In Case They Ever Wonder

This was one of the last things I saw before collapsing in the bed last night. I went to check on Soph and Will, and when I saw them holding hands asleep, I almost heard God laughing-ly whisper, "this blessing was brought to you courtesy of the condo!" So, I went downstairs, grabbed the camera, and whispered back my thanks for children that are getting to, not having to experience sharing a room. Several hours later (though I would have sworn it was only a few minutes), I'm sleeping peacefully, with Lillie and Matt tucked in beside me, only to see two grinning roosters, loudly crowing, "Happy Bane Bane Day! Happy Bane Bane Day! Come downstairs and have your breakfast! We've played the Bane Bane Game!" Jolted awake, I yelled at Matt to check the time. He was meant to be at the office by 9 today, and I was so upset that we'd somehow slept through our alarm. I just knew it must be somewhere in the 10s because Sophie Roden never ever gets up on her own be...

Every night before bed, I pray that Will will grow into a man who is strong and true. I tell him stories of courage, strength, honesty, and loyalty. I encourage him to protect his sisters and show kindness to others. But sweet Will walks a fine line between angel and thug. He's a great kid, but every now and then, he gets a little glimmer in his eyes that tell me I'm about to deal with Wild Will. Currently, I've seen a little more of that glimmer than I'd like as Will is in what you might call a wee bit of a "negative stage." Along with the sounds of a 40 pound two year old hitting, pushing, hair-pulling, and tackling (and sisters big and little crying accordingly), here are a few little "gems" heard around our house this week. "Sleep makes me throw up," "Water makes me throw up," "This song makes me throw up," or " insert-any-other-activity- food-or-person-that-he-cur rently-finds-distasteful makes me throw up!...

Now, I know that the purpose of VBS is to teach children truths from Scripture and point them towards a relationship with Christ, but tonight my favorite thing about VBS is that all three of my children were asleep by 11 p.m.! Miracles still happen! Sophie and Will both had a great day thanks to all the hard work of the TPC staff and hundreds of volunteers, and now after all the songs, stories, games, and projects, both kids are passed out the earliest they've gone to sleep since we moved in the condo. Sophie reported that she is "remarkably made" and Will loved his teacher who he referred to as "Ms. Jill" (not his teacher's name, but a high compliment since he had a slight crush on Ms. Jill from the school year) Who knows, by Friday, they might have made new friends, had big fun, learned a lot, and be asleep by 10:30! I'm praying for my VBS miracle!

We are in Franklin now living in my sister and brother-in-law's two-bedroom condo. (They bought a gorgeous house a couple of weeks ago, so everything timed out great!) The condo is so cute, and if Matt and I were newly married, we'd be in seventh heaven. But as it stands, we have three kids, and sometimes at around oh, 11 p.m. when both the older kids are still awake, I feel like I'm living a little farther south of seventh heaven. Two bedrooms, five people, do the math. Needless to say, Will and Soph are sharing a room. So far, Will (who used to go to bed between 8 and 8:30 p.m., now regularly sees midnight before falling asleep. And he's lots of fun in the morning. Sure, he sleeps a little later, maybe by a whole 30 or 45 minutes. It's quite the trade off. I used to say he was my gentle giant. Now I just say, he's my giant. Last night he actually punched Sophie in the face, and he regularly grabs her by the hair. Now, no doubt, his always dramatic, sometimes-c...