Moments that Count

Sometimes, not all the time,but sometimes, my kids are amazing and do things that make my heart swell with love, gratitude, pride, and all the rest of those motherly juices that beat through my veins.  Perhaps the approach of Mother's Day turns my thoughts to more sentimental moments of getting to raise these three, regardless, let it be written:

Lyv loves being outside.  She would stay out all day if we let her.  She cruises on her bike and car,loves to swing and jump, and explores the creek and yard just like the boys.  She has been trying my patience lately, as she's been super emotional and cries at the drop of a hat, but being outside seems to cure at least some of these symptoms.  I love watching her little legs go a hundred miles per hour on her Red Flyer! It reminds me so much of Sam.

Sam - He had a rite of passage this afternoon, he mowed his first swath of grass! No action shots were taken because I was too afraid he would get his foot caught in the mower or drive it into the creek to leave him on his maiden voyage. He did amazing, and just kept going and going.  Was it perfect? No, Were there HUGE patches of unmowed, zigzaggy lines? Yes! But I was so proud of him, and so excited to add this to his list of things he can contribute to. I could tell he too was beaming with pride after doing the big lawn (and it is big). 

He also overcame a hard thing.  He had a game a week ago and struck out at every bat.  He was devastated.  Hitting is his "thing". We tried to reassure him that it would be okay.  He put in a little extra practice, and the next game got a hit every time!  I was so glad to see him work through this life lesson.

Finally, he continues to have an incredible imagination - yesterday he discovered a dinosaur tooth. A Brachiasorus tooth to be exact!  He is sure that his find is correct and used his scientist skills to test it. Who I have a little piece of Jurassic history in my yard?

Jack - He has adopted his own sense of style lately, and it comes in all shapes and sizes.  Usually on backwards, or on the wrong feet, but he loves it.  He picks out clothes for he and Sam in the morning the next day.  Everywhere we go, Jack attracks attention, especially of women, who think he is adorable.  Lately he's been wearing Sam's old cleats (which are 4 sizes too big for Jack), his hat is always backwards or gangsta style, and he usually has two pairs of shorts or pants on!  He's keepin' it fresh here.

In addition to our fish, we've seem to adopted a duck! We started to feed it bread, usually it would fly away scared.  Lately it has been showing up around dinner time, and struts up on the driveway right to the door! We of course encourage this by feeding it all the bread it can take.  Jack however still hasn't mastered his stealth skills - and runs full speed at the duck frightening it away!  He tells me he's just playing hide and seek with the duck!  Poor little thing.