Wordless Wednesday {The 3 Littles}

The Big Boys' Room

It will happen this week.

I am bound and determined that sometime in the next five or so days, I will be able to step back, take a look around Josiah and David's room, and say, "YES!  WE DID IT!"  "It" being a total clean-up, organize, get-rid-of-clutter, make-the-room-look-nice-again project.

I don't know why it is, but their room is one of the hardest ones in the house to keep neat.  A couple of months ago, I was so discouraged by the mess in it that I was tempted to give up and just shut their door so I didn't have to see it!  But then I came to my senses and realized that having a (reasonably) tidy room is worth the effort--in this case, the effort to teach them how to maintain a neat room and the effort to follow up and hold them accountable (which, as any mom knows, is harder by far than just doing the job myself).

So, we're making the effort; and bit by bit, day by day, good changes are happening...but the job isn't done, and I fear that discouragement and distraction will set in and prevent us from finishing it.  To combat that, I thought I might be able to inspire myself by fishing this old post up from the bottom of my drafts folder where it's been hiding out for a VERY long time.  I have no idea how long ago I took these pictures--obviously long enough ago that the room was neat and tidy; and since I can't even remember when it was like this, it's certainly a long time ago.  :)

Soon--hopefully--their room will once again look like this...or almost like this...  There have been a few changes since then.

Whenever these pictures were taken, the beds were obviously bunked; but then at some point, we took them apart and had them set up side by side in the room (there are a few pictures at the end of this post with them in that position).  After talking with Josiah and David recently, we decided to put them back together as bunk beds again, giving them more open floor space to use especially for their battle reenactments (using LEGOs, blocks, etc.).  Jeff helped me with that project last night, and all day I've had fun walking by their room and catching a glimpse of their bunk beds and the clear floor around it.  :)

The shelves and dresser pictured above are SUCH a hot spot.  One day there's a piece of paper on the top of the dresser that needs put away; and the next thing I know, the piles of junk on it are so high they're threatening to topple over.  How does clutter reproduce so fast??

One challenge in keeping their room neat is that they just don't have enough space for books.  Since the time these pictures were taken, we have accumulated more and more books...and since we homeschool (and even if we didn't), I don't see that trend reversing any time soon.  What to do?  Like many homeschool families, I hear myself saying, "We need more bookshelves!!"  :)

This little desk is actually not in their room anymore.  For now, it fits well in a corner of the hallway, freeing up more space in the boys' room.

But I'll leave these pictures in this post anyway because it shows how the room used to look (and also shows my dearly beloved David).  :)

Speaking of David, this picture (below) was one that we gave to him (maybe for Christmas two years ago?) because, of course, it depicts David from the Bible.  Our David loves it, and I love our David.  :)

These shelves hold some of Josiah's treasures...

...and these hold David's (although the assortment of treasures has changed somewhat since these pictures were taken).

On this wall is one of my very favorite pictures of Josiah and David together.  I'm not sure exactly how old they were in this one, but I sure think they're adorable.  :)

In this post from five and a half years ago, there are pictures from the way their room looked soon after we painted it and moved David into it, including pictures of their beds side by side.   

I'm also including some other side-by-side pictures that I took much more recently because--this is a little silly--seeing the colors of their sheets like this is significant to me.

Why?  Because Josiah always has the dark blue and David always has the dark red (the pictures make his sheets look lighter than they are in real life).

I told you it was silly.  :)  But seeing the beds this way is...well...it's just them!  ;-)

So far in our massive clean-up project, we've worked our way around the room clockwise starting at the door; and really, the only tough spots remaining are the shelf/dresser corner and the closet.  But oh, how tough they are!  I keep reminding myself to just think about one tiny area at a time.  Sometimes I narrow my focus even more and say, "Just pick up one thing.  Decide what to do with it.  Just one thing!  And then on to the next one.  The job will get done, one item at a time."

That's the plan anyway...  :)

Filling the Shoes

Months ago, before Moriah was born, our good friend Emily took some pictures for us in anticipation of the arrival of our daughter.  I looked at this picture, stared at those shoes, and LONGED for the day when my girl would fill them.

And now?

She fills them.

What was then a dream is now a reality.

A living, breathing, growing, laughing little bit of a girl, so fancy in her Sunday clothes, so loved and adored by all of us in the family.

I do not want to ever take this for granted.

Thank You, God...thank You...thank You...thank You...thank You...thank You...thank You...

Turning Five, Part...One and a Half??

