Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam, it is your 5th birthday today. You have been asking how many days until your birthday for about two months now. Well, it is finally here buddy. You headed off to preschool today with treats in hand to share with your classmates and a goose egg on your forehead from running square into a cement pole at Sam's club last night and a gash on your arm from the fall you took the night before while walking into Chick-Fil-A. Honestly though, this is exactly how I would have pictured you walking into school today. This is just who you are. You are extreme but you are spectacular and fun.
When you are excited about something, you get really excited and want to share it with others so that they will experience that same joy. Unfortunately, there are many times that others do not seem to have the same appreciation for things as you do which then breaks your heart. You often cry loudly shouting something like, "You hate me!" or "Then I will just never play with you ever again!". Because you live in a world of extremes, it is kind of hard to know when you are faking it, a little sad, really sad, or when your heart is broken. You have always been able to cry big crocodile tears with really little effort. (Maybe acting is in your future.)
You get angry from time to time and when you get angry, you get really angry. Most the time you just growl and scrunch your face up but you have been known on more than a few occasions to run after a brother or two and pummel them in the head.
You play hard. You rarely walk anywhere. At this moment your front teeth are both chipped and dead, you have a massive wound on your arm, knot of your forehead, knot on the side of your head (Monday at preschool), and red scar on your peenie (somehow you fell off the toilet about nine months ago and the toilet lid got ya).
You ooze love. You are my hugger and always have been. You're the snuggler. I don't think you left my lap until after you turned 3 and that was only because Isaac arrived and kind of took that spot. I am not sure you liked him enough at first to share the space;)
Sam, you are a wildly emotional child but you are a delight. I always know how you feel. Sometimes that is frustrating and requires me to work harder as a mommy but most of the time, it is just plain amusing. You are a funny kid. I NEVER know what you will say. In the past year you have told our carpooling friend that her car smelled bad, a good family friend that he was a "little bald", another good family friend that she drove like your grandma, and another carpooling friend that you knew I was a secret agent because I have a secret compartment where I put my sunglasses:) I can count on a good laugh or red face from you almost every single day.
So thank you Sam. Thank you for keeping me humble and in regular conversation with God. Thank you for bringing such joy to our family. Thank you for coming to me in the middle of the night when you are scared and actually believing that I, little ole mommy, can keep you safe from the scary guys. Thank you for being my little buddy!
Happy Birthday buddy! We love you.
PS - A couple of other little Sam notes from the past year:
-You only eat peanut butter sandwiches because, although you like jelly, you don't like getting your hands sticky.
-You won't drink milk out of one of the cups in our cabinet because the duck on it has a dirty face. For that matter, every time you finish eating, you ask if you have anything on your face. You also get grossed out if Ike is sitting next to you with a dirty face. I mean like you make gagging sounds and everything:).
-You take forever to go to the bathroom, especially in public restrooms, and you will talk about anything and everything while you sit and we wait.
-You told me the other day that it was my fault that you need to play Indiana Jones on the Wii all of the time. If I had not bought it for you, then you wouldn't have to play it so much.
-You are an awesome reader and you have been for several months now. Good job buddy!
-You always take your shoes off and place them right in the entry way. This doesn't sound like much but I can't get any of the other people in my house to do this.
-You started swimming like a fish this summer. You ditched the life jacket and love the freedom! Yea!
-You were frustrated the other day because you were struggling with something on the Wii. When I tried to help, I myself had a couple of failures so you said, "Now you feel my pain."
-You love to tell jokes right now. You love it so much that you are willing to tell the same one over and over to the same person over and over just in hopes of getting a few more laughs.
-You don't really like girls right now. You say that they "make you nervous". That's ok with me though. You made sure to clarify that it was only "wittle girls not big ones like me";)
-You were obsessed with Ninja Turtles for most of the past year which is why there are so many pictures of you with swords. You were a Ninja Turtle:) Then you moved onto an Indiana Jones obsession. You carried your woven belt around because mommy was too cheap to buy you a whip. Now you love Batman. You have a mask and Batman boomerang. Just wait until you see what you are getting for your birthday:)

First Day of 2nd Grade

Will is starting 2nd grade today. I am excited, nauseous, sad. The first day is always tough for me when Will heads out. As a kid, I loved the first day, new pencils, new lunchbox, new shoes. Of course there was always the little bit of apprehension. Will I know any of the other kids in my class? Will I like my teacher? But probably even before lunch, I would find at least one friend that I knew would soon be one of my best friends and I would know for sure that when I grew up, I would be a teacher:) But, now it is not me on my first day, but my eldest child, the family peacemaker, Sam's best friend, and Ike's protector. So I am sad to not have him around all day for the next 9 months. I am nauseous because I want him to find that best bud and love his new teacher. I am excited because this is Will's chance. It is his time to go and expand his world and create unlimited possibilities for his life. It is his time to not be the big brother or the oldest child. It is his time to be kind, funny, and/or helpful to someone else and maybe show them a little of the Jesus that lives inside him. Will is an amazing guy and as his mom, it hurt just a little to leave him at school today. But, as his mom I also felt pure joy at the beautiful boy he is becoming, the confidence he holds inside him, and the boundless opportunities that await him. Go get 'em Will!

