Bitter–Sweet

It's been a hard few weeks. I'm waging a mental battle between gratitude and sadness. I know I have so much to be grateful for, and I believe that should be enough to keep me from being so sad. And yet, I'm sad.

Nowhere is this tension more poignant than in the preparations to welcome our sweet baby boy into our home. Of course I'm so thankful that God has blessed us with this little life, I'm excited to meet him, and I am so grateful that he appears to be healthy and growing. But as his due date approaches (just about 6 weeks away), I'm finding myself having such a different response than I have in my other pregnancies. It's hard to explain, but instead of the eagerness I felt at this point with my other two, I'm facing a slight sense of uncertainty, even dread– if I'm willing to admit it.

I don't want to do this without my mom.

It's not that I'm afraid or dreading making the transition to three kids without my mom's physical and emotional help, although she was such a tremendous help when my other two babies were born. I just don't want to cross this line. I don't want enter a new phase of life that she will never have touched. And yet this little one is coming and life is moving on. It's a newborn baby, for Pete's sake! Pure sweetness. But tinged with bitter these days.

Last week I washed all his tiny clothes, set up his dresser and put together his crib. But I couldn't quite figure out how to finish the assembly on the crib, and then burst into tears realizing that my mom had assembled this crib before both Max and Maggie were born. My poor husband came home from work to find me sitting at the computer sobbing as I tried to see through my tears to google the make and model of the crib to find assembly instructions. Not a good moment.

But I will do this. God has so graciously heaped blessing upon blessing upon blessing on me during the last three months, and this child is certainly the greatest of those blessings. I am certain that the timing of his life and his arrival's intersection with my own grief is not arbitrary, but orchestrated by a gracious God Who loves me and Who loves him.

We are just about ready to welcome the new little buddy. He's coming into a family with a whole lot of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins and love. So even if his mommy is a tad bit sad underneath the celebration, I think he'll be okay. I suppose that sadness is born of love, too.

What Maggie Thinks About A Lot These Days

Maggie: "This is Aunt Laura with her baby in her womb, and Uncle Jake when he was a little boy."

Great Deal on Groupon today

Old Navy fans, don't miss today's Groupon deal:

Get $20 of merchandise credit to Old Navy for just $10. Love it!

I thought this was hilarious and so true!

I'm thinking back to every computer problem Lucas has ever solved for me (there have been a few!), and I now realize that he followed this exact flow chart every time. Genius! :-)

http://xkcd.com/627/

Conversations with Max and Maggie

Me: Maggie, I really loved how you and Anna and Mikaiah all three played together so nicely today so that no one was left out.

Max: What's 'left out?'

Me: It means when some kids are playing together and they don't include all the kids in whatever they're doing. It can be especially tricky when there are three friends because two friends might play together and leave the other friend out. Next year when you're in school, I bet you'll get a lot of practice showing kindness by including all the kids– by helping make sure nobody gets left out.

Max: Or, I could just go play with the kid who's alone and being left out.

Lucas: That would be a very honorable thing to do. That would make me proud.

Maggie: (quickly interrupting, as if she's looking for some hypothetically honorable action she could contribute...) Well, if I'm in school and I see girls being silly, I'll just DO A BOOTY DANCE!!!

Oh, my.

Conversations with Maximus

On our way to the restroom in Sam's Club, Max spots a poster on the wall of their offices titled "Entrepreneur's Creed" with a picture of Sam Walton's face under the title.

Max: Look- There's Sam Walton.

Me: Max, how did you know that was Sam Walton?

Max: I just checked my brain.

Her Grandmama's Girl

Maggie spotted these 5-inch beauties in TJMaxx and just had to try them on. She looked up and said, "OOoooooh, Look, Mommy! These shoes totally fit me!"

She definitely did not get this shoe fetish from me. I'm pinning this one on Grandmama Vicki. :-)

Conversations with Maximus

Max: I love this Batman shirt. I just LOVE Batman! What does 'love' mean, anyway?

Me: Well... it means you care deeply about something or someone. It's more than really, really liking something.

