Brother is addicted to Legos.  In addition to actually building with his own collection he spends time on Lego.com not only playing the games but watching the videos where the creators tell why and how they built particular sets.  He’s five but they interest him to no end.

All of this is well and good as far as creativity and engineering skills go but the Lego disaster that was his room had reached a critical mass.  He wouldn’t let anyone in for fear they would “mess something up”.  Even he would only go in to sleep or to quickly pick up a piece for play elsewhere.

This picture (where I was really trying to catch our visitor from the other night) doesn’t even begin to capture the amount of pieces on the floor and in the bed and in every available nook and cranny (including the closet).

Last night, Will made the suggestion that perhaps Brother wasn’t being obsessive as much as he was overwhelmed and trying to deal as best he could by simply spreading the Lego’s out into groups which to us seemed like a mess but to him was order.  Hmm.  I pondered this and today the room looks different.

First, I asked Brother to pick out 15 of his very favorite creations.  He immediately burst into tears.  I immediately backed off. 

Take two, I waited until Brother was absorbed in a game elsewhere; then I stealthily entered his room and began to place his best, most elaborate creations in a small box.  I took the box to him and returned to the room to stuff every remaining Lego in a large bin for storage.  I worked as quickly as possible because I knew if he caught me there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But no, he came in at one point to ask for a rock monster, which I dug out of the growing mass, and then left without a word.

Later I set up a small table and arranged the best creations on it telling him, “Now you can have all you Lego’s out at one time, k?”  His response, “This is the shiniest room ever.” followed by a sigh of relief.

It took 45 minutes for him to notice that the rest of his collection was missing and while he briefly looked for it he quickly settled in to my explanation that they “are on vacation until we can figure out a way to organize them.”

Now, he’s playing with his trains which haven’t seen the light of day in many moons.

Amazing.

She’s almost nine months.

She crawls (sometimes cruises). She can sit well on her own.

It was time to graduate from the kitchen sink to a real bathtub. 

SHE. LOVED. IT!

Oh, if only that enthusiasm could be transferred to her siblings.

See Baby look.

Reach. Touch.

See Baby want.

Grasp. Drop.

See Baby hold.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby strain.

Struggle. Cry.

See Baby turn.

Push. Stretch.

See Baby roll.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby squirm.

Wriggle. Twist.

See Baby rock.

Move.  Fall.

See Baby crawl.

Look. Look. See Baby.

See Baby hope.

Know. Need.

See Baby sit.

Wobble. Stand.

See Baby grow.

After days weeks of waiting, Dora’s first pearly white appears.

Dora can sit!  Today at approximately 2:34pm, Dora sat unassisted for a continuous 10 seconds!  And these are not just the crazy declarations of a proud mommy either, I have witnesses!

Um, k … that’s all.  You can return to your regularly scheduled life now.

It is a happy yet bittersweet day when your children leave behind the dandelions and other sundry weeds and pick actual flowers to show their love.

For the past three-ish years we’ve lived in a basement, a 700 sq ft apt., a metal building/garage and this house.

Each of these in turn adequately met our needs and from each of location we took some nugget of knowledge that helped us mature spiritually, emotionally, and financially.  Moving again means more growth I know, but I can only stand in awe at the means the Lord has chosen this time.  I am blown away by His thoughtfulness and gracious blessing.

 

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20 (New Living Translation)

Indeed.

Previous savings - $1 dollar and 25 cents

Vacuuming the living room rug - 25 cents

Scrubbing down the back door - 50 cents

Doing a load of laundry (start to finish) - 2 dollars

Putting away all the dishes - 1 dollar

Hosing down the back windows - 25 cents

Dusting the baseboards - 50 cents

Clearing fridge of artwork and other miscellany - 25 cents

Cleaning up the whole den (even though most of it was your brother’s mess) - 50 cents

Watering the garden - 25 cents

Buying your very own fish and food with your very own money  -

Bloggityville, meet Sparky … and Ghosty (He looks vaguely like a stain on that bit o’ white near the bottom and he’s a ghost shrimp …. which explains why he’s so hard to see and explains why he’s called “Ghosty”.  We are nothing if not creative around here.)

“To laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach for another is to risk involvement. To expose your feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To believe is to risk despair. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their servitude they are slaves; they have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free.”

William Arthur Ward

Here is to living a life free of fear.  To accepting and embracing each moment for what it is and moving on without regret.

*photo courtesy of Snoober