between grass and sky

Our friends at In the Hedges recently posted an entry about Andy's involvement in a cowboy poetry project.  It is incredibly well done and was displayed at the Nevada Museum of Art.  If you appreciate art, literature, or poetry you will appreciate this (Watch the video).

i wanna be a ranger

Last night I came home to find Kevin and Davis watching a show on the military channel about Army Rangers.  Perhaps the coolest thing for Davis was that he saw the chinook in action.  He received a toy one for Christmas from Grandpa.  

Kevin had told him about riding in one himself while in Iraq and then Davis saw the Rangers riding around in them.  

This morning Davis was talking to Kevin about the helicopter and Kevin asked if he remembered what that particular one was called.

"A chipmunk," he said confidently.  We both laughed and then corrected him, "a chinook."

"A chinook, right," Davis said.

By this afternoon, Davis decided that he wanted to be an Army Ranger.

a monster moved in

The first morning Kevin was home, he woke up early and whispered to me, "Do we have stuff that I could make myself breakfast?"

"Yeah, we've only got two eggs, but you could make yourself an omelette with those."
"I usually have either four fried eggs or a four-egg omelette."
Now wide awake, "Oh my gosh!"

It was a pretty serious shock to my system to realize (again) just how much a man eats. He had refrained from telling me at that point that he also usually has 4-6 strips of bacon with those four eggs.

home again, home again

On Tuesday, February 17, something amazing happened. Kevin's flight arrived on time and the welcome home ceremony was only delayed 30 minutes. What is even more amazing is that the date I received a week out was indeed the day he came home. If you know anything about the military, you know that this is a miracle.

The ceremony was wonderful because it lasted perhaps a total of two minutes. The Colonel thanked the families for what they had done during the tour and then released the soldiers.

It was chaos. Imagine 200 Soldiers scattering in a gym full of hundreds of family members. Kevin found us. Davis hugged him, I hugged him and kissed him and kissed him again and again. Ronin went right to him and the first thing he did was touch his head and say, "Hair?"

For the rest of the day and several days that followed, Ronin kept saying one thing over and over again:

Daddy, home.

jar jar binks, anyone?

Last night after two successful hours of Ronin being in the big boy bed, I decided to be brave and take a bath. I left the door cracked so I could hear him, just in case. As I was just about ready to get out, I heard him crying. So with cat-like speed I was out of the bath and dressed, I opened the door and saw him: Ronin was standing in the middle of the hall with squinty eyes, holding the Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars) book, and looking at me very confused.

I took the book and told him it was still night time and put him back in bed. However, around eleven o'clock he woke up again convinced it was time to get up. For now, it's back to the crib for night time sleeping!

on valentine's day

in honor of my valentine:

i still sleep on one side
as if his presence is there
when i'm finally asleep

for fourteen months

i still look over,
imagining him there
hearing our conversations

for two Christmases

i still find in myself
the desire to tell him first:
tiny but exciting details

for four birthdays

i still think he's an
amazing, honorable,
courageous, godly man

for five years

i still love him like
i did that warm august,
but deeper still

for six summers

i still laugh when
he makes silly jokes and
says okie doke artichoke

from 16 to 26

i still ache for his
nearness no matter
how many times he leaves

for four years

i still am amazed at the
goodness and graciousness
of a sovereign God

for life

big boy in a big bed

I felt like today was the day. The day for Ronin to sleep in the bottom bunk of those famous bunk beds. So I laid him down with his regular blankie and stuffed animal, and he went right to sleep. Amazing!

Jesus in the tube

Today we spent quite a bit of our day at the hospital, so I could get a shot. We were all over the place: in our clinic, at the lab, and then to the Carson Care Clinic where they actually administer the shot. But before the shot, it's the waiting room.

There was a 19 month old with a feeding tube, and the nurse was explaining the tube to Davis. He asks her, "Have you heard about Jesus and the tube?" My mind went into overdrive...tube...tube...what could he be talking about? And it hit me, tomb. I say to him and the nurse, "tomb, I think you mean tomb."

With that, Davis continued, and the nurse asked questions. He told her how he died on the cross and the people put nails in his hands and his feet. She asked why he died, and he told her it was to save everyone. She asked specifically for who, for Jacob (the boy with the feeding tube), for her, for Ronin, for me, for Jacob's mommy? Yes, for all of them.

In the fifth floor waiting room, my son told this nurse the gospel. She responded with enthusiasm and even encouraged him as she was leaving, "Keep telling people about Jesus!"

davis the scholar

Davis wanted to write to Kevin, so I put him in my lap and let him pound away at the keyboard. He loves it when I make words out of the craziness that he types. After he was finished typing, I asked if there was anything he wanted me to type for Daddy. This is what erupted from our four year old:

cow makes a noise
man makes a pan into a word

he puts the blinds up to fix 'em

he bakes the blinds in the oven

he puts a pillow in the telescope

and the chair is on his doorbell

the cow eats grass under mud

he makes the cow into a bad guy

Sounds like poetry to me!

good job, mom

In the past two weeks or so, Ronin has started asserting his independence. While this is a great sign of growth and maturity, it also makes my days a little more challenging.

I try to really encourage him when he listens and obeys, telling him, "Good job, Ronin!"

A few days ago, I tied Ronin's shoes and when I was done, he said to me, "Good job, Mom!" He now does this for several things: when I buckle his seatbelt, when I change his diaper, or when I fix something. I feel incredibly blessed since it's usually years before your kids tell you you've done a good job!

a preacher in our midst

This morning, we were heading out the door to go to Borders. I had to run back in to grab something and that's when I heard him: speaking (and quite loudly) to every townhome in our block. He was talking about how God is good, Jesus is our Saviour, Jesus is God's son, we need to praise Him, and thank Him.

Once I was outside, he assured me that he wasn't praying, he was preaching.

It was Davis at the top of our steps, passionately declaring these things about God. He told me he was preaching to everyone, not just me, which is reassuring since I was inside for half of it. It is pretty hard for me to imagine life without an internal filter, but Davis helps me see what it would be like to put my heart where everyone could see and helps me not be so afraid to share what I'm so passionate about either.

tagged.

I'm not usually a fan of these games, but this one was actually kind of fun. Here are the rules:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.) Have fun!!

This is Ronin and his friend, Wesley. Playing in his front yard. They had just finished drawing all over the sidewalks with chalk. I think Ronin's legs were a wonderful array of colors from all the dust.

I'll tag:

Emily, Kristi, Sunny, and Courtni