Max: (thinking for a moment) Huh. I really like Batman. But I love, LOVE God!

After a Week with Paul T. Semones

Max and Lucas just returned from a week-long road trip adventure to visit the Kennedy Space Center with our good friend Paul. I need get to some photos of their trip up here, but in the mean time, here are some of the things Max is saying since his return from studying all things NASA. Basically, he likes to use the word "engineer" as many times as possible in any given sentence:

Max: Mommy, come look at the tall castle I built. At first I didn't have it properly engineered. I didn't have it built right on the bottom to make it work on the top. But then I engineered it and added these parts at the bottom so that it would work.

Getaway ideas

Lucas and I are hoping to take a trip together before baby #3 arrives. Does anybody out there have recommendations for an affordable, relaxing destination? I would love a beach, but our budget is pretty tight and so we'll need to drive there from NWA. I'm willing to get creative, though. So if anybody knows of any scientific studies in teleportation that would to take us from Arkansas to, say, the Canary Islands, Spain or Goa, India or Anguilla for a week... I think we'd consider giving it a shot. :-)

Seriously, though... any good ideas for getaways out there, friends?

Jenna-Clare is publishing her first novel!

My dear friend and college roommate Jenna-Clare is publishing her first novel! Check it out: click this link and like her page, and/or pledge some support to help her reach her publishing goals and get a first-run copy of the book! So excited for J-C!

A Royal at Heart

Somebody woke up early to watch the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine with her mum and auntie. I see many days of princess bride dreams ahead of us....

He is Risen Indeed

It's Easter night, and I just tucked my children into bed. Max asked if we could sing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" as a bedtime song. After we sang it once, he asked if he could write some new words for the song. Here are his new lyrics, to the tune of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today":

A-lle-luia, Praise the LORD,

Alleluia.

The Holy LORD, He is Love,

Alleluia.

What a perfectly sweet way to end this Easter.

A Blink

My mom died one month ago today. It seems like a lot longer to me. I wonder if it feels like just a blink to her.

Entrepreneur

Maggie: Mommy, what is that place?

Me: That's the Soderquist Business Center.

Maggie: When I'm four, I'm going to have a business.

Me: Oh, yeah? What kind of business?

Maggie: A princess dress-up business.

Me: That sounds neat. How will your business work?

Maggie: I will get lots of money out of my piggy bank, and when the people come, I will give them the money.

Me: Well, that's going to be a very popular business.

Maggie: Yes.

Lucas Roebuck's Son

Max: Mommy, can you come watch me play?

Me: What are you playing?

Max: I'm playing "Take Over the Universe." I made it up. It's just a demo.

Conversations with Max and Maggie

Last night as I was tucking Maggie into bed:

Maggie: Oooooo, I like your earrings. Someday will you buy me some earrings like these?
Me: Someday when you're a grown-up lady you can have earrings.
Maggie: And we can even share our earrings!
Me: We can! Someday when you're grown up I won't even have to tell you what to do or give you spankings.
Maggie: [Giggles]
Me: Then we can be friends, because you'll be all grown up and you'll know how to make good choices.
Maggie: AND WE CAN SHARE OUR EARRINGS!!
Me: That's right. Do you want to pray tonight or do you want me to?
Maggie: I will:

"Dear God, Thank you for our beautiful day. Thank you that Grandmama Vicki is at heaven. Thank you for my new clothes. Thank you for my clothes that aren't new but are still pretty. Thank you for a Daddy that always likes to give me ice cream every day. Amen."

Conversations with Max and Maggie

Maggie: Mommy, this is a picture of Grandmama dying.

Me: Tell me about it.

Maggie: This is Grandmama dying in the hot lava.

Max: Ummmm Maggie, Grandmama didn't die in hot lava.

Maggie: Fire?

Me: Maggie, remember Grandmama's body was broken and it didn't work anymore. She died of cancer.

Max: I don't think Maggie understands.

Me: It's okay.

Max: She doesn't understand. She's just a very tiny girl but I'm a big kid, so I understand.

