The sweet and interesting moments

On the difference between boys and girls

2012-01-25T15:13:00.003-05:00

Ryan has started his new school this week, and it's fantastic! Truly, an answer to prayer. He loves it, has a new little buddy and asks to take off his jammies and put on clothes (not normal for him, which means he is raring to go!). In fact, on Tuesday I told him to hurry and get dressed so he would have a few minutes to play with Jack before we left. He said, "I don't think I want to play with Jack this morning. I just want to go to my new school and play with Graham."

Anyway, on Monday when Anna-Kate came home from school she came in and immediately asked Ryan how his first day of school was.

Ryan: "good"
AK: "Oh, I'm so glad! Did you get to play outside? What did you have for snack? Did you make any friends? Here, I'll just sit down here on the couch with you and you can tell me about your whole day from the beginning and then I'll tell you about mine!"
Ryan: "Umm, no thanks. It was good, that's all."

Clearly, that is a nature, not nurture issue for boys. At least it isn't just me he doesn't spout out the info for. This is going to be a hard shift for me as I'm accustomed to getting a minute by minute play by play of the day (who wore what, who said what, who got in trouble, what everyone ate, and her thoughts on all of the above.). Sigh.

I guess I didn't realize I was spoiled. Silly boys. :)

Talking

2012-01-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

So Jack is finally talking. How 'bout that? I mean, I'm not kidding myself, it's not where his little girlfriends are but for him, it's fantastic! ;)

"poo it ouwn"-- put it on
"yee haw!"--horse (or anything he makes ride on someone's back, a la bulls eye in toy story)
"woo-hoo!"--spiderman (it's one of the things our spiderman says when you push his button)
"was zis?"--what's this?

Answered prayer

2012-01-17T12:58:00.003-05:00

I believe in the power of prayer.

I also believe in gravity, but I see that happen pretty frequently (my kids, their eating utensils and toys would be exhibit A, B, and C, respectively). I don't often "see" highly unlikely situations perfectly worked out in response to prayer. But on the occasions that I do, it is a humbling and beautiful thing.

We have had a rough preschool year here thus far. There were a few problems we saw in Anna-Kate's transition (based on her preparedness that she learned, or didn't, in preschool) that were troubling and then a few problems in Ryan's class this year. We began by just thinking we'd move him to another Pre-K4 next year, then it turned to "I wonder if we'll last the full year", then "we'll put him out in between semesters" to finally, "we are pulling him out today...two weeks before Christmas."

To say that it's been emotional and hard would be a huge understatement. I wish I could say that Ryan has come out unscathed, but that would not be accurate either.

For perspective, in our town, preschools (well, schools in general) are extremely competitive. Registration happens in early February and if you aren't in a school already (by having a sibling there, or church affiliation) you are extremely lucky to get in at that point. Most often, you go on a waiting list (which can help you get in the following year). Anyway. As the situation deteriorated at Ryan's school I began looking around at our options. The various schools I called either put me on the list (we were number 17) or refused to put me on a list because it was too long that I wouldn't get in. Or, it was in town (far away) and really expensive (which would lead me to put Jack somewhere else, resulting in me driving to three schools next fall, with an infant, which is just not a sustainable/healthy family decision for us). I was extremely worried and stressed out, but, was confident that we were following the Lord and doing the best thing for Ryan.

So, last week I called a school I had not particularly heard of before, on a complete (desperate) whim. I spoke to her for close to an hour and had every question perfectly answered (no TV! No child ever alone! Two teachers in each room! The same writing curriculum that Anna-Kate's school uses! Zero tolerance for physical behavior from children! Fantastic playground! They stay until 1!). I could keep going, but those are a couple of high points. :) She said she'd had a couple of families move over Christmas and had space, but needed to call through her waiting list. So we waited, for a week.

She called yesterday and told us that not only had Ryan been accepted, but that his best buddy, Lydia, would be accepted and they would be in the same class together! I was overwhelmed at the goodness of God. What has been months of worry and heartache has been perfectly fixed. Had I called a month ago, she would have turned me away as she didn't know of anyone leaving and her wait list was long. The Lord gave me that school name at the perfect time. And He provided Ryan's little friend, Lyd to go with him.

We visited today to meet his teachers and see his new friends. We hadn't been in the classroom 2 minutes when a little boy walked up to Ryan, introduced himself, held Ryan's hand and asked him to come play with him. The boys played trucks, computer and I heard them talking about their love of soccer and hatred of shots--all in the span of 15 minutes. Ryan went from terrified of a new school this morning (which, I honestly can't blame him) to excited to start his new school and play with his new friends next Monday. My heart is overflowing with joy and with thankfulness for the provision from the Lord...for answering the deep desire and prayer of my heart.

Muffins with Moms

2012-01-11T16:18:00.003-05:00

This morning was Anna-Kate's schools' first "muffins with moms". Chris agreed to go in to work a little late and watch the boys so she and I could have special time. I told her she could sit anywhere she wanted and I would follow her with our breakfast. I was surprised that she chose the furthest away table with no one at it. She said she didn't want to sit with her friends, she just wanted it to be us {Precious. And, I clearly need to be more mindful about one on one time!}. We had a lovely little date and then I got to walk her to her classroom and peek in for a bit (generally frowned upon, so a special treat for me!).

Then began the mad dash back home to get the boys and rush to church for Bible study. I pulled in, with a moment to spare even (!!) and a precious friends' mom came to my car and asked how she could help me get inside and how she could help. I'm tucking this in my mental "please remember this when I'm out of this season" file. It took her 5 seconds. I actually had it together, but the gesture meant so much to this tired Mama!

Starting over in the new year

2012-01-10T15:35:00.002-05:00

Well now. Happy 2012. :)

I don't do resolutions, so starting over for us is more in regards to school. I've been very worried and stressed about a preschool for Ryan for next year. It's just so competitive and/or expensive, yet necessary to be accepted to kindergarten! Ryan is determined to read--begs to learn and has even cried in frustration as he doesn't know how yet. We are working on it. :) I am not particularly worried about that aspect of his education. He does, however, have zero interest in handwriting, or even holding a pencil.

Anyway, in an extremely random conversation I heard the name of a school I hadn't yet considered (or frankly, heard much of). Turns out, they do the same writing curriculum as Anna-Kate's school. (perfect!). Every one of my concerns were addressed and answered as if I had been giving the answer. Bonus, it is ballpark the same price we were paying--so not a complete hit to the budget, were he to get in. And that is the big question.

Per usual, in our area, there is a huge wait list. Thankfully, 3 kids moved at Christmas, so she is calling through her wait list and will get back to me. We are definitely praying towards this being the answer for the boys and hopeful that this is the Lord's provision for us. Either way, it's been an encouraging day for me to feel peace about the situation and to wait. I know He will provide!

December...it came, and almost went...

2011-12-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Oh December, what a busy month you are! Quick recap of the days leading up to Christmas:

The first weekend we visited my parents for a quick day trip to see Disney on Ice. I had wanted to take the kids here, but prices were too high. My parents' town had far more inexpensive prices and my mom was able to get a deal on top of that. Sign us up! My kids sat completely still for 2 hours, glued to the ice. It was wonderful! Anna-Kate and I went a couple of years ago to one of the princess shows. Thankfully, this one was perfect with attention shown to princesses, Toy Story, Nemo, the fight scene in Mulan, "Pokie-nokie", (Pinocchio) and my favorite, a tribute to "It's a Small World". A little something for everyone. Disney does nothing but cater to all audiences, and yet again, exceeded expectations.

Buzz and Woody! (or, to Jack, "BUZZ BUZZ!!")

Pocahontas and John

Belle and the Beast

The boys were wide-eyed!

All of the princesses with their princes.

Group shot--pretty good seats!

It's a Small World.

The following Friday was Anna-Kates schools' annual toy parade (each kid brings in a toy to donate to kids who don't have toys. They parade them through campus and the older students take them downtown and distribute them while the little kids have cookies and hot chocolate!). She was very excited to get to wear Christmas clothes to school and we bought fun reindeer ears for the occasion.

That night we spent back at Anna-Kate's school for their wonderful Christmas program. I was moved to tears to watch the kindergarten class recite Luke 2-complete with hand motions and "dramatic" voice intonations. It was fantastic. They sang some carols and we were able to get a picture with her teacher. A fantastic night!

