Temporary

Today Bennett Dale Brady turns 9! We cannot believe it. It seems just like yesterday that we were in the hospital holding this new baby boy in our arms. With his redish brown hair and big eyes. Not soon after that redish brown hair all fell out and came back in snow white. He was a cotton top for about the next 5 years and then although it has started to get darker in the past couple of years it has stayed mainly blonde. Especially in the summer, it really lightens up. So my blonde blue eyed boy....until 2 weeks ago that is.

PDS has a tradition in the 2nd grade called Yipes Stripes. Each 2nd grader pulls a president's name out of a hat and then has to do a report on that president. They research the president, do a sandwich style poster board and write a 2 minute speech and dress up as their president when they give their speech. Bennett's president was James Monroe. The 5th President of the United States. What do y'all want to know about this guy...because believe you me we (yes we) can tell you whatever you want to know and more. I'm still not clear on exactly what the Monroe doctrine does but we just made it up the best we could for the speech.

James Monroe's hair was brown. And so Bennett wanted to get into character for his speech and asked if he could dye his hair brown. I said, sure, why not? So I headed to Walgreens in search of a temporary hair dye. Found it, came home and dyed my then 8 year old's hair with it. It has been 2 weeks and we are still brown....brownish red.

He is now washing it twice a day in hopes that it will lighten up quicker....I am not sure. What I am sure about is that I would have never let my first born dye his hair. I am not sure we will ever see that blonde again. Braxton thinks we should just shave his head and see what grows back. I mean technically it was the color that he was born with so who knows. There is a lesson in here somewhere, something about long term consequences for quick "temporary" decisions. I'll keep you posted.

I do think someday we will all sit back and laugh about, "hey, remember that time mom let you dye your hair brown and it turned out sort of red, so you would look like that President?" And everyone will laugh and no one will remember exactly which President it was or what he did. But I will remain the cool mom. At least that is how I play it out in my head.

Happy Birthday Bennett!!! We love you so much and are so proud of you. You are smart, witty and fun to be around. You have great empathy for others and such a kind and sensitive heart. You make a great little brother and a great big brother. As your aunt Lauren would say, "the middle child is the perfect child." We hope you grow to be a God fearing man who uses your gifts and abilities for HIS glory!

2 Years Ago Today

2 years ago today we were moving into our 2nd home in the "hood." It was a long weekend filled with boxes, window blind hangings, friends doing things that only friends would do for you, and a flood. Yes, a flood. Day 2 of moving I decided to start a load of sheets in the washing machine so I could make the beds. My being OCD and all I wanted to get my beds made because I knew that would make me feel a little bit better. A little bit more like this was a home and not just sheer chaos.

But about 5 minutes into the wash our entire downstairs started to flood with water. And Tide. Which is the upside really because our house smelled like Tide with a hint of Downy for about a week. If life gives you a flood make sure you wash with downy or something like that. Anyway, we got it all mopped up, again with a lot of friends that literally held me up and even a special one that said, "Let's go to Target" in the midst of it all. And you know what, that little trip to Target kept me from the looney bin and jail, I am quite positive. So thank you sweet Courtney.

We have now lived in Binghampton for 6 years, in two different homes, two different streets, and many different friends and neighbors. One thing has remained the same though, our call to be here. We are so grateful and blessed for this community. We have seen good and bad, hurt and healing, light and dark. We have shed tears and we have laughed.

And it has been good. The lessons learned here, the relationships built, the seeds planted and the restoring of the broken both in our neighborhood and within our own hearts has changed us. We see things differently now, more clearly and for the better and I could not imagine my life without being here. I am grateful for a husband that trusted the Lord and followed His calling, it has made all the difference.

Might Feel a Little Tight

This is not a blog on my pants. Although it could be. Because as much as I try to remember I sometimes stick my pants in the dryer. The tightness has nothing to do with my eating habits and everything to do with my dryer.

But like I said, it is not a blog about that. I have had a couple of conversations with my two boys in the past week or so on what does or doesn't seem fair. Why one of them gets to do something the other one does not or why sometimes Braxton and I have to say "no" to something they want to do. Something that all of their other friends are doing, listening to, or watching.

The other day I explained something to both of them. And for the sake of me having to repeat it to them again. and again. and again, (because sometimes they don't hear me when I'm talking, I know...shocker) I decided to blog about it and then next time I can just send them to read this. Then we can count this towards their reading log. Killing two birds with one stone. I'm good like that.

