Finally up and running . . .okay, walking . . . well, crawling along . . . you know how it goes

It has been a long time.
A long, long time.
After what seems like eternities of waiting for a new laptop and internet access, and after a few foibles, I believe I am back in the game.
And not a moment too soon.
I was telling Joe the other day that writing has a way of centering me, of making me more aware of myself and other people, other things around me; it gives me a perspective that somehow gets lost when I am not sitting down and sorting it all out, remembering, telling, reliving, processing it all in words.
Nouwen said, "What I am discovering is that in the writing, I come in touch with the spirit of God."
This is true for me, too.
So, what is happening here?
Well, I have sick kids at home and a good friend of mine will be visiting from Florida. That's about the crux of it right now.
On a personal note, I feel like I am coming out of a slump that I've been in for several weeks now (probably because I haven't been writing!!). As the edge of spring slices into the heart of the bitter cold days of winter, I feel like the trees I have seen here lately, budding with the promise of bloom though frost still threatens.
The boys are beautiful, as always.
Daniel is a spitfire! He loves to go outside in the "told" (cold) and is, to my dismay at times, exploring everything with a voracity and speed which is at times appalling.
He was walking down the hall with a jar of Vick's vapor rub this afternoon, unscrewing the cap at lightning speed and glooping it out with his hands when Josiah alerted me by yelling, "Mom!! he has the vicksoline!!!"
Isaac is working hard at school, and is about to become a full fledged Boy Scout of America!
He was doing his homework earlier, writing an essay, I believe, and wondered out loud "What are some good reasons to like books?"
"Well," I counter queried, never wanting to just give the answer away on a silver platter, "what are some good reasons to like books?" to which Josiah, who was doing his own homework, pipped up and answered "Because they're satisfyin'!!"
In the 40 some seconds it took for this insightful exchange, Daniel had taken all of the Tupperware out of the cabinets and placed it strategically around the kitchen floor.
Jut a little taste of life here with three boys.
Josiah has been battling pneumonia. This is his second bout of it this year, and he finds himself with upper respiratory sicknesses quite a bit these days. I am praying it does not continue to be an issue.
That is a brief update for now. I will try to get pics up tonight or in the near future.
It's good to be back!!

The best laid plans of mice and men . . . or, in this case, women

So, I had this idea that I was going to be a more faithful blogger this year. Yup. I was all ready to blog my little heart out.
Two things.
1. We currently have no internet access at home for an undetermined amount of time due to wanting to find the best provider with the most to offer for the least amount of moola (who dosen't, right?).
2. My son, (I will not disclose which beloved son I refer to) spilled coffee on my computer today, and, well, let's just say the prognosis is not good. I am still holding out hope, but all it does is sputter and sigh and then all the little green lights go off. I tell ya, it's not pretty, people.
So, it may be touch and go for a while.
I did want to write a little about Daniel and what he is saying these days.
He's smart. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his mother :). He can say about 60 words.
However it is not the ones he can say correctly and clearly that thrill my heart. It is the words he has come up with on his own for things that I love to hear!
Sure he can name about 10 different animals and make the corresponding sounds for each, but it is when he calls the phone a "bong" that I smile the most.
His binki is his "bunk"; pencils, markers, anything to write with, really, are "baubbles"; the moon is actually the "moom"; he dosen't take a bath, but a "bahsh"; for some reason only he knows, his Aunt Kathy is YaYa to him.
I love listening to his little his little voice trying to figure this crazy language out.
It so reminds me of things my other boys said when they were little . . . Isaac called a fork a "shoo-k". Josiah called ketchup, "kepetch" and mustard, "mustup."
One day, when he is talking rings around me, I will look at him and have a flash of memory of him jumping up when the phone rings and declaring, "Mom! A bong!!!"