Anna-Kate, with her sweet teacher.

The following weekend was BUSY, but so very fun! Friday was Anna-Kate's last day of school. The boys and I picked her up and headed down for our traditional ride on the Pink Pig and to visit Santa with friends. The lines were GLORIOUSLY short {remember last year? I almost swore it off!} Anyway, it was a wonderful experience this time. I feel a little bad that the Santa pictures make me laugh. A part of me will be sad when all four kids actually start smiling in the Santa pictures. :)

The big kids--Henry and Ryan, and Luke and Anna-Kate

Little Jack loved it!

The whole group of kids! (yes, we travel large!)

She asked for a light up hula hoop.

He asked for Captain America.

Santa did not get any Jack-love!

Finally, smiles and hugs {clearly, sans Jack, lol}

The most stressful part of the day was waiting in line in the food court for Chick-fil-a and then finding a table that would fit us all. We made it (barely) and the kids loved it! Afterwards, we went back to Megan's house for little kid naps while the mommies enjoyed salted caramel cupcakes purchased from the food court while the big kids watched a movie. Splendid afternoon!

That night we figured we'd throw a bit more activity in and went to church for a "young family Christmas party". We had pizza and goodies, Christmas movies (during which the mommies sat in a different room and chatted--super!) and some parent games. I won the mom game (blowing up a balloon and blowing it across the room first) and won the new Christmas Veggie Tales movie. I had some proud and happy kids!

Saturday the 17th was no slower...that morning was the ultrasound, followed by a graduation for a friends' husband. That evening was the kindergarten Christmas party. We had such a great time! Santa made an appearance and brought each child a gift (I felt so sneaky...not only did I get out my secret stash of Santa-only paper, but I successfully got the gifts inside, undetected!). Anna-Kate was thrilled with her new Barbie, Ryan loved his new dinosaur train car and dino and Jack was happy as pie with a new train. Fun night.

Sunday the children led worship at church, followed that evening by the adult choir presentation. I was exhausted, to say the least, by the time my head hit the pillow Sunday evening.

That week was spent in our pj's. We watched Christmas movies, had dance parties, made Christmas goodies to share with neighbors, played dress up, trains and doll house, and just enjoyed not having a schedule. It was a wonderful week!

Since I've been such a slacker, I'm post-dating this so I can fit Christmas in, in 2011. I'll just go on and pat myself on the back now.

For the sake of documentation

2011-12-29T13:34:00.000-05:00

As this blog is ultimately a journal for me to be able to look back on life, I feel I must make short mention of the following...

We have withdrawn Ryan from his school. The situation has consumed a good bit of my time and thought life this semester, culminating in an emotional climax mid-December. Chris and I are both extremely comfortable with the decision and believe it to be in the best interest of Ryan and our family. This is definitely us trusting the Lord and stepping out in faith that He will provide.

And the caboose is.....

2011-12-22T14:48:00.003-05:00

So I guess I left all seven of you hanging the other day...the conclusion to our ultrasound is that our caboose shall be blue! Yep, another boy for our family {much to the chagrin of Anna-Kate}.

They took us back to a room and the kids all sat in their chairs and looked at the wall where the image was projected, full of anticipation. The ultrasound tech asked her if she wanted a brother or sister and she immediately answered "Sister!" to which the tech said, "are you sure?" {sidenote, seriously? She has two brothers. Must you really follow that questions up?} she said, "uh, yes.". Her then smiling face went blank as she heard the words, "well, it's a brother!". She didn't cry, but she just looked sad. I took her to the bathroom afterwards and I asked if she was OK. She said she was just sad, then teared up a bit. Being the planner that I am {and remembering when I solved her sadness problem after telling her Jack was a boy--remember THIS?} I took along a present for being our only princess. A necklace with an oval pendant with a cross in the center. Clearly, it worked.

She hasn't said alot about it since, but is coming around I think. She said, (quite dramatically, a la Eeyore...) "well I guess I just get to do lots of things with you."

I can't say I was shocked. I didn't have a strong "knowing" feeling, but I figured it was a boy. In lots of ways this will be easier. We are thrilled to know and begin picturing our complete family...he will be just perfect. :) Per usual, we are struggling with names. We'll see how all that turns out! :)

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T22:11:00.003-05:00

From my family to yours!

{and yes, this is a picture of a picture. I'm amazing like that.}

The letter:

Merry Christmas! I cannot believe another year has flown by!

We have had a busy year with lots of traveling to see family. We were fortunate to be able to continue our annual Disney tradition with my parents this year and spent a wonderful week at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was an amazing trip as we were able to wake up to giraffes and zebras outside our window and a great little water park a short walk away at our resort! We also enjoyed being able to travel to St. Louis twice to see Chris’ parents. As Anna-Kate told a friend, “St. Louis is awesome. Their zoo has hippos and butterflies!” We are blessed.

Our big news is that we are happily anticipating the birth of our fourth child in late May or early June! The kids are very excited to find out in a few weeks if it’s a baby brother or baby sister coming. We suspect this to be our last child, so I am savoring every moment and flutter.

Jack, almost 21 months, is still sweet and easygoing, always happy to tag along as I run errands and as we drive carpool. He also holds the distinction as being our tall child with his height almost to the 25th percentile! The other big news in Jack’s life is his severe allergy to penicillin and his (actually diagnosed) extreme motion sickness. Lovely. Jack is happiest when playing trains with his siblings and is constantly asking where “Toss” (Thomas), “Icky” (Mickey) and “Buzz Buzz” (any Toy Story character) are to play with.

Ryan, 3 ½, is our independent child, yet the kid who still will snuggle with me (Oh, how I love that!). He can entertain himself for hours with his Tag books, trains, Legos or dressing up as super heros (Spiderman being his current favorite). Ryan has an amazing imagination! He loves learning and will tell you he is so sad that he hasn’t yet learned to read. One of his favorite things is having his sister read to him and then trying to figure out the words before she does.

Anna-Kate, 5 ½, is our big kindergartener! She is doing a fantastic job learning to read and we have loved watching her personality develop as she’s made new friends and learned to raise her hand and participate in class. We are beyond thrilled with the school that she is at and are thankful for teachers who come along side us as we parent. Her teacher called to tell us that Anna-Kate “has excellent hand writing and is always careful to take her time and to always do her best work”. We are so proud of her! Her favorite things are cheering at football games, playing dress up and using her vivid imagination, playing with her princess dolls and American girl doll, Lizzie. Anna-Kate is anxiously waiting to begin ballet next semester! She also enjoys reading to her brothers and will, on occasion, read our family devotion at night. So special!

I am well and enjoying the pregnancy, my (sometimes too busy) sewing business, and my ever expanding role of stay-at-home-mom. As I watch my children grow before my eyes I am finding it easier and easier to let a few things wait a bit around the house in favor of quality time spent with them. I realize that Anna-Kate won’t always want to tell me every detail of her day, or that Ryan won’t always need me to snuggle and comfort disappointments. I know Jack won’t always delight in simply holding my hand and having all of my attention. These simple treats are my blessing for this season of life, and I am doing my best to remember to “treasure today, for tomorrow, it will be memories.”

Chris is amazing. He loves his job, a true blessing, and has proven himself an integral member of his team. He works long hours but always manages to come home full of energy and with lots of love to devote to me and the kids. His favorite part of the day is coming home and opening the door to three children yelling “SURPRISE!” and tackling him at the door.

Blessings to you and yours this Christmas season. May the Lord bless you through 2012.

With love,
Chris, Janelle, Anna-Kate, Ryan, Jack and baby #4.

Further thoughts on the caboose

2011-12-17T09:50:00.004-05:00

So, today is my ultrasound. I've woken with the ever-so-lovely pregnancy insomnia around 5 every morning this week. Basically, I've had lots of uninterrupted time to think about the baby. :) As we are in the Christmas season and I've heard it read often, I've really been struck yet again by the sentence, "Mary took all of these things and pondered them in her heart." Not that I am comparing myself to Mary, but I doubt a woman in history has not felt more closely aligned to her than while pregnant during Christmas. I have been very introspective as I think about this coming baby. All of my life my desire was to marry, have babies and be a mommy. That's it...never wanted to be president or a doctor. Just a mom. And while I know that the job will never end, I am seeing the day fast approaching that my role will shift from supreme comforter...Mommy...to Mom. I think I'm a little fearful of the change.

