Be careful what you pray for....

I was REALLY discouraged (to the point of tears!) the other day about how VERY messy my house was...

Bryce looked at me and said,

"Well, you probably shouldn't have wished for boys!"

Where is Ben?

Look at this really fun playmat set up just for Benjamin Lee... oh, wait, where IS he???

Scooting...
Scooting...
Scooting!

Deck the Halls 09

Thanks to my mom for letting us borrow a pre-lit space-saving tree!  The boys LOVED decorating and even now, Levi rearranges all the ornaments at the bottom of the tree to his liking...

Here is Daddy giving instructions and announcing that he is the official hook hanger.

Levi likes to hang as many on one branch as possible.

How to reach the high spots:

Ethan is almost 6!

We named our Elf Zart:

Job well done!

Cheesy mommy picture:

Story time :)

Conversation with Bryce

Conversation #1: Bryce with a neighbor friend who was spending the night:

"Bryce, you wanna ... mom... dad..... sleep........?"  (who knows what he wanted to do!)

(Looking at him very seriously,) "No, cause that would be disobeying."  

Conversation #2:  On the way home from school in the van:

"I am SO thankful that I get out of school at 12:30 instead of 3!  I would have like 3 more hours of school today!  And it's a christian school, so that's good. That is a long time for those kids to be under the influence."

"Under the influence of what, Bryce?"

"Sin!  You know, the kids who get to go to bible study on Wednesday nights, that's all they get.  Then they have to spend all those hours in school under the influence.  Why don't they go to a christian school?"

Ben 7 months

Benjamin Lee, you are 7 months old and changing every day.  I must confess that with your brothers, I was in such a hurry for that next milestone to be reached.  When will he sit up?  When will he eat solids?  etc, etc.  With you, things have been SO different.  I KNOW that the next milestone is just around the corner.  I have taken so much joy in paying attention to the tiny steps of progress you take each day that lead you to the next big thing.  It has been full of sweet moments and way less stressful!  I laugh when I think of how stressed out I would be at the pediatricians office when the nurse asks all the questions about development!  You, of course, are going to be a genius, so I am not worried at all ;)

So, this month, some of my favorite moments are:

Toes in mouth

learning to scoot:
loves up high with daddy!:
still loving the exersaucer:
Pulling up!

Me and my boys

A day in the life with boys

My favorite Ben picture so far:

Levi and his night-nights:
"Tickle me, Daddy!"
UP HIGH is the theme of the day:
Like I said, sometimes up high is the only safe to play Legos!
Ethan loves to play Lego Batman
Bryce spends hours setting up people and animals~!
And last, but not least, one more UP HIGH picture for ya!

Football Champions!

I am so proud of Bryce and his team!  They are the Champions in their YMCA football league!

I was finally able to go to a game and Bryce did so well.

He started off the season not even trying and MAD every time he had to go to practice.

Then one day, he did really well, got some compliments, and decided to start playing HARD.  

I have seen him make a complete turn-around in his attitude and I am so proud.

Pictures are from BK's phone so they are a little fuzzy.

Funniest story in a while

Several years ago, I decided to teach my oldest boys my phone number in case of emergencies.  I think Ethan was 3 and Bryce was 5.  I was so surprised how quickly they learned it!  Well, a while ago, BK decided to change phone plans and decided that the best plan was for him to take my number and for a while I had to keep his old number.  So now, Bryce and Ethan both know DAD's number, not mine.  For some reason, this was fine with me, as long as they knew at least one number.

This fall, Bryce has been playing football at the YMCA that is less than a mile from our house.  It works out so well with our busy schedule.  I drop Bryce off for practice and then he calls his dad when it is time to pick him up.

Well, last night, BK was out of town and I wasn't sure when he would be back, so I told Bryce he would need to call me when practice was over.  I proceeded to pull out a little yellow sticky pad and quickly wrote my cell number down for him.  

"Mom, the last time you did this, I lost it!"

"Bryce, all you have to do is take this paper to the LADY at the FRONT DESK and tell her to please hold it for you so you can call your mom when practice is over."

"OK" (reluctantly) 

I folded up the the little yellow sticky note with my number on it and Bryce got out of the car and proceeded to walk straight up to his COACH, while I am watching, hand HIM the note and say, "My mom wanted me to give this to you."  