Tonight I was really hoping to finish up the story of Tobin's birthday that I began here, but then I got caught up with something more important: talking to Jeff. :)  He and I solved lots of the world's problems!  But the birthday post didn't get done.  Maybe tomorrow??

I do want to jot down a couple of quick tidbits about Tobin however--little pieces of conversation that have stood out to me in the past few days.  Like this one...

I forget what the issue was exactly, but I was reprimanding Tobin by saying, "You're just thinking about yourself!"

His response was quick and emphatic:  "I was thinking about my eye patch, NOT ME!"

OK, then.  How very unselfish of you, dear boy.  ;-)

Another time I was reminding Tobin that his boots needed to be put under the foosball table on the porch.  He complained that (insert whiny voice) "it's too ccoooooollllddd."   When I tried to encourage him by saying that he could do it so fast and it would only take two seconds, he answered, "No, it will take THREE seconds!"

Big difference there.  I'm sure your feet will freeze and fall off because of that extra second.  ;-) 

And lastly...  On Thursday of this week, we had snow in the forecast (although we ended up seeing not even a flake).  For some people, when they hear about the possibility of snow, they go into full storm-prep mode and run out to the grocery store for milk and bread.  For us, we head to the woodshed.  We could not possibly be hit by a snowstorm without having plenty of wood brought onto the porch; it would be unthinkable!  :)

All of us turned out to help; and when our task was done, Josiah, David, and I came back into the house while Tobin and Shav stayed outside to play a little more.  I was in the kitchen preparing lunch when Tobin came bursting through the door with something in his hand.  "Look, Mom!" he called, "A dead rat!!  I think the dogs killed it!"

Well, he was mistaken.  It wasn't a rat, but just a little ol' mouse.  But it was quite dead (probably because of poison and not because of a dog), and he was holding it up by the tail in my kitchen!

Needless to say, I quickly shooed him out the door, then I took him to the corner of our property to show him our "animal graveyard" and instructed him to toss the mouse as far as he could into the wilderness of our brush pile, which he did.

I was so glad Tobin was wearing gloves!  :)

More than that, however, I'm so very glad for the spark that Tobin brings to our days.  He's at the stage where I'm just not quite sure what he's going to do and what's going to come out of his mouth.

A newly-turned-five-year-old sure keeps things interesting.  :)

I Know One Thing

Ever since my appointment on January 9 to figure out what was causing this lump-in-my-throat feeling, I've been doing a lot of waiting--hungry for more information, sometimes chafing at delays.  I'm sure anyone who has experienced health uncertainty knows what it's like to try to be patient when dealing with the medical field, despite the desire for everyone to drop everything so we can figure out what the problem is right now.  It's hard to be a patient patient.  ;-)

But today I finally got a phone call I'd been waiting on and heard a pleasant voice on the other end telling me that the results of the TSH blood test showed that my thyroid level is 2.4--perfectly within the normal range.  That's a relief!  For one thing, I was NOT looking forward to the possibility of being on medicine for the rest of my life (although I know that when it's needed, it's a very wonderful thing that such medicine is available...there are worse things than having to take a pill every day!!).  For another thing, it's just nice to know something about what's going on, to have one answer to the myriad of questions that swirl in my mind.

Now it's back to waiting.  Next Thursday I'm scheduled for an ultrasound of my throat and a biopsy of the lump, and the following Thursday I'll go back to Dr. A's office to hear the results of that.  That's the plan anyway...

Meanwhile, life flows pretty much as normal.  We play, we learn, we laugh, we grow.  Sometimes I sigh.  Each day is a gift.

And speaking of gifts...  :)  For Christmas, we gave Shav a set of foam blocks with magnets on the sides to make it easier to build with them.  He has enjoyed playing with them, but he's not the only one.  So has Tobin...

 ...and so has Josiah (and so has David, but I don't have any pictures to prove it).  :)

It's a joy to see my boys' creativity flourish.  :)

Gun Control? Really??

A week ago, I walked into a lab run by our local hospital to get my blood drawn to test my thyroid level.  As I entered the door, I noticed a sign on it, saying something to the effect of "You're not allowed to bring a gun in here unless you're an on-duty police officer."  Not those words exactly, but that was the point.

And I thought, "Hmmmm..."

It wasn't a problem for me because I had neglected to pop my shotgun into my purse that day before I set out to run my errands.  ;-)  So since I didn't have a gun on me, I waltzed right through the door.  But as I did, I pondered the effectiveness of such a sign and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was probably pretty much useless.  After all, if a criminal approached the building with a gun and was intent on doing harm, would a sign on the door stop him?  Would it make him think twice?  Would it send him elsewhere to carry out his evil deed?

