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Back a few kids ago, we were exclusively a cloth-diapering family. We made the switch over eight years ago when we found that Sam was allergic to disposables and it just became our normal. I used cloth off and on with Ben and Jack and had been thinking about putting our newest little bottom in soft, fluffy diapers on a regular basis, but needed to invest a little in order to spruce up our collection. The combination of  some un-spent baby gift money (thanks, Mom!) and a very generous discount from a friend of mine (owner of Little Lions Diaper Company) convinced me to take the plunge. That box of fluffy goodness arrived today and Eli immediately ... ahem... christened the first one that I put on him. I think that means he likes them.

Fluffy little boohiney joy...

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As much as Eli loves his people and as generous as he's become with his smiles, I'd be lying if I tried to pretend that he didn't have affections for something other than his parents and siblings. In fact, I think it might have been one of these "others" that was the recipient of his first smile. He's been staring at these things since his earliest days and his eyes find them as soon as he enters the room. We call them his friends and I'm not positive that we can compete.

Eli's eye view joy..


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Jack's most often heard comment these days is, "I hold it!" in reference to his baby brother. They are little birthday buddies and I have a feeling they'll grow up to be great friends.

New big brother joy...







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Little boys love dump trucks. One of mine and Jimmy's favorite memories from when Travis was a little guy was the fact that every time we would drive him past a construction site he'd shout, "Tractors diiiging!" And the love for those mighty machines has been handed down right through all of his younger brothers.
So during our most recent trip to the library, the little boys and I chose a few books about dump trucks. While reading through them (over and over and over again) I realized that though Travis and Sam had each had their own toy dump trucks as preschoolers, Ben and Jack never had. And I decided that a boy not having a dump truck was like a little girl not having a baby doll and vowed to myself that I would remedy that situation as soon as I could.
Travis and I went on a little date to WalMart that very evening where I shocked him by announcing that we were there to buy toys (doesn't happen very often around here). As we made our way to the dump truck aisle, I saw that there were three price options. Being the frugal mommy that I am, I chose a medium sized toy for Ben and a smaller (cheaper) toy for Jack. They weren't the official metal Tonka trucks that I'd hoped to get, but they were cheap and I figured they would do the trick.
Well, later that evening after I'd sent a message to a friend telling her that I had bought the boys trucks as a surprise for the next morning she replied by telling me to enjoy feeling like "supermom" when their little faces lit up with excitement. And that's when my heart sank. I was really sad that I'd chosen the cheap little trucks for them when I really could have gone "big". Jimmy saw my disappointment and encouraged me to go back and get the real dump trucks, so I did. And I was so glad. And even though I know they would have been excited about those cheap little dump trucks, it was really fun to "go big" and surprise them with a little bit of extravagance; an unexpected blessing.
And it was pretty heart-melting to see my little boys napping with their dump trucks.

Dump trucks for little boys joy...



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Yes, I know that school just let out for the summer, but for a homeschool mom the end of one year only means one thing... time to plan for the next year! So I'm deep in school planning (and buying) and getting really excited about all that we'll learn together. Today was a big day for our strong and mighty UPS man. Box day!

Box day joy...