The Dump Truck

We were lingering our local Target store for nearly an hour before ending up in the rows of toys. We had looked at music, books, some clothing, and a few other miscellaneous things before resorting to the toys. You see, Caleb had received a gift card to Target from one of his little friends for his birthday. The gift card was burning a hole in his pocket. Unlike me, when my youngest gets a gift card, he wants to spend it. He does not want to wait until there's something that he's just DYING to have... He wants to spend it NOW!

So painstakingly, we shopped. It was just daddy, Caleb and myself hunting for the pot of gold hidden somewhere within the walls of Target. After cruising the Legos, the action figures, and the board games, we stumbled upon the aisle with the cars, mini skateboards and Tonka trucks. Knowing that Caleb LOVES to take things apart and build things, I saw this box of mini skateboards with all of their mini accessories, parts, decorative stickers, etc.. I thought, "Wow... THIS has got to be the perfect thing. Surely our search will be over now!" I turned around to show Caleb and I saw the sweetest thing. I stopped dead in my tracks. Every bit of my anxiety over being in this store searching for the impossible came to a screeching halt.

My nine year old boy was on his knees taking a big ol' Tonka dump truck off the shelves. He was tinkering with the truck, learning about it's bells and whistles. What he learned was that it didn't have many bells and whistles. It didn't have any batteries. It was a plain and simple truck that had a back end to fill up with boy "stuff" (be it dirt, rocks or whatever) and then dump. J and I both saw him and our hearts just melted. On the front of the box it had the big number 3 in red. This was the age recommendation. Caleb soon saw it and his words took our melted hearts and broke them.

"I think I'm too big for this, but it sure is cool, huh?"

We explained to him that it was a SUPER cool truck. We told him that he actually received 2 Tonka trucks for his 2nd birthday and that he used to play with them all the time. We reminded him that we still had the trucks in our storage area under the house. We had put them there for safe keeping when we noticed that he had stopped playing with them as much. His eyes got big as he remembered, and he paused.

"Dad, do you think I could get something else with my card, but we could go home and wash my trucks and take them outside to play with again tomorrow?"

I don't know who was more excited... Caleb or my hubby. Right there in the middle of Target's toy aisle we explained to Caleb that there are some things that you never get too old for. We told him of the importance of always doing what you love to do (as long as it's something positive, and not negative, of course). J and I shared a moment with our son that we will never forget. It was a teaching moment... for all of us. Caleb taught us the importance of being true to yourself, no matter what others think. He was worried that his big brothers would think that he was a baby for wanting to play with Tonka trucks again. We tried to ease his mind about that, and in the end, it worked.

Not only did he pridefully pull the trucks out the next day and plop himself (along with his daddy) right into a big pile of red dirt, but his brothers were drawn to be out there with him. They respectfully allowed him his own "Daddy time" for awhile, but they lurked and then joined in later. Yes... my 13 year old, almost 11 year old, 9 year old and 37 year old boys were outside playing with trucks in the dirt, and what a sight that was to see.

Our hearts are only as old as our minds let them be.

I will have to thank the little boy who gifted Caleb with the Target gift card. He not only gifted Caleb... He gifted the hearts of our entire family.

Birthday # 9!

Tomorrow is my baby's birthday. Caleb will be 9 years old. Did you get the part about him being my BABY???? ~ SIGH ~

Tomorrow we are heading up to Tahoe for a week's stay on the lake. We will be celebrating Caleb's birthday BIG TIME! We are bringing the kayak, the raft, the fishing gear, books to read, games to play... etc., etc.. We are SO excited!! Today, my youngest son gifted me though. Today he gifted me with climbing up on my chest (well, he's so big now that actually, he covers a LOT more than just my chest) and falling asleep. I got to hold him in my arms on the couch and listen to him breathe just like I did the day he was born. Mmmmm... it was so very sweet, and it truly was his gift to me.

Caleb inspires me. He inspires me to be fearless about living life. He lives his life with such vigor and the smile that he carries on his face reaches the depths of every soul that he comes in contact with. I love this boy. When he tries something new, he always gives it his all, and usually... that is more than enough!

Caleb can make people laugh at the drop of a hat. He comes up with the funniest things to say. He can also warm you up with the biggest, strongest squeeze of a hug that you have EVER felt! Actually, right now his nickname around the house is "Baby Huey". He LOVES to go around picking people up. He has picked me up off the floor, as well as both of his big brothers. I have no doubt that he could probably even pick his dad up, but we won't allow him to. Hernias aren't a good thing.

This boy of ours is such a gift. He lifts me up in more ways than one.

My life is richer because of you, my sweet Caleb. Happy birthday...