Oh. My. Gosh.  You should have seen the coaches face when he opened it up.  Mine was beet red.  

How I spent my Monday morning

Lots of children=lots of laundry! Does this look familiar to anyone or is it just me?!  

So my strategy to avoid this, when I stick to it  - is to do one load a day.  Occasionally with this plan I will have to do an additional load of linens or towels, but in general it REALLY WORKS!

I have found that if I wash and dry one load at night, then when i wake up in the morning, I have all day to get it sorted, folded and put away.  I also have separate laundry baskets for each person, which makes it easy to sort and also to know who needs theirs done the most.  

But, of course, a few days of NOT sticking to the plan and I am under this mountain once again!

Just one of those things that works for me and i want to remember what it looked like when all the clothes were small.... (what will I do when they are all wearing gigantic jeans?!)

Ben's first sink bath

I just realized today that Benjamin could now take his baths in the kitchen sink, since he can sit up so well.  I was thinking, "I need to get one of those little seats that go in the tub because he could still fall over and he is too big for that baby tub now..."  Then it hit me - THE SINK!!  Of course Levi was so very interested in helping me bathe him.

I think he really liked it!

Note to self:  Lysol the edges and rinse BEFORE he takes his bath!

And of course, as soon as I came back from dressing Ben, this is what I found:

Halloween 09

PIRATES!!

He is sitting up!

He is TOO CUTE!

The "I Prayed for Boys" Story

From the time I was very young, I wanted to be a wife and mother.  I think it's because I know I have one of the most amazing mother's ever created.  

I was in elementary school and I can remember hearing a missionary speak at a mission's conference at church.  I was so young, but I remember tearing up, and knowing that the Holy Spirit was moving in my heart.  I knew I was supposed to "go".

I went on several small trips with youth groups and then in college, my chance finally came.  I was asked to be a part of a team of students going to Kazakhstan.  At that time, I was dating Bryan (a college minister) and to tell the truth, when I got to KZ, I was pretty sure I was NOT going to be a missionary there!  I don't think it was because I was hoping to marry BK and stay in the states. In fact, I knew he was open to going anywhere for the Lord.  Turns out,  the Lord just had other plans for me!  

While in KZ, the missionaries asked that we pray for the local church there, specifically for there to be more men involved in those churches.  As I prayed, I became overwhelmed by how many godly women seemed to be a part of my Christian circles, but how few truly godly men there were.  It was during a prayer time reading in the Psalms that my heart was filled with a desire to be part of raising up godly men for the Kingdom of God here on earth ( i know that sounds weird!)  I prayed for sons.  For boys. And for our churches to be filled with men who would be leaders.  

When I got back from that mission trip, that time of prayer stood out as a highlight of my summer.  It was such an intense time with the Lord and I knew He had really spoken to my heart.  

Bryan and I got engaged that fall and married in the spring.  Though we were surprised to see a positive pregnancy test that summer after just 3 months of marriage - we were not surprised to see an ultrasound at 20 weeks that revealed a BOY! 

Since then, everyone is always hoping that I will have a girl.... but I know better!  This is my calling.  And 4 sons later, I am amazed at how personal the Lord was that summer in KZ. 

But it doesn't stop there!  This is the part that gives me chills.  

We knew our last year of seminary that the Lord wanted us to begin a work of Urban Ministry.  It didn't take me long to see how much deeper this calling of raising up men for the Kingdom of God was going to go.  Our streets are filled with boys.  Young boys, who spend their free time outside on the street with no fathers in their homes.  Their role models are the drug dealers who just so happen to be their cousins, uncles, or older brothers.  They can't even imagine a life outside our neighborhood.  There is no thought of college or marriage.  No thought of growing old with the love of your life and playing with grandkids.  There is such a need for a new generation of men in my neighborhood - men who love the Lord and who will stand for justice and righteousness, and then raise their family to do the same.

And the Lord has brought them to my house by the car full!!

In many ways, this has made my life so easy!  I KNOW what I am supposed to do:  Raise my own 4 sons to love the Lord and do whatever will help my husband as he shares his faith and life with the boys on my street. To open my home for snacks, school projects, sleepovers and video games.  My prayer is that HERE, they will sense love, mercy, and acceptance, and that it will make them long for Jesus, who can give them all those things in abundance.  I am constantly praying for God to show me what other ways He wants me to engage, but for now, this is enough.  

