Team Sanborn

Team Sanborn

Monday, February 27, 2012

So different, and yet...

As a teacher, I noticed the differences between boys and girls pretty early on.  I even had a kiddo offer a commentarty, "Boys and girls are so different, and they expect us to grow up and get married?  It's crazy!"  Of course with my own little social experiment (The A Babies), I noticed this to be sooooooo true!  We even had LOTS of gender neutral toys and it didn't matter!  Once Annabelle got into dolls...  Sure, Andrew would play dolls, but that consisted of him bashing a baby against the toybox or putting her face down on the floor and scooting her around like a car.  Annabelle would play cars with Andrew, but she always made a "situation" out of it.  Andrew would be crashing cars all over the place and she would be trying to organize the "errands" the "mommies" inside the cars would be going on after they stopped by the "dealership" to get their cars fixed.  Hilarious right?!
As of age 6, not much has changed...  Or has it...
Annabelle rides her bike in front of the house "crusier style", just fast enough to keep from falling over, but not so fast as to not allow her to have a conversation with anyone who will listen (I just don't know where she gets it).  Andrew is with his buddies throwing toys into the street so that they will break into a million pieces.  SOOOO DIFFERENT!!  Until we were in the car yesterday.
Andrew: Mom, I see land!!
Annabelle: (Rolling her eyes) Andrew, we are ON THE LAND, so of course we can see land everywhere.
Andrew: (Rolling his eyes) It's called using your imagaination Annabelle, you should try it sometime.

So yes they are different, but sarcasm cuts both ways!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Have you ever thought about?

Have you ever taken the time to think about the way your family was formed?  I think about it a lot since we do do a lot of adoption paperwork and they kind of make you think about it, analyze it, categorize it, reflect on it and think about it some more.  Sometimes the pressure is almost unbearable.  Someone gave me these sweet babies to ruin  um, raise.  It's like I sometimes feel like I have an invisible birth mom looking over my shoulder making sure I am doing a good job.  It's maddening!!!  I obsess about everything they eat and do and wear because I want it all to be perfect.
Then, times like tonight happen.  I was reading stories with Andrew and Annabelle after Benjamin had gone to bed.  We ran out of books and I sent Andrew for another one.  He walked to the book nook, turned around and said, "I sure love you Mom".  Well, of course I immediately welled up with tears, and took instant stock of how God had formed our family.  Amazing, unforeseen, wonderful, heart-wrenching ways. He chose this time, this place, this husband, these sweet children (plus the one sleeping soundly in his crib) to build our family.  When I look back at all of the pieces of the puzzle God had to work together just right to build our perfect family...  Wow!  I know He is all powerful and all knowing and everything, but all of this?  Just to make me a mom!  So when you have a minute, please think about the way God is building your family.  If it is anything like mine (or looks totally different) it is blessing upon blessing.