Maybe the best morning ever...

This morning Sam and I woke up in a slight panic when we realized we had overslept and had 30 minutes to get ready and out the door to church. Sam jumped up and said he'd get the boys ready if I took care of Ruby. Sam returned a few seconds later and said, "They're ready."

I heard what he said, but I didn't really know what he meant. All I could do was check it out for myself. I did and this is what I found.

This may not be a big deal for some people, but for us it was nothing short of absolutely amazing. These are the same children that seem to need shock collars to get completely dressed on any other day, so to see this sight on a Sunday was almost unbelievable. I couldn't have been any prouder.

Yep--my kids are growing up and sometimes that's even a good thing.

What am I waiting for?

The other day I was unpacking some more boxes and came across the book that Sam had put together for my birthday last year of all of the posts on our blog from the month I posted something every day. It was a sad and happy find. Although it has only been about a year the things I read about our life "back then" made me so happy. There was really nothing extraordinary that I had recorded and I loved that. It really did help me remember what life was like last year. The sad part came when I realized how many sweet (and now forgotten) moments I've let slip by. I feel like I keep waiting for just the right night when I have nothing else to do. If these past few months are any indication of what my life is going to be like, a night with "nothing to do" is not going to happen anytime soon. Instead I'm going to try to not worry about having enough time and instead just try to get in the habit of jotting down random things about our life no matter how small or silly.

Reed has a lisp--for now at least. A few days after moving into our new house Reed lost both of his front teeth. He had been letting them "dangle" for waaay too long, looking like some kind of crazy pirate, so it was a welcome change when they finally came out. It's so funny to hear him talk since ever since he was small he has always spoken very clearly. It's certainly a new look for him and further evidence that my boy is really growing up. (I totally know what my mom is talking about now when she would say she wanted to "freeze" us at different stages of life.) Reed is very freezable right now--missing teeth and all.

I think the tooth-fairy has a thing for origami because this time Reed received his dollar bill as a ring. It wasn't until the afternoon that I was aware that he had worn it all day at school, looking like the child of a rapper.

The other day I sent Max upstairs to put on some socks. After several minutes had passed with no sound or sight of him I decided I needed to go check on and prod him along. When I got to his room I found him still without socks, but instead wearing 4 shirts. "This one is my fast shirt. (it has stripes and he thinks that it makes him look like one big blur when he runs)" , this brown shirt matches my brown pants, this shirt is the shirt I already had on, and this one has a hood in case it rains." Then, as he started to sweat, he looked out the window and said, "It's probably not going to rain," and immediately removed that layer. The whole thing was very serious to him and I tried not to let him know how ridiculous it was. More than anyone, Max knows how to push my buttons (and enjoys doing so), but I do adore his silly logic and will be sad when it's not apart of our daily life.

Ruby is currently going through a major growth spurt, not so much physically, but in most every other way. It's like she woke up one day and said, "Oh..I think I get this whole family life thing" and has decided to leave the baby role behind for full-fledged family membership. I could go on and on about how she has grown up so much lately, but in an effort to finish this post (and not appear to show favoritism) here is just one or maybe two things about her right now.

She insists on loading and unloading the silverware by herself. I love that she wants to contribute so I don't even mind that our silverware drawer ends up looking like this...

Meal time in general is a big deal for Ruby especially since she started sitting at the table and not just near us in her high chair. And don't even think about eating without praying around this little girl. Watching her sit at the table with her arms folded waiting for us is just about the cutest thing she does right now.

Phew I did it...back in the swing of things again...kinda.

Gypsies

For three weeks after we left North Carolina we were homeless while we waited to be able to close on our new home in Maryland. I wont lie and say it was easy to feel like gypsies for several weeks, but we did have some wonderful times enjoying the generosity and hospitality of the Bywaters and my sister Whitney in New York. It was stressful not knowing how long it would be until we could move in, but I tried to enjoy the adventurous aspect of it as much as possible.

During one of our nomadic weeks the kids and I decided to drive up to New York to see my sister. To make our drive a little more enjoyable we decided to stop in Pennsylvania at the Hershey chocolate factory. I felt so brave taking my kids on this road trip and even braver when we decided to make an unexpected stop and spend the night in Pennsylvania instead of continuing on to New York. The night in the hotel was not planned, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.

We ordered pizza, jumped on the beds, filled the tub with bubbles and had fun experimenting with lights and the camera. It was a fun and much needed night of rest.











The next morning we woke up and headed straight to Hershey for the factory tour and then the create your own candy bar tour (the pricey highlight of our Pennsylvania trip). I was the only one with kids on the tour. It was the real deal. We all had to wear aprons and hairnets the whole time. I felt a little over my head keeping them all (mostly Ruby) in line and appropriately covered.



Reed was in heaven listening to all of the details of the process.

Max was pretty engrossed as well watching his creation go by.




The boys even got to design their own chocolate bar wrapper while the chocolate cooled. It was pretty neat.

Ruby mostly just wanted to be free and roam the factory without her hairnet. I'm thinking they don't get very many 1 year-olds on this part of the tour.


When we were done Ruby made it very clear how she felt about the hairnet and apron. She was OK with the cap.


All around there was candy as far as the eye could see--amazingly enough we were able to leave without any of it.


