Oh my friends, I became a mother for the first time sixteen years ago today.

Jacob was such a beautiful baby boy.  I remember that I was overwhelmed when Rich wheeled him in his little crib, into the room to me after his first bath.  He picked him up and put him into my arms, and that was the moment when the motherly love hit me full force and I knew there was nothing like that feeling.  It was one of the most treasured gifts from God, the love I felt as a held a warm, sleepy-heavy newborn baby boy.  My firstborn son, born a week after Christmas, on New Years Eve.  I was 20 years old.

Jacob decided on chocolate cake this year.  I invited him to make it with me but he politely declined.  Little Seth ran over with happy eyes and said HE would help me!  and so with Sarah, I had two little helpers.  They even put aprons on.  Rich gave me a new mixer for Christmas, and when we realized it was the same size as my old one, we returned it and bought this red beauty.  It has a seven quart bowl with enough room to mix 14 dozen cookies.

Jacob sat with his sister at the table to work on his art.  He has a collection of Sharpies and colored pencils that he uses, along with a calligraphy set.  He enjoys drawing and lettering.  Grace joins him often, and draws in her sketchbook, too

When Ethan returned from basketball practice, Jacob opened his birthday gifts to an admiring crowd of siblings.

He was given a leather journal, a set of speakers, and new sneakers.  He had been hinting for them one day when he was out shopping with Rich, which is why he smiled like this at his Dad.  He understood why he was told “no” on that day…….

After he opened gifts, we went out shopping for party food.  Shrimp, sandwiches, chips and dip, and soda.

I was able to use my new fiesta chip and dip set, from my husband.

Jacob and Rich

In this next picture, their smiles are so wonderful because they are being stinkers (I was trying to get in the picture and they stood in front of me!!)

You can just barely see the top of my head.

With our firstborn.

Grace and I took pictures of each other, and practiced different expressions; trying to avoid the big bright standard smiles.

I went to bed for a nap.  Then, all of a sudden, David and Caleb came in the room to talk.  They had been outside, sled riding.

“Dave!  What happened to your nose?”  (it was redder in real life, the flash smoothed out the redness)

“It was a snow plow and my face was the snow plow!”

“But I was the first one to get a BLOODY CUT!”  ~Caleb

His face was cold and damp from the snow.  He told me that on his way down the big hill, he went through a pricker patch and a pricker took his glove right off his hand and cut his finger.

He was so proud of his bloody cut that he refused to put a band aid on it, so he could keep looking at it.

After that interesting news, I took my nap.  It was so cozy and warm under the covers. 

Seth woke me up after a while and we had an early dinner.

Then, the boys (all five) went outside to play in the snow.  It was dark out, but not as cold, and they had so much fun.

This is Ethan and Dave, with their snowboards.  I stood out on the porch to watch and cheer them on.

When they came in, we cleared the table and had birthday cake.

Happy 16th birthday, Jacob!

I love you.

“The Mother of Boys”

Praise to the High One for giving me joys
Peculiarly sweet, I’m the mother of boys!
Mud puddles, torn blue jeans, toads, whistles and worms.
The furred and feathered and whatever squirms.

Black knuckles, bats, arrows and thundering noise.
They’re all in a day for the mothers of boys.
But, ah, ’tis a dear joy to turn the blue eyes
To the manifold wonder of earth, sea and skies.

And, ah, ’tis a dear joy to watch a small hand seize
The hand of God in the knowledge of these.
Spare me, oh High One, to praise Thee more when
This mother of boys is the mother of men.

~ written by Miriam Sieber Lind, mother of six sons and one daughter ~

Someone special needed glasses, so with some help from her fabulous Aunt Amanda and her MOM (yours truly),

Grace was all set up with her very first pair.

The world around her was a little fuzzy around the edges and now is crystal clear.

We are so thankful; it is a joy to watch her enjoy the beauty around her with “new eyes”.

 We went on several walks this weekend, soaking all the lovely nature in.

 Doesn’t she look cute?

Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

Isaac Watts

this special boy,our son, has a birthday today

his name is David (after my brother) Lloyd (after Rich’s grandpa)

he is such a special part of our family

a lot of fun to be around

observes everything, remembering little details from years ago

sentimental, yet all-boy; loves dirt, moving fast, mischief, and computer games

(a perfect blend of Rich and me; a testament of our love)

handsome

currently reading the “series of unfortunate events” books

he is our middle child; has three older siblings and three younger ones

so he gets to be both a big boy or a little boy, depending on the day

but I bet today he’s BIG

’cause he’s ten

Two young men made their way to High School this morning, and one beautiful young lady went to Middle School.  Jacob (10th), Grace (8th), Ethan (9th)

The big yellow bus came at 6:30 in the morning and off they went.

Oh, just now noticing that Grace had her Bible with her. 

David and Caleb both went to the same elementary school, a first this year.  Caleb is in 2nd and Dave is in 4th.  I love thinking of them both in the same building.

Their bus arrived at 7:30…….and look at Caleb’s sweet smile. 

We waved goodbye to them and I was left at home with my two darling little ones who are still firmly attached to my apron strings.

Keeping the “fold your arms” thing going.

I took Seth and Sarah out this morning for a little bit and when we got home they played outside.  It’s naptime now and the house is so quiet!  I have about an hour before it all gets filled up with the happy family sounds I love so much. (most of the time) 

Also, Rich is coming home tonight after being away all week on business.  I can’t wait to see him again.

Hugs to you, my friends!  You are loved.

“Only the heart knows how to find what is precious.”  Fyodor Dostoyevsky

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”  Ecclesiastes 3:1

He has 150 children in his class so Rich and I were the only ones from the family who could attend Ethan’s 8th grade promotion program last night.

This was Ethan’s first year of public school and he did so well.  He was the only one of our children who made honor roll multiple marking periods.  We discovered he has a talent for the high jump when one day in gym class he astounded his class and gym teacher by jumping higher than any other middle schooler, ever.  (I believe it is from years of the trampoline in the yard, or from spending so much time with bullfrogs.)  We also discovered his natural abilities in Spanish, where he consistently received high marks.

Most of all, he has remained our good ol’ E….a happy, smart, helpful, precious son, brother, and friend.  He has been our pride and joy since the day he was born.  It is an honor to watch him learn and grow.

Yesterday, on a hot New England day, Rich and I drove  the children to the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island.  It took us about an hour and a half to get there, the perfect distance to put my feet up on the dash, read my book, hold hands with Rich, and listen to itunes on the radio.  I did get into trouble once, for nagging Rich about his driving.  But, after he confessed that he began the trip with the intention of driving the best he could and that I made him tense, I shut my mouth and just tried to look (and act) pretty.  

We wanted to visit the zoo for Caleb.  He is six and is very interested in snakes.  He had to write a paper on snakes for first grade, and that is how it all began.  Since then, he’s been checking out every book at the library that he could find on snakes.  He is starting to collect rubber snakes, because we won’t let him get a real one.  One morning he came to me with tears in his eyes and said, “Mom?  I feel so sorry for the milk snake, because people confuse it with the venomous coral snake…….and kill it!” (sob) I found him a “Snake Dictionary” and he knows all about each snake.  There are truly a great many different snakes out there in the big world, and some of them are (dare I say) quite lovely, too.  Caleb’s mind is like a sponge, soaking up all this information….but, he wants to see the real thing.  Books are not enough anymore, and he’s been begging us to take him to the zoo.

We saw the long necked giraffe.

The elephants were getting their bath.

We saw penguins.

And beautiful pink flamingos.

Then….finally…..the snakes.  Two Emerald Tree Boas to be exact.  Perhaps we missed something, but the anticipation of seeing a variety of snakes was great, and to see only one kind was  little teeny bit disappointing.  Good ol’ Caleb seemed to be fine with it, though.  It helped that we bought him a rubber snake at the gift shop.

We only lost track of family members once or twice.  No one cried.  We all enjoyed ourselves, and what’s better to wear on the skin than sticky stuff from little boy hands?  I can’t think of any perfume better than that.  It’s been 12 years since Jacob was Seth’s age and I’m so utterly grateful to have this three year old in my arms, or even, yes, running helter skelter away from me just like his four big brothers have done.  I’m still good at catching them and bringing them back.

