There is this kind of love...
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| August 2012 (Abbey was 7 months, Luke was 2.5) |
And this kind of love:
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| August 2012 |
They absolutely adore playing with each other. But, sometimes they like to "pester" each other. It is inevitable that when I go to the grocery store, the pestering comes out full force. Perhaps it is the close quarters and containment of the shopping cart that gets to them. If you run into me at the grocery store, it is very likely you will here phrases exclaimed loudly like, "Abbey's leaning on me!", "Luke is touching my steering wheel! (when using a race-car shopping cart)", or "Abbey is kicking me!" There may even be some screams coming from the cart. Yeah, that's me and my crew. I gave up trying to manage it and play "peacemaker" long ago though. I used to buy packaged snacks, just so I could feed them during the grocery store visit. I figured out that when their mouths were full, the pestering ceased. But, the first snack (consumed at lightning speed) was always soon followed by the words, "I'm still hungry" (stated in a whiny voice). I spent so much time searching for and unwrapping packaged snacks, that it made my grocery store visit even longer. My recent strategy is to organize my grocery list and plow through that store at lightning speed. I let them manage their own conflicts. I ignore the whining and complaining and pestering, knowing that it will soon be over. I remind myself of one of my favorite Bible verses, 2 Corinthians 4:17, which says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (keywords: Light and Momentary).
These tough moments truly are light and momentary in comparison to eternity. And, Luke and Abbey love each other beyond what words can express. They are each others' best friends. My favorite sound is that of the loud, deep-belly giggles coming from the two of them as they play together. Making each other laugh hard is a favorite past-time for both of them.
A couple of nights ago, we had some very loud storms, which brought with them lots of rain that we needed. But, the thunder terrified Luke. The lightning seemed to flash non-stop. Storms are very rare here it seems, so Luke really hasn't experienced too many of them. After we put him to bed, he ran downstairs several times, saying he couldn't go to sleep. This NEVER happens. Once Luke goes to bed, he is down until the morning. One of the times I put Luke back to bed, I told Luke what my mom used to tell me when I was young and afraid to go to sleep. She told me to think about happy things. So, I asked Luke about some of the things that make him happy. The first word out of his mouth was, "Abbey." Then, he started rattling off stories from the day, all including the funny things that Abbey did. His re-telling of the stories made me laugh as well. I left his room with a big smile on my face.Luke never did come back downstairs after that until it was morning. That boy cherishes his little sister. I am so thankful for these two blessings. For I know they are truly gifts from God.
The next day after the big storms, I wanted to find the biggest puddles and let the kids have a blast in them together. And so they did...
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| I even joined in on the fun and took a photo thanks to the camera self-timer. I want these kids to remember I had fun with them. (And, notice the little pony tail. Praise the Lord for hair that is growing!) This puddle was a miniature one though. |
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| Abbey didn't care about the size of puddle though--she was still able to make a good splash. |
You may notice there are a lot more photos of Abbey than there are of Luke. She had a BLAST jumping and playing in the water and didn't want to stop. Luke, as you see, moved on to the big boulders and had fun playing on them.
I also managed to capture a little video of Abbey playing in a little puddle. I cherish these little memories with the kiddos.
I call this video, "Watch Me Throw This Rock, Mommy".
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