3 Dimes, A Leaf and 1 Beautiful Boy

How I love picking up Ben from school. He was the "line leader" the other day. Mrs. Baily called on him and told him to pick a line leader, so he picked himself. How proud he was leading the group of pre-schoolers out the door. "Look at me, Moe Moe," he said, "I'm leading the line."

The children came up to me as they often do. They are all so pretty. There is a little girl there who has the prettiest eyes. She will often show me what she has made and she smiles when I compliment her on her art work. She doesn't talk much, but she smiles. What a beautiful child.

And, of course, Mr. Ben has to check on his "coins." The kids are used to the exercise now. "Moe Moe," says Ben, "do you have my coins?" They all wait with baited breath....like I'm not going to have them???? And when Ben pulls them out of my pocket, they all give a collective, "aahhh," like they have never seen dimes before. There is a man at work who will drop 3 dimes off at my desk. He doesn't have children, but I think he would have been a good father. "These are for Ben," he says and quickly walks away. And when I get back from walking Ben home, he comes back to my desk and asks, "did Ben find his dimes?" Oh yes, Ben always knows where to find his dimes.

Recently, Ben has been interested in bringing Mommy home a leaf. He will wade through them until he finds one that has a nice shape and will say to me, "Moe Moe, I'm going to give this to Mommy." A few days ago, the wind took his leaf. He was quite upset, as it was a beautiful shape. "Help me catch it, Moe Moe," he said, "I want to give it to Mommy."

And so, we go to his house. He always runs faster then I do and gets there first. We go inside and often Ellie is up...or, the noise we make wakes her up. She smiles at Jenna. I put my cold, cold face on hers and she pulls back. But as I talk to her in my "Moe Moe" voice, she smiles. I say, "where is Mommy?" And she looks at Jenna and smiles....or, if I say it often enough, Ben sighs and says, "she's right there, Moe Moe, can't you see her?"

I love walking Ben home from school. I have my 3 dimes every day and we collect leafs for Mommy. It is a special time and he is a beautiful boy. I hope I get to walk Sammy home too.

Family

I was on Tony and Marie's wedding site not to long ago and I was looking at the picture of her family so I decided to post our family. We're a pretty good looking group, I must say!!

The Many Faces of Elizabeth

My Life As A Stay At Home Mom

I have always been one of those people who honestly believe that just because a woman stays at home with her children doesn't mean she doesn't work. After today, I can swear to it. I love having the kids over but I must admit, I could do better 10 or 20 years ago. It started with going to bed. Tony moved the double bed mattress from David's room to the one I use. We put both boys on that and I slept on the small, single bed. We put Ellie next to the bed where I was. In the very wee hours of the morning, I realized I wasn't alone in that small bed. Ben had left the mattress and Sam and was wiggling up against me to get warm. "I want to sleep with you, Moe Moe," he said. We talked softly about Mommy and Daddy and what day they were coming home and he went back to sleep. I, however, was worried about him falling out of bed and on to Ellie, so I sort of just dozed on and off. After an hour or so, I decided that I would sleep on the big mattress with Sam and let Ben have the small bed. I laid down and fell asleep....and woke up about 20 minutes later to find a Ben getting back in bed with Sam and me. "I want to sleep with you, Moe Moe, " he said again. So we got back up on the small mattress and tried again. This was right about the time that Ellie decided to get up. But all in all, we did OK. We had pop tarts for breakfast and chicken sandwiches for lunch. We boomed down the steps and I tried to build the rail road track into a figure 8 like Papa does....mine was more like a six. "It doesn't go anywhere,' Ben said. "Yeah," confirmed Sam. Ben sighed and said, "call Papa." So, we watched Sponge Bob, ran around the dining room and played with the blocks. I watched them hit golf balls around the family room and each boy would raise the golf club over his head and loudly proclaim, "I win." I could see them years from now playing together and arguing over who wins. I'm having great fun. Sam gifted me with one of his famous poo poo diapers and Ellie decided to do the same. Thank God Ben is potty trained. And so, I'm being summoned. I have to go be the bridge like Papa until he gets home. If there is one thing that Ben has convinced me of it's that I'll do in a pinch, but nobody plays like Papa.
I love the hand next to her head.

Sammy getting ready to play some tunes.

That's Ben inside of the can with Sammy banging on the side.

Ellie just laughs at everybody...or was she pooping at this point?

First Night

The big day has arrived....Jenna and Jon are heading to Arkansas and we have the kids until Monday. I got home early and everyone was already here....the family room was missing, but the kids were here. Toys were all over and they were having a grand time. I got the usual questions when I arrived--"is Papa with you? When will Papa come home? When Papa comes home can we see our Micky video?"

Jenna and Jon wanted to get at least 4 hours on the road and I wanted them to have as much daylight as possible, so they left shortly after I arrived. The boys came up with a new game--jumping off of the fireplace. They stand up there together and then Sammy puts his hand behind Ben's back and says, "ready, go" and then pushes him. Ben, in fine fashion, jumps off of the fireplace and falls on the floor. They must have done that 10 times and Sammy laughed as hard on the 10th time as he did on the first.

We did have some bumps and bruises...they were jumping on the bed and Ben's head connected with Sam's nose and forehead...sorry Mommy and Daddy...Sam is going to be a bit bunged up when you get him back. Papa was running around the dining room into the kitchen and then through the living room with the kids and he got a bit dizzy. Ellie had a good time watching everyone and did some tummy time too.

Tony was a huge help. He did the teeth and potty duty while I cleaned up after dinner. We had them in bed by 8:30....that's in bed, not necessarily sleeping. Sammy was out by 9:00 ish, but Ben wants to sleep with me in the little bed and I think he is keeping himself awake until I come upstairs.

All in all, it was a good night. Tomorrow, I fly solo until Tony gets home. ARG...but I love them all and am having a good time. Wish me luck.

There's Always Room For One More

In the late 50's or early 60's, there was a television show called, "Room for One More." That was their theme song and the idea of the show. The premise was a family that had children of their own but adopted several more-some who were troubled and some that just needed a family. I loved that show and the message it sent--a family can be blood or by circumstance, but they are a family. That's Jenna and Jon. And so, when I found out that Tony and I were to be grandparents again in November, I was thrilled.

Part of me worries, because Jenna has difficult pregnancies, but part of me was thrilled at the prospect of having yet another Purdum baby to love.

Think of it--Ellie will have a younger sibling who she will help with things the way that Ben does with Sam. Ben will have "his" baby so he doesn't have to share Ellie with Sammy. What a gift this child will be. A four-some.

I told Jenna today that God gave her this child because she and Jon are such good parents...and they are. They will love and care for this child like they do for Ben and Sam and Ellie....and Tony and I...well, let's just say that we can't wait to welcome our 4th grandchild into the world in November. (translation....SHOPPING!!!)

I am so pleased. I am, of course, concerned for the health of my child, but I am so pleased that yet another child will be raised by such good parents.

I always wanted four children. Oh yeah, trying to convince Bill Morgan that it was a good idea was another story...but, I always wanted four children--two boys and two girls.....and so, my child will have the four children...and perhaps that is better. She is so much better at mothering than I. Jenna can give so much of herself to everyone she loves...no wonder God gave her another child.

So, I will go back to the drawing board and come up with more Purdum names...Victoria...I like that name.....Arian....another favorite.....or, Luke, Phillip, Anthony....so many name to nag Jenna and Jon about....so many names...so little time. I better start now!!

Congratulations my children. There's always room for one more.