Balloons make memories

Yesterday I decided to brave Harris Teeter to do my first trip ever.... shopping with coupons. It was surprisingly really easy.
Each boy pushed his own cart as we donned the isles looking for the best bargains. Since I was new at the whole coupon thing, the trip took a tad longer. I concentrated on things like 12" pizzas, 5oz cans of tuna....ect. I've never paid attention to detail in that way, so again the trip took longer than usual. The kids however were great. A very pleasant first experience. One I will do again. So as we were checking out, our cashier asked the boys if they had earned and would like a balloon. Indeed they would. We walked out with smiles on our faces and balloons in our hands. Fun, fun, fun. When we got home, the boys played happily with their balloons, as I unpacked the groceries. Georgy however, discovered pretty quickly that when you squeeze a balloon as hard as you can, it pops. And pops loud. He cried. I consoled and explained. Knowing that Joshua had a phobia of popped balloons, I noticed that he was quiet during the whole ordeal. Turned out he was in his room silently crying. Not about the popped balloon either, but about Georges' reaction to the balloon. It dawned on me instantly that brotherly empathy he was feeling. As we sat in the hall comforting one another I'd recall the many times my sister and I shared eachothers experiences and the feelings that went along with them. The memories we made out of just living life together. When things started to settle, Joshua looked at George and started to laugh. If for no other reason than to take his mind off of the balloon and let him know things were okay. In that moment I remembered the countless times I thought only my sister had that special way of being silly to make everything okay. I'm guessing now as a mom watching her sons, that it is just an older siblings way of creating magical memories simply from a popped balloon. A store trip turned into a memory. A way of saying I love you without words. Corny, but true to me. I am so happy that the boys have each other to enjoy that bond I still share with my sister. Unshakable.

Camp Creation

Today was a big day in George's life. Today marked the first day that George would go to camp. Hosted at Josh's preschool, both boys were registered to attend Camp Creation. For three days, they would focus in on a wide variety of ways illustrating how God created the world, how He wants us to listen and obey, and how God wants us to love others. We prepped Georgy a bit before hand knowing he tends to have a hard time initially separating from us to go out on his own. ** After all he is with either Jamie, Joshua or I 99% of the time.** So he was pumped. We arrived at the activity center to sign in, dropped Joshy Joe off at his "beach ball" room and headed down the hall to drop George off. Although a bit apprehensive, we were surprised to see that Joshua's teacher from the previous year was volunteering in George's class. This calmed his nerves and made for a really great "first" experience. He came home with a new t-shirt that I can't peel off of him, a book he made as well as a snow globe with a few of God's (pretend) creatures inside; a sea horse, snail, fish ect.

I am so proud of George. His growing up goes unnoticed sometimes. Although this makes me sad, it only pushes me to strive to be better for him. He gets my comfort and understanding as a second time mom. The respect of eye contact and "really" listening, the ease of loving touch and kind words that spill out of the pride in my heart for him.

Great job today George. God has wonderful things planned for you.