Chris thinks it's a boy. Anna-Kate thinks it's a boy but is still hoping for a girl. Ryan thinks it's a boy. Jack still can't talk. And me? I just don't have a strong feeling. There are certain things that make me think it's a girl...dreams, cravings I've had. Then the realist in me says it's a boy...I look like I did when carrying the boys and I've had 2 boys since my girl. Statistically speaking, it's a boy. So, today will be a surprise for me because with all of the other three I had zero doubts in my mind what it was. When polling friends, I get more guesses of girl. Made me wonder if I'm starting to explode all over, until my friend Emily told me that she forgot I was pregnant until she was sitting next to me and noticed my belly. God bless her! Ha. :)

As you probably know, we would love to have a girl. I've always said I wanted two boys and two girls (though, to be fair, my plan was to have boy, girl, girl, boy...so clearly, my planning didn't align too closely to the Lords' plan!). And then there is my sweet Anna-Kate and her desperate desire for a sister. To be honest though, before there ever was a number four we began praying for the Lord to prepare us for a fourth child...not another girl. This baby is loved, prayed for, wanted and will be the perfect book end to our family. :) So, all that to say, we would also love to have another little boy.

I'm feeling all melodramatic at the moment. I think a little part of me will be sad no matter what the sonographer tells us. Whatever gender the Lord has blessed us with, I will never again have the other. A whole genders worth of baby things will be sold or given away, never to be used and loved by me or my family. I am so one that deeply connects music, smells, visuals (ie, clothes) with memories. It's like the end of an era, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't saddened by the thought. Soon we will know our family. The full picture of God's plan for the people in it.

I guess I can then spend even more time praying for my future kids-in-law.

So, we're off.

The tradition continues

2011-12-09T08:08:00.005-05:00

Ahhh. I love the Christmas season. I generally even rally and blog every day in December (clearly, not the case this year...). I love the decorations and freshening up of spaces that stay the same all year. I love the wonder and excitement in my childrens' eyes as we put up our tree and they see their ornaments from years past and gleefully see lights around the neighborhood (we have awesome neighbor's who go crazy all out with lights...like a whole cul-de-sac of Griswolds!). I love the parties, decorating gingerbread houses, as much as it beyond stresses me out, buying and wrapping presents and sitting at home on the couch with Chris after the kids are in bed quietly enjoying the lights and the tree. In short, December is a month of very special memories and traditions, and I am just the kind of sap that lives for that! :) I love the teachable moments of things eternal that the constant talk of giving, sharing, and Jesus coming to earth afford me.

So, last night we continued our tradition of attending the Nutcracker. We were blessed by a friend who had access to some free tickets (yes, free!) and shared some with us. It's a pricey tradition I've started, so I was very thankful. Leigh-Ann and Lydia drove with us and my mom and Aunt Julia drove up to meet us for our traditional dinner pre-show. Side note, I kicked myself all night for getting something new and not my absolute favorite, the shrimp and grits. O well, I have the recipe from the restaurant that is part of our Christmas morning breakfast line up (yes, another tradition!)! :) Anyway. The show was beautiful, as always, but even more special this year as Anna-Kate was able to read (and was so proud of herself) the signage, as well as knowing the story so well that we whispered what was coming next and talked about how it was different from last year. I swear, I am watching that girl grow up before my eyes...and it ain't watching grass grow, it's happening fast!

Ladies Night Out! (which the girls told a couple of older gentlemen at the restaurant-ha!)

{And yes, I'm in that horribly awkward, "absolutely nothing fits me so I try and not look indecent as I wait for maternity clothes to fit" stage. Lovely.}

An educated guess

2011-12-06T15:05:00.004-05:00

Well, I have my ultrasound scheduled (an early sneak peak only purpose it serves is to determine the gender) for December 17th! Very exciting! So, for some fun, thought I'd compare pregnancies and we can all have an educated guess as to what this little cabooses gender is. :)

First off, here is a picture of me from today. I am almost 15 weeks. To be clear, this picture was taken vertically and when I rotated it I got wider. My cheeks haven't actually got fatter (yet) and tummy isn't quite this big (yet). I would call this carrying "high", if you want my opinion. All of mine have been higher though.

OK, I'm craving salt. Gracious, I swear I could eat it by the spoonful. I love basic salty lays potato chips (which I usually could take or leave). I love french fries, assuming I've dumped salt on them. I'm craving grapefruit and berries. And blueberry bagels with butter. I always like these, but I LOVE them right now...like think about toasting one every time I walk into the kitchen. These are all similar food loves I had when I was pregnant with Anna-Kate.

I don't have any huge aversions, except purple onion (or any, raw) and sloppy joes, which I don't love in the first place, but I could shiver at the name now. There is not a good comparison to this. When pregnant with Anna-Kate I had a major aversion to lunch meat turkey, purple onion and anything sweet (for the first trimester). None with either of the boys. I generally love a bowl of icecream most nights, but I'm finding I can take or leave dessert--mostly leave.

I was the sickest with Anna-Kate (13 weeks) and Jack (16 weeks)--lost weight, had to do the whole eat saltines before moving thing, lots of ginger-ale. With Ryan, my nausea lasted a long time (18 weeks) but it wasn't debilitating. It seems I'm on a similar path this time. Currently feel horrible.

My skin is pretty clear, similar to Ryan--very different from Anna-Kate and Jack.

{Side note: now does everyone see why I thought Jack was going to be a girl???}

I'm wondering if since Anna-Kate and Jack seem to take more genes from my side of the family that I "reacted" stronger to them? So, since Ryan looks more like Chris the pregnancy didn't affect me as much (so would assume this baby will look more like Chris and Ryan?). Is this a plausible hypothesis?

Caboose

2011-11-29T16:39:00.002-05:00

I thought this post deserved to be alone. :)

The biggest reason of all for not blogging much lately?

This little blessing...baby number four, and {we think, at least} our caboose.

I'm in my second trimester, due sometime late May or early June (June 1 c-section if I can maneuver it!). Thoughts on this pregnancy...I haven't felt amazing, but I've felt worse. I still think of my pregnancy with Anna-Kate as being my sickest, but I also wonder if, when pregnant with your first, I had nothing better to think about than how not normal and icky I felt? Who knows.

It was so fun when we told the kids! They are all very excited, well, Jack was excited that he got to open a present (a big brother shirt) and that the kids were happy). Anna-Kate was jumping up and down with {happy} tears in her eyes and said, "is this my sister or is it another boy in there, because we don't need any more boys in this family!" {on that note, we are praying for a sister, or for peace in our girls' heart with another brother. As she has been praying very regularly over the last 3 years for a sister, we certainly don't want her to experience doubts on the power of prayer!}

We have zero consensus on names...figure we'll cross that bridge in a few weeks when we can cross off a whole gender's worth of names.

As this will be my fourth c-section, we plan on this being our last...if for no other reason than than strong medical recommendation. I've found myself savoring each thing, even morning sickness, and as I pass each milestone lamenting and seeking closure as I will never do X again (ie, take a pregnancy test, hear a heartbeat for the first time, see that little peanut ultrasound...etc). I'm such a sappy mess!

I've really struggled with excitement. Not my own, but others. We are thrilled and have prayed for this baby since before its conception, but in a world of two, maybe three, kid families, it seems that many consider this pregnancy (and frankly, Jack, as I already had one of each) to be overkill.

Regardless, we are thrilled to be expecting and are praying for this sweet little one to grow healthy and strong and for the Lord to prepare us to parent it, along with our others. We feel so blessed!

Catch up...big time

2011-11-28T21:27:00.015-05:00

So, in case you are a casual observer, I've been pretty MIA since, oh, October. We've been busy...(I know, I'm ashamed it's this late). So, without further ado, I present, the month of October.

We went to the state fair...we may or may not have gone early in the morning to get in free and partake in free rides for an hour and then left.

Love the overpowering joy on their faces!

Anna-Kate and Adam

I love how I told Ryan to hold on to Jack...and he sure did!

