I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate mother’s day than with my two favorite mothers and the one who first called me by that name at my grandma’s churches annual Mother Daughter Banquet.

We were actually recognized for having four generations there together.  Blessed are we.

our mini entomologist wanted a birthday party centered around creepy crawly things…

and thats exactly what he got.

We went on a yard-wide bug hunt which proved more difficult than anticipated.  Apparently, May snow keeps the bugs at bay.

But eventually we found a few…..

One of particular interest….

We thought it was important for kids to see the one spider around here that they cannot touch, so we captured it… for a good cause.

“and this, kids, is what a black widow looks like.”

Havi took full advantage of the bug hunt, having a hunt of her own at the kitchen table.

They also watched King Peter and his sidekick devour crickets.

But lest you think Ikey/Mother’s day was completely dirt, insects, and poisonous spiders ….. there was some 4 year old sweetness going on.

Ikey asked to be held yesterday right in the middle of my kitchen cleaning frenzy, and something against my character told me to put down everything and pick him up.  We swayed as Pandora played “It is Well With my Soul” and he laid his head on my shoulder.  I realized, in that moment, I don’t ever hold Noah like this anymore so somewhere between four and five, this will stop.  I will never realize when I am holding him for the last time, but there will be a last time.  WHY don’t I do this more.  I love his age.  He is still wading in the puddles of toddlerhood, but mostly he is a kid.  There are only glimpses, like his thumb in his mouth, his strange speech impediment (which, come to think of it, might be related) or times when he just wants to be in my arms that he still seems so little.  But even these will fade.  I love it and dread it but I’m happy that I get to witness so much of it as his mom.

The best job in the world.

I’ve wondered which of our puberty-timeline-genes will win out in battle when it comes to our three oldest.  And, until recently when the boys found Gracyn’s detective kit, I didn’t know whose genes to cheer for…

…. gooooo MY GENES!

Yesterday she did the hardest thing parents require of their kids when they are better than us at something- show it off.   I think we were more nervous than she was, but we didn’t need to be.  She was the newest student and played the “easiest” song, but she didn’t seem to care- even when the kid in front of her got sick with nerves she was fine.  We couldn’t have been more proud of her as she stood up on the little riser and played the song she has been working on diligently for several weeks- such confidence, such grace, such beauty…

getting ready and intently watching how all the other students were preparing....

waiting her turn...

... what nerves?

all smiles with Miss Alissa afterwards

it means the cul-da-sac is now a playground.

When our front yard looks like a Wal Mart bike lot ….

it means the neighborhood discovered the zip line.

When these little guys fill our garage with sweet chirps ….

it means spring is definitely here.

When these are essential accessories ….

summer is right around the corner.

When knees are more bandaid than skin …

it means we are seldom indoors,

… and when we can go from this

to this …

to this …

to this….

in 30 seconds time, then we are TWO!

Yes, we have entered birthday season here at the Rush house.  Havi kicked it off with a “puppy” inspired party.

So my baby is two.  I want to smile and cry about how fast our time with Havi has flown.  If you haven’t met her she is difficult to describe in 500 words or less.  I can say that you are missing out.  Of her 24 months on this earth, we have been within arms reach for 19 of them….and have loved every minute.

“For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”  Psalm 100:5

“Fairly routine,” we were told.

Noah, however didn’t see it as routine and took the chance to become a neighborhood legend.  He told EVERYBODY who would listen that he was having surgery.

“It’s for my hernia,” he told a woman in the bathroom at Hobby Lobby.

He would say it so matter of fact-ly and they would usually comment on how brave he seemed (his favorite part).

“I’m the luckiest boy,” he told me the day before the surgery, “I’m the only one on our street who will have a scar.”

Noah loves doctors, and, it would seem, hospitals.  He loves interacting with adults- esp adults who are paid to answer  all his questions.

Much to the chagrin of hospital personel, my dad doesn’t adhere well to the “strict parent only policy” in the pre op room.

Noah really seemed to handle the stress well…

“I’m getting tired already,” he told the anesthesiologist as he explained what would happen when he actually administered the anesthesia….

As they wheeled him down the hall, I gave thanks to God that we don’t do this often, that we are able to joke and laugh before this surgery because we have four amazingly healthy kids.  So many parents have sat in the same room with grim circumstances and fearful hearts.  What an amazing faith it would take to rest in Him, I don’t know that faith and I can only trust it would be given as needed.

After taking a couple hours to waken from drug induced sleep our biggest chore was keeping Noah off the bike and zip line…

take that hernia.

