They Have My Heart

Once upon a time there was a girl. She grew up in a wonderful family who loved her very much. She and her brother were 2 peas in a pod. Still, she wished for a sister. She wished for a girl cousin close to her age. She wished she had girls to play with in her neighborhood. She wished she had girls to be friends with at church--girls in her grade. She wished and she wished and she wished. Those wishes were never granted, and all she had were the boys. Then she grew up and married her college sweetheart and best friend. Together they became the parents of three sons. Suddenly, she realized she had been raised with boys for a very good reason. And on this Valentine's Day, she is blessed to be surrounded by her 4 favorite valentines. Not 1, but 4! With her husband, she gets to play a part in raising up 3 men-in-training. To teach them what a girl wants, and what a girl needs. To be able to influence the way they grow up to treat women. She realizes she's doing her part for 3 young ladies-to-be, and their families that follow. What more could this girl (me) ask for?

Moving on...I promised I would write about my boys if they did something unusually loving and kind during this Valentine week. (Aaron's actions spurred this on; see previous blog entry for more.) Braylen's act of loving kindness happened on Thursday. With no school that day, my boys had to come with me to the preschool parent-teacher conference. Thrilled, they were not! When we arrived, Braylen saw his aunt's minivan pull up. He asked me if he could go help her. He carried her 2 large diaper bags and library book, freeing her up to push her baby's stroller and corral her 2 year old. (My 2 year old niece is a feisty one and needs to be corralled--I love her so much!) Auntie was SO thankful for Braylen's help. During the conference, he assumed responsibility for my youngest niece who has yet to turn 1. Braylen played with her and carried her...he was such a gentleman that morning. I thought to myself, "Here's my oldest son's servant heart shining through!" Way to go Buddy.

My 9 year old gentleman

That leaves me to talk about my Kaleb. hmmmmmmmm. Let's just say Kaleb must have been loving and kind at school, because I didn't see it at home. He was grounded for 2 days for beating on his little brother...enough said? ;) Next time he receives a helium mylar balloon at school on Valentine's Day, I will remember this: When the minivan's automatic door opens to let Braylen climb in, the wind likes to suck Kaleb's balloon right out of the van. And when I leave the van to go chase a balloon across traffic, Kaleb just might blame little Aaron and get physical with him. Never mind the fact I recovered the balloon--the damage was done!

Kaleb and the runaway balloon

Don't want to leave Aaron out!

To sum up my valentine post, I'd like to thank my husband for the gift of his time today. He took our family out this morning to run several errands I was hoping to run. I loved being chauffered around town instead of doing the driving myself. :) He made one surprise stop at a local spa for my valentine gift. I now have a gift certificate to use with a very special friend of mine when she comes to town this spring! Our husbands conspired together to buy their wives a spa package, and I was able to pick out what kind of services my friend and I would like to receive. Ahhhh, I have something to look forward to! To top the morning off, Derek treated me to my favorite coffee place and our whole family enjoyed a pancake brunch. Happy Valentine's Day!