blessed beyond measure

There are some very poor quality, but very precious photos that have been taken with my phone(s) over the last half-year-ish. Don't want to let these memories slip away. My sweet Aden, snoozing away. Awana Awards Night in May: Aden finished his first year of Cubbies and Trey finished his second year of Sparks. I'll never forget, as I was leading this ceremony, my phone buzzed with a text from my Mom: "Pawpaw is with Jesus". Took everything I had to get through the night. Aden's preschool class praying at their end-of-year party. Yep, he's a snoozer. And a grinner. Summer downtime in the blazing heat. They're sweet when they're like this. A rare trip to the bouncy house, likely a reward for someone being good at the dentist or doctor. Er, there seems to be a pattern going on. Won't forget this either. Giga and Poppop were in Florida, so it was just the boys and me at the pool. We swam as long as we could, until the thunderstorm we had been w...

seems to be over his fears of going to bed. This tapered away toward the end of the summer. Now, if he should wake up during the night, he cannot go back to sleep alone. But at least bedtime is no longer a battleground. And we're praying for it to stick. Pretty sure it was last year around this time that we thought we were past this. is doing fantastically at school. When he takes his time and focuses, that is. In a rush, instructions do not get read and the handwriting is incomprehensible. But oh, when this boy applies himself, he can't be stopped. (And the handwriting is beautiful.) Trey has a curiosity and love of learning that we can only hope will last the rest of his life. reads. Then reads some more, and then some more. Asks to read in his bed after devotions, and usually grabs a book immediately upon waking up in the morning. Trey has already surpassed his 2nd grade reading goal for the AR program, and has gotten into longer chapter books. Current favori...

and made them change colors and fall to the ground and crunch up so noisy and fly through the air surely He had in mind two little boys

When we un-hoarded our basement two years ago, one of the goals we had was to have a wide, clear loop for the boys to ride their bikes around during the cold months. Gotta get that energy out somehow. That's what we did, and over the last two winters, the loop has gotten some good use. Though you may argue otherwise seeing the photos below, by my standards the basement is still fairly clean and pretty well organized. The loop is intact. So I had no problem when the boys wanted to go down there and play last night. Trey shot a little ball and Aden "doodled", as he calls it. They rode their scooters and tricycles some, ho hum. Until Daddy showed up. Magically, our basement was transformed into a roller rink. And so it was in a dingy, dimly lit room, "Once Bitten Twice Shy" and "Come Together" blaring on an old radio, that we spontaneously created a beautiful memory. All three of my boys flying around the loop, smiling from ear to ear. Trey ...