Tender moments like these

A very kind person admitted to me that I looked unusually tired earlier this week.  And it was the complete truth.  I am, in fact, exhausted.

Wiped out.

Needing a nap.

There has been so much to do.  Andy came to us in need of almost everything, and in between getting clothes for school, shopping for bunk beds, tracking down previous school records and getting him registered, and trying to completely re-organize Isaac's room to turn it into Isaac and Andy's room, I just look how I feel:

Tired.

Truthfully, I think it will get better.  A lot better.  We'll find our routine, and everything will settled into a slightly more calm chaos.  I am so excited for that.

In the meantime, one routine we are getting down is bedtime.  Tonight, I was reading the boys a couple of chapters out of our read-aloud book, James and the Giant Peach, which they loved.  After that, we always read a Bible story, and tonight, Andy wanted to read the first couple of pages.

Aside: I love the Bible story book that we have for them; it uses mostly words that are taken from the national frequency word list, and adds a few new words each chapter, so it's easy for young kids to read by themselves, which they love!

He settled into my lap, and Isaac snuggled in next to me, then Andy read through the first two pages, using his finger to lightly trace along the line he was reading.

He was doing well, and I praised him for his reading, and he turned up to me with a proud smile.  Then, he turned to Isaac, and offered to help him read the last page of the story.  Isaac grinned at me, puffed up just a bit at the excitement of being offered the honor of reading by his new big brother, and started in.

With both boys still snuggled in close, Andy held the Bible for Isaac and traced the lines for him, helping him with some of the bigger words, and occasionally looking to me for help with neither one of them knew the word.

It was such a sweet and tender moment, to see the two of them reading together, helping each other, and being encouraging to each other.  I think Andy is proud to be a good big brother, and Isaac just adores him.

I'm so thankful for those boys - they truly are a gift from God.  Sometimes it's just hard to believe that I really get to be their mom.