Our Davy also loves the different animals and was thrilled to run around, looking at all of them.  He also had a thrill when he turned the crank to stamp an animal on a penny.

So sweet.  It really doesn’t take much to please a child.

We left the zoo, hot and happy.  On the way home we stopped at a chicken place for a late lunch.

Back at home, Caleb worked on his new snake coloring book. 

Rich went straight to the hammock and when he fell asleep, I took Sarah in my arms.

Under the late afternoon son, we went swimming, for me it was the first swim in our newly dug out pond.  I loved it, the children were amazed that I was swimming with them.  So was the cat.

When Rich woke up, he and the boys went to work on the yard.

They discovered turtle eggs in the topsoil that he had brought in from the quarry.

Perfectly round. 

I also made a discovery in my garden.

Green caterpillars all over in my lettuce.

I picked as many as I could off.

And threw them in with the chickens.  They were gone in about 5 seconds.

How do you keep caterpillars off your lettuce?

Happiness is a little bouquet of daisies, picked and brought to you from your own sweet boy.

Happiness is a red swimming suit, with white polka dots, drying on the line.

And, happiness is GETTING YOUR BRACES OFF!

Someone handsome just got handsomer, today!  I love his perfect smile, and Seth has been so funny about Jacob’s new teeth.  He keeps saying, “Let me see your smile, Jake!”  He doesn’t remember a Jacob without braces and he asked where they went.  The orthodontist sent Jacob home with a bag of candy, candy that had previously been off-limits when the braces were on.  And he got to sign his name to the wall in the office.  A very happy day for our Jacob.

Last week, an older neighbor of ours stopped by in his red truck.  I didn’t know who he was so I ran outside ready to tell him he was at the wrong house.

“Can I help you?  Who are you looking for?”  I asked.

“Are your Mom or Dad at home?” he wondered.

(I paused, confused for a moment…..)

“I’m the Mom here,” I said (delighted). 

“Oh…..you look so young,” he said.  (I found out later that he was 70 years old.)   “I’m just stopping by to ask you and your husband if your older boys would like a job moving brush and stacking wood?  They wouldn’t be using any machinery and I would pay them.”

He left me with his name and number, and later that day Rich and I talked it over and agreed that this was something that we wanted Jacob and Ethan to do.  They both have worked hard with their Dad for years now (around the house), and we were confident they could handle the work like men.  Rich is such a good, “tough but loving” Dad and has trained them well.  We talked with the boys and they were also willing.  So, last Friday (their last day of spring break) they got ready, walked up the road to the neighbor’s house, and put in their first full day of work.  They worked from 9:30 until 4:30, with a half hour lunch here at home.  You can imagine the empty feeling here at home while they were gone.  When they got back home that afternoon we were anxious to hear all about it, and I snapped the pictures of Jacob.  They were both dirty and suntanned but Ethan said, “You have to be kidding, no.” when I asked to take his picture.  Jacob was proud of his filth and injury (a long scratch).

They said to us, “The man was so nice!  He gave us all the water we could drink.  And his wife made strawberry cookie bars!”

He had them all decked out in hard hats, goggles, and gloves.  Ethan said they were too big and “unnecessary” but he still wore them.

Jacob said with surprise, “The funny thing about me is the longer I worked, the MORE I WANTED TO WORK.”

(Rich understood that feeling perfectly.)

The next day, Jacob put in another full day.  Ethan had baseball practice and then worked one hour with Jake, before he was too sick to work anymore.  (He was coming down with a bad cold).  Jacob came home at the end of the day with their two day’s worth of pay.  They spent some time that night trying to think of other ways to make money.  They wish to buy real steel swords.  (“Blunted, mom, so no one gets hurt.”)  We are going to set them up with bank accounts.

The neighbor up the road has requested that they work every Saturday until the big job is done, and several of my friends also want to hire them (one to move stuff out of her attic, and one to paint her garage.)  Looks like they will have plenty of opportunities to work some odd jobs over the spring, summer, and fall.

A good work ethic is so important to instill into our children.  They are rewarded with some money, but most importantly, we noticed a huge boost in their confidence as young adults.  I am so proud of our boys/*turning into* MEN.