I Sure Love Those Little Turkeys

Despite the fact that life is making me a bit crazy lately (and adding to the list of things that make me insane... Ben coloring on the couch with marker... OY) life is good. I have four GOOD boys who love me and I love them more than I can express. Even when they throw crayons all.over.the.floor.afterIjustpickedthemup.

Today, I want to focus on the things I adore about these boys. The things that make me smile.



I'll start with the littlest. Ben is cute as a button! I love when I pick him up and he adjusts his little legs so they are wrapped around me tight and he holds on with his feet. I love how he throws his arms around my neck and leans his head back with the biggest smile. Ben is wild about his stuffed animals and now must have both "Puppup" and "Seepy Sheep" to go to bed. One day recently I was upstairs enforcing bedtime and found him holding up his little stuffed puppy and then saw as he snuggled him close with the biggest smile. I also love the way he says things. For example, puppy is 'puppup', blanket is 'bwank,' ketchup is 'chup,' outside is 'side' and until very recently it was 'ide'. I love baby language and the progress he makes on a daily basis.

Then there is Zack. He is such a bubbly fun little boy. So affectionate, so silly. He loves to laugh and make others laugh. He is also very caring. If someone is upset that they don't have a toy, he will find them one and bring it to them. If he can't do that, he is there with a hug. Zack loves to run. I think it is so funny that when we go outside his favorite thing to do is run in circles. He's a racer like Lightning McQueen. Only these days he's a racer on Mario Kart. He loves to imagine and make me "food" in his play kitchen, but he did it even before he had a play kitchen. He also loves to swipe "sips" of my diet coke. Which is slightly annoying, but also really cute because he is pretty sneaky about it.

Mark... He is so enthusiastic. He is happy or sad, things are good or bad. There is no real in between. I do complain about this but it is so fun when he is on the upswing. When he's happy. When I do something little for him and he says "MOM, you are the BEST!!!" This past weekend I made English Muffins after reading about them on my friend Shanna's blog. They turned out really good, but Mark was so excited about them. I found out yesterday that he went to school and told his teachers about my "FAMOUS English Muffin recipe!!" I love that enthusiasm! Although, it wasn't exactly my recipe and I'm not sure it's famous. I can just picture him saying it though, and I'm so overjoyed that these are the things he chooses to share with his teachers.

And lastly, my biggest boy....Eric. Eric is such an easy going boy, and he is the one that I can almost always count on to follow the rules. He loves to read, and is often known to say when I remind him he's supposed to be getting dressed "Sorry mom, I just got stuck in my book!" I love it that he gets distracted and "stuck in books." A boy after my own heart! Besides loving to read, he is fascinated by science and loves to know facts about things, particularly space. His favorite book right now is called Earth & Space and it is a very thick one, but he loves to read and learn things about the planets.

I love these little guys more than I knew I could. I confess, yesterday was pretty frustrating again, but as Kevin pointed out last night "you must be doing something right... doesn't it make you feel good when they ALL want to sit near you at prayer time." You know, it really does. It makes it difficult to get irritated when I go to start my morning load of laundry to find the washer full of shoes. I couldn't help but laugh at that one.