maddux the time of day, and sibling playtime was non-existent. Not only do they play together now, but they really seem to enjoy each other's company and Eli even seeks Maddux out!

Recently we had a great weekend example of this. Saturday mornings usually find Eli waking around 7AM because his internal clock is used to getting up at 6AM for school. He and Maddux will sometimes play together or come and 'bug' Lehr and I to get out of bed. One particularly awesome morning, Maddux later told me that she woke up (around 7:30) to find Eli lying in her bed with her, kinda snoozing. He was waiting for her to wake up and play. (BTW - on this particular day, he did NOT come to our room first.)

One afternoon before our small group came to visit, I gave the kids the task of tackling the secret room for a solid five-minute clean-up effort. I expected much moaning and groaning from Eli, but instead, I heard him divvying up the work: "Maddux, you do the front part and I'll work on the back." It was really cool to hear them talking it out and working together.

In the same week, I was getting dinner ready and told the kids to go out front and start playing, and I'd join them in five minutes. As they were getting shoes on in the mudroom, I watched them negotiate what they wanted to do.

• Maddux - "Should we do the same as yesterday where you throw the ball to me and I'll throw it to you?"
• Eli - "Yes, but we need to work on grounders and pop-ups."
• Maddux - "OK, so you throw me a grounder and I'll throw you a pop-up. Like 'grounder, pop-up, grounder'?"
• Eli - "Exactly"

I couldn't smile any more if I tried.

Two Peas In A Pod

The weekends bring all sorts of new traditions for us as time goes by. Now that Eli is in school, he often still wakes early on Saturday mornings. He's usually pretty good about staying in his room and creating Lego masterpieces or drawing pictures and lists. A few months back, the two kids started getting up and playing together, which is cool. Some mornings we hear them playing chess or cards, loudly whispering to each other their protests with the other's move. I often hear Eli wake up and go rouse his sister so they can start playing immediately.

This morning was a new, awesome installment. The kids woke a little early; we had ball games, so that was just fine. We heard them playing quietly so we got up right away and got them moving in a productive way. Later this afternoon, Maddux randomly brought up something about the morning to me. I asked her, "Did you wake up on your own, or did Eli come in and wake you up?" She told me that she woke up and saw him lying in her bed, sleeping next to her. So she snuggled him and then they got up and played. If that's not awesomeness, I don't know what is!