The Cutest Kids Ever

My sister Jo and I share this blog and it has been a great project. We are able to stay in touch more and are both working toward great changes in life. I think that the best blogs are 1) steady, 2) personal in building relationships and 3) real. So when Jody said that she was really busy and would be working on a blog post soon, I thought her situation itself was worthy of noting. We're all in this same boat.

This visual aid is from her youngest daughter, Allyson. As you can see, there are two other children in the middle of Ally and her oldest brother Zachary. Zach is the tallest in their family, but not quite as tall as this visual suggests. Still, he is this tall in his 7-year-old sister's eyes.

Jody has shared with me some of the funniest stories and most hilarious one-liners from her kids, that I've always told her she should write a book. The situations she finds herself in are truly larger than life and unimaginable to me. Most recently, she has been in bed sick. Very, very sick. The kids are all in school, husband works nights, she works days and their oldest son -- the 8 foot tall one -- works part-time but doesn't have a driver's license yet. All kids are involved in church, choir, soccer, baseball, band, dance...

So earlier this week my sister saw a need to help with a mini-crisis between my dad and our little brother. They had some relationship strains due to some displaced frustration from my dad, to my brother Bil. Bil has also gone through some challenges recently in getting his business off the ground. WHILE still sick, Jo manages to gather up a dinner after work, scoop up one of the kids (others had extracurricular obligations) and drive two hours to patch up some emotions. The drive is nearly two hours each way. So on a worknight where she has voluntarily done this, while still sick, she tells me she didn't get around to writing a blog. The guys were well-fed and their relationship is healed. Jo is on the road to recovery and has undoubtedly stored some treasures in heaven for her incessant selflessness. I'll encourage her to write some of the kid story highlights. Stay tuned for naked at Bob Evans, "that's not my hat," and the 7-year-old Bad Teacher.