These days, our lives seem to be made up of a whole lot of random miscellaneous.  None of it, in and of itself, seems all that significant.  But then I think about the loss in our country this week.  Think about the family memories destroyed.  Pray for children that are living in horror after what they experienced.  And then, I cling to this miscellaneous, this ordinary.  My adorable munchkins, the funny things they say, the innocence of their childhood.  It becomes precious.  Suddenly I have just a smidge of insight into what is behind those eyes that watch us in the grocery store, or sit near us in a restaurant.  Faces filled with wrinkles, hair turned grey, and eyes that remember their own ordinary days from years ago.  Its no wonder they beg me to remember, treasure, enjoy these days of miscellaneous.

So, here is some of ours….

Madness update
I hoped if maybe I buried this deep in a sappy blog post, I wouldn’t have to face it. 
But facts are facts.  And I feel it only fair to provide an update to our March Madness.
My child, who can barely read, who has no idea what NCAA stands for, who did bracket selection based on colors…beat me.  beat all of us.  Worst of all- he beat me by 1/2 a point.  One.half.of.one.single.point.  Ouch.  If you would like to take notes on how to win Cbug style- just know that he accurately selected the first round upsets of Harvard, La Salle and Florida Gulf Coast.  And had Michigan going deep.  How he knew?…colors.  So yeah, I’ve got nothing for you.

Speaking of Cbug.  The kid is crazy about numbers.  Anyone watch the show TOUCH? If not, this will mean nothing to you.  But just in case.  This is what Cbug carried out of free-draw-time at preschool this week. 

Case in point:  On Sunday we walked into church and Cbug got all excited.
C: “Mom, mom, did you see that lady?  Did you see who that was” 
A: “No, buddy, who was it?”
C: “Do you remember number 23 from the Lonestars (the team we played against in Saturday’s soccer game)?  That was his mom!”
A: Um, no.  Actually, I do not remember who was number 23 on the Lonestars.

Not all of their Smarts are Safe

KJ’s Smarts

“Mom, you did a good job choosing the soap for the bathroom.  It kills 99% more germs than other soaps.  That was a healthy choice.”

And finally, after getting hurt on the playground “Mom, if we have my birthday party at that park, I’m not sure where I’ll stand.  But it’ll be somewhere that I can remind kids to ask an adult for help if they can’t reach.”

Mom is not so smart
And its a good thing that a few members of our house are learning and getting smarter.  Because I’m pretty sure I’m getting dumber by the minute.
I tried to “spell check” Ricky- I was 100% convinced that he had misspelled hassle.  I corrected it hastle.  Because that’s a word.  no.  no it isn’t.

AND.  upon finding that some little friend left a nice wad of green gum stuck to a stone pillar on my back porch (note- my kids don’t chew gum).  I decided to try to get it off…with peanut butter.  Hey, it works on hair.  Why wouldn’t it work on stone?  Let me save you the trouble (or should I say hastle)– go straight for the Goo-Gone.  (Which is what my brilliant husband recommended when he saw me trying to lather our porch with pb.)

Little Bear = Baby C.  Who had an adventure.
You may remember that I committed to a blog name for baby brother- Little Bear.  But

You might have noticed that I got my momentum back.  Maybe not all the way, but at least a bit of it.  I kicked off this blogging streak at the beginning of March.  There was a sudden flurry of DRRF activity with posts about Little Bear’s baby blessing, our Christmas countdown, the kids telling their versions of the Christmas story, our new valentine traditions and Christopher growing up way too quickly– and you may ask,

At the beginning of March, RRL and I left our 3 biggests at home (supervised, of course) to have tons of fun going to the science museum, TCBY, and all kinds of other rumpus with two of their favorite adults (THANKS C&H!!!!).

While we headed out on an adventure with baby C, his first time on an airplane.

We met my parents in Nashville first for coffee, conversation (crazy how much easier that is with 3 less kiddos),

Bright and early the next morning, we loaded up and drove to our next destination- the sandy gulf beaches. 

Mom and I were running/walking a half marathon (she walked, I had to run to keep up) and Daddy, RRL and Little Bear came along to cheer. 

BUT WE WERE TOTALLY IN IT FOR THE EXERCISE.