All of the kids

Jack on the {knock-off} "Nemo" ride. All of my kids have loved this ride!

Jack and Sadie. They are so sweet. :)

The next weekend, we made our annual trek with our {same!} friends to the pumpkin patch. Sweet memories! Unfortunately, per usual, it was hot, so took a bit from the festivities of hunting for a pumpkin, but the kids got into it--especially the hay ride and picking their own little pumpkins and gourds for the cornucopia.

In front of the petting zoo

Waiting to board the hay ride!

Always ready to pose for a picture.

My strong boy!

Jack wasn't particularly interested in picking up a pumpkin until highly encouraged to do so. {sharply contrasted by Ryan...can you see him in the top left of this picture?)

Smiling Jack

Best of about 25 pictures. :)

Rare smile on demand from Ryan.

We thought it would be fun to add a bit more to the weekend so went to my parents' for a long weekend and to visit the state fair near them. The kids LOVED it, and Jack was a complete trooper! He napped in the car, we drove down there and didn't come home until after bed time (in the rain!). We enjoyed seeing the animals, {such city folks we are...} riding horses, playing on tractors and playing on the playground as Nana and Poppy bed shopped. :) Highlight for everyone was the {free} circus we went to.

Riding the horse...she loves it.

He LOVED his first horse ride!

His first lollipop, on a tractor. Good life for a little boy. :)

Watching the horse show.

Love this picture of my happy boys. :)

The Grands and their grandbabies

On the tractor

Catching a lift.

"JACK LOOK AT THE CAMERA!"

The (big) kids each got to pick one ride (since they rode a lot the weekend before...at the other fair. Ha!). Ryan chose the bee.

I was SO proud of Anna-Kate for choosing the {mini} scrambler. One of my all-time favorites! She'll do spins but not roller coasters, for now. :)

We found out Jack is allergic to penicilin {I'll spare you the photos of that. You're welcome.}

I spent a good part of the month (well, August, September, AND October) going 3 times a week to the chiropractor. I feel a lot better (and am still going once a week). My faithful little helper. :)

So between going out of town/general fall busyness I found myself in charge of the cupcake reception (and decoration for) a huge musical our church put on. Anna-Kate was old enough to participate and she loved it (we are still listening to the music...I may or may not be ready to take a break from Creation songs...). The show was fabulous, and I was very happy with how my vision for the reception came to fruition.

(urg, can't get this to turn...)Anna-Kate's painting. They used the children's art for part of the set decoration.

The reception {post decoration and icing of 625 cupcakes. Had AMAZING help from Megan, Leigh-Ann and Christy!! Leigh-Ann and I spent hours making those hanging "puffs" and topiaries. My vision has no distinction for time required, evidently.)

Creation: A Big God Celebration! It was a highly interactive show for the kids viewing from the "green and grassy garden" on the front row. We had over 550 people in attendance that one show.

Nana and Poppy came up for the show. It was a special surprise for Anna-Kate, and I was so glad for them to see the show and all of my work!

Anna-Kate and Adam with their kindergarten teacher, Ms. Miller. They were so surprised and happy to see her come!

Singing!

Retreating

2011-11-08T23:06:00.005-05:00

Last weekend my mom came up to help me and keep the kids until Chris could get home from work Friday so that I could get away for our church womens retreat. We do it every other year and it is always a fun trip of fellowship, food, and spiritual "filling up". This weekend did not disappoint. The theme was walking with the Lord one day at a time. Completely applicable to me...and I would venture for most multitasking superwomen out there.

We had a fun room, though my friend Katie may have grown a little weary of giggles and whispers that first night. Megan, Leigh-Ann and I were so excited about a slumber party we just couldn't sleep. :) We also each brought tons of yummy snacks, and well, we all know that food is one of my love languages, so I was set. :)

My iphone failed me. It didn't come near capturing the beauty of our surroundings.

Katie, me, Leigh-Ann and Megan

I returned to a husband who had delighted in his children this weekend. He took them to a birthday party, out to dinner and to the Disney store to play. They weren't dressed as I would have dressed them, nor was their hair brushed, but they were well loved and had an awesome weekend with their amazing dad. I bragged on facebook that I also came home to mopped floors. He mopped! I didn't even ask! What a man!

It's November

2011-11-03T07:47:00.006-04:00

So, let's just forget about that whole not-blogging-the-month-of-October thing, ok? Great. So, moving on.

Catch up time. I think I'll start current and work back through our busy month. So, Happy Halloween!

We've been planning a Toy Story theme all year. Thankfully, I was able to talk Anna-Kate into being Jessie instead of Bo Peep, her original choice {the only costume I could find was on etsy and was selling for...wait for it...$500. Yep, not a typo. Since I didn't want to embark on long petticoats and boning, we went for Jessie.}. Her one condition on being Jessie was that it not be pants. I thought I'd do a jean skirt and call it good. Nope, further stipulations stated dress. So, I began searching, and came up with, nada. Another etsy find, $65. Clearly, I'm too cheap for all that, so I copied the etsy one I found, with a little help from pinterest thrown in for good measure. So, despite this month being absolutely

c-a-r-azy, I eeked it out Saturday night before Halloween. She was very excited about it, which ultimately, made it all worth while. I found her boots at Gymboree on sale from last winter, with a coupon for $8 to complete the look! The boys' costumes I totally lucked in to! We had some money left on our Disney points card from our trip last year (a miracle in itself). When I got to the Disney store I found the pj's to be exact replicas of the costumes, for 1/4 the price! So, I got the boys jammies for $26 for both and they have been happily sleeping in them since. Ha! I found Jack's Woody boots at consignment for $3, borrowed his hat and Ryan's wings and noise thing were borrowed as well.

This picture makes me laugh. He didn't want his picture taken. He didn't want to be taken out of the wagon. He didn't want his hat on. But, the show must go on. So Daddy improvised...and handed him a lollipop.

My sweet littles. {post lollipop bribe}

Sadly, the best family picture we got. Amazingly hard to get 3 kids looking at the same place, at the same time, and smiling. Requires a perfect storm that did not happen that night. {Side note, I want credit for being guilted into, err, being a fun mom and dressing up. Well, I put cat ears on. ha!}

Our neighbors have an annual potluck, bounce house, pre trick-or-treating thing each year. It's grown. Ha! This is most of the kids preasent.

Anna-Kate with her sweet friend, Campbell, aka, the Statue of Liberty. Her brother was a "big apple". Brilliant.

"I got more candy!!!!"

Loading up on the loot...

Trick-or-treating. Jack really got in to it! He was so fun to watch, and the big kids, of course, knew what they were doing. Jack kept up right with them and when we got to houses that had a bowl of candy out front he walked right up and started loading up his basket. Lol. He carried it the whole time too, never tried to hand it off. I love this skill of my third child!

Buzz Lightyear. He was on cloud nine to be able to borrow wings and an arm band noisemaker thing. I'm not gonna lie, I'm not sad about giving that guy back to its owner. :)

After trick-or-treating, we let the kids help pass out candy. Ryan loved it, Jack just tried to put it in his own basket.

The girls

Jack eating his third (3rd!!! Shame on me!) lollipop of the night. Ryan was crying to go to bed. Haha.

Birthday {x 2}

2011-10-21T13:13:00.003-04:00

Ryan's birthday is in February. Ok, now that we have that clear...

I picked up Ryan from carpool today and as he climbed in he said, "MOM it's my birthday today!" His teacher had a big grin and was nodding and wishing him a happy birthday weekend. I was a bit perplexed and informed her of his actual birthday, in February {wondering what horrible things she had thought of me for not sending cupcakes in on my childs' birthday!}. She said, "Oh, well that's what I had on my schedule from the office. We made him a card in class, pulled him up on stage during chapel to sing to him and everything." {Ryan is nodding gleefully as she is saying all of this.} I said, "well, lucky Ryan, I guess he will get to be celebrated twice this year." Ryan jumps up and says, "YES! I love having two birthdays!"

Crazy kid.

So, per usual, I asked him the best part and worst part of his day. The best was going on stage, (so my "performer" non-shy kid) then he started fake crying/whining and said, "but the sad part was when ____ {boy who is always naughty/mean in his class} wouldn't even sing happy birthday to me with everyone. It was the birthday song and he wouldn't sing!" I said, "Ryan, it really isn't your birthday today." Quite displeased with the outcome of his day he said he just wished today was February. I told him he would miss Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas if that was the case. He said, "well, I wish it was all of those days today."