Our goal as parents is to launch our kids. Braxton is amazing at this and says we are counting backwards, down from 18 years. At 18 we want to launch them like an arrow. We want them to soar far and high. We want them to have a solid grounding in faith, love and experience so that they will be able to be all that God has created them to be. And we are launching arrows, not boomerangs....

So this is what I said to the boys. You are at different stages in this process. I asked them what does it look like when a archer is about to shoot an arrow. From the beginning to the end. At the beginning he is setting it right in the groove, then he gets it steady on his hand and starts to pull back. The closer to launch time the tighter it gets in the bow. And right before he lets go it is at its tightest point.

So for Emma Sanders it is getting her steady at age 4. Teaching her how to respond in love and respect. How to treat others, how to realize that as much as she wants it to, this world does not revolve around her.

For Bennett at age 8 it is setting him straight in the bow, teaching him how to be responsible. That being a servant we do things for others without being asked. That we recognize our decisions have consequences and most of the time those consequences effect other people just as much ourselves. And it feels a little tighter for him sometimes that it does on Emma. But there are also things that he can do that she does not get to do yet.

And for Preston it feels even a little tighter. At age 13 we are about 4.5 years from the soaring off. And so sometimes with freedom comes great responsibility and that feels a little like pressure. Learning how to navigate that well now will be of great benefit in the long run. That as his daddy says, popularity does not always mean friendship. That athletic ability, academic achievement are great but we humble ourselves each day by remembering where those gifts came from. That becoming a man of honor and character far outweigh fast decisions that may just feel good for a moment. So it does feel tight yes, but you get more freedoms than Bennett and Emma Sanders and even when we have to say no we also get to say yes to you more.

And so we are in the launching process. And yes it sometimes might feel a little tight. But tight is good. Tight is best for you to soar.

All in the Response

Before Preston could even say a complete sentence or walk well he could dribble a basketball. I have video to prove it. Now I can't show you that video because it is on VHS but someday when I get them converted to DVD I will show ESPN when they interview me before his NBA draft. Just kidding. I mean they will probably want the videos before then. All joking aside he really has loved basketball from the beginning.

During one of Preston's games a mistake was made in the official's book and Preston was given one of his teammates fouls. This caused him to foul out of the game. He was upset but handled himself very well. The neat thing was that earlier in the week we had talked about how it is not what happens to you that defines your character but how you respond to it. So after the game I told him how proud I was at how he responded to the situation.

Bennett loves it just as much. They both play with incredible excitement for the game. Over our Christmas break both of their teams have been in tournaments. So we have spent a lot of time in a gym. Bennett made the all tournament team. You could not have wiped the grin off of his face.

So fun. We are proud of both of them. They both are improving and learning. God has given them both such gifts and abilities and our prayer is that they use them for His glory and honor.

Their sister has gifts and abilities as well, her's just range more on the sassy, adorable, you know you want to be like me gifts or whatever you might call those. For example while we were at one of the basketball games this little boy walked up and said hi to Miss Priss, I mean Emma Sanders. Her response? She rolled her eyes. I quickly said, Emma Sanders that is so rude, he is just saying hi and wants to play with you. Now how should you respond? She then without hesitation looked at me completely serious and said, "Mom, I just rolled my eyes because I was chewing ice."  We have a lot of work to do...a lot of work.

4 Years in the Making

Emma Sanders Brady turned four on November 20, 2011. Her school does a great job of celebrating girls and their life and during the chapel program on Thursday she got to go up front and receive her birthday pencils. Two pencils, one blue, one white. Nothing special about them to the average human but to a St. Mary's girl they are magical. And we loved watching Emma light up with all the joy in the world to go tell the student body how old she was and to receive her pencils.

We had her birthday party on Friday night at Little Gym. A perfect place for a girl with more energy in her little finger than I have in my whole body. She loved it.

Emma Sanders you are a joy to our family. You have been such a gift to us. You are absolutely hilarious and we never know what is going to come out of your mouth. You are kind, curious, spunky and very smart. You like to play with your dolls and do their hair. You actually like to do everyone's hair, including your cousin Wyatt. Your smile can light up a room and your laughter is contagious. My favorite thing you say lately is when we laugh at something you do you say, "I know, right?"

We are grateful that the Lord chose us as your parents. We pray everyday that you will know the Lord's love and that you will follow with passion and zeal his plan for your life.

