Because I'm lazy...

Because I'm lazy I'm not going to add photos. My posts take 3 times as long just for adding the pics. I don't know why my computer and blogger fight me, but they do and today they've won the battle...but not the war.

Ellis has started walking. Jacob announced that he is only going to read his book at the sitters and speak to no one. And Mena has finally decided to start wearing princess shoes I bought her over a year ago. They are all growing and maturing at their own rate.

Friday night I took Mena on a date to see Toy Story 3. I cried uncontrollably for the first ten minutes, and NO!... I'm not pregnant. Watching the animated Andy pack for college just broke my heart. When it's late at night and I'm exhausted from a day of mindless cartoon chatter, bickering siblings, and the need for a giant cold Diet Pepsi that doesn't exist in my refrigerator, I really do pull out the calendar and start counting down the days until their adulthood.

But then there are nights like last night. Mena fell asleep in the car coming home from Grandma's and had to be carried upstairs to the potty then put to bed. Jacob and I made up a new game "Kiss & Tell" where I kiss his nose, toes, fingers, etc. and tell him one thing about him. After that, those who were awake, went through the scrapbooks to find a page I could enter in the county fair this year, choice made, putting them away. Our sweet little Ellis finally began walking. Those are the nights when our home truly is our refuge from the world and our garden out back is eden.

Ellis then was up through the night with a runny nose and I am reminded that I'm too old to keep trying for more ( a thought this weekend) and that right now my job is to just adore the children I have and be grateful for the time we're given.

So instead of a photo this post, take a moment, close your eyes and imagine:

The bottoms of three, separate right feet belonging to an almost seven year-old, a four year-old and an almost one year-old. Lined up with their cute little toes angling down.

Those three feet belong to three amazingly beautiful, bright children who may cure cancer, travel around the world, or live in space. They may buy a home with their spouses and children in Fremont, Ohio or move to London, England. I don't know. But their mine, and I love them even when I'm screaming.