He's a dreamer. :)

He's not a baby anymore.

2011-10-16T16:06:00.003-04:00

Sniff, sniff.

I took Jack to his 18 month old well baby {ya, ya, poor 3rd kid, it only took me a few weeks to post it...}. OK, he is 23.15 lbs (22%) and 31 inches (13%). His head is 48.5 (69%--lol, that's all of my kids' highest percentage, but he has the smallest head of all....Anna-Kate is in the 80's and Ryan is near chart topping around 97% ha!). She was completely happy with all of his milestones, (speech included, praise the Lord!) gave him his last round of shots until age four and sent us merrily on our way.

My sweet "baby" who goes with me to the chiropractor 3 x's a week. While I lie on the adjustment table he always lies down next to me on the pregnancy adjustment thing. Hilarious.

I hesitate to share these, terrified to jinx it, but I will continue. We took Jacks paci away on Friday night. If you need a refresher on how it went for Anna-Kate, check HERE, and Ryan, check HERE.

Clearly, I was anticipating the worst. It took me a while to get him to throw them away (he sucked on one for about 5 minutes, spit it in the trash can, then moved to the next and next. Funny. I finally took the last from his mouth and threw it away. No tears, but his lower lip came out and began quivering. I had tears in my eyes. When I put him in the bed he continued with the quivering lip, but snuggled up with his bunny, he cried (not hysterical at all, just fussy) for about 15-20 minutes, then went to sleep. He woke once with a dirty diaper, but otherwise, slept through until morning. I was on cloud none, but holding my breath for naptime (typically the worst part for us). He went down fine and work up at 4. Last night, no tears, it just took him about 20 minutes to fall asleep. Still napping now. He is truly awesome! :) Love this boy and so proud of him!

The moment I stopped breathing

2011-10-15T21:07:00.004-04:00

Today we went to Target after Ryans' soccer game. He was sitting under the buggy as we went out to the car. I had just stopped pushing and was reaching to open the trunk when I happened to see Ryan hop out just as the car next to us was backing up. I screamed "STOP!". Ryan instantly froze. The woman slammed on her brakes, missing him by maybe two inches. I was absolutely shaking. She leaned out of her window, almost in hysterics herself, and just kept saying, "I'm so sorry, I have children, I'm so sorry.". I was holding both big kids' hands and motioned her to back up. She said she would wait that she would feel more comfortable knowing they were in the car. She waited for 5 minutes as I buckled everyone. She then apologized again. Of course I wasn't angry with her, but I really couldn't speak I was so shaken.

Chris had been on the other side of the car and had missed it, except for my scream. As I explained the situation to him I was overcome by how truly blessed and protected we were today. I nightly pray over my children that the Lord would preserve them for His glory and put his angels to surround them. Today, I witnessed the protection of my son, and truly, an answer to my many prayers.

If I had turned my head one second earlier...if Ryan had not instantly obeyed me and frozen...if that woman's window hadn't been rolled down for her to hear me...my day, my life could look very different.

Tonight, I hugged my kids a bit tighter, will echo my prayer of many nights before, and will praise the Lord for his protection and faithfulness.

Boy talk

2011-10-12T22:42:00.005-04:00

Every morning as we pull into preschool I turn to unbuckle Ryan, and as he stands up he asks me to "blow down the window please Mommy?". {he loves to stick his head out the window and wave at his friends as we get close to the drop off area. Social butterfly, that one is.} I can hardly stand to correct him.

At the dinner table tonight Ryan looked at Chris and said, "Daddy, I've changed my name. I am now Captain America."

Ryan came in my room early this morning and said, (in that loud whisper that could wake the dead) "Mommy, I have bad news. I'm awake!" {why yes, that is bad news...}

He is into the bad news thing. At lunch with friends today he came up to the table of Mamas and said, "Mama, I have bad news." I asked what was wrong. He pointed to a little girl and said, "I don't remember her name." Ha.

***

So, Jack is finally "talking". :) I am choosing to forget the fact that a mommy friend just told me her daughter, who is 1.5 months older than Jack is speaking in sentences...I know he has more than this, but this is all that is coming to mind at the moment.

He still signs more, please {"peez"}, milk, all done, up and thank you {"ank ew"} and he has finally learned to differentiate between yes and no. For example, a month ago, if I asked him if he wanted a cookie, he would emphatically shake his head no, then run to the pantry. Now, he puts his hand on the nearest chair for support and, bending at the waist, with a straight neck, rocks his whole body back and forth to "nod" yes. Hilarious.

"OW-KE-SIGH!!!" {with banging on window/door} That's Jack for "Mommy dearest, I would love it if you would please take me outside."

"Bzz-Bzz" {Buzz Lightyear}

"uhsairs/ouwsairs" {upstairs/downstairs}

"chuzzz" {cheese. aka, the thing he would eat forever}

"Nana"

(he's finally added to Dada, Mama, and Ah-Kay,(Anna-Kate). He tries so hard to say Ryan, it is just indistinguishable. And animal noises for monkey, cow, dog, duck...he has others, but those are favorites/the most comical.)

Ripped from Facebook

2011-10-06T09:51:00.003-04:00

Alternate title: "My kids are hilarious."

Alternate, alternate title: "What did I do for entertainment before I had kids?"

Me: "Let's grab a granola bar for breakfast since we're late."
AK: "No! A granola bar is too short for me!"
Me: "Huh?"
AK: "It isn't tall enough to fill me up and I get hungry too quickly."

***

AK: "I'm scared of getting lost in the maid!" (aka, the corn maze on her field trip today.)

***

Ryan and Anna-Kate: "SURFABUNGA!!!" {while balancing on upside down xylophones}

***

Ryan: "Why did Darth Vaders mom name him such a silly name?"
Me: "Wanna know his real name? Anakin."
Ryan: "That's a silly middle name. Darth Anakin Vader. Crazy."

***

Anna-Kate: "Wanna know my favorite kind of bread? SHORTBREAD! It's so delicious!"

***

AK: "Mom, you aren't gonna believe this. If you go on your computer and push disneyjunior.com a whole bunch of shows comes on even quicker than tv! My friend Grace told me all about it. Can you even believe it?"

***

Anna-Kate: "Um, is 'just a second' as long as 'just a minute'?"

***

Anna-Kate: "I know where Robin Hood and Maid Miriam live".
Me "where?" (expecting either Sherwood Forest or England)
AK: "well mom, the rooster tells us, in Animal Kingdom and I want to go visit them next time we go to Disneyworld" (you know the rooster narrator who says "we here in the animal kingdom know how the story really happened..." LOL).

***

Ryan: "Look at that guy over there who brought his belly with him!" (on seeing our neighbor mowing his grass without his shirt on.)

***

Ryan: "I am full of it." Though true, he actually meant that his tummy was full. Ironic, no?

***

At church Ryan looked up, his eyes got huge and he pointed at our Pastor and whispered, "Mommy, LOOK! It's JESUS!"

***

Me:"Ryan when you do xyz you get a spanking. Why did you choose to disobey?"
Ryan:" oh. I LOVE spankings mama."
(in my head...I know you didn't just say that.)

***

Anna Kate told me Snow White was her favorite princess. When I asked her why she said, "well her prince is definitely the most handsome!".

She came, she cheered...

2011-10-01T20:22:00.003-04:00

This has been a long week (or, a few long weeks strung together for the past few months). While thankful that Chris is gainfully employed and that his company is productive enough to have "busy season", it's hard. I may or may not have emotionally lost it this week. Our whole family was very much looking forward to this weekend--lots of fun and time to be together!

Last night was the football game. We picked up pizza and ate at the stadium. It was elementary night so the cheerleaders were doing free tatoos on the kids' faces and there were kids everywhere. The weather has finally decided it's fall and it was a wonderful night--I was so thankful that Chris was home in time to go with us! Such fun. Anna-Kate and a handful of other elementary girls in cheerleading uniforms went out onto the field with the real cheerleaders during the second quarter. My girl was in her element. Normally shy Anna-Kate was cheering, following along in the cheers and mingling with the high school girls. I'm not gonna lie, I had dreams of her being another little point guard like myself...but I do believe she will be charting her own course...on the top of a pyramid. Sigh. :)

Her "partner", Avery, teaching her a couple of easy cheers.

