Does this ever get old??

Some pictures from today of my sweet boys

Some Deep (and not so deep) thoughts

Well, the seemingly endless days of Winter are upon us, and some days I feel like if it weren't for my kids, I'd go crazy! (Or is it BECAUSE of my kids? I'm not sure which some days...) Graham is learning so much! He started saying "da-da" and Isaac asked when he would start saying "Isaac." I told him probably not for awhile because it is a hard name to say. Well, within about two days, he was making his first clear attempts to say "Isaac." It is so cute!! He does it primarily when it is quiet and when he wants Isaac's attention. It sounds like "EYE...dddd...ckk" It is very clear (to us anyway) what he is trying to say! And then, this past weekend Graham said, "mama." He has only said it once, but it was very clear and during a time when he REALLY wanted me, so I know he can say it if he wants me bad enough!
We spent the past weekend with Dave's family and it was SO fun. We needed a few days to be with our family and get away! The roads coming home were pretty bad though. It took us SIX hours to make a three hour drive, and we saw probably 100 cars in the ditch on the way. But, God was taking care of us because we had made a last minute decision to stay an extra night...had we taken off on the day we had originally planned, we would have ended up in the worst of it.
I've been thinking about the Church lately (as in the general body of believers), about our past and present experiences in the church, and what we want to teach Isaac and Graham about all of this. What we have learned is that it is critically important to compare everything with the Word of God...this is our baseline and the very reason God gave it to us. We have learned that just because a message is coming out of a church, or it has the word "Christian" stamped on it, it does not necessarily mean it is good or Biblical. I thank God for the experiences Dave and I have had because God has used them to teach us these things that we will, in turn, teach our children. As time marches on, Christians will have to be more and more aware of what is going on in the world and in the church. As bad as the present state of things is, Graham and Isaac will have to face things we probably cannot even fathom, and I want to prepare them as much as humanly possible.
On this same note, I have to share a little bit about Isaac. At AWANAS (which, by the way, I am very thankful for...it is such a Bible-based children's program with a heavy emphasis on scripture memorization), they have been talking a lot about salvation for the past few weeks. I have really noticed some changes in him. For example, yesterday we were flying around the house because we were late for preschool. I got after Isaac because he was not listening to me. Well, he must have went downstairs and said "mama's dumb" (I didn't hear it). As I was trying to get ready, he kept saying, in a quivery little voice, "I said dumb," I couldn't figure out why this was bugging him, except that he knows "dumb" is not a great word to use. He kept saying it. Finally, he burst into tears and said, " I said mama's dumb and I'm SO sorry!" His little heart could not rest because he knew what he said was wrong and that he was not telling me the whole truth about it. It is amazing to see the way God works in the heart of a little four year old boy. I know God has an amazing plan for Him (and for Graham) and pray we will parent both boys in the right way and not be a stumbling block to God's plans.

Do you think he likes it?

I had such hopes that Graham wouldn't be the picky eater that Isaac is, but after trying and trying to get him used to peas and green beans, I am not so sure (this video is from about try #10 for peas). We'll keep chipping away at it, hopefully he'll change his mind. Or maybe not.

Graham Clapping

Amazing!! Dave and I pulled off the whole external hard drive thing fairly painlessly! We are back in business!

Here is a recent video clip of Graham starting to say "da-da"-sorry for the poor quality! It was right before bed and kind of dark (at least you can hear him!). Oh, and the obnoxious voice you hear saying a very loud and clear "da-da" over and over in the background is, of course, Isaac. Graham is still working on it, but definitely trying. It is so fun. He will look right at Dave and say "da-da-da-da" so you know his little brain has made the connection! He is really getting into clapping these days too. Sometimes he claps the entire time I am nursing him. I feel like I should give him some sort of encore.

Isaac's recent thing is saying, "Mama! Hear this!" in a very authoritative voice right before he tells me a story or something. When he says "Hear this!" I always think he is going to give me a prophecy or something.

Isaac got some fish last weekend for his room. He named them "goldy" (very original) and Dori (from "Finding Nemo"). I prepared him for their imminent deaths, as I am the world's worst fish keeper, but so far, they are still alive! Almost everyday Isaac says, in amazement, "Mama, they're still alive!"

We interrupt this broadcast...

My poor nine year old computer (which translates to 75 years old in computer years) is completely out of memory!! Dave and I have tossed around what we are going to do. Not so long ago, we paid what we felt was WAAAY too much money to have our hard drive completely stripped down and cleaned up professionally. We have since added more memory, but now it seems it STILL is not enough. So, we have finally decided, rather than buy a new computer, we are going to invest a smaller amount of money in a really big external hard drive. So, throughout this process I probably will not be blogging a whole lot. I am hoping to have these memory issues resolved in a couple of weeks. But, as Dave and I know from our past computer experiences, it will probably be more like a couple of months!! Our two brains together still do not equal a lot of people's normal computer knowledge.
Hopefully I will have a ton of fresh and funny new things to write about when I get back. Or, maybe I will just keep on writing what I have been writing all along. Hah!
By the way, Graham has his first ear infection, poor thing. This is the most sick he has been in all of his eight months. Mama is also recovering from a case of strep throat. Things have been more than fun at the Buck household for the past week. Hopefully we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. By the way, does anyone want to make the trip to Des Moines to do my laundry and dishes?? Your payment will be kisses and loves from two adorable, albeit sick, children. Apply in person, we'd love the company.

So are the Days of our Lives

Isaac came home from preschool on Friday and had the following conversation with me:

Isaac: Mommy, I have to tell you something I don't want to tell you.

Mom: What?

Isaac: Grant is Merci's boyfriend at school.

Mom: (laughing) really?

Isaac: Yes, and now I have to come up with a plan.

Mom: (still laughing) what kind of plan?

Isaac: A plan to break them up.

Mom (still laughing) Why?

Isaac: Because Grant is my best friend and now he will like Merci better than me and I don't want them to love each other anymore.

Oh my, and so the drama begins...

*Graham has been really sick for the first time (bad cold and cough) for the past few days and mama is in need of a break!! He WILL NOT SLEEP and this is getting old to all of us!! I plan to take him to the doctor tomorrow if he doesn't miraculously become better over the next few hours.