Dreamy chaos...

Jump on in....

Life is good!!!

I am laughing today, still laughing, about something that happened yesterday.  I received a text from one of the sweetest girls in Georgia!!  The text said this....

"Your blog sounds dreamy.  I want to be Erin.  My life is completely crazy."

:-)

I just handed the phone to Erik and said, "Hey, read this!!" He read it and then he laughed out loud.  I told him that I guess it was about time for me to post an everyday, real life sort of post.  You see back in the old days when I had only three boys or so, and they were just getting old enough to show me their true colors, I was taken aback by their boy behavior.  And, because their behavior struck me as so outlandish, I wrote about it a lot on my blog.  

Rest assured, these things still happen.  My life is beautiful, wonderful, wild chaos and nothing less.  I just don't think to write about most of the crazy things that happen because, well, they just don't seem so crazy anymore.  They have actually become so normal that I don't even think twice about them.  

Take for instance yesterday...  I set the boys free to play in the rain...

Looks fun, huh?

I went inside to put up my camera, and when I walked back out, guess what I saw...

Eriky had stripped himself of all, every single stitch, of his clothing and was dancing around like a madman in the rain.

It is just another day around here...

We've grown accustomed to these sorts of things. 

Like the fact that Eriky tinkles wherever and whenever he wants to ~ for example: at the Fourth of July parade or at Joshua's baseball games.  He doesn't go hide himself.  No, he just pulls his pants down right there two inches from the next person and goes...  Or, worse yet, we went through a phase where we kept catching him pooing in the yard.  The first time he did it I was on the phone with my mom, and I realized that he was squatting in the grass for a reason.  I said, "Oh, Mama!! He is pooing!!!! in the grass!!!! LIKE A DOG!!!!"  And, he looked up at me from his little squatted position and said...

"WOOF!!!  WOOF!!!"  

Yes, that is my son.  My adorable brown eyed baby.

Okay, then, this morning after I caught Eriky drawing on my tomatoes with a marker...

I sat down to nurse my baby in the peace and quiet of my bedroom.  The boys had gone outside to seek adventure of some kind.  But, my peace was quickly disturbed by Elijah running in the backdoor yelling, "MOM!!!  Come here!!!!!  I GOTTA show you SOME~TIN!!!! NOW!!! MOM COME HERE!!!"  So, I came to him holding my sweet babe in my arms.  

He tilted his sweet little Lijah head to the side and smiled his little mischievous sideways grin.  "You wanna guess what I have in my hand???"

Not really...

"LOOK, MAMA, I CAUGHT A FROG!!!!"  He opened his hand to show me and when he did a large ugly brown toad jumped out of his hand and onto the floor and then under the kitchen table.

I SCREAMED!!!!!!  And, that made Jack SCREAM!!!!  So, I am trying to calm Jack down and yelling at Elijah to hurry up and catch him because I don't want him free in my house!!!!!  Then, JCT, I'm not sure whose child he is (maybe he got this from Deana B), grabs a spray bottle of surface cleaner and a paper towel and starts following the toad around the kitchen ~ not trying to catch him, no, just cleaning behind him.  Wherever he jumped, JCT sprayed and cleaned.  He moved right behind him ~ beat all I've ever seen ~ that child cleaning up after a toad!!!  Anyway, Lije never could catch the toad, so I had to call Joshua in from outside to help.  Joshua and Elijah cornered it, and Joshua caught him.  I took a picture...

Then, I said, "Give it to Lije, so I can take a picture of him with it."  Big mistake.  I took this picture...

And, then the toad jumped out of his hand, and the whole thing began once again until toadman was caught and set free outside once and for all!!!

Boys!!!  They keep my life very....

not dreamy.

I promise, sweet Meredith, my life is completely crazy, too!!!!!  I just don't always think to write about the crazy!!!  Here are some recent pics to prove how absolutely wonderfully chaotic my life is!

Beautiful chaos.  But, you know what?  I wouldn't change a thing.

Not one thing...

Because if you look closely...

No matter what the situation...
No matter how busy or crazy...

If you will take time to stop...
and look closely...
Even in the chaos...

 You can see Jesus.