The Kiddos

Last week, while we were out of town at the beach, one of the ladies we work with asked us to help her out by watching her kids for a few days. Since we were in Florida, we clearly weren't able to; luckily, we have some pretty fantastic friends who are supportive and involved in what we do - so we called them and they totally stepped up to the plate, opening their home to 6 rambunctious kids. We arrived home on Friday night, and spent the day on Saturday hanging out at their house to "help." Although, I'm not sure how helpful we were considering Adam just basically stirred up more trouble.

Here's Adam in Lee's crosshairs. . . I should have warned Lee that going up against Adam probably wasn't a good idea.
Adam retaliating. All of Adam's shenanigans prompted Emily (our friend's real daughter) to declare: "new rule; no more Adam."
I love having the chance to hang out with my kiddos, especially when we can give them the opportunity to just be kids. To play in the sprinkler and shoot water guns in a big back yard. Then cool off and maybe even sit down to a family dinner before being tucked into bed. And all of that without any sirens, without any police arresting the neighbors, or any drugs being sold in your front yard. Without hunger pangs or water getting shut off. . . . Because look at this precious little face. Doesn't he deserve that just as much as Jayci does? Just as much as every single other kid you know?
On Sunday we took the kids to church before bringing them home. At Metro Kidz, we gave the kids construction paper and crayons to make their "caretakers" mother's day cards (because they're often watched by aunts or grandmothers). We had already had the kiddos make cards while they were staying with our friends. But I saw Ray Ray working furiously on a card, carefully drawing and forming his words. When I went to give him a hug good-bye, he handed that card to me.

Here's what it said: "Happy Mother's Day for Becca. I love you. I love the thig that you bin doing for me." I gave him a fierce hug, with tears in my eyes, and told him it was the best Mother's Day card ever. And then I melted.