We've Got Company!

Nana and Pawpaw came to visit for the Fourth of July holiday. I am proud to say that on this visit I actually remembered to take pictures. I guess I always get caught up in the moment and just forget to grab the camera. I still didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked but I now have a goal for next time:)
Anyway, Nana and Pawpaw flew in on the Fourth. There was some confusion as to where they actually landed though. Springfield got a new airport. Not just a new terminal, a whole new airport. This caused confusion for those of us picking them up and especially for those flying in. However, we did retrieve them eventually so that was good;) We didn't do anything majorly adventurous while they were here, although I think Nana thinks my life is one treacherous activity after another, but we spent time together. With my parents in Florida, we rarely get to just do life together. This week, we went to the movies and tee ball games. We watched fireworks and ate popcorn. We went to Steal Your Dollar City (Silver Dollar City) with The Fleischman family for a day in the sun. It was really hot but great fun none the less. For a week we just got to be. My children got to spend time with their Nana and Pawpaw, and they loved it.
So thank you Nana and Pawpaw for spending a week of your vacation time with a very exhausting, unpredictable, but in my opinion, entertaining crowd. We love you and miss you already.

You're Gonna Miss This

Here are some pictures that our family took last August. Yep, I said last August. It has been a whole year, and I still haven't ordered any. But the other day I was looking through them trying to figure out what to buy and I was struck by how quickly the time has flown. It is almost time to take new pictures (yearly thing) and I haven't even bought these!
I guess in the day to day life of being a mom of three young boys, I have lost track of time. Some days the time just flies by and other days I am counting the minutes until bedtime. I think we all do it. We make plans for what is coming next and lose what is right now. So, before we take new pictures and none of these get seen because they are old, here is my family in August of 2008 (Brent, Ashlee, Will 6, Sam 3, and Ike 9 months). Enjoy!

The Beach With My Boys

We have spent this past week in Destin, FL. My in-laws, Bill and Fran, graciously and crazily (is that a word?) spent their time and money planning such an event. It was our family, Bill and Fran, and Kevin and Jenni and their three children. Honestly, the idea of 6 children 7 years-old and under on a 30+ hour roadtrip gave me a bit of anxiety. But, was I going to turn down a week at the beach because of a little or a lot of madness? Of course not, I have three boys. Madness is a part of my daily life. And my plan was, if one of them gets unruly, put him in a different car with some other unsuspecting poor soul;)
Anyway, we headed down last Saturday morning (5:00 am expected departure time - delayed, 5:40 am actual departure time). There were hopes of children sleeping the first few hours and maybe a 8:00 am breakfast. Well, none of them went back to sleep. So, breakfast was at 7:00 am. And this was a little glimpse into how the rest of the day would roll. We were not guided by schedules, maps and arrival times but by small bellies and bladders. We had one vomit, Ike, but he seemed ok before and after the event. I am not sure if he was carsick or just got to coughing and gagged himself. (He tends to do that.) He was in the car with Kevin and Jenni during that fun time. Sorry K&J but thank you Jesus!:) There were the usual stops for gas and food. We also had two sudden roadside stops to pee (Sam). It is hard to work on scheduled potty stops with Sam. If you ask him if he needs to go his response is always the same, "Yes, I need to go. I always need to go." So he might go then and then again feel the need 10 minutes later.
Honestly though, even with 6 small kids and it taking us 16 hours in the car each way, we really had very little drama. We only had one crying issue and that was because Ike was sitting next to Eli and Ike is obviously a bit of a torturer. He felt the need to continuously touch Eli. He wasn't pinching or hitting, just touching. Anyone with an annoying sibling knows that this innocent touching is the worst kind of torture. (I think Ike could work with the Pentago in some interrogation techniques. Unfortunately, I am not sure that Congress would approve of his heinous tactics.) So, Eli stood this annoyance as long as any 2 year-old should be expected to and then he cried the sadest cry I have ever seen. Sorry Eli!
Here are some pics of our trip. We had beautiful weather and the condo we stayed in was great for beach time, nap time, and then beach time again. It was really a wonderful week. In the 16 years that I have been dating Brent, I have only really traveled with the Chism family a handful of times. And to go against every stereotype of in-laws, I really get along well with the family that inherited me. This was a trip comprised of one family (Bill, Fran, Brent, and Kevin) that has become three families (Bill, Fran,) (Brent, Ashlee, Will, Sam, Ike) (Kevin, Jenni, Lexi, Aaron, and Eli). And although our ages and upbringings make each of us individuals and we see and deal with life differently at times, we are a family. And it is our love of Jesus and for each other that makes us the same and that love made this week great. So thank you Bill, Fran, Kevin, Jenni, Lexi, Aaron, and Eli for giving our family a really fun time and some wonderful memories.