Conversations with Maggie

Maggie, strapped in her carseat on the way to her Grandmama's funeral:

Maggie: Well, I've got great news and really bad news. The bad news is, Grandmama is gone. The great news is, the trees are still here!

Not The Way It's Supposed To Be

I've never really given sin the respect it deserves.

When life is moving along pretty smoothly with lots of happy things happening around me, it's easy to tuck sin behind a closet door or prop it up out of the way in a back corner. Out of sight, out of mind. It's easy to not think about how our whole existence was marred when humanity chose to bring sin into this world. It's easy to think that humanity is doing pretty well for ourselves.

Truth is, sin is a powerful force. No corner of this creation is left untouched.

I've never understood that truth more than while sitting at my mother's death bed. I watched her body slowly waste away. Day by day, I watched helplessly as death stripped every piece of life from her and replaced it with a something foreign and unwanted: trading walking for sitting; mobility for confinement; appetite for revulsion; privacy for intrusion; talking for silence; comfort for pain; consciousness for sleep; breath for stillness.

Several well-meaning and compassionate professionals tried to comfort me with reminders that what I was watching happen to my mom was "natural." At one point I really thought I would scream if I heard the phrase "the natural dying process" one more time. I wanted to burn all those little booklets on the dying process. Send them all up in flames– all those little blue booklets they give you describing what to expect in the final days of a loved-one's life.

I wanted to yell: Natural?! There is absolutely nothing natural about what is happening to my mom. This is not the way it was supposed to be! We were never created to have to endure this! Just because something has become "normal" doesn't make it "natural."

And in the midst of all this- now, NOW I can give sin the respect it deserves. I can look around this room and see my mom lying limp and dying on her bed, and I finally get it. Look what humanity has done! Just look what we've accomplished for ourselves! Death!

And so there's finally room in my world-contented heart for the Gospel– and a love for my Savior I've never known.

The Sad Things

My mom died.

I was with her, and I am so thankful. There are a million possible scenarios where that wouldn't have been the case, but God gave me that gift. It was one of many, many gifts God has given me over the course of the last few weeks; one of many whispers: I'm here. I love you. I'm making this all new. I Am.

I feel like I've received a whole new education in faith, life, loss and grace in the last few weeks as well. It's not a degree I wanted, but it's one I'm glad I have. There is, of course, still so much to process, so much to grieve.

I'm suddenly and painfully aware of all the life events and milestones that stretch out in front of me where she'll be missing. How does one do the next big thing? The next load of laundry, the next art project with the kids– I can do those things. She's not missing there. But what about family meals? Holidays? The birth of this little one?

I believe now more than ever that there will be grace for those moments, too. It still feels a little overwhelming, though.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I picked up my phone and found a voice mail my mom left me on my birthday. Sometimes it pays off to never erase your voicemail. :-) I lay in the dark with the phone up to my ear and listened to it over and over and cried. It was just so good to hear her voice.

As I sat with her in the moments after she died, with my dad and my brothers and my aunts, I was truly shocked to realize that literally the moment she died, she didn't even look like herself anymore. I leaned in closer and wondered if, in another circumstance like an accidental death, if I had to identify this body, would I even be able to tell if it was my mom? She actually looked that different to me. It was just so obvious that she was no longer there.

And I thought about something that I read at least 10 years ago. At that time, I read this paragraph in a book and it stopped me cold. I thought it was one of the most accurate description of my mother I had ever read. Long before she had cancer. Long before I knew she was dying. Just in the midst of her 'normal' life. I came home after she died this week and found the dusty book on my shelf and found that paragraph and read it again. This was the woman I called Mother:

"Let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel very, very small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read it no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any more, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the flesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you forever to His eternal home."

- Geoffrey Thomas, Reading the Bible.

The Happy Things

Here's our sweet little guy- 3D ultrasound image at 19.5 weeks. The second one is my favorite,with his little arms up next to his face... although the printer on the ultrasound machine jammed up and wrinkled this one. I just love his sweet little face!