Love,

Mama

A Vision of Summer

So... Here we are in the first week of August and I feel like it is actually the first week of summer! We are officially done with baseball and swim team... for now. We get a short break and then fall ball and soccer start. When our third boy came along I used to get all kinds of comments about how busy we were going to be. Our lives would be full of sports, sports and more sports. I told everyone that we probably wouldn't CHOOSE that lifestyle. Well, years down the road... I wouldn't have it any other way.

Caleb finished his first swim team season strong. He took several first place ribbons at each meet, and then he took a 4th place in the back stroke for the district championships! He swam against A LOT of other swimmers to get this ribbon. We are so proud of him and all of his hard work in the pool. He earned himself a special award at the award ceremonies too. He can't wait to get back in the pool for swim team next season!

We have been busy playing too. The boys and I have taken a few short road trips during the past couple of weeks. We traveled to the city a couple of times for baseball games, days of thrift shop hunting (Ooooo.... one of our FAVORITES) and lunch with Dad. We have canned jam and pickles here at home. We are waiting on the tomatoes to ripen so that we can make some pizza sauce to can this summer too. We are also gearing up to pick blackberries next week so that we can prepare them for pies, ice cream, etc..

Every sumer we pick an old TV series to rent and watch from the beginning of the series. We have watched 'Gilligan's Island', 'Brady Bunch', 'The Waltons', and this summer our choice pick was 'Leave it to Beaver'. I'm fascinated with how much the boys LOVE these shows. Just goes to show you... children crave good stuff. They would rather watch shows like these over the weirdness on the Disney channel ANY DAY! Makes my heart sing.

During the next couple of weeks we will be busy gearing up for school. There are rooms to clean out, drawers to clean out, back packs to clean out and fill again, etc.. Yesterday my mother in law gifted each of the boys with a $50 gift card to Old Navy! WOW... gift cards to help out with school clothes... now THAT'S an awesome thing!!!

We also get to go enjoy our family vacation in a little over a week. We are so excited to get away and spend quality time with each other. It's always much needed, but this year... I'm especially feeling the pull.

Summer is a time for neat traditions. Playing sports has indeed become one of those traditions, but we always fit plenty of time in doing these other fun and meaningful things too.

I'm grateful for the ability to do it all. What does YOUR vision of summer look like?

My Billboard

I've been wanting to write a post about the boys and all of our happenings lately. They are growing before my eyes. Summer time seems to do that. Like gardens... give them water and sunshine and watch them blossom.

This morning though, I need to write about something else, so I'll come back to boys soon....

For a long time, I have prayed that I would receive the gift of hearing God talking to me loud and clear. I have prayed for billboards before my eyes to make his words to me unmistakable. There are people in my life that have that gift, and it has always seemed incredible to me. They live their lives with such peace day in and day out. At least it has seemed that way to me... until yesterday.

Yesterday I got my billboard. Was I peaceful about it? No. Was I panicked? Yes. This morning I woke up with peace though. I woke up grateful that God listens to my heart cries and His timing is AMAZING! I have a task before me. I won't share here what that task specifically is, but it involves sharing Jesus with someone I love dearly. This person KNOWS Jesus, but has walked away many years ago. During these years, I have continued to share Jesus with this person... but I have not been bold about it. BOLD was the word on my billboard yesterday.... and now I am praying that God will give me the perfect words to share with this person, so that he can see that love brought me to this conversation with him. My love for him... but more importantly, God's love for him.

God is good. I trust Him. I know He will give me the words.... He gave me my billboard.

Refuge

Know my divine power. Trust in Me. Dwell in my love. Laugh and trust. Laughter is a child's faith in God and good. Seek safety in My secret place. You cannot be touched or harmed there. That is sure. Really feel as if you were in a strong tower, strongly guarded, and against which nothing can prevail.

~ Taken from a little devotional called 'God Calling'. These short 1 minute devotionals speak VOLUMES to my soul!

Think of the biggest sky scraper you have EVER seen. Aren't they mighty... and even a bit beautiful? Their greatness makes them appear in-destructable. And yet... as history has told us, they are fragile even still. God is not though. He is mighty, beautiful AND His greatness is indescribable! HIS greatness is NOT fragile. It is strong! His love is the ultimate shelter over me. As the devotional says... under Him I am guarded and NOTHING can harm me.

I sit here in my quiet house this morning with the windows and doors open, cool air making it's way through and I am experiencing such peace. I have peace in knowing that God is my tower. He is my refuge and I am so grateful that I do not live my life without Him. Nothing breaks my heart more than knowing that there are people in my life that are experiencing such great pain, but they are doing it without Him. They are not choosing to seek refuge in the shelter of His tower.

This morning I am on my knees for these loved ones of mine.

Riding In Cars With Boys

Lately, I've done a lot of that.... Riding in cars with boys.

