A good day

(I meant to post this a few days ago, but it still applies)

Don't you love it when you are expecting a difficult day and it turns out differently? My husband says I am a pessimist, but I prefer to think of myself as a realist. We just spent the last ten days in Orlando- a trip that was somewhat exhausting, but well worth the effort (I'll post pictures later). We got home late last night and I knew the morning was going to be rough- getting James back to school, refilling an empty fridge, getting Christian to the pediatrician by 9 am for some yucky shots, unpacking and cleaning a filthy car and getting everything put away. You get the picture.
I managed to get out the door on time, but we got stuck behind a semi-truck going up the mountain. All you who are locals know what that means- 7 miles an hour up the hill. I groaned inwardly and prepared for the bad day ahead, but wonder of wonders he actually pulled to the side of the road after only a few tedious minutes and we were off. I dropped James at school and made it to the doctor just in time. Our pediatrician is so great- and I was so encouraged when she asked me if I had
"celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ." I know we live in the South where these things might not be so uncommon, but it is still wonderful to exchange a "He is risen indeed!" with a stranger. Anyways- the shots were no fun, but Christian is as healthy and strong as a little guy at two months can be and just beginning to smile.
I was further encouraged at the grocery store when almost everything I needed to buy was on huge discount "today only". I guess I picked the right day to go shopping- even my favorite cookies were on sale, so I splurged a bit. But munching a cookie in the car made me thirsty, and driving by Starbucks was too much of a temptation for me, so I thought I might just get a house coffee. I gave the barista my cup and asked for the brew of the day as I reached into my bag for some cash. I started to hand him the money but he said, "This one is on the house today." Just like that- a free coffee for no reason!
I know they seem like little things, but just knowing there are nice people in the world is still a boost.
And when it came time to clean out the yucky car, James offered to vacuum it for me. I was thrilled. Granted, he and Etienne decided it would be fun to see what would happen if they sucked a bunch of toilet paper into the hose, thereby clogging the whole thing and making me spend half an hour getting it unclogged, but he did finish the job afterwards.
Then we spent the afternoon working in the yard which is growing beautifully and then I found out some very good friends of ours are moving back to town.
And if that wasn't enough to make me smile at the end of a not so bad day, this was.

Another Perk

So another perk of having boys is the bugs.
I stumbled across this beauty whilst digging in my yard yesterday and instead of smashing it to death with my spade as I was immediately tempted to do, it somehow made its way into a jar on my countertop.



Now I wouldn't consider myself as an arachniphobe. The only bug I really run screaming from is a cockroach, but I must admit this guy gave me the willies. I know it looks like a huge tarantula-type in the picture, but in reality it was only an inch and a half long or so. That's big enough for me though. The boys, of course, wanted to know what kind of spider it was, and I was curious to know if it might be, you know, venomous in a deadly sort of way, so I jumped onto my surfboard and hit the internet. Let me tell you that after half an hour of looking at the creepiest eight-legged creatures on earth, my latent arachniphobia was emerging. My skin was literally crawling and I had to wipe the cold perspiration off of my brow. There are some crazy spiders out there folks!

This particular specimen turned out to be a trapdoor spider of the female variety. And its bite produces only mild discomfort. It was a very informative experience and I was able to introduce my boys to pictures of the black widow spider, so now they know to run screaming if they ever see that little red hourglass. They spent the rest of the evening taking turns staring at it in the jar, and only once did I have to intervene to keep it from escaping into my home. James wanted to know when it would start laying eggs. At that point I was ready to say goodbye, so currently our little friend is visiting James's kindergarten class(hopefully permanently). I am sure his teacher is thanking me right now.

Four!

So my mom flew down for a last minute trip last week. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the few days she was here, but we had such a sweet time of visiting and getting things done around here. Thanks so much for coming mom! And it was so great to have someone from the family here to help celebrate Etienne's fourth birthday. I didn't get very many good pictures from his little party either, so here are a few favorites from the last four years.