You'd have to be some kind of naive to answer "Yes."

So what is the purpose of that sign?  I'm genuinely asking a question here because I honestly don't know.

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Ever since the tragedy in Newtown, CT, gun control has jumped to the forefront of politics, the media, and the general consciousness of our nation.  Although all of us agree that the killings at Sandy Hook were horrible and senseless, we are deeply divided on what to do about it and how to prevent future similar occurrences. I'm sure everyone reading this has their own opinion.  I have one, too; but it's still fluid.  And so I write...to reflect, to ponder, to process, to learn.

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It seems like just about every day on Facebook, someone posts something about gun control; but many times what I read one day is directly contradicted by what I read the next.  For example, I've seen reports that after Australia enforced strict gun control laws, crime dropped.  Other reports say that crime there actually rose after that.  Who is right?

As much as I'd like to check the stats and figure all of this out, I don't have time to do so.  I've got other things to do--like teach one of my sons that "G" is "G" and not "J" as he calls it...and plan what we're having for dinner for the next week so our trip to the grocery store can be productive... and figure out when to fit mopping the kitchen floor into my schedule.  An expert in the area of gun control?  I can't become it.  Reasonably well-versed about the pros and cons?  Can't even manage that.

Obviously I don't have all of this figured out.  In fact, the list of things that have the status of "all figured out" in my head is quite minuscule  and gun control is not anywhere close to being on that list.  But it's such a hot-button issue right now that I find myself trying to make some sense out of it all.

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Various pundits have pointed out that hammers kill many more people a year than guns, as do cars; but are we ready to outlaw hammers and cars?

They remind us that Timothy McVeigh used fertilizer, fuel, and a truck; but those are still available.

They tell us that outlawing certain kinds of guns might be just as effective in keeping them from the hands of criminals as outlawing drugs has been (which is to say, NOT AT ALL).

Most alarming to me are the reports of how, in their various rises to power, the infamous dictators of the past century (Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Tze Tung, Idi Amin) began with gun control in their own countries before eventually murdering thousands (millions) of their own people.

Is it possible that disarming the law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop criminals from getting and using guns but does much to allow for a totalitarian government to rise to power with little resistance?

Please understand what I'm saying--and what I am NOT saying.  I am not saying that Obama is a dictator and should be grouped with the men I mentioned above.  I am not saying that America is one step away from such a regime.  I am not saying that some sinister plot to take over our country exists in the minds of all who advocate gun control.  As a matter of fact, I assume that nearly all who are pushing for gun control are doing it out of sincere hearts--because they are genuinely grieved at the events in Newtown, CT, Aurora, CO, and other scenes of mass shootings.  With mourning spirits, they think, "We have got to do something."

I get that.  I feel that.  But still I question.

Is gun control the answer?  Would it be effective at all?

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10 Januarys ago, Jeff and I and our sweet seven-month-old baby Josiah moved to Israel; and we lived there for the next two and a half years.  It didn't take us long to discover that, although we might get blown up in a bus due to a terrorist bomb, we would almost certainly not get mugged walking home in the dark down a back alley.

I'm sure there are a number of reasons for the low rate of crime there, but surely one of them is the fact that many, many Israelis are armed.  With military service the norm for both young men and young women, virtually every citizen who grows up there knows quite well how to use a gun.  It is not at all uncommon to walk into a grocery store and spot an Israeli with a submachine gun slung over his shoulder.  In any public gathering, there are countless individuals who are armed, ready, and willing to get involved if the situation demands it.  In fact, I remember seeing signs at one gathering that said, in essence, "If--God forbid--a terrorist act occurs, please don't use your guns.  Let the police handle it."

In that country, more guns does NOT equal more crime.  Would the equation turn out differently here in America?  If so, why?

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These reports don't seem to hit the big news media; but every so often, I hear of a situation that had the potential to turn into a mass shooting, but was stopped because of...you know what's coming...someone with a gun.  A "good guy" (in the parlance of my sons) with a gun.

Like this shooting last month in San Antonio where the gunman was stopped by an off-duty female police officer who was carrying a gun and knew how to use it.  Would we have heard more about that if the gunman had succeeded in killing half a dozen or more people?

This article, written by someone much better informed than I, speaks more about this point.

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After reading back over this, I realize two things: my thoughts are rather disjointed, and I asked more than a dozen questions.  But the bottom line is this: I'm afraid that if we think that the gun control measures being proposed and enacted will indeed stop a madman from carrying out another terrifying massacre, it's simply wishful thinking.

Wordless Wednesday {My Mother, My Daughter}