The Lord is GREAT and GREATLY to be PRAISED! 

Levi counts

Keeping the Gospel in front of your children

This book is SO practical!  I really struggle with knowing exactly what to say to my children in times of corrective instruction and this book has helped me tremendously.  After reading some of this, I was really convicted that I really need to be expecting from my children what the Lord expects of me.  

He does not expect Perfection - that is why Jesus had to come live and die for us!  He expects us to submit to His authority and to want to obey and try hard to keep his commands out of our love for Him - and relying on the Holy Spirit for help.  He wants us to have  a tender conscience, a teachable spirit and a heart that listens to his voice.  He wants us to confess our sin and be humble in our repentance.  And when we must be disciplined, we need to accept it and learn from it.  This has been so freeing for me as I pray these things for my children, and understand that they are sinners and will continue to sin!!

I am going to post the part that has helped me the most, and will tell the specific stories in another post.  Try this!

" Son, you can't obey by yourself!  That is why Jesus died on the cross, because we can't do it ourselves.  Remember the Bible says that Jesus died so that we would have new life.  You can't obey in your own strength, but you can obey in Jesus strength.  Let's pray right now and ask Jesus to help.

' Dear God, please help me to obey you and love you.  I just can't do it by myself.  Please forgive me for ____.  Please help me to trust you.  I know that you are the only one who can help me be different and turn my heart to you.  Please help me to obey my parents and to obey you.'"

Benjamin 6 months

Ben , you are 6 months old already!  You change everyday, little by little - it is a miracle right before my eyes.  How you love to eat!  You have cereal after your bottle in the morning and veggies and fruits for lunch and dinner.  You take after me by preferring the sweet stuff :)  You are sitting up for longer periods of time by yourself, though you still topple over.  You can turn yourself around on your belly - i often find you on the other side of the crib.  You can finally flip back over from your back to your stomach, though sometimes i think you forget you can do it.  It is hard to hold you because you are always twisting and turning to see what is going on and to reach for things.  Your eyes are almost completely brown now instead of navy blue.  We are all still waiting on your hair and teeth to arrive, but something tells me it will be a while, like it was for Bryce.  I love you, Ben!

A story i want to remember..

My mom calls these two, "Group 2"!  They are 21 months apart, just like Bryce and Ethan are.  I kinda think they will get along a little better than Group 1.  I enjoy my mornings with them and laugh when I remember the days with Group 1 at this age.  Bryan was in seminary and it was just so new to me to have 2 children.  They are so sweet and even though Levi is into EVERYTHING, he is so funny and really does love his baby brother.  

Yesterday, I offered to keep my friend Paula's 4 kids while she went to the consignment sale alone.... anyone hear the scary music in the background???  hahaha!  Her boys are 7, 6, and 4 and a sweet little 4 month old girl.  It was CrAZY!!!  8 children.  wow.  I think it confirmed that Benjamin is the LAST Kelly :)  I couldn't have done it if  Brittany (our roommate) and a teen girl hadn't been here to help.  I am not kidding about the following events:

1.  AC (baby girl) woke up as soon as her mom left and swore she had been abducted by aliens and refused to stop screaming.

2.  Levi fell off the deck in the back and was showing signs of a mild concussion.  (he is fine now)

3.  The 2 oldest boys hit each other and BOTH noses started to bleed.

4.  Bryce jumped off something and hurt his foot - we thought it was broken, but it's not.

5.  BK called to tell me that someone had backed into his truck in the Regions parking lot, and could I bring the camera.  Obviously I could not!

6.  The only reason Ethan didn't make this list is because he was in his room ALL DAY for some bad behavior at school!

Amazingly, all survived and we even enjoyed a taco salad dinner together when Paula got back.  

The crazy thing is, I am sure I will offer to do it again. :)

Family Night

This year we have reserved Friday nights as "Family Night."  I hope to get a little more creative with it some day by having themes, but for now we settle for movie nights on the pull out couch, ice cream treats, and we even went to Toys R Us once.  Any time we leave, Weegie keeps Benjamin since our outings are always past seven - this is a HUGE help and eliminates so much stress for me.  Before the building was done, Bryan was getting home semi-early and so our evenings were a little longer.  now, with having to take kids home in the evening, he is home later.. but that's ok.   I hope this tradition continues for years to come.