Conversations with Maggie

Maggie walks into the kitchen carrying an arm-full of ponies and fairies.

Maggie: These girls are going to jail.

Me: Why do they have to go to jail?

Maggie: Because they made bad choices to other people, not just to their moms and dads.

Just Because They're Cute and I Love Them

Conversations with Maggie

After playing outside at Grandpapa and Grandmama's house last week:

Me: Ewwwww! Maggie, I forgot to make sure you washed your hands after you accidentally touched the dog's bottom. Gross. Gag. Cough. Gag.

Maggie: It's okay, Mom. Things happen.

Announcing... A New Roebuck Baby BOY!

Yes, friends! We are expecting a BOY!

New Roebuck baby boy on the way and due around August 1. I am 14 weeks along, and we saw on the ultrasound today definitive proof that we indeed have a little boy on the way! We are thankful and excited.

One of the reasons we decided to find out the gender before the birth this time is that Max and Maggie both had their hearts set on their hope of gender for the baby. Max really wanted a baby brother while Maggie really, really wanted a sister. We hope that by finding our early, each of them can process that news early on and by the time baby arrives, it will just be what's expected and we can be all excitement and no disappointment when the big day arrives.

SO.... Maximus is of course overjoyed that it's a boy. He has been studying the ultrasound pictures and is beyond excited about the new brother on the way.

Maggie was, to put it delicately, disappointed. Here's how she took the news:

Lucas: We are having.... a baby BOY!

Maggie: (collapsing to the ground and bursting into tears) NO!! BUT I WANTED A GIRL!!

Lucas: I know, but how about a chocolate bar instead?

Maggie: (tears immediately stopping and she stands up) okay.

And that was that. Nothing like chocolate to soothe a girl's dashed hopes.

Now that we're past that little disappointment for Maggie, we're all excitement. We're thanking God for this great news and praying for health and safety all along the way!

Places I spent the night in 2010

I saw this on a friend's blog and it got me thinking about all the places I've been in 2010. Here's my list, as far as I can remember:

Aurora, NE
Branson, MO
Siloam Springs, AR
Mubai, India
Tenali, India
Kolkata, India
Malvern, AR
Roswell, NM
Calexico, CA
Fallbrook, CA
San Diego, CA
Costa Mesa, CA
Livermore, CA
Escalon, CA
Grand Canyon, AZ
Albuquerque, NM
Los Angeles, CA
Camarillo, CA
Lakewood, CO

What a year! My first time out of the continental U.S., two trips to California, and lots of other adventures as well. I was reminded of all the hard work Lucas and some other family and friends did to take care of Max and Maggie while I was in India and California- THANK YOU! I can't wait to see what 2011 holds. Although I don't expect my 2011 destinations list to be nearly this long, I'm looking forward to whatever adventures we do have ahead.

What about you? Where have you rested your head in 2010? I think it's fun to see!

Conversations with Maggie: Christmas Edition

Max and Maggie are playing with those annoying musical dancing Santas at the Walgreens checkout. The cashier tries to ask Maggie about Santa:

Cashier: Who's coming to see you this Christmas?

Maggie: Grandmama Vicki!!!

Cashier: No, who's coming to your house to bring you lots of presents?

Maggie: GRANDMAMA VICKI!!!!

Smart kid. :-)

COYOTE COUNTY LOSER now on DVD and Blu-Ray!

Coyote County Loser, the romantic comedy that my brother-in-law Jacob produced and Lucas helped to write, is now available for purchase on DVD and Blu-Ray! This is a fun movie with a great message you can feel good about sharing with all of your family and friends!

Also, my parents are interviewed on the special features section, along with Jim Walters, as one of the real-life love stories that inspired the message behind Coyote County Loser. I think that is just so cool!

Order here!

The Inverse Power of Praise

Photo by Phillip Toledano as seen with the linked article.

I found this New York Magazine article very interesting. The basic gist of the article is that research shows that praising our children for being "smart" or "intelligent" will make them less likely to try new things and can actually hamper their confidence instead of building it up. Instead, it might be better to praise their hard work instead of their "giftedness." This really makes me want to re-think how I praise my kids.