We then proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend doing a whole lot of
absolutely.positively.glorious.NOTHING.

And blogging, reading (I actually finished a whole book), napping, eating, snacking, movie watching.
WITH my parents, my husband and my sweet baby boy.
It was miserable 🙂

While we were growing up, my mom used to remind us that a parent’s primary job is NOT to be their kids’ best friend.  And my parents were pretty true to that word- often making hard decisions that wouldn’t win them a teen popularity contest.  There are few things I’d thank my parents more for.  And as a result, at 30 (something-ish-cough), I can honestly say that spending a weekend with my parents is one of my very favorite things.  Thanks for an awesome weekend!!!

ABL

Sure, growing up can be hard.
So can remembering the right words to classic songs (like the fact that AFTER I cleverly named this post, I remembered that the song is breaking up, not growing up.  awkward).

ANYWAY
This year, with KJ starting “big school” we’ve definitely experienced some of the hard parts of growing up.  Days when it just doesn’t seem FAIR that he has to go to school while Cbug and Lou have fun at home together.  Days when he would really rather run and play than do homework.  Days when he’s not so sure that “setting a good example” as the oldest kiddo is really a role he wanted to sign up for.

BUT

More than that- watching KJ grow up has been full of some super sweet moments lately.  He is learning so much, changing so much, making great choices for himself.  In short- I couldn’t be prouder of him.

I’ve already talked about his new found freedom on two wheels.  Here are a few other “big” moments for him lately:

He read 100 books for school.  This was a huge accomplishment that he has been working on all school year.  5 books from 10 different categories had to be from “the list” and then 50 were “free choice”.  His reading skills really have just exploded this year.  I’m amazed at what he can read.

He lost his first tooth (swallowed it, actually, in a rice krispie treat).  And then negotiated the price of the tooth (pretty sure he knows about the ‘ole TF- he mentioned she has “brown hair”- but he’s playing along).  I had no idea what the going rate was for a small front tooth, but after we bantered back and forth we determined that $0.50 for small teeth and $1.00 for the big ones seemed reasonable. 
(hey, his tooth fairy has four mouth fulls of these suckers to pay out on.  can’t set the standard too high.  Especially when my kids are used to getting paid in nickles and pennies.)
It’s a good thing I kept it reasonable, too, because just 3 days later he lost the second one.
AND he already has “adult teeth” growing.  I’m telling ya- he’s big time.

He FINALLY got to fly his kite.  You know, the one he got for his birthday last May but just now got to take out of the package.  The one that stayed in the package so long he pretty much memorized the safety instructions on the back because he read them so many times.  Yeah, that one.  Once we got it out and put together, he mastered the flying of it quickly and actually was better than me at keeping it in the air.  And to make him EVEN MORE grown up, he taught his brother and sister how to “tug gently,” too. I.LOVE.HIM.

He is always a helper.  At Easter hunts, he put eggs in littler kids baskets, he helps smaller kids in games even if it means he doesn’t get to win, he is quick to sweetly include his tag-along- sister and he sits by his baby brother in the car and helps by entertaining him.

There may be some tough moments in this “growing up” business.  But I’m sure loving all of the milestones along the way.
Sure love this biggest boy of ours!
ABL

Yesterday was Friday.
Tomorrow is Sunday.
But today.  Today is Saturday.

On Friday we recognize the agony.  The pain.  The torture-beyond-imagination that our Savior endured.
On Sunday we relish in the HOPE of his resurrection.  Christ, our RISEN Lord.

But today.  Today is Saturday.

In our Bible class, leading up to Easter, we’ve been lead through thinking about the emotions, the decisions, the experiences of those that were following Jesus.  They first watched his death and then experienced him whole again.  Disciples heard his cry to his Father as he died and then touched his wounded hands when he came back to them.  Women went and saw that his body had been placed in a tomb and then went back and found the same tomb empty.  They were there.

And they also had Saturday.

As we’ve talked about the journey those close to Jesus walked, I’ve wondered a lot about Saturday.  The Bible doesn’t say much about what that Sabbath day was like for them.  They certainly did not know what Sunday would look like, yet.  We know they weren’t certain that he would be fully ALIVE on Sunday because that day the women went to “treat” his body- hardly necessary if he was going to be alive.

