Malachi Moments

I’m extremely proud of all my kids, but lately there have been some very special “Malachi Moments” and I wanted to share them.

We were in the hospital the day after Zoe was born and the three older kids were meeting their baby sister for the first time. It was Malachi’s turn to hold Zoe and he could barely contain his excitement. Here was the baby he’d prayed for all throughout my pregnancy. After several women we knew had miscarriages, he had started seriously praying for Baby Boo. Whenever it had been his turn to pray, he’d say, “Dear God, please help the baby to not die. Amen.” Malachi had loved to give the baby goodnight hugs by hugging my big belly. And now he was holding this little baby. Joshua reminded him that it was his job as Zoe’s big brother to take care of her and protect her. And my little man looked so lovingly at his sister in his arms and immediately began telling her about the sword he had. He took his job very seriously and wanted Zoe to know that he had the right tools for the job. And right there was a beautiful blend of tenderness and manliness.

On Sunday we took the kids’ bikes out to the parking lot and had fun together. When it was time to go back inside we all dragged the bikes through the muddy backyard and back to our porch. It was not an easy job, but Malachi insisted on taking his bike back all by himself. I kept offering to help, but he just said, “No, thank you” and kept at it. It took him quite a while to get his bike to where it belonged and it had started to rain in the meantime, but he persisted and finally succeeded.

Tonight Evangeline was having a hard time eating her dinner. She was being a typical 2-year-old and refusing to chew and swallow her food and in addition she was screaming and crying. I took her onto my lap to get her to calm down enough to attempt to eat, but I wasn’t having much success. Then Malachi quietly reached out and held onto her hand and all of a sudden, Evangeline stopped screaming, chewed the food in her mouth and calmly swallowed it. And she held onto her big brother’s hand the whole time.

So you see why I’m so proud of my little Malachi? He’s turning into a loving, tender, strong and determined little person. And if he makes me this proud now at four years of age, then I can’t wait to see what he’ll be like when he becomes a man.

Keep growing as you are, my little Malachi. And may God use you for His glory in big and amazing ways.

A Rambling Post About My Kids, But Mostly About Malachi

When I was pregnant with Evangeline about two years ago I enjoyed watching our other kids' varying levels of excitement for the baby. Lily was thrilled about having a new baby around and she liked to feel the baby kick my belly. Malachi really wasn't all the interested in all that baby stuff- even after Evangeline was born!

This time around it's so different. Malachi is very aware of "Baby Boo" and knows that the bump in Mommy's belly is a real little person who will be coming out someday. He's protective of me and he'll just walk up to me and kiss or pat my belly. He likes to "snuggle" with Baby Boo and give her hugs.

But here's the sweetest thing ever: Several days ago Malachi and Lily were cleaning the shelf that holds all our shoes (aptly named the Shoe Shelf) and Malachi very carefully left a free space on the bottom shelf for Baby Boo. I thought that was so cute, but I figured he'd forget about it after five minutes. Imagine my surprise when, this evening as I was putting my shoes away on the bottom shelf, he said firmly, "Make sure you leave space for Baby Boo." In Malachi's mind the baby is just as much a part of our family as Lily or Evangeline is- and just as real. Wouldn't you love those pro-choicers to imitate that?

Anyway, I suppose I've rambled enough for one post. I just like my family and I'm so amazed at how my kids are growing and turning into fascinating little people. Malachi has been difficult lately so it's good for me sometimes to remember his admirable attributes.

And so to close with a Malachi quote: "I can't take care of too many sisters!"

We're So Cute

I feel like I don't post many pictures of my family here anymore so I thought the time was ripe to enriched the blogger world with a photo of an adorable family. Families this cute don't happen every day, you know. I'm not biased here at all, of course.

Our Snowy Day

Today we enjoyed the snow. Yesterday I wasn't too happy with the boat load of white stuff that was being dumped on us because it interfered with my plans, but today I was able to have fun with it. I've lived in Erie most of my life so I'm pretty used to having lots of snow, but even I will admit that there is a shocking amount of snow outside. For example, in some places the snow comes up to my hips.
So today we took the kids out to play and it was pretty hilarious watching them try to work out how to get around the yard. They tried walking, but because they aren't very big, they'd start out walking on the surface of the snow and then they'd sink in halfway. After a while they figured out the best method was to crawl on the snow.
Lily was pretty tough out there, but Malachi struggled a bit so we had fun picking him up and throwing him. That worked well except that he'd land on his bum (causing a cute imprint) and then flail his legs around like an overturned turtle trying to get up.
Evangeline was far too little to get around well in snow that could easily cover her so we'd just plant her somewhere and she'd play for a bit, then we'd grab her little snowsuit, uproot her and plant her someplace else.
Joshua dug a little snow fort out for the kids and I'm hoping to get back out to play in there more tomorrow.
All in all, we had a grand time being snowed in today. So even though I was near tears yesterday because of the snowstorm, I'm very glad we had the snow today.

Thank you, God, for giving us exactly what we need- even "inconvenient" snowstorms.

The Best Part of My Family

Yesterday Lily and I were talking about what a family is. I was explaining how families have daddies and mommies and brothers and sisters and grandpas and grandmas when Lily interrupted me with, “And Miss Barbs? Families have Miss Barbs.” I laughed and answered that not every family gets to have a Miss Barb. Having a Miss Barb is a very special thing that only a few families get to enjoy and we agreed that we were very blessed to have one as part of our family.

Maybe you’re one of the few families that have a Miss Barb or maybe you’ve not been blessed with one, but one thing is for certain- our Miss Barb is the Best.

Sons, Daughters, Nephews, Nieces and Grandchildren

The Ben-Ezra Kids

For most of my life I was one of the "Ben-Ezra kids" and now that title has been passed down to these worthy recipients.

Cute, aren't they?

My Family (Well, except for that guy)

We've had a smashing time with the S. Ben-Ezras in town. Yesterday we went to a beach/playground and I got some great pictures of everyone. Here are just a few for starters. There's more to come!

(Just a small note: that funny-looking guy in the odd hat really isn't related to me. He just happened to be at the beach at the same time so I snapped his picture, too. Really, there's no relation at all.)