Encouragement.

Today it has been just one of those mornings.
Caroline, even though she slept for almost 12 hours, was super whiny and Sam was just a cling-on. Ugh.
But, somehow, we got everyone up and dressed for church (ON TIME!!!). The kids weren't behaving badly, it just took all of my energy to redirect them during mass to that they weren't too loud or standing on the pews or trying to jump off the kneelers or stripping their baby dolls naked just in time to carry them to communion or bopping the little girl in front of us in the head with a sippy cup.
With all this activity going on around me, I have to say I didn't get much out of mass. I know the first reading was about Israelites in the desert and after that it gets really foggy. I was discouraged. I like going to church. In fact, it's one of the highlights of my week. But recently, I've spent so much time refereeing the kids so that they don't bother others that I don't enjoy going as much as I used to.
This is also magnified by the fact that we have a new pastor and we're still trying to feel him out. I got the "uh-oh" feeling when, at this first service, he introduced himself by saying "I'm not a conservative. I'm not a liberal. I'm a traditionalist." Yikes. Jim and I tend to have more progressive views and can be at odds with some traditional teachings.
So, as we brought the kids up to communion (naked dolly included), feeling as though we had just run a marathon instead of sitting through a church service - our pastor looked at us and said "Don't give up."
It was just three words. But it was at the precise moment to know that we were doing the right thing (even as Sam was trying to wrestle cheerios from the little girl in front of us and Caroline's dress was flipping up to show off her Minnie Mouse undies).
I love it when things like this happen. =-)

We've gone easy on the pictures recently. I'm finding that our camera is not capable of keeping up with Sam and Caroline - so it's been a struggle to get some good pictures. We have been busy. Up at the Lake last weekend and Sam, Caroline and I drove out to Utica on Friday to hang with Nina and Pops for the day. But here are some that we have taken recently:

With Auntie Dr Chrissy home now, one of Caroline's favorite things to do is "protect" her animals. She goes into my work bag and confiscates my stethoscope and has a ball with it. Maybe it will be her calling some day. Sam likes to help, too. Sometimes that doesn't go over so well.



It is the highlight of Caroline's weekends to hang out with Auntie Chrissy. I get the feeling she lets CJ get away with things Mommy doesn't. But that's what Aunts are for!!! =-)

We have spent some time hanging out in our front yard. We have also learned that cherries are an outdoor only food!




Sam loves looking for airplanes, no matter what he's doing. He's a little less enthralled with the pool, but as soon as the video stopped, he looked at me and said, "Again?"