Boys to Men

Saturday, August 2, 2009 was the wedding day of Mr.and Mrs. Ethan Moody (Ryan's younger brother). Jayce got the be the proud and very serious, yet smiley ringbearer for the blessed event.

I don't use the word "blessed" lighly. I choose it because we love Liz and think her and E are a very well matched couple. She is a great balance of energetic and calm. She is sweet, sincere, steady, and a school teacher. But, I also choose the word "blessed" because E is the third and final Moody "boy" to be married. I was really hit by this the morning of the wedding especially. And, Ryan's dad, who we affectionately call "Pops", happened to be at breakfast at the same time as me so I attempted to convey my thoughts to him. Which included recognition for the great father that he is and has been-especially as he navigated the rough waters of losing Beth while the boys were all in critical teenage/pre-teen years. Also, I was reflecting on the faithfulness of God. As we all do, each of the "boys" has their own story of how they got to where they are today. However, there are surely points along the way in each of their stories when, if given a fast forward glimpse into their lives today, it surely could have seemed completely unbelievable given the difficulties they walked through at the time. I, for one, am completely thankful for the way God, Pops, Beth-while she was here, and through her legacy as she is gone, and certain others have led them and loved them through the years. The "boys" have each become strong, responsible, Jesus-following, loyal and loving men. Their sorrow and struggles left them struck down-for a time-but not destroyed. And, I had to add as I concluded my chat with pops that morning, they each picked a pretty decent wife if I might say so myself:)

Happy 30th Birthday Ryan!

Its been way too long since I have had the time (or taken the time) to sit and type the thoughts swirling around in my mind...noticing my last post date, I can understand why. And, though I'm certain that not one of the very few people who read this blog would ever hold their breath-or even expect another post to ever appear on my blog for that matter-I am assured you will understand my absense as well when I attempt to bring my blog up to speed with my life. Since my last post we have done all the following and then some...
-partied for Ryan's 30th birthday
-announced we are expecting a child
-celebrated E and Liz's wedding
-started and completed my CNA course and clinicals
-honored granny's life at her funeral up north
-partied again for Tyrus' 3rd birthday
-and, might I add, endured non-stop nausea

For now, I'll start right where I left off and continue from there-hopefully before 2010 rolls around:)

Friday, July 17--Happy 30th Birthday, Ryan!

This picture [unavailable at the moment due to site malfunction] is taken on Ryan's 30th birthday as we gave him his gifts which included a GPS, candy, and the unveiling of a surprise (only to Ryan at the time-the boys just thought we were giving daddy a cool shirt with their names on it--they were oblivious to what else it said:). You see, I had a special shirt made because I had realized just over a week earlier that I was pregnant and, with a milestone birthday coming so soon, I wanted to tell him for his birthday. (And no, one week did not seem "so soon" while waiting to tell him-or anyone for that matter-the somewhat surprising and very exciting news.) I did tell a few random people throughout the week like the doctor (who managed to get me in for a blood draw and an ultrasound during the week of "secrecy"), the lady at Natures Bounty Herbal Store, and the t-shirt screening people---but for some reason, those people aren't quite as fun to tell as say... my husband or my children:) Here is the gift up close (as you can see, the boys did know that we are having a baby when this picture was taken later on and yes, they are excited)...


We are thrilled and thankful for this gift and, though excitement, gratitude, and anticipation have certainly never been lacking in my past pregnancies, those emotions are stronger than ever this time around. I've decided its mostly because we have all the emotion from 2 very happy big brothers heaped on top of our own:) We look forward to meeting our baby in March!

for the love of Tiberius

an observation

I recently observed that adults can be so quick and harsh to impose their opinion on a child that they easily skip past the opportunity to understand a childs perspective ...

I recently observed that parents can be so judgemental, so degrading, so insensitive to the very child they are responsible to nurture...

I recently observed that a child's spirit is a fragile thing, so easily damaged by those they long to be loved and accepted by...

I recently observed Tiberius. And I longed for him to hear praise for the person God created him to be no matter if he was bigger than all the other kids his age or not. I longed for him to have a voice and an audience who would listen long enough to give him a platform for his thoughts, opinions, cares, ideas and all the other greatness God packed into him.

For the love of Tiberius I purpose to take more time to see from a child's perspective...to be "Quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." I purpose to show value to the young, vulnerable people God puts in my life and let my actions towards them stem from love for them and their Creator.

Cute as can be

I'm jumping ahead of myself for a quick post with a little peek from a photo shoot I had the priviledge of doing tonight. I must say that attempting to photograph a family with 6 children ages 1,7,8,9,10, and 12 may not be the easiest thing I've ever done as a beginning photographer (even though they were extremely cooperative). It sure was fun though and I was so happy to do this for this special family. Here is a capture that I love...