Summer has been flying by, mostly because we have spent it in full speed. This week is our first opportunity to slow down and enjoy some lazy dog days.... Oh, and hear it will be plenty HOT this week too! So, I wanted to start the week off by jotting down a few thoughts about our "adventures" around here.

Lucas once again played on the All-Star team this year. They had several two hour practices each week and the tournament was last week and part of this last weekend. It was a double elimination tournament, so they played three games and that was The End. Lucas did some awesome ball playing! Every year we are amazed at his abilities and how much he progresses at his game. He genuinely LOVES the game, and it's not hard to see. He puts every ounce of passion into every play, and he ALWAYS has some great plays and "at bats". However, we learned this year that one or two people can't carry the game. Everyone needs to feel the same in order to play their best game and win. It was sad to hear him express his frustrations after the last game. Not about not winning, but about how a couple of the boys on his team have bad attitudes and how they bring down the team causing everyone else not to play to their potential. Luke gets it... we hope and pray that someday he is able to play with a group of boys who get it too.

Caleb has been quite the fish this summer. He gets up at the crack o' dawn to go to swim team practice in the morning (we don't ALWAYS make that one) and then he goes again in the afternoon. He has participated in two meets and taken first place in his age category in three of the four strokes. His name is now on our local records board. His smile couldn't be any bigger or brighter! He has really taken this challenge and ran with it (or shall I say swam with it). We had no idea what to expect out of swim team since we have never done it before, but we are quickly learning that it is a HUGE time commitment, but it is what Caleb LOVES.

Colby has been an excellent encouragement to his brothers. He knows his season is coming next (soccer) so for the most part, he is happy to be the fan in the stands for now. He took a bad spill on his bike a couple of weeks ago, and the Doc thought that he had fractured part of his leg, but thankfully.... legs in casts were NOT in our summer plan. His leg was pretty gimpy for a week or so, and it required daily wrapping and an extra dose of Mama love, but I'm pretty sure he'll be back on his bike today. He has come up with some business plans for their "lemonade stand business" that would knock the socks off of many men in the Big City. This boy is a true thinker. The three of them have made $35 in selling lemonade for six hours! In addition, they have received two yard jobs from people on our street totaling $60! They are some money making dudes alright!!!

In all of this, I have been driving them around. We drive from home to baseball fields (some an hour or more away), from baseball fields to swimming pools, from swimming pools to grocery stores for lemonade stand supplies and weed wacker string, from stores to doctor's offices and then... finally.... back home. In between all of that, we have fit in a trip to the river for fun, a camping trip with friends, and a few just for kicks pool days.

I sat in church last night and listened to our pastor talk about reaching people. I immediately knew that this message served as a reminder of my "mission". After church I told the boys that as a young girl, I always wanted to go on mission trips, but I never got to. I explained to them that ever since then, I have had this un-fulfilled desire within me to go out and share Jesus with others. As I sat in church last night, I remembered that my number one mission is being served while riding in cars with boys. I am serving Jesus by serving my family and showing them what Jesus looks like in our home, on the baseball field, in the baseball stands, at the swimming pool, in front of our own house while helping them serve others with lemonade, and the list goes on.

We were blessed with an amazing opportunity last week. To back up, we were planning on being a part of our church group serving water bottles to the crowds at a local 4th of July parade. At the last minute, we decided that we probably shouldn't attempt it with one boy limping around on a very sore leg. We were bummed that we couldn't be a part of serving in this way. HOWEVER, the very next day we were traveling down to the river to go get wet on an extremely hot day. We were on a very long dirt road when we came upon a group of four young people whose car had broken down. They were going to attempt to walk out of the canyon to a service station to call for help. We had the truck, so we invited them to get into the back and we would take them out. Before we picked them up, we had our air conditioner cranked on this almost 100 degree day, but we thought it wouldn't be very 'cool' of us to stick them in the back, roll up our windows and enjoy the air conditioning. So we suffered the dust and hot air right along with them while climbing the one lane, winding, bumpy dirt road up the canyon for the next half an hour to 45 minutes. At one point, the boys started to complain. We talked about the Good Samaritan and the fact that there must have been many people who just passed these young people to get to the water, but in order to be who God CALLED us to be, we found it a privilege to stop and help these people. After all, it would have taken them all day to get out of there, and they didn't even have any water. God blessed us with this opportunity to serve... it didn't necessarily take an "event" to be the face, hands and feet of Jesus.

It's in the every day.

God has reminded me... It's in Riding In Cars With Boys.

Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me

I found this video this morning and it brought early morning tears to my eyes. I can't tell you how many times J and I have wanted to move from this ol' house we live in. Every time we mention that though, our boys FREAK OUT! I have come to understand that it is home for us.... and for these sweet boys of ours... it is part of what "builds" them every day.

ENJOY!

Oh, and don't forget to dis-able the background music at the bottom of the page before viewing the video...