Standing in ready position watching the coach for when to start.

Big smiles!

More weekend fun to come. :)

It takes a big mess to make a clean space, right?

2011-09-23T16:17:00.005-04:00

So, I'm hooked on Pinterest. Heard of it? I told my mom it was super for people who are indecisive (her) and people with too many ideas to keep up with them (me). It's a virtual bulletin board you can "pin" any idea you can find on the ol' world wide web. Brilliant, no? Although, I've been doing this for years.

See these notebooks? Years worth of printed internet pages and pages from magzines in plastic sleeves organized nicely with a table of contents {So yes, I'm that person.}.

Anyhoo, I've had wreath envy for years, but am too cheap to buy the kind of wreath that appeals to me (in the neighborhood of $100. What can I say? I have filet taste on ground round budget. Thankfully, I can improvise. :) ). I've attempted to make my own in the past but was not happy with the outcome. But, thanks to pinterest, I was able to gather ideas and combine them into one big happy wreath. Isn't she a beaut?

High on my success I decided that my laundry room {otherwise known as purgatory} could use a little face lift. I measured my space, went to Lowes, had the nice little man cut my wood and trim, painted them and then stood back to manage Chris as he put them together and hung them. :) I got all giddy with the organizational possibilities in my wee space so ran for Hobby Lobby to pick up coordinated accessories. Be still my heart (both to my man and all of the lovely baskets waiting to be nicely organized. I can breath in there again!). I picked up that little lamp from Target and slapped some pom pom fringe I had left over from another project on it. Love.

I want to get some vinyl words to put above this shelf. I'm thinking the "treasure today, tomorrow it will be memories" is appropriate as I spend a good bit of time in here, and am not always happy about it. :)

Keeping it real:

In the midst of looking for laundry ideas, I came across a picture of an old school shopping basket, which I just so happened to acquire from my grandparents when they moved, housing cook books. Perfect. I had been wanting to use it somehow, and my window of "use it or lose it" was fast coming to a close. So I dug all of my cookbooks out, got rid of the ones that didn't fit and went to put it on my counter. I love it. (and my kids are loving the cabinet space vacated by the books which is now play dough, stickers, paper and their craft boxes.)

One problem, where would my canisters go? So, I pulled everything out and organized my baking cabinet. {Yes, I have a baking cabinet}. The old baskets from my laundry room (that no longer matched my black and white theme) got re-purposed to hold baking supplies--one for all my chocolate chips, bark, baking chocolate etc and one for powdered sugar, brown sugar, and extra things like that). The canisters are in the baking cabinet all snug as a bug.

Then I sat down to enjoy my loveliness and realized I was exhausted. The end. :)

The mommy mantra

2011-09-20T14:10:00.002-04:00

A friend posted a link to this blog on facebook and I finished reading in tears. I absolutely couldn't have written it better myself.

My Promise to my children ~

I am your Parent 1st – your Friend 2nd. I will stalk you, flip out on you, lecture you, drive you insane, be your worst nightmare & hunt you down like a bloodhound when needed because I LOVE YOU! When you understand that, I will know you are a responsible adult. You will NEVER find someone who loves, prays, cares, & worries about you more than I do! If you don’t hate me once in your life – I am not doing my job properly.

Some other gems from a book for mothers of sons:

“His tears will break your heart. So will his smiles.”

“If you make fun of him, he’ll learn to be shy.”

“He’ll continue to whine for as long as it works.”

“From you, he’ll learn the importance of telling the truth. Be a good role model.”

“Play catch with him. He won’t really care if you can’t catch a ball or throw a perfect pass.”

“Remember, your encouragement breeds confidence. It always will.”

“Don’t let his father forget that his son is still a little boy.”

“Don’t tolerate his tantrums. Ever.”

“Teach him how to set the table. This will amaze future girlfriends.”

“He’ll always look for you at his games. Sit where he can see you.” (Made me cry.).

“Remember, perfectly sane moms tend to freak out during soccer tryouts.”

I will absolutely be buying this book. Certainly some nuggets of wisdom

The queen

2011-09-19T13:21:00.005-04:00

Last weekend was homecoming at Anna-Kate's school. There was a parade of the homecoming court in convertibles (driven by parents) plus all of the "festivities" as Anna-Kate kept calling them. The lower school walked the track and then formed a tunnel (of sorts) for the football team to run through. At first Anna-Kate didn't want to participate because she heard "run through" and thought Red Rover (haha). Once that was cleared up she was happy to oblige.

With two friends, Marin and Natalie.

Struggling a bit to make a "W" with their fingers.

Cheering for the team as they ran through.

She danced and cheered her little heart out.

SO proud of her paw print tattoo.

As the game was about to begin a student began handing out papers with the courts' info on it--name, activities, which church they attend etc. As we read through the list we came to a senior, Anna Kate. From that moment until halftime my Anna-Kate was cheering for (big) Anna Kate to win (and yes, the girls were no where in sight, the game was going on). She loved every second--the game, the court, dancing to the band, watching the cheerleaders and mimicking their moves...it was so fun to watch her! Finally, halftime came and the girls were presented. Some of my favorite quotes of the night: "What do I have to do to get one of those roses on my shirt?" (Me: that's a boutonniere, you are in the wrong line of work. You would need to be a daddy to get one of those."). Eyes big, "She's {the winner} so beautiful! One day I want to be the queen of my school." And then, wouldn't you know it? Anna Kate won! Yay! My girl went nuts. A friend from church who is a teacher in the highschool asked Anna-Kate if she would like to meet Anna Kate. {My} A-K's eyes got huge and she nodded and said yes ma'am and marched her little self right over, looked up and said, "my name is Anna-Kate too and I wanted you to win!". The "queen" said that she'd never met another Anna Kate and was thrilled to meet her and then asked if Anna-Kate would take a picture with her. Anna-Kate walked right over and gave her a hug and smiled so big--made my night!

He was on a roll...

2011-09-16T14:08:00.003-04:00

Ryan's new obsession is Super Why--and I love that as it teaches reading skills. Anyway, he and I were playing a rhyming game in Publix...bell, sell etc. It was his turn, he looked at me, got all excited and yelled out "Oh! HELL!". I had been halfway paying attention, but he suddenly had my full attention. I suppose I didn't either congratulate or come back with my own quickly enough because he said, "Mama, hell, did you hear me? HELL!" There were a few people who stopped to stare. They were probably judging me.

***

Ryan tooted quite loud and I shot him a "say excuse me" look. Instead, he said, "know my what toot says?" "You need to go potty?" I ask. "Nope" he replied, "it says I STINKY!".

***

While playing Candyland, (which, side note it is SO FUN to play games with a kid who is competitive and enjoys games. I always felt like I was making Anna-Kate play with me. :) ) Ryan was on a "sticky spot" (licorice space) and when he drew his next card said, "woo-hoo, green! I'm outta here!".

Love that kid.

Quotes

2011-09-12T15:52:00.003-04:00

We've been keeping busy with life, soccer and the amazing weather! We've had a lot of picnics outside, pulled the bounce house out and spent many evening at the soccer fields. :) Ryan is actually really good. In fact, he scored 4 goals at his first game! (my competitive side is thrilled to have a competitive child to watch. It just wasn't that way last year watching Anna-Kate). Anyhoo. I have officially forgotten my camera to both practices and the game. Shame on me!

Anyway, I read a quote that has really resonated with me:
Cherish these moments, tomorrow they will be memories.

So I've been trying to remember that, amidst the tantrums, homework and laundry. I know a day will come that I will long for today. :) So, that's where I've been. I have some catch up posts so stay tuned!

Soccer!

2011-08-31T21:38:00.004-04:00

The day Ryan has been waiting for since last August finally arrived...his first day of soccer practice! Poor guy was desperate to play last year as he watched his sister play (or hold hands with her friend and twirl mid-field, whatever). :) Ryan has been talking about playing almost daily all summer. His coach had them dribble around the cones and he did awesome! I was SO PROUD of him! They ended practice with a little scrimmage {precious} and he totally went for it--including blocking a kick with his chest. He looked like a total natural, until he began crying from the impact. A little sip of water and he was good to go. I can already tell I am going to love watching him play...and that there are hours of {Ryan} sports watching in my future. Bring it on! This is one proud soccer Mama!