Hot Air Balloons, Thunderbirds, and Cirlceslide---our 4th of July entertainment

This year was no exception to the fact that I have enjoyed Cereal City's air show more every year. There are so many great things we did not fully realize when we purchased our house and, among them, is the fact that our home is a great distance from the airport-specifically during the air show. Close enough to see the balloons as they take off or land at the airport. Often close enough to even hear the loud hiss of fire as it blows into their envelope. And close enough to literally feel the roar of the Thunderbirds entertaining overhead. Though a few balloon launches were cancelled due to inclement weather or high winds, Friday morning's calm was just what they needed to launch and I happened to take my morning run just after they had lifted off. They entertained me overhead throughout my entire run. At one point I could see 16 balloons. However, the best part was when "Sugar Bear" (one of the boys' favorites) was drifting just ahead of me and twisted around as if he was turning his head to smile right at me. Friday night the boys and I were all ready for a balloon chase but the winds held them off. So, early Saturday morning when I heard their hissing overhead as I woke up, I got the boys out of bed, we got ready quickly, went outside, and found balloons speckled across the scenery surrounding our house. We took off to track down a landing and, much to our great surprise, we found "The Great Tony." He had already landed and they were beginning to pack him up but, because he is another one of our favorite balloons, we had to stop anyway. As we were watching them load him up, a balloon came over the trees just across the road and landed right before our eyes. We were on a roll so we followed another balloon that was sailing on a bit farther to another part of town to see if we could watch them land. Chasing balloons holds a lot of excitement in the last moments before a balloon decides just exactly where to make their landing. Often you have to drive in and out of several locations before you peg the actual spot they will come down. On this morning, after 3 attempts, we pulled into an apartment complex just as the balloon landed. The pilot was excellent with the crowd of children that had quickly gathered and led them through the entire process of packing up the balloon. We watched the balloons overhead on Saturday night but we were headed out of town to a Circlslide concert* and fireworks so we were unable to chase them. On Sunday morning I again timed my run perfectly so I was able to enjoy a sky full of balloons. I deviated from my typical route and ran right along side the airport. At one point I was able to count 26 balloons. Then, on the final night of the air show, the parents of 2 sweet girls I had cared for during my last months of home daycare, gave us VIP passes into the air show. This meant free food and seats that were actually on the air field (which were so good you felt like you could have reached out to touch the Thunderbirds as they roared overhead. A few pictures follow-and to think I left my telescopic lens at home. You would have seen the pilots faces had I brought that along:) And then, finally, after some delay due to the winds, the balloons were cleared for a final lift off. The goal on this particular night was to fly into the airport, drop your bean bag as close to the target as possible, and then land elsewhere. Due to the winds, several had rather rough landings right on the airfield after they attempted to descend low enough to drop their bean bags into the target. This had Jayce rather worried. We had a great time at the show and hanging out with the Clark family---thank you so much for sharing with us!

*The Fourth of July Circleslide concert was great as always. We enjoyed time with the Moodys, watching the fireworks, and catching up with friends including the Leonardsons. Jayce especially enjoyed the "sliver" of a broken drumstick he was able to retrieve after the show which he got autographed by the entire band. After watching Lee that night, I'm convinced Jayce has made it his goal to start breaking a drumstick here and there---his drumming (which is getting unbelievably good) has been more skilled and emphatic ever since.

You know you've been to Chicago when...

...your child requests a cowboy hat and heads outside to play his instrument of choice for all the world to hear. Confused?...so was I. So I inquired what exactly he was going to need the hat for, and more specific, "Why a cowboy hat?"

"So people can put money in when I play my drums."

Great thinking, sweet boy. Unfortunately, many things did not go in Jayce's favor on this particular day...

First, we do not have a cowboy hat in our vast collection of dress up hats (so he improvised). Second, we do not live in a high traffic area (so he didn't get any money). And third, some random object got into Jayce's eye during his "performance" (so I spent the next hour and a half trying to make him comfortable and decide if something had scratched his eye or if there was still something in there which needed to be retreived) Finally, after on and off discomfort, accompanied with tears, 2 short Curious George episodes, several popsicle offers which were all refused, and attempts at every trick I know for getting something out of an eye, he let me take a real good look around in his eye. I thought I saw something under the lid and, sure enough, during the second check I recovered a small speck of what appeared to be part of a stem or leaf. He had instant relief and , other than his red, swollen eye, his face was so happy. As we both studied the small speck on my finger that had caused him so much trouble, I just could not keep myself from using the opportunity for a greater good. And since we've been talking about how the way we use our words can either help people to grow or make them wilt, I said, "You know Jayce, this speck is so little but it made a big difference in your eye. Even though it is so little, when it was in your eye it hurt really really bad. And, even though it is super,super tiny it made your eye feel better right away when it came out. It made a big difference. In the Bible it says that our tongue is a very small part of our body but it can make a really big difference. If you use your words in the right ways it helps people, but if you use your words in the wrong way it can hurt people really badly." He was so attentive and I think he got it:) Later however, as he was recalling the incident and how the speck got into his eye, he did come up with a really great, 4-year-old solution so this wouldn't happen again..."Everything in the world should have eyes," he said. "Why?" "Cause they need to see where they are going."

Questions from a child

Tonight in the sweet moments of conversation leading up to bed time a new question was raised by the ever curious minds of 2 little boys trying to understand Jesus a little bit more. We've often talked about how when we get to heaven Jesus is going to give us a new body. This has raised a lot of questions in our family for sure. We once had the sincere question from Jayce "Is it going to hurt?" On this particular day the question seemed to come out of nowhere so I responded, "Is what going to hurt?" And, seriously concerned, he clarified the question, "When Jesus takes our skin off." Classic. But tonight it took a different twist. I'm unsure of exactly where these conversations come from except I know that tonight it came after I prayed for Jayce as he apparently zoned me out and entered his own little worship world with his eyes closed while he beat the air drums along with the music that played in the background. All the while, Ty sang some spontaneous and beautiful song that I need to learn pen immediately or I forget the words-every time. Afterwards we started talking about such things as people who follow Jesus, if we will sleep in heaven and then the question...Jayce asked, "what color skin do you think I will get when I get my new body?" I love this question. I love that Jayce thinks he will have white skin and Ty thinks his will be brown. And I love these moments which are nestled in the midst of day to day life*. Oh God, help me take the time for every single one of them.

*today day to day life included such unsweet moments as Ty turning the lights partially off in the library, at least 4 conversations about the perils of hitting, and a Rubik's Cube, newly acquired from a garage sale, flying through the air towards our neighbors house.