March-ing Along

How is it the end of March?! So crazy. And super crazy that Reid now has just over 2 rotations left and then we're done with intern year. Can I get an "AMEN"?

Speaking of crazy, that's pretty much what life has been. In the last month or so, we… got a dog, had to return the dog, committed to training for the Nashville Rock n' Roll half marathon, went to Gatlinburg for a week, got a new dog, enjoyed a week at home with Daddy, had visitors, went to the zoo, did an Easter Egg hunt and enjoyed some serious sun. Whew. 

Now for a few details: the dog. We adopted a mix breed puppy and after a few days, it was pretty obvious that he was not a healthy pup. He was basically pulling himself around by his front paws because his back legs stopped working. Heart-breaking. Even more heart-breaking: telling James we had to give the dog back. Fortunately we had adopted him from a Christian agency and they happily took him back and are working to get him healthy (at least that's what they told us and that's what we're choosing to believe for forever). And so… you can't take away a three year olds new puppy and just be done with it. Therefore, please welcome our newest boy (yep, I was suckered into a boy… when am I going to get some girl power in this house?!) Are you ready for his name… courtesy of James:

Captain Finn Flynn Wally Gurgleguts Phelps - aka - Finn

He's a sweet boy. Golden Retriever. 12 weeks. 

He will be my bodyguard and sweet company on those long nights alone.

And hooray for vacation!!! We were super blessed with two weeks of freedom! We took advantage of it by spending 6 days in Gatlinburg, TN. Let me tell you - super fun and super odd. It's like a redneck version of Las Vegas. Seriously. I don't even know how to explain it, but you you love mini golf on every block, random "believe if or not" type museums, "As seen on TV superstores" and a wealth of other random, corny tourist attractions, then it is the place for you. We did have so much fun and the Smoky Mountains are quite lovely (nope, they are not mountains like we know and love, but they were beautiful all the same). We enjoy a couple hikes and had slow, unplanned days. Awesome. Oh - and the Gatlinburg Aquarium is super awesome. No lie. 

Reid & J

Me and the Duke… who I carried up the trail in the carrier. Oh. So. Heavy.

My boys… oops. J has his eyes closed. Aren't those handsome eyelids?

Daddy and his little dudes.

One of James' newest obsessions is pirates. He was super excited when we saw this pirate flag at the aquarium. No, he was not just carrying around a pirate sword. The exhibit provided it for the photo op. It was too funny because he was so serious when we were taking this picture - as if this pirate captain takes his job very seriously.

A just a great shot of Reid…oh, I mean Luke. Gosh, it's hard to tell them apart. For real. 

Have you ever seen such a little daddy clone?!

Luke in the sandbox (during his time off, Reid built the boys a rockin' sandbox with a serious fort over it. So cool!) You may be wondering what this face is all about. It means, "but MOOOOM! I want more water to play with and dump all over myself!"

And my J-man at the Easter Egg hunt. Umm…check out those cool kicks. That was our splurge at the Pigeon Forge (yes, there's a town in Tennessee called Pigeon Forge) outlet stores. And J was so excited about his bucket full of eggs. What a handsome little man.

Brothers

James and Luke are brothers. They share the same last name. They are both often prone to silliness. Sometimes it seems like that's where the similarities end. They are so different! Take this little story, for example:

The other day, we walked to the park (because we can go the park in the middle of "winter" around here-crazy). It had rained the night before (I mean, we had experienced our first tornado warning the night before, which did involve a thirty minute stint huddled in the laundry room-which is basically a large closet-fun!) so...there was mud at the park.

James immediately set himself up to stay out of the mud by climbing to the top of the playground and sitting down to enjoy a little picnic with his granola bar and water. He went down the slide once and freaked out because he landed in a puddle, while wearing his rain boots, and got his sock a little wet. He promptly removed the boot and sock and climbed back up to the top to stay out of the mud. If he desired to get anywhere, he would hop on his one dry, booted foot. Mud? No thank you.

Then there's Luke. When we got to the park, I had just called my dad and was on the phone for maybe three minutes. I was distracted enough to miss Luke's sudden discovery of a large pool of muddy water under the swings. And before I could stop it, he made a bee-line toward that puddle of mud. And so it began...

He danced, kicked, slapped, stomped, laughed, splashed and thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful muddiness. He was soaking wet. He could care less. He had mud splattered across his face and he simply smiled...and yelled a few times, but I'm pretty sure that was because he wanted to scale the playground equipment, probably so he could muddy-up his big brother.

James in his rolling throne...nice and dry.

After a couple more passes, I determined it was time to get going before muddy man turned into cold and chattering man. I gave James the traditional we're about to head out warning and he replied with, "but Moooooom! I don't want to sit next to Luke! He'll get me all wet and dirty." To which I replied, "James, I wouldn't let the chariot (our beloved double jogging stroller) get all dirty. You can ride (your highness) and I'll carry Luke." Notice my concern was solely for the wonderful stroller-not my sons cleanliness. How nice of me.

I stripped Luke to near nakedness, wrapped him in my sweatshirt, carried him, and pushed James in his royal rolling throne, back home.

Upon arriving, James asked me to carry him inside-remember, we have only one dry boot on-while his brother squirmed out of my arms, basically naked and officially barefoot, and promptly found a bit of mud to play with on the edge of the driveway.

And then we took a bath.

It amamzes me! They are so different. And that sure makes it fun.

It makes me stop and praise our wonderful Creator. How awesome that we have a God who is so creative, a God who loves our uniqueness and our differences. A God who made us and loves us, just as we are.

Goof Ball #1 = Mr. Clean

Goof Ball #2 = Mr. Mud

I sure adore my boys. They are silly, different, fun, challenging, quirky, interesting, intense, and oh so very unique. And I love them, just as they are.