As moms, we all have them. Those moments that make us so thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful child (sigh).... and then.... there are those "other" moments that make us wonder what in the world were we thinking when we chose to go off birth control...

I'm now finding myself approaching the final chapters of my life as a mom, having dropped off my first son at college this past week. I catch myself doing a lot of reminiscing lately, wishing I had journaled more so I could always remember those childhood"moments." Hence, the "brilliant" idea of now blogging these moments in time... albeit a little late. Although, if I had journaled the earlier years, it probably would have read something like this... "Austin is teething and was up all night... Austin has another ear infection and was up all night..... Austin is fussy and was up all night...." Then my second son, Jordan, came along.... "1:00 pm Jordan threw a major temper tantrum in the store.... 2:00 pm Jordan threw a major temper tantrum in the car.... 2:30 pm Jordan threw a major temper tantrum in his crib..." Hmmm, maybe it's not so bad that I didn't journal those earlier years. :)

For easy reference, may I present to you my three sons:

Austin - 18 years old and beginning his freshman year at college (21 hours away!) :( He's very much like his mom in appearance and personality - very quiet, reserved, intelligent, and responsible.

Jordan - 16 years old and is a junior in high school (oh my gosh! Is this true? Had to double check... yes, he's a junior! Time is FLYING by here!) Jordan is as opposite from his older brother as you can get in every way. He's full of life, has a great sense of humor, and thoroughly enjoys being around people.

I planned the two boys to be close in age so they would grow up being best friends. Plans don't always work the way you want. They were SO different that they never played together. Lego bricks were the #1 toy in our house while the boys were growing up - we have THOUSANDS of them. Austin would sit with the manual and build the Lego model precisely as the instructions stated, carefully following each and every step. When the model was built, playtime was over for him. Jordan, on the other hand, smashed the pieces together as fast as he could, the manual remaining in the box.... once he had something built, playtime would just be beginning for him!

Playing with Austin was fun - remember, he is just like me. I could sit on the floor and build models with instruction manuals for hours - absolutely loved it. But then... Jordan would come along... "play with me, Mom." Ah! I could only take so much of sitting on the floor with these absurd looking Lego people walking them around on the floor or zooming them through the air in strange vehicles that looked nothing like an airplane. At least if I could have made the Lego people have conversations with each other, it might have been endurable, but no... I had to make all sorts of engine noises...

Brandon - 11 years old and entering the 6th grade. He will be homeschooled this year once again. In fact, I need to finish up this blog to go over his English with him.... Brandon is still hard to figure out. He's a complete blend of both Austin and Jordan. Amazing to me. A very easy child to raise (so far) and adores his older brothers (even though he won't ever admit that). He LOVES to read (yay!) and I often find his light still on his bedroom at midnight or even later as he pours over his books.

Think that just about sums it all up! Bye for now!