almost normal

Kenny's home! Yea! Although his plane was delayed, missed his connection, arriving 3 hours later than we had hoped, he's home.

Christian is doing great! Hematoma sp? is the word for what he had, or soft tissue damage. He must have hit his knee pretty hard, broke a blood vessel and a whole mess of blood and fluid accumulated in the oddest looking way. The orthopedic surgeon said all bones, ligaments, cartiledge look good. It's just something his body will naturally absorb. Thank you God, what an amazing body you designed.

Beauty and the Beast is going well. The boys look great and all the long hours and hard work is finally becoming fun! They had 2 performances today, so they will be pooped by the time they get home, around 11:00 or so. Closing show is tomorrow and lots of friends and family will be there to watch, that will be fun for the boys. Look for pictures in a day or two.

Kenny is feeling a little under the weather, and opted out of a planned 24 hour endurance/mountain bike team race. His teammates have to be a little bummed, as is Kenny, but he made the right call and his achey body will thank him for it on Monday morning.

He's teaching a class on 1 Corinthians beginning this week. It's a serious study and I know it will be great. James Gibbs has put together all the materials and lessons. What a man of God he is. I don't know of any married couple that loves and honors the Word of God more than James and JoAnn. Their example is huge, their faith is unshakeable, their hearts are golden and their peace is profound. I love and respect them for so many reasons. I always have, I just have to say it.

what a day....

My dear husband, Kenny is a good father and a loving husband. He is blessed to work just 10 minutes from our house in a job that allows me to not need to work outside the home. He pretty much makes his own schedule at work, doesn't have a boss telling him he can't take off early if his family needs him etc. He never has to travel for work, but chooses to attend an educational seminar maybe once or twice a year. Well long story longer....this is the one week this year he is gone. And silly me, I thought I would be okay without him!

It's been a challenge getting all four boys up and out of the house this week by 7:59 a.m. but we've made it, even if Elliot brushes his teeth on the way, we've made it.

Brooks' overflexibility issue is fresh and without a lot of answers. I'm concerned. We had our second physical therapy session today and it was basically a solid hour of measuring just how flexible he is. Very flexible kinda sums it up. "he could join the circus!" said the therapist. I don't know what all that means, I just don't want it to be something that greatly affects Brooksie's life. We're praying.

The older boys have been practicing for a play, "Beauty and The Beast" off and on since late June and their performance is this weekend. What does that mean.....I'll tell you what that means. It means the last week before production, the cast practices each and every night, in full make-up and costume from 4:00-9:00 or 9:30 or whenever the boys dressing room is presentable. So basically Christian and Peyton have had 14 hour days this week, pretty taxing on the little ones.

So my evening schedule this week has been as follows:
3:00 pick up boys from school
3:10 grab a snocone at the library (some people actually go and read books there?)
3:30 arrive at play practice to dress and apply make-up
4:00 play practice begins, go home or run errands
6:00 bring the boys dinner at play practice
8:45 leave to pick the boys up from play practice (my folks, saint mom and dad, always help)
9:30 or later get home, and get to bed!!

all of this while dragging little Brooks and Elliot along.

So tonight about 8:00 I get this call, they are saying Christian is hurt, his knee is swollen quite a bit and he's upset. Can I come get him. Of course I can....I'm SUPERMOM!!! Sure enough, I get down there and it looks like he has an alien the size of a golf ball on his knee. With the help of those saintly grandparents we carry him to the car and all seven of us head off to "urgent care". The doctor was very kind, but very baffled as to what is going on with Christian's knee. His guess is a soft tissue or ligament damage, not a broken bone. After two hours we were sent home with an ace wrap and a dose of motrin, along with instructions to see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon on Friday.

When it rains, it pours......what a day. Kenny, come home quickly!!! Mom and Dad, you are amazing, where would I be without you??? I get that now that I am a parent, of course there is nothing I would not do for my children. But to see that in action, in your own parents is humbling. They gladly serve, thinking nothing of themselves. I love you both.

overflexible

Brooks had a doctors appointment, an x-ray and a physical therapy appointment today. For an adult that would be one heck of a day, for an 8 month old, it was utterly exhausting.

It started with me thinking about how he hadn't made progress this past month in the area of crawling or even what I would term crawling readiness. He despises being put up on all fours, makes no attempt at getting his knees up underneath him or working himself into a sitting position.