I read one commenter on this article who suggested praising liberally with our children for virtue, but only praising for intellect when it is used to further virtue or in a virtuous way. I think there's a lot of truth to the concepts in the article. It makes sense to me. Any thoughts?

The Sweetest Words

Some of you may remember that Maggie has not exactly been uber-interested in spiritual things, a fact which I haven't been too worried about, knowing that this is something only the Holy Spirit can do. But I have certainly been praying that God would speak truth into her little heart. This morning her Bible Study Fellowship truth was that "Jesus is the Light of the world." This afternoon, she told me this:

Maggie: Mom, I do love Jesus. I love Jesus, and I have light in my heart. [pause] I don't always make good choices, but I do love Jesus.

It's quite a shift from the dozens of other conversations we've had about Jesus. It's especially thrilling to me coming from my little Maggie Mae, who isn't one to say things just because she thinks it's what other people want to hear. Probably just about the sweetest little words I've ever heard.

You should join us!

Most of you know that I was able to travel to India in March with my sister-in-law Laura and International Princess Project. I am thrilled to let you know that IPP is bringing a piece of that experience right here to Siloam Springs this week!

If you live in Northeast Oklahoma or Northwest Arkansas, I'd love to see you at this free event Thursday night! Your eyes and heart will be opened to how God is working and moving in India.

Summer Visits

Fall is here!! With the cooler weather that has (finally!) arrived, I've been thinking back over the past few months and reminiscing about summer. We had a truly wonderful summer this year, complete with lots of visits with special friends. We didn't get photos of everything, but here are a few highlights of some of the special visits we were able to enjoy with friends and family during Summer 2010:

Friends Sarah and Ryan and their two boys came through town just a few weeks ago, and we enjoyed a great evening with them. So great to catch up with this dear friend!

Grandma Norris, Aunt Debbie, Lucas' brother Joe and sis-in-law Tammy and our friend Jim (taking the photo) at Downtown Disney during our trip to Southern California.

Lucas' brother Sam and Anne at their home in the Bay Area, California.

We loved getting to see our dear friends Jeff and Amy and their two kiddos during our trip to California as well!

The Dees crew enjoyed a very special evening at Nibbles Academy of Cooking for an evening of learning to cook together! What fun!!

Our niece Susan had her piano recital at our home. I was so proud of her!

Laura's parents, Bill and Polly, and their Grandson Seeley in Roswell, NM.

Uncle Manlio and Aunt Alva in Calexico, CA.

John and Janel and their precious kiddos came and stayed for a weekend- we had such a great time together!

The kids and I went to Owasso for a day to spend the day swimming and hanging out with Rita and her little girl, Ziva. Three months later, Maggie still says "Thank you, God, for the day at the swimming pool with Ziva" just about every time she prays.

Our fun and wonderful friends Gene and Mollie from Idaho brought their two sweet girls to visit for a day as they were in the area visiting Gene's family. Max was so thrilled to have his best little friend from Idaho here for a day!

Lucas' Dad, Maria, and Maria's Mom Elisa in Temecula, CA.

I wish we had photos of everyone we got to visit with over the summer– we feel so blessed to have so many friends and family to love in our lives. Thanks for the awesome summer, everyone!

Farewell, Summer! See you next year!

Conversations with Max

After church on Sunday, Max heard me talking to a friend who was being induced last night to give birth to her fourth child and first girl (Congrats, Stephanie!) As we walked to the car:

Max: She's having a baby tonight?

Me: Yes! And it's going to be a little girl!

Max: How do they know it's going to be a little girl?

Me: The doctors have a special camera that takes pictures of the baby while she's still inside the Mommy's womb. Isn't that neat?

Max: (thinking for a few seconds) But how do they know it's a girl? Do they look at the hair?

Conversations with Max

Max: Mom, when I grow up I will clean my whole room all by myself without any help from my wife.

Me: (laughing) Well, I bet she will really like that.

Max: Yes, she will say, "I love you." Also, I when I'm grown up, I will help my kids clean up their rooms every time.

