When you have two big brothers...

and your Daddy's a former Army guy, this is what you do for fun:

Sunday John's sister Ellen and her husband Gary were here for a nice, long lunch.  While we were talking away, I saw Luci run past the window with her toy gun.  So I had to take a photo.

Here she is with JT.  They were playing Army.  Of course.

Monday, Luci joined a local Daisy group, a part of the Girl Scouts.  Here she is with the Supreme Leader  uh, I mean the Troop Leader.  And on the right is Luci's "new best friend."

Soccer Evaluation

Excited, but nervous.

Doing her thing. Very slowly, by the way. This is actually a video--not really, but Luci was very slow and careful during every drill.

The film crew. The boys took TWO handycams, and made a nice video for John. They worked really well together, and I am proud of that! We had to explain to every skill station what we were doing. "We brough Luci's film crew so we could send the action to Daddy in Afghanistan." It's a big church, and not everyone remembered where John is. We go to the late service and a couple of people at the evaluations go to another service and so were new to me. :) So glad we have so many who are willing to help our little ones learn a new game!

Bryan thought I was nuts for suggesting he lay down for this shot, but it made a very effective background for the credits in their film. Mama sometimes has good ideas!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

So Thankful!

Tom, my brother, made it through a heart surgery just fine today. He's probably the healthiest of my brothers, certainly Mr. Physical Fitness growing up, so this need of his was a surprise to me. We're praying for your complete recovery, Tom. (By the way, Bryan looks so much like Tom to me--sometimes it really astounds me how much his personality is like Tom's, too.)

Luci had two cavities filled Monday, and scaredy-cat that she is, I wasn't expecting it to go well. It went great. She had meds to help her be calm and then some laughing gas...and that TV on the ceiling helped, too. We get to do this again in two weeks.

And Luci made it to Af ghan istan! John picked her up in his mail today.

Cain and Abel are at it again...

Anyone with two boys can relate...well, most of you, anyway. My kids are not perfect. Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

Lion and Matey (rhymes with Bryan and JT) were arguing over something--doesn't matter what because it probably was nothing!

Lion comes and tells me that Matey had hit him and told him "you suck." (Sorry if that offends you; I don't like it but I don't think it's the worst word in the world.) Matey admitted to the sins, and part of his discipline was to write an apology to Lion, "and it better sound like you mean it." The apology made me laugh.

Here it is:

Dear Bryan,
I'm sorry I hit you and you do not suck.
J.T.

Boys, Boys, Boys

Don't Teach Her That!

This also happens at our house. The boys have taught Luci all kinds of icky things.

Super Saturday

Saturday started off normally around here, but by lunch time things had started to get out of hand...

Luci with her bologna mask.

Ditto.
The boys have a game, in which they ride their bikes and pass a ball back and forth. Yes, this is posed (see the kickstands?) but I couldn't get a good shot, and they posed for me.
Wild man.
Love that red hair and green grass! It rained a little over an inch yesterday...and the grass is growin'!
Luci using the skateboard ramp as a slide for her "baby," while the boys whiz past. It looked like a dangerous place to play.

Raised With Brothers

I could have called this "Raised by Wolves" and it would probably have the same meaning...

The boys have taught Luci how to sit, beg and roll over and play dead. They've also taught her how to go after the bad guys hiding underneath the dining room table.

Today

Bryan: Luci, go shoot Mama.

Luci: No! She's my friend.

Half a Lifetime.....

Half a lifetime...what can happen in half a lifetime? The world has changed at our house! Luci became part of our family when she was 9 months old. She is now 18 months old. Luci found a forever family. Luci found love. Luci found two big brothers who would give up anything for her. Luci found a daddy who does not mind at all "starting over." She found a mommy who is really tired from not sleeping but doesn't mind too much because Luci is home. Luci found a home that has everything she ever could need--a nice bed, lots of food, lots of toys and lots of love. We found out that God is so much more generous than we ever imagined. We found out that love really does expand and grow. We found out how our parents, Olen & Elrino and Charles & Audrey, could love the big families they had...even though the names sometimes got mixed up. We found out that the money does stretch when it needs to. We found out that we really did need a little girl around here. The boys learned that Luci is another word for Love.