My boys

Those two little boys are my favorite two little boys in the whole wide world.  That one is the sweetest, most compliant kid you've ever met, and that one is a royal stinker.  I'm not telling which is which.  That one loves music and that one loves video games.  That one loves numbers and that one...loves numbers.  They're amazing.  They've been entrusted to me for a time.  I wish I could say they're mine, but they're not...they're His...and I'm sort of glad about that, because it's a hard enough job just to raise them!

It's especially a tough job raising them when we're not sleeping.  

People, they don't tell you this in the instruction book, but 2 year olds (almost!), 4 year olds, 6 year olds...31 year olds...they don't always often don't sleep through the night!  I hate to disappoint you if you are still in the hopeful stage, with one baby who doesn't sleep through the night yet, and are dreaming of the days that you'll get actual rest every night.  Friends, it can happen.  I've heard lots of stories about it happening.  I have, on occasion, experienced a night or two in a row of actual sleep.  Now, let me be clear, here.  The 6 year old almost always sleeps through the night--probably 95% of the time.  The 4 year old sleeps through the night at least 80% of the time.  The 2 year old sleeps through the night at least 25% of the time.  If you add that up, it means that approximately 100% of all nights, someone wakes me up.  (I'm not making this stuff up, people.  Those rare occasions when everyone actually sleeps through the night?  Those are totally offset by the nights that 2...or 3...or 15...of my kids are up in the same night.)

Those two little boys up there?  They're both sick right now.  Remember how I said I'm not sleeping well 100% of the nights right now?  Yeah.  About that.  When you're not sleeping well, you're a little on the...testy...side sometimes.  (I am, anyway.)  And when you're not feeling well, you're a little on the testy side sometimes.  (They are, anyway.)

That cute little blonde?  He's got croup.  He's a wildman by nature, but add steroids to the mix and he's literally bouncing off walls and rolling headfirst off of furniture.  At 9pm.  Two hours past bedtime.  And he's good at it!  

The little boy next to him?  The one with the deepest dimples you've ever seen and more surgeries under his 4 year old "belt" than either of his parents?  He's got a raging ear infection...in the ear that no longer has a tube.  There's pus and ooze and drainage and very much crying.

Folks, this mama is tired.  These boys?  They're needy.  That combo isn't always the most...forgiving of combos.  Against all odds, though, I promised myself this morning that it would be a good day.  While overall the day was mediocre at best, I maintained a (mostly) positive attitude.  I showed those boys tons and tons of snugly love.  I pinned the big one down, forced antibiotic drops into his ears, and he screamed and screamed.  When it was over, he hugged me and told me I'm the best mom ever.  See why I say he's the sweetest kid you've never met?  God made him with an extra big heart, that one.

Friends, pray for us today.  The boys (and the mama) need sleep.  Not just sleep, though...REST.  By the grace of God I've survived the last few days with relative ease, but a good solid sleep would be a huge help.  Pray especially for my sweet boys tonight, that they would feel better quickly!  If you can spare one more minute, throw a prayer my way, too.  My level of grace and mercy may not be nearly as big as His, but with His help, I will survive and my relationship with my kids will thrive.  

Thanks in advance for your prayers for my family!