Etienne

We love you Etienne!

Help! I'm surrounded!

I've been thinking of changing the name of this blog to Being Boys instead of Being Bilingual.
However, I suppose that being the lone female in this house and learning how to think like my boys and understand them is another form of bilinguistics. So I will leave the title alone for now, and focus on learning the language that will let me understand why they do what they do.
For instance, why did I come across a batch of pictures the boys had taken with my camera of their rear ends? I will give you a tame sample of one of these with the pants actually pulled up.
Why are they so fascinated with bodily functions and why does every mention of poopoo or peepee send them into hysterical laughter? I have tried scolding, reasoning,and appealing to their better natures as gentlemen to stop their constant references to these things but to no avail.
James has tried but then told me the other day that "He will try to stop saying the words, but in his heart he can't help laughing."
Or how do I respond to the following conversation between Steve and the boys.
Daddy- "You boys sure have good taste. It must be the European in you."
James and Etienne(sniggering)- "Haha, daddy said Peean."
Daddy(exasperated)- "No boys, not Peean, European."
Etienne(laughing still harder) "No dad, you're a peean"
I mean really, what do you do?

Or why do they love bugs? Why do they go out in the pouring rain and mud to dig for worms to feed to the tiny snake daddy found in the yard?

Why do they all insist on sleeping on the top mattress of their big bunk bed, and being wrapped up like "roly poly bugs" before going to sleep?


And what about Winnie the Pooh in a muddy stew?


or incessant wrestling and doggy piles?


Can I get an interpreter please? Steve just shrugs his shoulders and tells me they are boys, so get over it. But I am still trying to discover the gentlemen in them. It does appear occasionally in James. He loves to get me flowers or clean up his room to surprise me, and yesterday, when playing pirates he asked Etienne to stop with his wicked cackling because they were "Good pirates who love God." Maybe I am making some progress.

We've been bloomed!

The phrase in the title of this post was coined by James, after I tried to explain to him why all of our extra sneezing was coming from the trees in bloom.

The older I get and the more children I have, the more I love to garden. We are having so much fun with the kids this spring- fun playing in the dirt, loving their joy at seeing each bulb pop up out of the ground, wondering what kind of flower it will produce, and hearing their funny little expressions. ("Oh mom, just look how well the dandelions are growing!")
I have learned that it doesn't take much to make a garden- just a little labor and imagination. We currently live in a not so great neighborhood. When I started weeding the beds out front by the street, I had to wear thick gloves to protect myself from the many shards of broken beer bottles and other trash that had been lurking in the dirt for who knows how long. The yard next to us is a small mechanics shop, mostly made up of concrete and metal and even a little barbed wire. The house on the other side is a little more presentable, but nothing lovely. With such surroundings I was tempted to think that trying to make something nice out of our yard was pretty pointless, but I plugged away anyway, planting bulbs last fall, and planning flower beds. When my sister visited, she treated me to several flats of bright flowers from the local nursery, and planted them in big pots across my porch. Steve is currently building some raised beds for vegetables.




I have been amazed at the impact our little actions have made on this rather sad neighborhood. People who I see walking by on a daily basis staring at their shoes, now stop to look, to comment, to appreciate even my little attempts at beautifying. My daffodils are bent from trampling feet and half the yard has been tilled and replanted with new grass seed, but people still admire the color and symmetry of the flowers, despite the imperfections around. It's a simple kind of ministry.
So I am thankful for this spring, thankful for the allergies, and thankful for the perpetual handfulls of dandelions being brought to me by grubby little people. Here's to being bloomed!