Big boy soccer player!

With one of his best buddies, Jack. Ryan is so excited to play with so many of his friends from his old playgroup (and I love getting to reconnect with my friends!).

Jack seems surprisingly agile and naturally good at soccer. Then he got bored with dribbling the ball and found a new hat for entertainment. :) Cute boy. {and yes, it was sweltering hot}

Laundry

2011-08-30T13:40:00.003-04:00

This is my random thought process. No deep thinking, no cute kid phrases. Just contemplatin' as I fold my 3rd load of laundry for the day...

If you are a mother {and possibly if you aren't, though I don't remember having a strong feeling on laundry pre-kid} you understand that laundry is constant. In fact, it's more than constant. Even during that magical 37 seconds when the washer and drier are both empty and all of the clothes are actually ironed and put away, you and your family is still wearing clothes {I presume}. So really, it is lit-ruly (man, can't wait for Parks and Rec to come back!) never ending.

I can't express the deep satisfaction I get when I go to sleep with a vacuumed laundry room floor. My reasons are three-fold. 1.) If it's been vacuumed, it's visible. This leads quickly to 2.) There is no laundry waiting for me in the morning (unless I got a wild hair to change the kids' sheets for no apparent reason which means that Janelle's law is in effect. {Janelle's law being: "If you change a child's sheets, within 24 hours they will puke or have an accident."} 3.) If it's been vacuumed, it stands to reason that the rest of my wood floors are also vacuumed because really, who just vacuums their laundry room and nothing else?

And, that's it. :)

Manly Men

2011-08-23T13:22:00.004-04:00

Parenting either gender is a huge calling and enormous responsibility. Today I've been thinking more about my boys, about their character and the kind of husbands and men I hope that they become one day.

Maybe it's because I've been spending extra time with my two boys lately, but I'm a bit overwhelmed as I think about the obligation of raising two boys who will one day, Lord willing, be responsible for their families. I pray they will be godly husband and fathers. But what does the training look like? Of course we train them to hold doors, wait for "ladies first", we teach respect for authority, to protect women and children and to stand up for what is right (well, we are working on this with Ryan. We are just working on talking with Jack...baby steps. Ha!). I know there isn't a formula for "do this and this happens" with kids, so I guess besides prayer I can just be thankful that my boys have an incredible model to watch in Chris. Any hints for training up godly young men are appreciated.

Funny thing, this picture is what got me thinking about it.

A friend (hi Emily!) remarked on facebook that this was hubby in training. I would like to think that real men are happy to help a tired wife out with the vacumming. I am so thankful that Chris is happy to jump in and help when asked, and often, without even needing to be asked! What a blessing!

And, just sticking with a theme...here's poor Jack with his first black eye. He had a little run in with the wrought iron railings as he fell down a few stairs (seven, to be precise.). Ahh, boys will be boys. :)

Carpool

2011-08-19T07:43:00.004-04:00

It's weird having my child picked up and taken to school and then delivered back home. I have always driven my own kids to school both ways (obviously had help in a bind and helped others, but generally I drove). Even though school is pretty close, the pick up is 2:05-right in Jack's nap (and regrettably, my monitor wouldn't reach. If I still had my monitor?? :) ). We were SO blessed that two of Anna-Kate's dear friends are in her class and that our schedules work together for a perfect carpool situation. Leigh-Ann and I are splitting mornings and late pick up (3) for an after school activity once a week and Jessica brings them home 4 days a week as her son is a little older and naps a bit later. It is absolutely the little things that the Lord just reassures that He is in this whole decision, process and that He works all things for good!

In her chapel uniform this morning. So cute!!

All three big kids in the back of the van--Anna-Kate, Marin, Adam

Anyway, it's been hard for me (yet again) to let go of driving her and not being the first to hear all of the little tidbits of her day. But, it's good. Since we are moving to earlier bed time (7:30 to accommodate 7 am wake up for the first time in her life!!) I put Jack down for his nap 1-4. I get to read and play with Ryan individually until 2, then send him to his room for quiet play time. Jessica drops Anna-Kate off a little after 2 and I have a snack waiting for her and we sit at the table and chat about her day. She has been a little tired, so we will move to the couch and read a book, then talk about her day more, then read another book before she goes to her room around 3 for 45 minutes or so to play alone and unwind a little. The look on little Ryan's face when he sees his sister is priceless--he is PUMPED! He misses her so much! :)

These days are surely precious and I am beyond thankful for them (and that my girl will spill all of the details of her day!).

Just for kicks...

2011-08-17T13:29:00.004-04:00

A comparison to last year...

Ryan, 2010

Ryan, 2011

Anna-Kate, 2010

Anna-Kate, 2011

My, how quickly time flies!

First day of school {kindergarten version}

2011-08-16T23:26:00.006-04:00

Last night our school hosted its annual meet the teacher night followed by the back to school picnic. Anna-Kate was very excited to meet her teacher and we enjoyed getting her acclimated to where her cubby was etc. After, we hit the playground while Chris gathered our picnic blanket/chairs then headed down to the football field where there were various food options, (yet we still ended up with Chikc-fil-a!) bounce houses, ride on toys for the littles and carnival games. My kids were in paradise!

The first day of school has a late start so I decided to make a big family breakfast. As I was just putting muffins in the oven I turned around to Anna-Kate (at 7:30 am) standing in the kitchen, fully dressed in her uniform with a huge grin on her face. She said, "do I look beautiful, Mama?" {that would be cry #1 of the day, if you wanted to keep track}. We enjoyed a slower breakfast then began the photo shoot. :) She came up to me as I stood there watching my kids play together in the last minutes before we left for school and was overwhelmed with joy and the blessings I have been given. I had a few tears in my eyes, and Anna-Kate ran up to me, threw her arms around me and said, "Mama, I am just so excited to go to my new school!" (this would be huge as I usually have to drag her/pry her off me the first few days).

Sad Daddy! He is not happy about her growing up!

Precious siblings. I am blessed by them!

As we drove to school I looked in the rear view mirror and saw her sitting there in her big girl booster, and in the foreground, Jack in her old infant seat. I kept willing myself to pull it together (this would be cry #3, the second happened as I prayed for breakfast :) ). We walked up the ramp at the exact same time as her friend Adam and his family, so of course, I began snapping their first day together at school. Jonathan mocked my scrapbook efforts. Ha!

Adam and Anna-Kate...sweet friends. :)

After I snapped pictures with her teachers and got a quick picture with us and her, (dismal as it is...) Chris left for work and the boys and I headed to the annual kindergarten "tissues and tears" party. Aptly named. They boys had a hay day with the food and I must have looked fragile as I received numerous hugs {from strangers} and "oh honeys".

Last picture before getting shooed away.

Her TA, Ms. Byrd

Her teacher, Ms. Miller

I came home and began cleaning while the boys played, surprisingly well together. Other surprise of the day? Being one kid down, the noise level in my house rose significantly. Boys! :)

We headed to school for early pick up at 1:30 and to attend a popsicle party to celebrate the first day of school. It was fun to see her walking out with her class, put her bag away, and then my heart melted as she saw me, shouted "mama" and came running to a big hug. (this would be cry 12 or so of the day...). My heart is full. Even as I miss her, I know the Lord has guided this decision and this is the school He planned for her. We are so blessed to be a part of this school, and even more blessed to call her our daughter.

She saw me and came running...I LOVE this picture!

I missed her so much! What a happy reunion! :)

Class picture

Her and Marin

First day of school {preschool version}

2011-08-15T23:21:00.005-04:00

Today was Ryan's first day of school! I was prepared for an emotional event. It was not. We all walked in to his room. I could barely get him to stop for a quick picture before he kissed me and said, "bye Mom!". So proud of him!

In front of the door obligatory first day picture.

Walking him in--like a champ!

SO ready to go!

Silly faces with Mama. I sure love this boy!

