My little man

Little footprints in the sand
running, exploring my little man

"Look Mommy look!"a sailboat comes into view
so many sights all so exciting, all these sights so new

"Come, Mommy come!" let's run into the water
So cold the water is today, but that doesn't seem to matter

"Jump, Mommy jump!" let's jump over each wave
Here comes a big one, hold tight to Mommy's hand as with
the new break we play

Oh how I love to see those sweet blonde curls moving in the wind
I take a deep breath, I take a long look, I want to hold this moment in

The tide is creeping ever closer washing our pink cold toes
Oh how I'm thankful for this day no matter how the north
wind blows

He chases birds, he spins around, he dances wild a free
Oh little man you are a delight for every eye to see

Forever forever this moment shall be etched in my memory
My Eric boy, my little man
leaving little footprints in the sand

The hummm of the dishwasher

As I sit here at the computer in my mother-in-law's home, I am amazed at how much I love the sound of the dishwasher. Let me briefly explain...You see, this tiny little house has been inundated with 10 adults, one two year old and one six month old for a few days now and we have had our fill of food, fun and fudge! Our Christmas Eve was our big dinner with everyone and we had it all. I am so grateful to Bill the 'mastah mixah' for orchestrating the dinner and then many thanks go to his 'little elves' who slaved away in the kitchen all day. The meal was a success and a delicious feast for me, Tim and my two offspring who, by the way, traveled from Phoenix to Jax and were so tired and ready for non-airplane food. Christmas Eve in the Hatcher-McIlrath family is not complete without a birthday celebration for Tim's mom, Buff. Yes, she was born on Christmas Eve 29 years ago :-) and we always celebrate with a spice cake and trimmings. But that's not all! The next day is Christmas Day and we had ourselves a big time! Eric and Amy scored the highest for the most presents and we certainly enjoyed watching them play with their new things. Well, truthfully, Eric played with his new toys - Amy preferred to play with, or rather eat the tissue paper that everything was wrapped in. As far as meals go, my very smart mom-in-law and sis-in-law made a few casseroles days before and froze them. They were quite tasty and even Eric cleaned his plate! It is now 2 days after Christmas and four adults have gone back home with one more leaving tomorrow. The tissue paper is safely out of reach of my six month old, Eric's new toys have been thoroughly broken into and all the Christmas china has been put back in the cabinets until next year. It is now nearly 11PM and all is calm and and all is mostly quiet. All but the dishwasher.

Yesterday was a big day for the McIlrath family. Eric had his first official hair cut and he was in his first Christmas Concert! It doesn't sound like much, but to me it was monumental. The haircut was somewhat unplanned, but turned out to be rather pleasant. He looks great!

The second big event occured at 7o'clock later that evening. As the parents, grandparents and friends of the two, three and four year olds gathered in the activity center I was reflecting back to a time when I told myself I would NEVER be one of those silly moms sitting on the floor, camera in hand ready to capture my child's every move. Well, I must eat my words like I have done so many times since having children. First, the four year old class went up to the stage and sang pretty well. There was one little dominant boy who BELTED out the song as loud as he could so much so that the audience was in stiches! Then the three's class approached and sang well, but with not as much gusto as the four's. Finally, the anticipated event of the evening came and it was the largest group to appear. The two's. As the nine little boys and three girls made their way to the stage, I joined all of the other "silly moms" and scurried to a place where I could capture my son's every breath forever to be recorded. The only reason Eric went up to the stage was because Ava was up there. (Ava is a little girl in his class and he is crazy about her). Well, they attempted to sing "By low, Baby Jesus" but truthfully it was just the teachers singing and the kids stood there looking and waving at the their crazy moms holding the cameras. Eric even jumped off the little platform and started walking over to me. I motioned for him to go back and he did with a bit of reluctancy, but stood in his place until the song was over. After the song was over, I had to laugh because I had spent most of the day wondering if Eric would behave, what he would wear, and other meaningless ponderings. Well, he looked precious in his Christmas outfit, his behavior was totally acceptable and we all thoroughly enjoyed those fun-filled two and a half minutes. Did I mention that Eric did not sing at all during the program? Wouldn't you know it, he sang the song when we were getting ready for bed later on that night.

Typical.

May you have a Merry Christmas!

Someone else's shoes

I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:22
THis was the scripture that we meditated on in Holy Yoga last week. This has always puzzled me and I am just wondering what you think about it? It made me think about life from the perspective of others. Take my neighbor for example. We call her "Crazy Liz", but her real name is Elizabeth Casey. This widow is in her 80s, has macular degeneration and is skinny as a rail. What is it like to live by yourself and not be able to see? Sometimes she comes over to our house just to tell us that there has been a recent break-in around the neighborhood and she wants us to know. Sometimes when I am in the yard with the children, she comes out to get her mail (her one daily dose of sunshine) and we chat, usually about her health. So when I think of her and in reference to the above scripture I am stumped. I do not know what it is like to be a widow, practically blind and lonely. But, I do know that she loves to talk with me and look at my children. Maybe by standing in my front yard for an extra hour listening to her talk about the most recent doctor's appointment saved her from an hour of loneliness inside of her dark world inside her home.
Another example. There is a little two year old boy in my life that acts in ways that sometimes are not acceptable to me. For instance, yesterday I told Eric to "come to Mommy" because I wanted him to get in the car so we could get to where I wanted us to go. After I called to him, he ran in the opposite direction. At first I got mad and wanted to yank him by the arm and drag him in the car. But I didnt. I put myself in his shoes. "Why was he running away", I pondered. I think it was because I had been preoccupied with other things the entire day and we had not played together at all. He just wanted to have some of my attention and simply play "get you" with me. Well, I put aside my desire to get in the car and I played "get you" with him in the parking lot for a few minutes. Luckily there was still some daylight left and the parking lot was not busy. After our little "get you" game, I told him it was time to get in the car and he willingly went in and got in his seat. I tend to judge others so quickly. Thanks be to God that He wants me to change and leave the judging to Him. I have been very conscious of my thoughts toward people now. I put myself in their shoes and think about how I may relate to them in order to be a light to them.
Well, enough of my musings. Good night.