Two of my three boys get all worked up when their sisters tell them they are made of dog tails. When a party is offended we often ask "is that true?" & if the answer is no, we encourage them to move along & not be bothered. This is hard when you are three. In fact, there are a lot of things hard about being three! In 1 month & 4 days (not like anyone is counting) we will have two 4 year olds. We hope it's not hard to be four too, ha! But really, they may not be made of dog tails but they are 1 part trucks, 1 part shovels & three parts mud. I love it & I love them.
Arlo has finally joined in on the exploring the great outdoors on two feet although you don't necessarily need two feet when there is a dump truck to ride in.
The wee little babe photographed taking a ride is now big enough to fight off siblings & push the coveted truck around the yard all by him "seeelf" as Owen says.
We have a spot out by the back fence where lots of digging goes on. They are certain they have found multiple dinosaur bones. I just don't have the heart to tell them there are no bones. Maybe I want to believe that they are right. Those two 3 year olds attempt to be real sneaky & fill cups up with water so they can make a river but I always catch them...well, maybe not always.
While Charlotte doesn't mind getting dirty she has taken a liking to scaling trees like a baby bear cub. During one of the many mud baths I got her propped up with five pillows, a towel, a blanket & her notebook. She spent the next hour happily writing a story about a bumble bee.
Back to the Valentine Boys + dirt. The twins were so sweet helping Arlo dig. There were no tears, no fighting & a delighted baby brother joining in on the big kid fun.
They even cheered him on as he tried it out for his afternoon snack.
Yum yum. Not the dirt of course but those chubby baby hands that fit just right in mine.
Bella Blue always wants to know what's going on in the backyard. While these boys are not made of puppy dog tails, Arlo is certainly interested in getting ahold of that poor puppy's tail! I do love this picture for many reasons including the time stamp on life it will serve in the future of how old the boys were when Bella was still around. She is in fact alive & well but we are not blind to the fact she's not a spry young pup anymore. Whenever we bid her farewell, she will be sorely missed by these three.
So as not to end on such a sad note I will close with this photo.
Another potential time stamp of little bitty kids & a young tree. I wonder how much it will grow over the years? We spend as much time as possible outside everyday especially when it's warm. Lunch, rest time, math & reading lessons are all better in the great outdoors. It is a gift to have a front row seat to the exploring this brood does day in & day out. Whether finding dinosaur bones or some colored rock they lost last month there is excitement in their eyes, a skip to their step & a song in my heart.
I struggle MANY days to embrace the level of exhaustion & frustration this life stage brings but I know that it is filled with countless opportunities to treasure what God has given me & soak it in. Opportunities to join in on a dinosaur dig, rescue a new tree climber & welcome muddy handprints on my back doors or my clean white shirt are at my doorstep. I've never met a parent who said anything other than "enjoy, someday you will miss this" so I will ask the Lord to increase my patience, strengthen my soul on weary days & fill me with indescribable joy as I embark on the daily adventures of mothering.
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