It's on the record, buddy. :-)

3-Year-Old Maggie Mae

Conversations with Max and Maggie

In the car today, listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's

Beauty Will Rise

.

Maggie: What's this song about?

Me: It's about the day a little girl believes in Jesus.

Maggie: What'd she believe?

Me: Well... she believed that Jesus is who He said He is in the Bible. That He is God's son who came to earth; He was completely God and completely man, but He never, ever sinned, had a bad attitude, lied or made a wrong choice. And even though He never sinned, He loved us so much that He took the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross. And then three days later He did something that no other person has ever been able to do- He raised Himself from the dead, and now He's living in heaven and making a home where all of us who believe in Him will live with Him forever.

Max: I BELIEVE! I believe in Jesus!

Me: I know you do, Max. Nothing could make me happier.

Maggie: I don't. I don't believe.

Me: That's okay. It's okay if you don't believe in Jesus today. Someday you will.

Max: (panicked) But, Maggie, you have to believe in Jesus! If you don't believe in Jesus, you won't be able to go to heaven, and heaven is a great place!

Maggie: Can we hear the song about the little girl who believes again?

Conversations with Maximus

Last night at bedtime prayers:

Me: Maximus, what would you like to pray about tonight?

Max: Well.... do we know anybody who's sick or anything? How is Grandmama feeling today?

Me: Grandmama is feeling a little bit sick today.

Max: (shaking his head slightly) Hmmm... I really only like to pray for people who are medium sick or more.

Back from the California breeze to the Arkansas Humidity

After a week in Sunny yet cool Southern California, I'm back to the land I love: Arkansas. :-) When I left the house we were staying in Camarillo on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., it was 57 degrees. Back home in Arkansas, it was 103 on Tuesday. Quite a difference!

I had a great week with my Dad, Mom, Mitch and Russ in California. We missed having Tyler there- it was almost like old times. In some ways it's hard to believe that it used to be just the six of us all the time. I love how families have a way of multiplying and expanding!

The two highlights of the trip for me were definitely hearing my mom speak two times (the purpose of the trip) and visiting with Lucas' parents in Fallbrook.

It was my first time to visit Chaney and Maria's home without Lucas or the kids, and it reminded me how blessed I am to have so many people in my husband's family, on both his mom's side and his dad's side, who have embraced me as one of their own. It's a little hard to articulate, but I had a true sense of going home when we pulled up to their house. That's an intangible treasure to have with one's in-laws, I think– not something that you can force to happen or always even work to create. It's something I always wanted and prayed I would have with my husband's family, and God gave it to me.

The week was definitely a special one, and I was so grateful to be able to go. I have to give a MAJOR shout-out to my sisters-in-laws and friends who helped so much with the kids while Lucas was at work so that it was possible for me to go. And of course to Lucas who worked so hard while I was gone to give me this gift. Thanks, everyone!

Here are just a few snapshots from the week:

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Chaney!

Yesterday was Grandpa Chaney's birthday!

One of THOSE days

Most days, I simply don't get Maggie.

Oh, don't get me wrong: I absolutely love her and I am so enamored with her that I know I am sometimes one of those completely annoying moms who wants to talk way too much about every minute detail of my daughter's latest developmental marvel.

But when it comes to her motivations and actions, I am completely dumbfounded. Coming from this people-pleasing, can't-we-all-just-get-along, life-is-just-so-much-nicer-when-we-all-follow-the-rules-and-don't-rock-the-boat type of person, Maggie is a total mystery to me. Fortunately, this means that she won't have to deal with all the sin and vices that come along with being a people-pleaser.

Unfortunately, it means she can be really, really difficult to parent.

Yesterday was a doozy of a day. It started out with my discovery that, sometime during the night, she had procured a pair of scissors and chopped up a down blanket, leaving a total disaster zone of feathers in her wake. She had also done a significant amount of slicing to her new curtains as well.

