If the HAT Fits...

 

While I am 98% sure this is not the type of "hat" Cari doth speak of in her link up, the pictures of his hand me down stocking cap have mysteriously disappeared, leaving me grasping at straw hats instead. Also missing, is  the handy dandy memory card the adorable hand me down hat pictures  were stored on. And since I am struggling to not break down in tears over "what might have been" also stored on that tiny, square extension of my heart, I am submitting these little gems from our local Old Settler's celebration a couple falls ago. 

This little guy will be 5 tomorrow. F~I~V~E!!!! How did the time pass so quickly? I look at these and my heart cracks a bit. You see, these overalls were purchased by Papa Dave for a "work day" at his house. They were a size 4 because the store didn't have a 3 so we had to roll them up. The green froggie boots were also a little big then. This cowboy hat was a permanent fixture in those days. He didn't care if his jeans were skinny or his shoes were a certain style. He was just a little boy having a great day with the animals. This was before he couldn't stand for his hands to be sticky. And before every little smell was offensive. Now the overalls have been outgrown and hang discarded at the back of the closet. They need a new home but I don't have the heart to tell them goodbye. The green frog boots are too tight and little boyish. They wait for Alayna's little feet to grow big enough to give them a second life of puddle splashing carefree exhilaration. 

Ethan has changed and grown up so much in the last year and a half. He is so concerned with silly things that don't matter. I miss this sweet little carefree boy but I love my crazy, clothing obsessed, clean hand freak just as much. Even when I am struggling to hold on the last shreds of my temper and sanity while attempting to find one shirt in a closet full of them that he will not dismiss as too tight, too big, too long, too short, or too ugly. And I know (because I have lived it before with Levi and Kinsey) that in a few years I will wish I had these days and these problems back because the big, bad world holds many more that are bigger and badder and scarier.  So, I celebrate my little straw hat boy and his froggie boots. I celebrate my skinny jeans wearing, high top shoe toting, anti-sticky hands big boy and I celebrate the boy he will be in the future and eventually the man. I celebrate him today, tomorrow and every day to come because God felt he should be mine and he continues to bless me daily, with funny stories, songs, and hugs from arms that are becoming skinnier and longer, and stronger. God is good. Life is good. Ethan is good. And link ups are good. Thanks for hosting this one, Cari! 

Now, Go check out all the not sappy pictures that actually include the types of hats and scarves intended!