The physical therapist noted that he lacks muscle tone in his shoulders and his shoulder blades seem to slip and slide a little too much. His hip joints and ankles are "overflexible" and overflexibility is the opposite of stability. It seems these things are making him unable to support himself in a crawling position. Finally, he has an asymmetrical crease on his inner thigh, which may be an indicator or it may be absolutely nothing at all.

The x-rays showed nothing of concern, however the doctor and physical therapist are wanting to monitor him pretty closely. I've been given some exercises to work with him on, so we will do those and do a lot of praying too.

I ask for your prayers for little Brooks. We sure love him so.

big teeth

On the way to church tonight I asked the boys to name 3 new friends at their new school, Christian named his and Peyton was referring to his as "that big 3rd grader, and the kid I was saying good-bye to, and the other kid...etc. Christian reminded him of a friend he was talking to...."what about that guy with the really curly hair?" Peyton (the most loving kid on the planet) said, no, he's not my friend.

My ears perked up, Why? I asked.

Because I don't like people with really big front teeth, they're scary.

He means of course kids who have just lost their front teeth, which he hasn't yet, and the permanent teeth grow in looking pretty awkward. Christian went to the defense of all kids with big front teeth, "hey, I've got big teeth and you will too once you lose your baby teeth!"

Peyton processed this realization for a moment and replied, Then I'll be really scary too!

I love six year olds, big teeth and all. They say it like they see it, plain and true.

Christian

My oldest son Christian, turns 9 today. Nine years old, his last year in the single digits. How did this happen? I know it makes me sound like and old fogie parent, but where did the time go?

Nine years ago tonight, we welcomed him into our arms. He was born at 11:04 p.m. We had induced labor at 6:30 that morning. I had pushed for 2 1/2 hours and finally the doctor brought out the vacuum seals. It took four of those to finally get him out. Nobody would have guessed my first baby would weigh 10 pounds. He's skin and bones today, but tall and handsome as can be. He is such a cool kid. Hey, it's my blog, I can brag on my boys all day long if I want to, nobody is forcing you to read this!

He's like me in lots of ways, he chooses crazy flavors of sno-cones and ice creams, like mango-banana just the other day. And his birthday cake of choice had lemon filling and rainbow sherbet for ice cream. He's very sure of himself, very confident and decisive. He argued the theory of evolution vs. creation with one of his best friends/son of 2 scientists for like an hour this summer. He's a humorist and he's truly funny, not just nine year old silly, he's that too, but he genuinely makes you laugh. He's got a style of his own, from his mop of blond wavy hair to his black converse all stars. He's a big brother to 3 others, a lover of amphibians and reptiles. His favorite is the Jesus Christ lizard, I never knew such a creature existed until he assured me it did. Google it, it's a cool little critter. His mind is amazing, forgetting almost nothing, it's always turning, thinking bizarre little thoughts most of us would never consider.

I took popsicles to his 3rd grade class today to celebrate his birthday, the kids ate them outside the classroom and then started a short game of kick-ball. The teacher wasn't involved, it was just what the kids, mostly boys wanted to do. I watched as Christian preferred to bounce a basketball up a flight of 15 stairs or so, taking a step and bouncing the ball a step as he climbed. Later on, after school, I asked him why he didn't want to play kick ball with the other boys? (This is a new school this year and I'm a little anxious for him to make friends.) He said he didn't really like kick-ball when kids are "in-charge", they're always fighting over the rules, who's out and who's not out, etc.... He's happy enough just doing his own thing.

I have one decade left with him, before he'll leave for college. 10 years to hug and kiss him everyday. 10 years to tease him to help him, to comfort him and advise him. 10 crucial years to train him in the way he should go, so that when he is old he would choose not to depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) God, thank you for my eldest son, for the joy and honor it is to be his mother. Give me wisdom in parenting, wisdom everyday.

9-11

I've had a life defining moment. I couldn't sleep last night because of something that had convicted me, it is eating at me, taunting me to ponder the complete picture, the bigger lesson to be learned.

I sit down to write my "once a month" blog and like a neon sign the date pops up. 9-11. What a day to reflect, to ponder a new truth and make a change for the better.

Christian turns nine years old tomorrow but we celebrated his birthday with a Calvin and Hobbes themed birthday party today, at our house. Typical party, all boys, swimming in the pool, hamburgers for dinner, cake, presents, etc.