They HOPED.  Oh, they hoped.  But would he really walk among them again?  Even the most faithful had to wonder. 
“If this was the end, the gruesome end, what did it all mean?  How in the world do we just go back to our normal lives?  If he was dead- really gone- could we really just go back to fishing, after leaving everything to follow him?  What could we possibly do with all that we have seen and experienced.  The authority with which he taught.  The miracles. The healing.  The lessons of  REPENTANCE AND REDEMPTION.”

What did they do?  How did they wait?
On Saturday.

This question resonates deeply with me right now. 
I believe that he faced a gruesome and torturous death and took with him the sins of the world.  My sins.  I know that no pain I’ve experienced comes close to what he endured.  And as a result, I believe he meets me when I’m enduring life’s pains.  He knows about Friday.  (read this awesome blog that my sweet friend, Courtney, wrote  last year- The King of Friday).

AND I believe that he ROSE again.  Miraculously, and just as he foretold, he came back on Sunday to walk among those that loved Him.  He died, but in the end he conquered death for all of us.  He created the HOPE of Sunday.

When we come through pain- through the times of life the knock us up one side and down the other- sometimes the thought of “going back to normal” is just as difficult as walking through the tragedy, the unexpected, the loss. The idea that the rest of the world is going on about their day while you are remembering yesterday’s pain is almost too much to bare. You can cling to the hope of Sunday, you can believe with all your might that redemption is coming, that He walks with you, but what about the between.  The wait. That day is Saturday.
I believe he knows about Saturday, too.

He knows about my Saturdays.  The days when I look back and see how he remembered our family through great pain.  That he carried us in so many ways through a dark and difficult time.  AND I can look forward with great anticipation and hope, fully believing that he is going to redeem every.single.ounce of it.  I do not fully know what it will look like, but I do believe that he is MIGHTY to save US.  I know Sunday is certainly coming. In some ways Sunday comes in the bits of hope we experience each day. 

But on Saturday, I stand between the two.  On Saturday I wonder how to just keep doing real life.  On Saturday, the pain I saw and experienced is so much a part of me, I can’t help but wonder what I’m supposed to do with it.  Even though I cling to the hope of Sunday with all my human might, there are Saturdays.  On Saturday,  I wonder if anyone else remembers, and question even whether it was worth it. 

Right now I feel surrounded by Saturdays.
Thank goodness He knows about Saturday.

He knows about my sweet friends who sent their baby to heaven much too soon.  They came through the pain of his death, and they wait in confidence for the day they’ll meet him again.  But today, today is their Saturday.

He knows about children who long for parents.  Much too early in their little lives, they’ve seen the pain of a home broken apart.  And they are learning about a God who is forever their Father, who will never disappoint their HOPE, who keeps his promises.  But today.  Today is their Saturday.

He knows about my sweet friend whose health means she’ll never have more children.  She’s experienced the pain of that news.  And she has great hope knowing that the Lord will redeem the plans she has relinquished for what her family “should” look like.  But today.  Today is her Saturday.

He knows about the marriages of friends I love.  The marriages that have been on the brink of disaster.  The marriages that are making a choice to cling to the hope of what they Lord can renew.  But for now, they wait.  They work.  They struggle.  Today.  Today is their Saturday.

He knows about the day(s) that follow the pain, while we wait. We don’t wait without hope. We don’t wait without faith. But some days we do have to wait. Wait to see. While we trust deep down that Sunday is coming, on Saturday we wait.  And sometimes the waiting, even while believing, is hard.

That’s why I’ve been thinking about Saturday.  I ache at the thought of these Saturdays for those I love. 
Yesterday was Friday
Tomorrow is Sunday.
But today. Today is Saturday.

I can’t take away Saturday, and I’m not sure I really want to- its the crucial link between our Fridays and our Sunday.  Saturday is the day we experience faith before sight.  The day we pray expecting miracles.  The day we wait in quiet knowing the power of the Lord will be fully revealed.  Saturday is not without hope. 

And the Hope of Saturday is in the one with whom we wait.  The one who has experienced Saturday to the fullest.  The one who is Lord of Saturday, just like He is over Friday and Sunday.