A New Life, A New Blog

How does one ressurect a blog that has been dead for almost a year? Apparently the desire to display a new baby to the world is enough for this lazy blogger. Equally motivating is the realization that I am never going to get around to updating baby books or printing and framing the thousands of pictures I have floating around on my computer. The best way I have found for recording the precious moments in life, the memorable things my children say or do and the pictures to go with them is with a blog, so back on the horse I climb.
This means however that there is an entire year of our lives that has gone undocumented. Solution? A brief timeline of events that will fill all my loyal readers in on our crazy lives from last Spring to this. Enjoy.

May-Mid August 2010
The Lewins bite the bullet and move to Memphis to be with daddy. There they experienced life in a large apartment complex with lots of little neighbors to play with, a pool to swim in, and cockroaches the size of dinner plates. The heat was mostly unbearable and there were no sightings of Elvis. They laid pretty low all summer. Highlights were mostly milestones for James. He turned five, learned how to swim and how to ride a bike all in one week.

August 2010-
The Lewins decide to move back to Chattanooga to try and get daddy's real estate business off the ground. The plan to stay in one of his tiny duplexes for awhile while renovating yet another house backfired slightly when the duplex proved to have no running water. Further investigation revealed the main water line had been cut somewhere in the middle of the yard. This was not discovered until after five days of living without plumbing in 103 degree weather and hours of digging in the clay with a pick ax. We were grateful to friends who lent a shower. Meanwhile, work commenced on a small house in which they hoped to live within the month. Unfortunately that plan hit another snag when they decided to throw caution to the wind and knock out some walls. The discovery of hard wood floors under the old carpet didn't help either. Much, much rubble and sanding and dust later, they moved in.

September 2010-
Steve's hopes for his business did not flourish as anticipated, so back to Memphis he went for five days a week. Nicky tried not to cry. Life continued very busy, and James started Kindergarten. He loves every minute of it. Sebastien turned two.

October-December 2010-
These months are mostly a blur. Nicky was a single mom most of the time, with weekends crammed full of daddy time and more home improvement projects. Somewhere around this time, Nicky discovers a pregnancy that she had overlooked for five months. If you want to know how on earth that happened, call her. Another boy was on the way.
Thanksgiving was spent in Orlando with the Moons, and plans were made to spend Christmas in Tacoma. Nicky managed to get herself, all three boys and her pregnant belly into an airplane all by herself and Steve joined them later for a wonderful Christmas with the entire extended family.

January 2011 -Present
The Lewins return to Chattanooga and Steve goes back to Memphis only to discover that he either returns to Memphis 24/7, or he is out of a job. Steve becomes unemployed. Nicky is extremely grateful to have him back home as the new baby is due any day, and the search for a new job continues. February 22, Christian Edmund Brock is born and is joyfully welcomed by all. A visit from sister Aubree and her husband highlighted the beginning of March, and now we are caught up. All we need now are a few updated pictures.

James, otherwise known as "Kindergarten Boy" at 5 3/4-



Etienne, "The Tank" Lewin at almost 4-



Sebastien, my not a baby anymore at 2 1/2-



And last but not least, little Christian at 2 weeks-

Together Again

Hello to anyone who might be reading this old, unloved web-log. I figure this is still the best way to share news with the most people in the easiest way.
Steve came to visit for Easter, which was wonderful but way too short. The only reason I was able to say goodbye to him again without weeping was that we have come to the decision to move to Memphis to be together with him. This was a move I always said I would never make, but you do what you have to do. At this point it is a temporary move, but if there is one thing I have learned this year, it is that God is in control of our lives, not me. If anyone had told me a year ago that I would end up spending six months with my parents away from my husband, I would have laughed. But by the time we leave in three weeks, it will have been exactly six months.
And the future is quite a blank to me, which is actually kind of exciting. I have never before moved to a new city where I know absolutely nothing about it(except Elvis) and nobody in it(except Steve). But home is where the family is, and any uncertainties or doubts I may have are completely overwhelmed by the thought of having a father and husband close by again.
As to this blog- I don't know if I will have a computer or wireless access, but if and when I do, I will try and get this old thing up and running again. Thanks for reading.