However, finding a console that was 1.in our budget, 2. long enough to fit two sinks, and 3. strong enough to support the weight of 4 kids who most certainly will be sitting in the sinks at some point most days.  SO my next idea involved a little more convincing on my part.  Jay loves my ideas, usually just not right away.   And he was not too keen on this one but eventually he couldn’t resist the challenge.   So, he caved and I went to the hardwood store with these plans and spent $240 on hickory wood.  When it comes to DIY projects, Jay is great at starting and finishing projects in a weekend, but when it comes to fine pieces of furniture, he has had to have some patience.  We reconfigured the plans a bit to allow for more use of the drawers even after the plumbing is all set.  Here is what it looks like right now:

and here are the sinks that arrived from overstock.com and are daintily hiding in jay’s office till he’s ready for them (motivation)….

so don’t hold your breath for this finished project.  Perfection can take its sweet time and without any more stranger/company on the horizon we have time to focus on the  much more important things going on right now…not the least of which are a hernia surgery for this karate kid next week…

and a birthday to celebrate for this little bitty …

Ahhh yes, projects can wait …

We actually got a fancy new toilet because we had some money left over on our Costco gift card and they had these $80 gems there that appear to be decent.  All the kids gathered around as Jay introduced the new family member.  It has a state of the art “quiet closing lid”, which the kids enjoyed taking turns to see how hard it could be slammed and still be quiet.  I was impressed.  Being the environmentally conscience people that we are, however, we were most excited about the all new “dual flush” technology.

Shortly after Jay finished installing and caulking the new potty, Ikey decided he was going to be the “christen-er”.  I was in my bedroom with Noah dealing with a discipline issue involving his reluctance to want to sit down and work on some homework.  I was very intentionally speaking to him about the issues in his heart causing his sour attitude and how Christ wants us not only to obey with our actions but for our attitudes to reflect an obedient spirit as well.  Just I was getting to the part where I confess where I sometimes struggle with this same issue, he let out a small whimper.

“FINALLY he is getting it,” I thought.  I have gotten through to him and he sees the root sin to all his complaining.

“What is it Noah,” I prodded then leaned in close to hear his little heart….

“I am just so afraid that Ikey is going to use the pee button instead of the poop button.”

to this….

to this…

to this!

(And just because you didn’t see me in any of the pictures doesn’t mean I wasn’t helping.  I was there the whole time, except for the part when we got a surprise visit from my cousin who needed to “layover” at our house last night before catching a flight home today.  Fortunately,  Stevens not picky about much so he didn’t mind the not having access to a full bathroom.  I don’t think we can expect the same from our next guest.)

Today we are going to put a sealant on the tile then hopefully, tomorrow, I will be able to grout.

Our neighbors are also hoping that we’ll find time to make it to the dump this week…

They love it when we do home improvement projects.

Though we are on a tight schedule, the weekend wasn’t all work:

We celebrated my dad’s birthday, watched a 7-yr-old’s soccer game and,  later,  a larger-than-average moon appear over our mountains.

Though, if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought it looked about the same as all the other moons….

I’ll keep you updated on our progress as our “countdown to company” continues.

Until then, I can tell you about a little project that is getting underway this week.  Unfortunately this is a re-project.  I don’t know if that is the technical term, but what I mean is in the slow process of redeeming every corner of our home, this corner is one that is requiring two visits.

The kid’s bathroom was in dire straights when we moved in, besides the cabinetry being very worn and the walls covered in pink and blue southwest print wallpaper, the sweet old couple who first customized the house chose to put carpet in the bathroom… gross.  SO, the summer before last we tore out the old carpet, vanity, wallpaper and mirror and put in a new vanity we found at costco, wainscot and some cheap slate tile.  After only a year the vaneer wood on the vanity started peeling off, and we realized why it was such a good deal,.  Also, the slate I was set on getting did not go in as well as we had hoped.  It was different thicknesses and made for a very bumpy floor.

So, a couple weekends ago we removed the vanity, took it back to costco and with the giftcard we received from the return, bought them out of travertine tile.

I started removing the “old” slate on Tues.  Equipped with a sledge hammer and a crowbar, I was able to remove about half of it in an hour and a half.  Usually Jay loves the demo, but since I was the one who insisted on this subpar flooring to begin with, I have taken on the task of removing it.

… and I carried it downstairs and outside in this.

We do like deadlines for projects, but this one is going to be close.  Our deadline for having this completed is the end of the month when we are having a stranger stay with us for a couple days.  Hopefully she will have a functioning bathroom … without having to brush her teeth in the shower.

stay tuned…

My heart has been heavy since hearing this news.  Havi has been home for a year and a half and I often forget the wait and the difficulties that we endured.  I cannot imagine a day without her and until this week I rarely tried.  I think about the other kids at Hannah’s Hope, dreaming, hoping and praying their forever family will be the next ones through the gate.  They don’t understand the politics nor do the care about the agendas of high ranking officials.  They just want to be home.

Please join me in signing the petition that will be sent on to MOWA asking them to reconsider this proposal.  It might just be the most influential minute of your day.