What's Going On?

Who got the coolest toy from some amazing friends for his birthday?
Where are your teeth?
Had no idea he had SUCH talent!

Wow- no way he is 9! Ouch!

Flag football party fun!

Is that a bobble head ready for t-ball?

Reed planned n Easter egg hunt for the Huttons

Good Friday with Grandmother Duke

Indoor smile on a rainy Easter - they look like dyed eggs

A Phone Call Away

Ok - Been gone forever and have this weird guilt feeling that i have not blogged in forever- i really love it but have been going so my brain is DEAD! Well today i got the wake up call.


So it is 8:15 this morning and Kyle and i are hanging in the living room talking after he took the big boys to WRE and i am complaining about our schedule and him being gone too much with baseball (yeah- remember when i was working on not complaining - oops!) and maybe i should work on my run-on sentences- or not.


so we send reed to his room for various "not showing proper respect" issues and several minutes later we hear that sound that can stop your heart and change it all. Wagner followed Reed upstairs- he NEVER plays on the stairs- he is WAY too cautious for that nonsense. He prefers shoes and sharp appliances in the kitchen where he can attach himself to my legs.


Reed's version is that Wagner was at the VERY top of the stairs (did i mention that they are hardwood?) and lost his balance while standing up and fell backwards. He landed 12 steps later at the bottom of the wall.


We hear... and jump (less than 10 feet- that is what is frustrating) like SuperParents and find a bloody baby screaming. He just had a busted lip and several bumps on that precious head. So we calm him down and all is continuing on- AND he begins to throw up. (FYI Don't look on the internet if your child falls 12 stairs and is vomiting- not good).


So a VERY fast trip to Plano to doc ensues- what do you know after a full body inspection, an ear infection (did i mention that i took him less than 24 hours earlier to the doc and said i swear this baby has an ear infection- of which the doc said "i don't think so"- really? i would have bet my life he had one- i did not ask her to double check - you know the whole insult the doc thing is not good!)


So here i am tonight (with Dr. Baby Proofer coming in the morning) thanking God for being a God of perfection and taking care of our fragile lives. I mean i was complaining about our schedule- i don't drive a child to the doctor each day for chemo or even suffer from the pain of infertility or have a husband at war.


You never know when you will get that phone call that can change it all and i have been sleeping through the busyness of 4 children feeling completely entitled to living a life of ease and convenience.


I pray each morning that i would experience life His way and not my own - and for my priorities to not be informed by the world's ways but by His plan and sifted through His word. And i realize i freak about a full schedule- wow i have 4 boys to enjoy a calender of fun activities and i worry about nonsense....


So i pray i will thank God for His grace and forgive my selfishness and pray for all those people who really need to experience His peace because of unsurmountable circumstances. The people who are fighting their own battles and God is making Himself known to them... yeah and for holding the life of His precious child in His hands-thank you!

Picture Day

So...for those of you who have or have had boys, school picture day takes preparation. You make sure they shower (i mean scrub) themselves, comb their hair, and wear something that is not stained or torn. Not brain surgery...

You do the prep talk before school on picture day- please smile without doing your goofy face, stand up straight, and DON'T let the photographer comb your hair into your eyes. (Why does every school "photographer" do this?)

I opened the red folder on Tuesday to the surprise of school picture proofs. Never did i think i needed to tell Garrett to TAKE HIS JACKET OFF! Really?

For those of you who know Garrett- you know this sweatshirt may permanently affix itself to his torso. I think he has even slept in it several times. His immediate response was, "Ms. Lewis said it was ok". I am very thankful for this gift from Ms. Lewis (not sure of the validity of Ms. Lewis's approval or Garrett feeling the need for reinforcements). The poor teacher has had to stare at this sweatshirt EVERY day since Christmas!

The "history" of this sweatshirt is simple. Kyle and i were at Sports Authority at lunch time alone before Christmas. Not a date but we were alone! We saw the Under Armour gear and thought the older boys would love one for Christmas. So after some consideration my parents decided to indulge the boys with one in blue for Garrett and one is grey for Mason.

Forget the really cool car that drives on the ceiling or the iPod nano - Garrett got clothes?!@ Garrett is the most tender-hearted and caring boy, but he is VERY particular about this clothing. He wore a White Rock uniform to CCDC preschool last year. You never know with him!

I guess an Under Armour sweatshirt in the kindergarten school photo really does capture this year in it's true form. Scraggly hair, big smiles, and a blue Under Armour sweatshirt!

Gotta love Mason's cool 3rd grade pose! Fun times!

Reed-isms

I think Reed is trying to figure out this world and who God is. We were driving in the car this morning and it was raining...our conversation went like this.

Reed: I know why it rains.
Me: Why?
Reed: God is taking a shower. And you know what -he puts his dirty underwear on after his shower.
Me: Gross. Why?
Reed: Because he is God.

The other day we were in the kitchen...

Reed: I want a buzz.
Me: Sure, let's wait until after Easter and anyone who wants one can get one.
Reed: That is not fair - the Lavenders and Huttons already have buzzes.
Me: That is because lice was going around and they wanted to make sure they did not get it.
Reed: That is not fair! I bet God can get lice if he wants it. I bet he does not have a buzz in heaven though.