After our quick stop in Hershey we headed straight for New York. Actually I'm pretty sure "straight" is not an accurate description. We took many a wrong turn between Hershey and New York including an hour long loop in a very Korean area near the New Jersey border trying to avoid a toll. I ended up giving up and paying the toll. That was certainly one of the more frustrating moments of the trip. Our delay also caused us to drive though Manhattan at 5:00 p.m.. I think I calculated that we traveled 3 miles in one hour---not the best way to end a road trip. Needless to say we were thrilled to finally arrive at my sister's apartment.

Whitney's family lives right on the East River. I think the view of the city is truly breathtaking.


The kids did not appreciate the view as much as I did, but they did enjoy spending time with their cousin Olivia and checking our her stomping grounds including...

The pier







The New York City Library


Gigantic cupcakes at Bryant Park


The Manhattan Temple


and of course the subway.




The one thing Reed really wanted to do in New York was to go to the Empire State Building. I was planning on just taking Reed, but when the time came Max really wanted to go even when I warned him about the long lines we would have to stand in. As I anticipated, about halfway through the waiting process, Max was wishing he has stayed home. Thankfully he also had to go to the bathroom really badly so one of the attendants rushed us up to the front where the bathrooms were. Thank you Max! The attendant was helpful in getting us through the line and even let the boys borrow his hat for a picture.


When we did get to the top of the observation deck it was cold and windy and Max was D-O-N-E. We took one lap around the deck and did the rest of our observing from inside.


Reed was not disappointed by the trip..


I can't say the same about Max.


Our gypsy living was mostly fun while it lasted, but, like this post, I'm glad it's over.

Happy Mothers Day!

Lindsay has done all the posting on our blog for so long that I need to warn everyone that this is Sam posting and not her. I just know that people are so used to her posts that there might be some confusion if I didn't at this explanation right up front. So...

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in my life, but especially to the wonderful mom that I get to see every day! Lindsay does so many things in our home and for our family. I'm thankful for Mothers Day, because even though it would be impossible to express all the gratitude my wife deserves, I at least have this day to remind me to tell her that I at least have some clue how lucky I am to have her.

Lindsay is the photographer in the family, so pictures rarely get taken of her, and good pictures of her are even more rare (because it's so hard to take pictures of yourself), but I've dug out a few pictures of her so I can tell you ten things that I love about the awesome mother of our home. The pictures sometimes go with the comment and sometimes they don't. That's just the kind of post this is.

She's dedicated to our children. Lindsay spends approximately 80% of her waking hours thinking about ways to make our childrens' lives better. She's always trying to think of ways to teach them more, help them develop skills and talents, overcome challenges, have fun and meaningful activities, and are generally the best they can be. It is easy to see how much she loves them.

She's dedicated to our family. Lindsay is the driving force behind everything good in our family. She keeps us on track financially, is constantly finding ways to improve our house and our quality of life, and is always thinking of ways to make our family better. She is constantly thinking and optimizing our schedule. And even when it means uprooting her entire existence to trek off to an unknown part of the world, leaving behind good friends and comfortable surroundings, if she thinks it will be the best thing for our family, she won't even hesitate.

She's dedicated to the gospel. There is nothing Lindsay does that is not somehow related to her love for the gospel. She is constantly pointing our family towards the Lord through teaching and example.

She worries. What? That's a bad thing? No way! She is always worried about others and helps us understand how to do it right. Reed mentioned a kid at school that was different and she began immediately to help Reed think how this boy might feel Reed could help him feel more welcome and accepted. Her worrying has saved me from offending more than a few people (though she can't always stop me) and has likely saved us from several accidents and countless other disasters.

She forgives. I make a lot of mistakes and so do the kids, but she forgives and moves on and we love her for it.

She's a good friend. One of the things that make her such a good friend is she is constantly thinking of others and never wants to put them out. Her goal in social settings is to look for people who might feel left out and fix that. Lindsay is never thinking about herself.

She's talented. From the very beginning I have always been impressed with Lindsay's many and varied talents. If you follow this blog at all, you already know she's a talented writer and photographer. Her Mom has helped her know what kind of effort it takes to develop talents, and she has applied that knowledge over and over.

She's funny. I once told her that she's gotten funnier since we've been married, but I'm not so sure that's true. People probably know that I try too hard to be funny--Lindsay hardly has to try at all. If you've ever thought you were laughing at something that Lindsay said that was unintentionally funny, chances are it wasn't unintentional at all. She has a very quick wit.

She's adventurous. Near the end of my first year of graduate school, I found out about an internship opportunity with Pfizer in Connecticut. I remember shouting the description across the house to Lindsay and saying, half jokingly, "Should we go to Connecticut?" She responded seriously and enthusiastically, "Yes!" Lindsay's not afraid to do things like that. I might have passed on the opportunity because it seemed to crazy to try to make arrangements to take my wife and one-year-old son out-of-state for the Summer, but she's always willing to make things like that work.

She's beautiful. The first words she ever heard from my mouth were, "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met in my entire life!" Those words are as true as ever almost fourteen years later.

She's perfect. For me anyways. Who else could tolerate me like she does? Our life works because of her. (Okay, that was more than ten things, but I've never been able to do math exactly right when I'm around her.)