Flying Kites and Jesus

You will see pictures in this post of everyone in the family but little Ike. He had already gone down for his nap when I thought about the kite I had randomly purchased one day several months ago. Ike loves being outside. Rain, snow, sleet, he doesn't care. He just wants to be out there running free. So although I write this post with a smile on my face, I am a little sad that Isaac missed this sweet time for our family. We missed him:)

Yesterday was beautiful, and Brent and I were looking for ways to get the boys outside. There are many, many kids in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, not many of them live right around us. So, my boys, mostly Will, resist going outside. Will doesn't like getting hot and Sam really doesn't like being dirty. (They are obviously my boys!) I guess they figure if it is gonna probably be just the two of them anyway, might as well stay inside cool and clean. That being said, Brent and I still work hard every nice day to get them out into the fresh air. So, yesterday after listing ALL the glorious things to do outside without much response, I remembered our new Diego kite. This idea actually got a cheer from the boys and the $3 purchase made for a nice little family activity.

Ok, so now that I have explained how we got there, I wanted to share what most made me smile about flying the kite. It was a little comment by each of the boys that made us pause with pride that they are listening but laugh about how simple the message is for them.

Brent was flying the kite and doing a masterful job at that. The wind was really blowing so at times the kite would dip and dive. A gust of wind came along that caused the kite to spiral to the ground. Before Will could get to the kite to help get it going again, it rose off the ground and was back soaring again. Will came running back yelling, "It rose again. It rose again like Jesus!" So then Sam responded, "Fly Jesus, fly!" ;)

We are taught to bring The Lord into every part of our day. Good job Will and Sam.

Easter Sunday

(Let me preface this blog by saying that I get the true meaning of Easter. But I will be honest in saying that although I am not of the world, simply living in it, there are times when my humanity overtakes me and the line between in and of becomes blurred.)
I am seven years into this parenting thing, and I think I have finally found a peace about the Mommy side of Easter morning. You know, the "Easter outfit". I guess the first few years went off without a hitch. Will was an only child and so it was easy to get one child coordinated and ready for his big Easter debut. But, the last few years we added children and it has messed me up. I mean, don't get me wrong, I spend hours thinking, plotting, and pounding the pavement looking for clothing that color coordinates the boys with Brent and I. And each year I wake up Easter morning feeling excited and prepared. Then, the boys wake and those positive feelings spiral downward quickly into Negativeland. This year looked to be no different.
I woke early so as to be ready early so that we could all be ready early and actually get a picture before church. (In years past, I have run short on time and settled for a picture after church which then resulted in disappointment because at least one child was asleep or heading that way and the other or others would sit for a picture but were coming down off of an Easter candy high and so their need to make Mommy happy was nonexistent.) The boys woke in fairly good moods and at a fairly descent time, especially for not going to bed until 10:30 pm.. (They were having somewhat of a sleepover with their best bud, Dad.) But, their attitudes turned sour when it was time to get dressed. Will didn't want to get dressed because he thought his shorts looked goofy. (They were blue and green plaid. Oh, the horror!) Sam was upset because his clothes were cold. What? Ike just didn't want to have anything to do with clothing. After much discussion of the quality of Will's new duds and how many children in other countries would love to wear plaid, a blow drier to Sam's shirt and shorts, and pinning Ike down to the floor in a wrestling type move seen only on the WWF, the three were dressed. They were not happy but dressed. Unfortunately, by this time we were running late so it was a quick look in the Easter baskets for a photo opportunity and it was out the door for church. Another year and another no photo of my family before church when reason might still exist. So, off we went to church and afterward we tried to take some pictures in the lobby in an attempt to avoid some drama. (This also allowed me to threaten to not take them home if they didn't sit for the picture;))
Well, here are the results. There are five people in the pictures when there should be five and three when there should be three. No, not everyone is looking at the camera. No not everyone is happy about being there but, they are there. I have told you this long story and this is the point: This is the year that I am ok with all of this. The pictures aren't perfect but we are not perfect. And one day these photos will remind me of life back in the day when each day was a challenge and an adventure. This was life when no matter how hard I planned, I was never prepared for the unexpected or the overwhelming. This was a time in my life when I needed Jesus the most! Who else can I blame or ask to explain this madness I call my life?