One of the boys we invited was a friend from church. He was only going to be able to stay for 30 minutes of the party time because his mom had another commitment planned. At the spur of the moment and under the influence of my mom's homemade chocolate frosting, I offered to keep this friend beyond the party, overnight, and bring him to church the next day. I added that I was certain we had clean church clothes that would fit him, an unused toothbrush and all those details. Long story short, he stayed for the party and the night.

This 9 year old's presence has taught our family so much.

From the moment he walked in he asked if we needed any help in the kitchen. He expressed more grattitude for his hamburger dinner than anyone else. His face was plastered with a grin from ear to ear, and never was a complaint or unkind word uttered from his lips. He easily complimented others, seeing only good in his peers. He shared the joy of each gift Christian opened, truly happy for someone else. I asked him, "Are you excited about spending the night with us?" In sweet honesty, he said, "I'm a little nervous." Later before he took his shower, I asked if he was okay, "he replied, yes I'm a little homesick, I might cry a little." (which by the way, he never did) But my point is it was so beautiful to see a 9 year old, so open and true with his feelings. Sometime in the evening, Kenny was wrestling with 5 or more boys, including our 13 year old neighbor boy up the street. The 9 year old came running down the stairs and exclaimed, "Mr. Winter is impossible to defeat!! He is so COOL!!" He called his mom's cell phone around 10:00, and I don't know the gist of that conversation because he spoke in Spanish to her, but at the end, for some reason in English, I heard him say, "Christian is my very best friend." As Kenny said prayers with the older boys his prayer was this...."Thank you God that I got to come to Christian's birthday party. Thank you for making this the best day of my life." Amen

We live in a bubble, most of the time. Our city is at least 50% Hispanic, and yet we live in a world of private Christian schooling, cub scouts, piano lessons, a English/Spanish church congregation, (but quite honestly, we don't combine fellowship all that often.) My kids and their friends have everything they need and more, from large, well-furnished homes, to too many toys to list.

We are spoiled and we are selfish.

I couldn't see it until someone not very similar to us came to live with us for a few hours.

It reminds me of Jesus. He came for a short time and gave our world a new perspective by the way he lived. Yes, at times he taught the people, but mostly he just lived. And the way he lived got people's attention. This little boy got my attention yesterday, and I wasn't alone, most other parents of equally spoiled/selfish kids took notice of this one's character. Praise God for this child.

When the kids were finally tucked in for the night, Kenny and I sat and chewed on this thought for a while. This was a kid we wanted ours to be more like. I think my kids are pretty awesome kids, but I recognize we need to learn from this boy's example.

You see, from our viewpoint, he doesn't have very much, materially or otherwise. But that isn't what makes him beautiful. It's not his lack of "stuff" including lack of a daddy that makes this kid shine brighter than the rest. I can't say exactly what it is that makes this boy so Christlike but I think it has much to do with what I am going to call "exposure".

Exposure means what he sees and lives with and relates to and is asked to understand on a daily basis. I imagine it is vastly different than my kids' exposure. I think about the recent hurricane. We have donated an amount I feel pretty good about, but we could do more.....but because we don't have TV in our home, my kids are pretty clueless about the whole thing. I think I thought I was sparing them the confusion and the saddness of the whole situation. I've thought, "they're young, they're innocent, they don't really need to know what a scary, difficult, unfair world we live in. I am rethinking that now. I don't want to shock them just to cause them pain, but by not exposing them to life outside what is safe, nice and easy, I am hardening their hearts to the fruits of the spirit. I don't think you can learn love, joy and peace when you're not exposed to the reality of this world, absent from those. Can you learn kindness, patience, goodness when you aren't faced with a dire need for those traits? Thankfulness is learned best when you have the least, You understand gentleness best when you see the ugliness of harshness. And self-control is just an ambiguous concept to those who have more than they need.

We are spoiled and we are selfish and I think it is not because our hearts are spoiled and selfish, but because of who and what we expose ourselves to and more importantly our children to.

I want my boys to be more like that little boy asleep in their room, but what I am really saying is he reminds me of Jesus and I am reminded by this 9 year old why being a Christian is what it is, being more like Christ.

We are four years past the sad day of 9-11, and nearing two weeks since Hurricane Katrina hit. Life is hard, God knew it would be full of great sadness and joy. I am beginning to see the wisdom of us being exposed to the pains of this world. Only through that can we be refined and direct others to know the Savior of mankind.