Not His Home

Mid October I chaperoned a field trip with Bennett's class to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time learning about all the different animals. The class first started out in a room where a zoo keeper brought out snakes, iguanas, and a rat. She took them around to let the kids see up close and they could even pet them if they wanted. Bennett did not, that's my boy.

After the class we were split into groups and had a list of clues to read and then guess which animal the clues were about. It was really fun and we were even given an itouch to record the boys finding the answer to each clue.

Towards the end of the adventure we found ourselves in the polar bear exhibit, which at the Memphis zoo is incredible. Another mom and I noticed that this one particular bear was doing odd things. He would move towards the wall, slightly bump into it, shake his head, walk backwards about 10 steps and then repeat.

We watched him for a few minutes and then this mom said something that has stuck with me ever since. "This is not his home." She went on to talk about how nice his surroundings are, how well he is taken care of, how much food he gets, how the zoo vaccinates and takes amazing steps towards providing for him but it is still not his home. It is not the wild where he belongs. That maybe his captivity makes him behave strangely.

Last week I served on jury duty and was actually picked for a trial. It was a very interesting week to say the least. I actually enjoyed it and aside from having to juggle kids, carpool, basketball games and a guitar recital would love to do it again. During the week the other jurors and I were asked not to discuss the trial during our breaks. So the conversation turned toward our on personal lives and getting to know one another.

In the midst of those conversations I shared with several of my co-jurors where I live and why I live there. Their initial reaction was some very strange looks. Like, have you lost your mind? Why would you chose to live there? That is crazy.

And so my mind went back to the zoo. And I was reminded that this is not my home. That in 1992 my heart was captivated by Jesus and a love that has never let go and because of that sometimes my behavior seems strange.  And sometimes Braxton and I do what seems crazy in the eyes of the world and we make decisions that seem odd or go against what everyone else might be doing.

There is a reason for our craziness as it may seem. This is not our home.  And our hope and prayer is that our actions and behavior point to the One who has promised us an eternal home with him.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
Philippians 3:20

I just wrote that

Bennett and Emma are our musical geniuses in the family. Bennett loves to play the guitar and Emma loves to sing and dance. She picks up on song lyrics pretty quickly and sometimes will even write her own version.

Braxton and I argue over which one of us they got it from. I mean Braxton might be able to sing but I've got Moves like Jagger. Ahem. seriously, I do. Or did at one point in my life when my hips had not been moved to other worlds from child birth. I digress.

On Wednesday nights our family sits down with Operation World, http://www.operationworld.org/ and picks out a country to talk about and to learn more about what is going on there. We then stick a pin in that country on our world map in the playroom and pray for it.

Emma is still and quiet because she is so intent on listening and learning. Or....she knows that if she is still and patient her daddy will let her sing and dance for us afterwards. Kind of her own little version of America's Got Talent. For example the other night she wore a camouflage hat, pj's, and shook a blue and white pom pom while singing her rendition of This is the Day combined with Jesus is Lord. She is a prodigy.

This was practice time in the kitchen before. She wanted to warm up and asked me to tape her so she could watch. It was pre costume and there was a little bit of song change up from her final performance. My favorite part is when she sings, "he lives riiighhtt here" and puts her hand on her throat.

She has also coined the phrase recently "I just wrote that" in our home. Did you catch it in the song? Just in case anyone was wondering, this thing has been copy righted.

For example at lunch the other day she wanted to pray all by herself. She started out singing God our Father then took a hard left into Jesus loves me and ended with thanks for this day and my singing. Not sure she ever even mentioned the food, Nonetheless, at the end she looks up at all of us and says, "Did y'all like that?" Then says, "I just wrote that."

We are going to be rich people, rich. She also likes to cook. So we have got that as a back up plan if the singing/song writing thing doesn't pan out.

Friday night Braxton was out of town and it was just me and the kids. Emma wanted to make cup cakes. Red Velvet cup cakes. Don't ask why. But we did it. We had so much fun and Bennett helped as well. They were actually quite yummy. On Saturday we shared them with some kids in the neighborhood.

If you will look closely Bennett has huge black triangles on his face. Earlier he had ask me if he could paint his face. I said yes and he went upstairs and 10 minutes later I thought I was being visited from one of the band members from Kiss. I think he is getting jealous of his sister's talent and is worried she might one up him on the whole song writing thing, so he is going into costumes. I'm not sure.

Good times. The hits just keep coming at the Brady house. Never a dull moment.