Just some fun Reed comments from the last several weeks. i love that kid!

Happy Birthday Anna!

To our favorite Bronco fan!!

We miss you - here is our "made with love" gift to you!

A kiss from Wags...

A masterpiece from Reed...

And a few more from Garrett..

Finally, a card from Mason and he wanted me to take a pic of his braces for you...

WAIT...Kyle could not miss all the fun...He wanted to put Reed's shirt on but he did not want to embarrass Kevin with his stealth-ness...

Have the best birthday Aunt Anna!- we love you!

Happy birthday Wags!

What a year? I had no idea the Graham family needed to have another baby (i guess, God DOES know what is best for us) It is funny, when we dated i said i wanted 4 children (having NO intention of having 4) and Kyle said he wanted 2. We both knew this strategy gave negotiating room to have 3 kids. We don't make all decisions this way anymore (we have matured- just a little!)

Well the first 3 boys are each 26-27 months apart and then 39 months after our LAST child we had another. (We really are done this time- promise!)

Wagner is such a joy- he is such a loving baby! He loves the noise having 3 older brothers brings about. He loves food -a lot. He loves me- a little too much from 4-6 in the afternoons. He loves being outside. He loves pretending he is going to walk and then putting his arms up or sitting down. He loves the moment before his milk comes out of the microwave and the moment he realizes you are putting him in the high chair. He loves when Garrett holds him upside down. He loves it when Reed sneaks food onto his highchair because he doesn't like it...


I could go on and on but, thank you Lord for the gift of this child. You are an amazing creator and you have designed our family perfectly (do not confuse this with us being prefect!!! haha) Thank you for this first year and i am eternally grateful for all the wise and loving friends and family you have placed in his life. And all the people who have encouraged us to make our home a place that desires to love the Lord- always. We pray he will grow to love and serve you all the days of his life.

A Legacy

Where do I come from?

I love this picture of my parents. It is so them..not planned or perfect, resting in the shadows, a loving embrace, and real.

Ok so my family...they have their quirks (just as my children will say about me, i have embraced this-kinda). They are well...my family. Take it or leave it God gave me to them and vice versa. This is where he wants me; he is sovereign. Well i happen to be very blessed.

For Christmas my dad spent NUMEROUS hours (much to my mother's delight) in the garage building the most incredible gift you could give boys...guns and some sort of "machine type mounted shooting device that attaches to our fort" carved out of wood with their initials on it. I know - amazing if you have boys you know what i mean. This is better than summer camp and a week alone with KG- they have lived in the back yard and spent hours (being on the same team) fighting the pirates, bad guys, cowboy thieves, and shooting grizzly bears named Chili and Rio (our labs)...you name it they have shot it!

(Garrett's gun is not pictured because it is nighttime and a real man sleeps with his gun under his bed!)

I am blessed because of where I came from. My dad is really the most selfless man i know. He does not waste words, so when he speaks you listen. People who know me (and my personality) are amazed when i tell them my dad raised his voice 2 times in my childhood that i remember.

Just as my dad spent numerous hours carving, sanding, and personalizing each gun for each one of our boys- the Lord has spent hours designing each moment for our good and his glory. My parents are not perfect (call me) and i don't claim to raise a perfect family either. But my dad was willing to work on it. That wood came raw and straight and blemished and when he was finished it is something my children will cherish forever (the memories of childhood play in the backyard that their grandfather provided). It has changed them. The Lord is taking me and my yuck and making something useful out of it.

Last Christmas, my dad gave me a verse i will never forget-Romans 1:12 "that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Well, Dad I am in awe of your faith and pray my boys have an ounce of courage you had while you were raising me.

There are 5 characteristics of Godly men and i don't know if my father knows these but i know he lives these and that is why KG and i spend the hours we do training our boys. We pray they will stay humble, stand firm, step up, speak out, and serve the King (taken from a parenting conference).

Now if Garrett would stop acting like my dad and wear shorts occasionally i would be ok with that! And if they did not think it was appropriate to lick the bowl after a meal that would be good too...

BTW...get busy dad, Henry (grandson #5) needs a gun if he is gonna fight the battle.

Boys are like Dogs...

I always say after i tell someone that i have 4 boys and their jaw is on the ground that boys are like dogs- walk them, feed them and you can do anything...

So this is a picture of Wagner at 7:10 this morning - I guess I have not feed him enough because he is banging on the fridge and yelling at it. When I open it, he claps. Yea- poor 4th kid!

Braces!!!

OK, so i was ready for the paci fairy, preschool, our first soccer team, even kindergarten... I was NOT ready to see my first born in BRACES! Ahh- this is a rite of passage. Oh he feels so cool but the pain...

It just aches slightly not because of where he is, but what this means. We are headed to the big stuff, the stuff that matters ALOT! Purity in dating, curfews, trying out for football, zits, deodorant.... I would give anything to go back to the painfulness and agony of potty training.

He leaves for his freshman year at college (i hope) in 10 short years- and we are not done with him! There is way more he needs to know...