Slobs and Muscles

 

No matter how put together you look, if you spill something down the front of your shirt, you just feel like a slob.  Even if its water.  I mean, maybe I need a sippy cup?  How can I sometimes not be able to get water from my favorite Charleston, SC tervis tumbler into my mouth successfully?  How does the water sometimes completely miss my mouth and head south?  And then I don't realize some of it has gotten onto my chair seat until I get up and look like I've had an accident.

Way to stay classy, Estes.

Are my boys the only ones who must strip down and wrestle once a week?  Normally this happens on a Sunday night when we are having an at-home "family night."  Ty tells me that his muscles are getting small since he hasn't eaten his "bwocc-ly" in a while.

 
And for some reason I can not stop taking pictures of these little feet.  Everywhere we go his little feet just get me. 

Little feet in bowling shoes.

Little feet at a birthday party where he is by far the smallest.  But certainly not the smallest personality!  He came down the slides of the inflatable paradise in seconds, beating the bigger kids by mili-seconds, wild hair flying, every dimple showing with a big ole smile.

Or how about in the Pediatricians office where he asked the Dr. to come eat ice cream with us?  Of course, that was before Diphtheria and Chickenpox shots.  After that, he didn't even want a lolli-pop, furiously shaking that head and yelling "no!"  Nothing could get his mind off his little aching, still squishy arms with the neon orange band-aids that he wanted off immediately.  Well, until I stepped in gum in the parking lot, of course.  Then as I frowned and said, "its not funny" my boys proceeded to giggle all the way to the ice cream parlor. 

Again, way to stay classy with gum on your shoe, Estes.

 

Tragedy of an unfamiliar shirt

I do not understand why wearing a shirt for the first time causes such tragic moments. Real tears, people. Boo hooing.  "I don't want any cee-wul!" (cereal) Morning meltdown. Couldn't get out of him why the shirt was so offensive. It looked ok. Long sleeves are not something new. It had a monster truck on it. The tag was already cut out. No clue what the issue was, but it was a loud, tearful issue nevertheless.

 

Very frustrated today with willful sin. I have some sin in my life that I cannot seem to shake. Satan has his hold and he is really twisting the knife. I'm trying to figure out what the heart issue is here. Why I can't seem to get self-control in this area. Its Biblical, self-control, so I know it is possible. I find myself wondering if God is as tired of hearing me repent for this same thing as I am of hearing myself repent. Every morning starts off well, and then sometime in the afternoon/evening, I lose it. So so frustrating.

 

I want a 5 step process. I want a beginning and end date. But that is not really how perseverance is won. I wish I could see the end and know I get to conquer this. That would give me more confidence to keep trying. More trust that God is not giving up on me.

 

But I do know that God is already standing at the end. He is proud of me, seeing how I grew through all of this. So I have to trust him. And I do have a manual. Its God's word. I have decided to start reading it with the mindset of what he has to say about this issue of mine. I'm praying for clear heart to hear what he has to tell me through his truth and to APPLY it.

 

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Swords, pizza and privacys

Most people have a morning routine. Some get up and get the coffee started. Others go straight to the shower, or to get dressed. Some even go exercise before starting their day. My Tyler? He goes into the playroom to find a sword. I turn around and see a little wake-up face, bedhead walking passed my door into the playroom. Then into our room he comes with Frog and a toy sword. My Ty.

 

My Ty also has taken to calling his little boy parts his "privacys." Oh my.

 

Braden has grown up so much in the last few months. You can see his maturity in his behavior chart at school. No yellows for a month! We celebrated by going to Ci Ci's pizza and playing some driving arcade games after pizza. Yum!

 

As I was walking through the house this morning, fixing lunches, hanging up towels and picking up Lego men from every flat place in my house, I was reminded how I almost didn't get to have this job. I almost didn't get to pick up yet another half damp towel, or find some Lego guy pieces under my pillow. I am so thankful this morning that I have little shoes to put away, swords to gently untangle from little sleepy grasps at night, piles of toy cars to move so I can get into my closet. So thankful God blessed me with these little ones. Overjoyed He trusted me with the job of kissing bruises from running into coffee tables, wetting down unmanageable hair, one-more hugs before bedtime. Unimaginable love for little napes of necks concentrating on building a Lego "set," little hands asking me to pull off or snap on too many Lego arms to count. Squirmy bodies jumping full force on me anytime I near the bed or floor.

 

Thank you Jesus for my little boys.