No words

I really can not think of a good title for this post.  It is kinda sad.

Tonight Kenneth was telling me a story about a professor at seminary who has just recently adopted another child.  He was telling the story in front of the boys as they were playing.  The gist is that this child is about Noah and Aiden's age, but he was not being taken care of by the people he was living with.  They are not his biological family.  It seemed his physical needs were being met for the most part, but not emotional, etc.  So, he was adopted into a new family that he loves.

About 15 minutes later we were putting the boys to bed but having a little family wrestle "HI-YAH!!" fight in Aiden and Asa's room.  It was hilarious, by the way.  Even Nathan and Asa were kicking out their legs yelling "Hi-Yah!"  Of course, no one was hurt in the process.  The boys were cracking up.  Then Aiden, trying to be funny, said, "Hey!  We need a new Mommy!"  We could tell he was trying to joke because he had a smile on his face and was laughing.  Noah did not appreciate the joke.  Neither did I, to be honest.  Noah yelled, "That is not nice!  I want our Mommy."

Kenneth immediately told Aiden that that was not appropriate and it was hurtful.  I could see on his face that he was embarrassed.  He then tried to make up for this joke by making another one.  "Maybe we need a new Daddy."

That was it for Noah.
He ran into his room crying.
I had to go do damage control there.
Kenneth took care of damage control with Aiden.

Noah was beside himself crying.  Sobbing, "That was not nice of Aiden.  He was mean to you.  If he goes to a new family, I won't have him as a brother.  I won't have anyone to play games with.  I won't have anyone to play with."  He was so sad.
Although my heart broke for him, it kinda made me happy too.
Despite all the fighting all.the.time, Noah really does love his brother.  It proved to me how much he cares about Aiden.   And I must admit that it felt really good to have Noah protect me like that.

We finally brought Noah and Aiden together and had a little talk with Aiden.  We assured him that he is staying with us no matter what.  We are always going to be his mommy and daddy.  He will always be Noah's brother.

This adoption stuff can be so tough sometimes...

Another Embarassing Trip to the Grocery

Why is the grocery store always a place of embarrassing moments for me?  Good grief.

Today I took the four boys to the grocery, which is a feat in and of itself.  I am never, never in a good mood when we leave.  Imagine two boys screaming and trying to climb out of the cart.  Then hitting each other and laughing, grabbing brothers' shirts and trying to look down them, etc.  Then imagine two boys running up and down aisles, yelling at each other, hitting one another, laughing hysterically (more like a very loud squeal), not paying attention and knocking into elderly ladies or people who obviously hate children.  Fun times abound.

So coming off our last trip to the store when Noah loudly asked me if a sweet older woman was blind, me trying to cover it up and say, "No, silly, you were in her way" and then him loudly yelling, "Well, her eyes look like she is blind"...I was hoping this would be less eventful.  Really, Kristy, really?

Among the usual embarrassment, I just tried to get out as quickly as possible.

Then we passed a group of 3 black women shopping together.  Noah yells, "Hey!  Where are they from?"  I quietly said, "Here."  He yells back, "No!  You see those black people over there?  Where are they from?!"  I wish I could describe his tone.  Sorta like a why-would-they-be-here kind of thing.

For the love!  Child, do you not know how to talk like a normal person?  Why in the world do you have to ask me questions about people in the store in the loudest voice EVER?! 

So then I just said, "Noah, not every black person is from Africa."  Seriously.  We see black people ev.er.y day.  Every day.  We have to wait until we are at the grocery, standing right next to them, to ask where they are from in a way that sounds like they have no business being here. 

As if that was not enough we are in the check out line.  I have almost the entire cart loaded onto the belt when Noah yells "I have to pee!" and starts grabbing himself.  Really?  Now?  I told him he had to hold it, to which he says, "Okay.  I'll hold it Mom."  Then he proceeds to grab his crouch and cross his legs.  Aiden then says, "Noah, what are you doing?"  Noah yells loudly again, "I am grabbing my penis!"  Pretty sure they heard us several aisles over.  I heard the cashier snicker.  All this while Asa is pulling stuff off the shelves left and right and Nathan has his shoes in his hands hitting Aiden with them. 

Noah's First Field Trip

I have been waiting for today for a good three weeks.  Noah's first field trip.  And, since it is a Friday and that is Kenneth's day off, I got to go with him!  I felt a little bad for leaving Kenneth with the other three boys for the day, but not bad enough to let him go with Noah.  :) 

This is a picture of us before we left the house. 
All the kids at his preschool have to wear these special "field trip" shirts when on a field trip. 
Pretty good idea, if you ask me.

The field trip was to the Children's Theatre of Birmingham.  We went to see "The Little Engine That Could."

Here is Noah with his friends before the show began. 
I was bummed that we could not take pictures during the show.

The play was cute.  The kids all loved it!  Noah's favorite part of the whole thing was when the monkey kept using his "banana phone" to call for help.  Should make for an interesting breakfast tomorrow when all the kids try dialing with their banana.  Thanks, Children's Theatre.

 

My favorite part of the whole performance was watching Noah.  He sat with the children and I got to sit with the moms.  I had a great view of him.  I found myself watching more of him than the play.  I love him so much.  Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to burst because it can't contain the overwhelming sense of love I feel for him when I look at him.  And then God quickly reminds me of His love for me, always.  I love how He teaches me so much about Himself through my kids.  

As I watched Noah before the play began I saw something that made me so proud I could have cried right there.  One of the little girls got up to go to the bathroom and through a series of other events she came back and didn't have a seat.  She was just standing there with no where to sit.  She was not demanding for anyone to move, but you could just tell she was hoping they would.  I felt so bad for her because she just wanted to sit with her friends.  Then...I saw something that has been one of my proudest moments as a parent to date.

 

Noah got up and let her have his seat.  He scooted back to the wall behind him and sat there by himself so that she could sit with her friends.  My heart was bursting with pride.  I then sat there and watched my son sit behind all the other children for the rest of the play.  He kept moving his head to see, but did not complain once.  He laughed at the funny parts and participated when the kids were supposed to "help" out the characters in the play.  I felt like I had the best seat in the house just watching him.

 

After the show, some of the characters stood in the hallway to take pictures with the kids.

This is Noah with some of the characters and his friends Jordan and Kiersten.

After the play I took Noah on a Mommy-Noah date to Chick-fil-a.  I had so much fun sharing a meal with him and listening to him laugh about the banana phone from the play.  When he finished his fruit cup I let him trade in his "toy" for a ice cream.  

This is one happy boy!

And he makes me one happy Mommy!