Oh For the Love...

I don't know where the statement, "Oh for the love..." came from, but it has been in my mind as I have been thinking about some random things I love about my kids and life. So I write this post for the love of...

...the creative mind of my 6-year-old, who constantly comes up with ideas to send to magazines or to share with the world or his Sunday School class. Here's one of his latest inventions/concoctions--"Banana Corn Pops" (the recipe is written out behind it)



(and here he is with a Lego creation he made from his Lego magazine--mommas, you should go on lego.com and sign your kids up for it because it's free!)

...the proliferation of funny, mad, scary, crazy, etc. faces

...Annie's hair, which has gone from looking like Anne Burrell (food network) to more like Jeff Daniels from Dumb and Dumber



(I don't know why everyone keeps politely asking me if I'm going to cut it...I guess I like my kids to look like ragamuffins. I think that's how I liked to look when I was their ages.)

...brothers just bein' brothers
...Samuel playing tea party with Annie (Evan sort of joined in later). That earned Samuel some gold stars (I don't know what that actually means, I just like to say it). He also earned them for saving Annie's life (or at least her neck and head) when she stood up and dove head first out of the shopping cart (he got a bloody nose in the process) and when he saw his former Sunday School teacher, whose appearance and cognition have changed dramatically due to her battle with brain cancer, and instead of shying away he ran up and threw his arms around her in the biggest hug. Yep, that's my kid (tear).
...the joy of dressing up and then going outside and splashing in rain puddles.
...playing wild animal park and other imagination games.

...friends who are neighbors (or neighbors who are friends--whichever way you look at it, it is a blessing!) over for dinner in the backyard


...entertaining another neighbor with a dance and music performance complete with curtains, signs, and a surprise entrance.

...coming into the living room and catching Annie sitting on the couch dressed in her raincoat (sweaty), wrapped up in Christmas lights (fire and strangulation hazard), sucking on a lollipop (stains on the couch), watching her first big monsoon rainstorm with wonder and excitement (priceless)....silly poses and intricate "set-ups" (when they put all their toys "just so" and then NEED me to come see them RIGHT THIS MINUTE...remind me to come right this minute because it's never as exciting if I put it off "in just a minute" or "after I finish this really boring grown up thing that isn't really important").
...summer traditions on our Things to Do This Summer list like eating blizzards at the Rolling Down Park (small hill by NAU). Check!
...eating snacks in laundry baskets
...watching t.v. in laundry baskets

...riding bikes on a beautiful day (if you click on the picture--which was taken on my cell phone while I was pedaling after them and towing Annie--you can see that they are trying to catch up with a very speedy unicycler riding a very large...wheel. I'm still sort of laughing about it.)

...beautiful rainbows after violent thunderstorms and children who tell me about God's promises from the backseat of the car as we drive by. Love.