Please don’t let the enemy fool you into thinking that you wait alone.
EVER.
He waits with you.
ALWAYS.
And Sunday really is coming.

ABL

If there was ever a season aptly named for our family it would be “March Madness”.

I mean, on top of the everyday madness of four children under age 7:
75% of which can take care of their own “potty” needs
50% of which can bathe themselves
0% of which can transport themselves (unless you count bicycles), or plan their own meals.

In every other “season” of the year the six of us work hard to function as one team.
But for two weeks out of the year- it is every man for himself (bracket-ly-speaking).
You make your own selections, choose to seek counsel or not, root for your team, and hope that this is YOUR year.
.
It doesn’t matter how savvy you are at your research, how much basketball you’ve watched to date, or whether your confidence in your selections is any reflection of your ability to even spell the team names.  Really, any man or woman, boy or girl, has a shot at the family crown.
And bonus: for a short period of time, the TV (and sometimes other devices necessary to catch cable games) are ON. All day. 
MADNESS, I tell ya.

This year’s selection methods:

Cbug and Lou- selections based on team colors.

as you can see, the luck of choosing some crazy upsets sets two of our munchkins out to an early lead (a big one).

ABL

Lou and I were treated to something special on Sunday when the children’s ministry hosted “Three Cheers for Tea”, a tea for mothers and daughters.

There is a lot I could say about this fun hour together, but I think I’ll just leave it to this one photo.  Because this moment for Lou was BIG TIME.

You wouldn’t know it from this evidence, but it took her a long while to work up the courage to take a picture with the “real cheerleaders”.  Once she did, though, it was a HIGHLIGHT of her little life. She was beside herself with delight.

We started some new traditions this year, to celebrate the big LOVE day.
I can’t wait to see how these evolve over the years.

Early in the week we took turns taking our littler sweethearts on dates that they helped plan.
Sweet CTL pretty much gets a special date with Mommy every-middle-of-the-night.  So he, technically, did not participate this year.  But our littlest love sure is CUTE!

RRL took Lou.  He emphasized that her Daddy was the first one to take her on dates, that her dates should always open the door for her and that the reason he was taking her on dates was to practice how she should be treated.  She was just thrilled to dress in her pink dress, have her Daddy all to herself, and go to a fancy dinner at one of her favorite places…Moo-yah (see her best “MOOOOO-Yah expression below), followed by dessert at TCBY.  Ha, nothing like a fancy dinner of hotdogs and icecream with your Daddy. 

 

We gave the kids books, Lou’s was “Miss Nelson is missing”

After I ruled out McDs and Whataburger, the boys chose Celebrity for our date.  On our way home from school that afternoon, the boys and I were planning our outing and I as trying to talk to them about how to plan a date for a lady.  I suggested that having a plan and dressing up a bit were some simple ways to show her that she was appreciated.  So, KJ suggested that they wear tuxedos on our date, since they appreciated me SO much.  Cbug was more hesitant.  When KJ mentioned the tuxes, I said I thought that would be fun and Cbug responded “I like my camo pants”.  Short. Sweet. To the point.  Typical.  I told him that was fine, he could wear what he wanted, but just try to think about how he could do something for someone else.  You can tell from the pictures how he compromised.  Love him!

KJ got “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and Cbug got a book that had the collection of “Alexander” stories. 

Also, thanks to a great group from our Bible Class, and an awesome idea by one of them, we enjoyed a date swap weekend.  We kept their kids one night and traded for our date night.  I’m pretty sure we got the best end of that bargain when we took in three extra kids (one from each family), and then got to leave FOUR behind.  SUH-WEET.

ABL

So. Friends with older kids.  You held out on me.  No one warned me about this thing called a “valentine box”.  We got instructions to decorate a shoe box or cereal box however HE wanted.  That’s it.  So I let KJ go to town with scraps of paper, stickers, tape, glue, markers, etc.  It looked exactly like you might expect from a kindergarten boy.  a big red white and pink glorious mess, and that is just the stuff that actually made it ON to the box…you should have seen the craft table.  He took it to school and well, it didn’t look like some of the others.  And it certainly didn’t look like any of the amazing creations I’ve since seen on facebook.