I have not had much time to devote to my blog of late, but I am plugging along. I want to finish giving a description of the rest of my family, they're the most interesting topics in my life, though I'm still happy about my laundry pile being gone now! It will be a challenge to take a photo as awesome as the one of the monkey- it was really fun trying to get StrongMan in the background! Anyway, this is one of my favorite photos of Bubbadootz. He is such a sweet boy, my easiest child yet. When he was little he was just content to do as I asked and it was quite a shock when he finally needed some correction a little before he turned 4. In this photo he is on the sidelines of a soccer game (surprised?) petting someone's dog. The owner took the photo and I fell in love with it and my son all over again. He is my man with a plan. I often think that I'll be in good hands if he takes care of me when I'm too feeble to. When he was 4 he would organize us into who would put which groceries away when we returned from Costco. It was a little confusing to him when I told him he wasn't to boss his older siblings- funny how they listen to him! He didn't see anything wrong with his plans and thought everyone else should naturally see things his way too! We called him Sarge for awhile. One night we were discussing roasting marshmallows in our fire pit and he comes screaming in the house breathless with marshmallow roasting skewers in his hand. We sort of blinked our eyes at each other, not registering why he had them. At the first mention of roasting he had dashed down the street to borrow them from the neighbor and then brought them in to be sure that the marshmallow plan wouldn't fail! That's my boy! This photo is especially dear to me, it is totally his look- truly fashionable though completely a mess! I think really it was my now 9 yr old who is to credit with the current fashion trends in boys' clothing. Bubba has now inherited the look. The sagging pants style comes as a result of skinny hips and the lack of a belt because it broke when he used it to pull the wagon (yep, the nice church one that was reversible). So maybe the pants are a size or so too big but by the time I actually put them in the box for the summer and then get them out for the next winter they'll be too small so he wears them big for awhile. The boxers even stick out normally, though he is mortified to think that his pants sag like a dude. I'm not sure if you can tell but yes, he is sporting the ragged hems and to see the knees makes one wonder what he was doing all day and is he really an orphan? Doesn't his mother notice the shreds? To put it this way, I tossed out all of the pants that were ripped or stained from last winter (instead of recycling them for the next kid with holes in them) and there were only 2 pairs between all 3 boys that weren't shredded (I culled something like 25 pairs of pants!). This pair didn't make it! When I see this pic I just want to squeeze him. He takes so much after the oldest of my brothers that I really feel I understand my brother better just by Bubba's personality! Bubba is really into style and he tries hard to look like a "dude", without wanting anyone to know that he's trying (more on dudes later). It was really hard one year to allow him to spend his Christmas gift card money on a shirt! In the end I couldn't really see why not and vowed I would try to make sure that at least it didn't get outgrown in the ironing pile! I love the hat he has on too- between that and the long sleeved shirt under his button up, he looks all set for a cold spring soccer game! He is still my cuddler. I can always count on him for a nice snuggle! He recently told me that he wishes he could be smarter. I assured him I thought he was really smart and asked him what he meant. He said, "I just like to think and I want to figure things out." Totally my easiest child! He has several dreams he'd like to fullfill- he wants to be a soldier and a fireman and he bides his time until he can be a dad. When he's done with those things he really wants to teach people to love God. I have so much to learn from him.