Raising boys...

So I love my boys. I never really thought about how many boys/girls I would have. I knew I wanted 5ish kids, but knew the rest of the story was sorta out of my control. Here's the silly part: I really didn't anticipate just how different (my) boys are from me. I talk a lot, but I rarely shout or move around when I do so. I like to walk places, not run. Burping and tooting (I refuse to use the "f" word) and armpits and feet and dirt and bugs are gross to me, not cool. I don't think it's okay to wear sweatpants out to dinner or to see a movie.

I have really good boys. They are sweet and loving and good-natured kids. I feel so blessed to be their mother and I hope they know I feel that way. Today I asked them to take the books off of the bookcase so I could move it. They did it and I had a good chuckle listening to them work. First, they got really distracted looking at book titles and reading some of them. I loved peeking in on them and seeing they were just laying around looking at books. I don't get to see that very often! I think Porter is going to read the Percy Jackson books when he is finished with "Sideways Stories from Wayside School." He was smitten with all the book covers and kept asking me questions about it. Then, they realized it was already getting dark and were "so tired of doing this..." so they stayed a little more focused and started naming their piles of books. I forget all the names of the piles now. I'll have to ask them again in the morning and hopefully they still remember.

This picture makes me laugh! I had to tell them to hold still because I can't figure out the proper settings on our new camera. If they move at all is blurs the whole picture and it's so very frustrating for me! Anyway, as the picture tells, I'm not quite done rearranging this room. Very close, though! Very close.

This is what Jessie and Noah were doing while the boys were working and I was vacuuming. They were supposed to be putting the toys away in her room, but somehow it ended up even messier than it was before and Noah without clothes (again).

See what I mean about the blur? Anyway, Noah says, "I did it!" All the time now and I really love it. He is talking more and more and trying to say all the syllables and full sentences. He's really adorable and I think he might be aware of the fact. Today he brought me one of the chocolate pretzel treats we made last night and said, "For you! YOU! Yeah, YOU!" and gave me a big ole hug and kiss. Sweet, right? Adorable?Then he runs over to the stash of treats and eats a few without asking or anything. He looks over at me and smiles with a huge, chocolatey grin and all I could think is, "Man! I love this kid!"

Tonight Jessie picked out "Ooh La La" Fancy Nancy book and I was reminded of the time she and Logan were playing in the backyard and she just wanted to soak her feet in a bucket of cold water. If the water started to get warm or Noah put too much sand in it she would tell Logan, "I need more cold water for my feet! I need it!" And the amazing part is he would gladly get her more! I laughed and laughed and still laugh just thinking about it!