In addition to the normal strong-willed-child discipline issues we're dealing with every day, yesterday had several other pieces of straw that just about broke this camel's back. When Lucas got home and saw what a hard day it had been, he asked what he could do to make it better (he's so great, huh?). I said I think the only good option was to ask my daughter for forgiveness for all the anger and impatience, and then go to sleep and start again tomorrow.

And you know what? Today has been better. While I was spray painting a bookshelf in the back yard, Maggie slid open the door and stuck her head out, along with a bottle of glue:

"Hey, Mom- I'm going to glue my pony to my wall. Is that a good idea?"

At least she's learning to identify when it might just be a good idea to ask first. This could be a breakthrough, folks.

Stay tuned for great things from this little Maggie Mae. I know God has something important in store for all that passion and spunk. Can't wait to see what it is!

Conversations with Maximus

While looking at pictures of our friends Jonathan and Grace on their blog:

Maximus: Why do they like each other?

Me: Because they are brother and sister, just like you and Maggie. Do you and Maggie like each other?

Maximus: (hesitating) Well..... sometimes she smells kinda bad.

Perhaps he was searching for an excuse. At any rate, we had a good but brief conversation about how we need to love people even if they smell funny. :-)

We've come a long way, Baby

I'm thankful for days like this, when God gives me a glimpse of progress in my children:

For whatever reason, haircuts used to be a MAJOR ordeal with Maximus. He would go into a total panic every time. He would start yelling and thrashing and then would get himself so worked up that he would gag and throw up. We went through about two years of this, and every time, I would walk away with my head hung, utterly embarrassed and frustrated.

Over the last year, he's done a little better each time. Then yesterday, it happened: an entire haircut without so much as a whimper. He told me in the car on the way to see Ariane: "Mom, I just realized that haircuts don't hurt. I still don't like them, but they don't hurt."

Once we were at the salon, he got up in the chair and looked straight into the mirror. He set his jaw and stared at the same spot on the mirror the whole time. He looked determined.

And maybe it's silly to be proud of him for overcoming something that never should have been an issue in the first place, but I am proud of him. And I'm thankful for a much-needed reminder that today's battle might just be tomorrow's non-issues. A message my soul really, really needed to hear.

Plague of Flies

Okay, Siloam Springs friends. WHAT is up with the flies this summer? The fly situation is rapidly approaching plague status in our house. Anybody have good tips for dealing with flies?

I know exactly what you mean, Buddy

Maximus: Mommy, why is it just so hard to always obey?

Keep Moving Forward

Sorry for the absence, folks. We've been without internet service until this afternoon when my brilliant husband got us rolling again.

Here's what we've been up to in the last week:

•VBS. Max and Maggie had their first VBS experience last week. Maximus absolutely loved every minute. Makes me think that he's going to love school- there's just SO MUCH INFORMATION to take in in the world! On Friday night after VBS he said, "Next summer, when I'm five, I'll get to go back to Bible school. I wonder what we will learn about. I wonder what the snacks will be!!"

• 7th anniversary. Lucas and I celebrated seven years of marriage on Monday the 28th. My sweet husband planned a really fun date for us, including going back to Magnolia Gardens Inn where we met and got married. It was our first time back there since the wedding. That was pretty cool. Nice work, Sweetie. :-)

• 7th move. This week we made our 7th move since we've been married. We like to celebrate our anniversary every summer by moving to a new house. It's so fun. You really ought to try it. Okay, I'll drop the sarcasm. We are really, really ready to be finished moving. Forever. We are super thankful to have a great house to move into (pics to come when I get a chance) and we love the new place.

• Mom and chemo. My mom started chemo back this week and has been really sick. If you haven't been following along with her blog recently but want to get caught up, you can check it out here. I hate that I haven't been able to help her much this week while we've been moving, but I am really glad for the way that God provided a new home for us and a chance to move this week instead of in four more weeks like we thought was going to be the case. We're within a couple days of finishing up the whole moving process, so I'm glad I'll have it behind me and be able to focus more on helping my mom.

There's probably more to tell that I'm not thinking of, but that's all I've got right now. Happy Independence Day weekend, everyone!!