When I picked him up his teacher, Ms. Wanda, said, "if all of my students are as respectful and obedient as Ryan, this will be the easiest year of teaching I've ever had." I about fell back (and was SO proud of him!). She said that every time she told the kids to do something, he was the first to stop what he was doing, say "yes ma'am" and move to the next thing. Way to go, Ryan!

To be completely honest, (and if you know me IRL this is not a surprise) I was disappointed in Ryan's teacher for this year. I specifically chose days of the week (MWF) that I didn't particularly want, for the teacher that I thought was perfect for Ryan. The teacher I chose is strict, very routined (is that a word? it should be) and calls Ryan out on his crap. She doesn't let him get away with anything, and he thrives under that sort of structure. Anyway, late last week there was a switcheroo pulled at school and, because of various reasons, some shuffling of teachers. If you have ever read this blog you know I am not the most flexible person and don't do well with my ducks getting pushed out of their little line (sigh. A character flaw the Lord is graciously trying to work out of me, evidently). Here's the beauty of believing in the sovereignty of God...as I told Wanda about Ryan's breathing issues and croup problems, (which generally brings raised eyebrows and "well don't bring him if he's sick!") she just listened. When I finished talking she said, "well my granddaughter has the same exact thing. Does it sound like this?" (She then perfectly mimicked what Ryan sounds like in the beginning phase of his breathing problems). I was blown away at the Lord's provision. As my dad said today after I told him, "So you are saying God chose what you needed better than you did?". Why yes, yes He did.

Honesty

2011-08-12T20:43:00.003-04:00

I just wrote a really long blog post. I couldn't push publish. I try to portray myself honestly, but sometimes the ugliness of my heart is too much for me and this semi-anonymous-yet-extremely-public platform.

I am wrestling with a lot of emotions as we gear up for school next week. I am thrilled with the choice we've made and how we have seen the Lord work, but I am fearful of the unknown and of leaving my kids with new people. I wonder if they will make friends and how they will fit in. At the same time, a small part of my heart will breathe a sigh of relief to get my house back in order and reestablish a routine after the relaxing summer we had (lovely though it was).

The summer of travel

2011-08-11T23:32:00.003-04:00

I CANNOT believe summer is coming to a close! Seriously? Anna-Kate starts school next week {But that is for another post. I fight back tears to think about it. School starting, not writing another post. Ha.}. We have had a lovely summer and done so much! As I somehow managed to document, we went to Disney and St. Louis. We have also had multiple short trips to my parents' house for blueberry picking, visiting my grandparents and hanging out. Leigh-Ann and her kids came with us one week (as we love to do--so fun!). Last week was our turn to visit Leigh-Anns' parents' house. We loaded up the van again with all six car seats (and if you need a tutorial on which brands work in which spot, I can help!). We had a lovely week spent playing with {new} toys and playing in their awesome neighborhood zero entry pool (why doesn't every pool have zero entry???). Leigh-Ann and I (despite not having even one pictures together) had a fantastic time and enjoyed our evenings out as her parents stayed back with sleeping kids--so fun!

We stopped at outlets on the way up. Yes, we went shopping with six kids. While I wouldn't advise it, it wasn't too bad. :) Their reward was playing on the little ride on things...without any money in them. Yep, cheap thrills!

How we kept them all contained as we gathered pool toys, towels and packed a lunch. Thank you, Tom and Jerry!

"Adams' Nana" swinging with the kids.

This years stair picture. Sad it's blurry...this seems to be the one with most people smiling and/or looking. Actually, the best picture I accidentally cut Dave's head out of, so opted not to use that one. Oops.

So, we are done traveling for now and hunkering down for school. We are getting very excited and were thrilled to hear that 3 of the 4 kids (2 of her sweet girlfriends and Adam!)we knew going to our school (and entering kindergarten) would be in her class!

Aww nuts!

2011-08-04T22:14:00.001-04:00

"Aww NUT" is how Ryan says it, but in any firm, this one of my favorite things the kids' say (thank you, Donald Duck!).

And on a different note, I believe I determined why I don't like nuts--texture. Last night Leigh Ann and I went to a little coffee shop and got milkshakes. Vanilla Icecream, a spoon full of peanut butter and chocolate chips. The flavor was super, but I began chewing and it was full if nuts, I thought, and I declared to hate it. The reason? There was stuff stuck in my molars(not between my teeth). Ya, upon closer inspection, it was the chocolate stuck in my teeth. So now I don't like the texture of nuts or chocolate and how it sticks in my teeth. Just relaying info as I get it. ;)

Such adult talk... :)

2011-07-28T15:47:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things is listening in to kid talk. Today I was listening to Anna-Kate and Ryan play together. They have been pretending to be husband and wife a lot lately (and refer to each other as "husband" or "wife". Funny).

AK: "Husband you just work, work work. You always have to work! We need to move and get you a new job so you don't have to work so much!"
Ry: "I know! I can work at Disneyworld!"
AK: "Oh yes! We can live at the Polynesian hotel. Now you get to be home with us during the morning time and lunch time and dinner and we get to be together!"

***

AK: "RY-AAAN! Please bring me my glass slipper and put it on my foot!"
Ry: "What?"
AK: "Remember? I teached you how to be a gentleman and place a slipper on a ladies' foot yesterday?"
Ry: "Oooh. Yep. Here you go!"
AK: "Why thank you, gentleman!"

***

We've been talking about "wise" verses "foolish" decisions and choices. Anna-Kate overheard Chris and me talking about Disneyworld and beach trips. I then heard...

AK: "I think we should choose Disneyworld instead of going to the beach. Disneyworld has a beach, so that just seems like the wiser choice to me. Don't you think so Mommy?"

Tip for the day

2011-07-28T14:48:00.003-04:00

Wanna know the quickest way to not sell me books door-to-door?

So this girl shows up at my door and knocks. And waits. I see her and decide I am not interested in answering the door so we might have hidden quietly. A couple of minutes, she knocked again. A few minutes later, knocked again. By this time, I was annoyed. I marched down the stairs, open the door and she said, "Oh, did I wake you, it took you a long time to answer." I told her no, I was awake just ignoring the door and then asked her what she needed. She began to open her bag of books.

Me: "this is a non-soliciting neighborhood."
Her: "Oh really? Everyone is so nice here."
Me: "Nice isn't what non-soliciting means. It means you are not allowed to sell things here."
Her: "Oh, well (insert names of my neighbors) took a look at what I had."
Me: "I'm sure they are great, but I am just not interested. We have a ton of books and are trying to pay for private school."
Her: (turning to Anna-Kate/ignoring me) "I bet you don't know why flamingos are pink, do you?"
AK: "Yes, I do."
Her: (clearly, shocked) "Oh really? How do you know?"
AK: "We go to Disneyworld and I learned all about them at Animal Kingdom where we lived in May."
Her: "Oh, I LOVE Disneyworld. I am actually going to go work there in a few weeks. I get to pretend to be Princess Belle."
(Insert my eyes getting huge and giving her the total stink eye)
AK (turns to me) "What does she mean, Mama?"
Me: "Thanks alot" (close door).

So to summarize. 1) If someone doesn't answer their door, they don't want to talk with you. Go away. 2) When they politely decline your offer, go away. 3) Do not ignore the adult after being told they aren't interested and try to peak the interest of their child. This will not ever work. 4) Do not, under any circumstances, ever tell a young child that you "play" someone who in their eyes is real. I mean really, she could have just said, "Hi, I pretend to be the fake Belle. Did you know Santa, the tooth fairy and every other show/book that you read isn't real? Yep, say goodbye to your imagination kid!"

Urgh. And, you're welcome for that tidbit of wisdom for today.

Her roommates will thank me one day.

2011-07-27T16:20:00.005-04:00

I am, by nature, a selfish person. I would like to think it is a tendency associated with the female gender, if only to make myself feel better. I think my problem became most pronounced my freshman year of college {my college roommates are probably nodding their heads emphatically in agreement}.

It's not that I was raised with a silver spoon {I wasn't}. It's not that I got my way all of the time {I assure you, I didn't}. I was the only girl in a two kid family where our ages were spaced over three years different, and then, unfortunately, spent my teen years as an only child. Therefore, it just kinda happened. I was never forced to learn to share.

Poor Liana. I got to college and she reached for my toothpaste (or socks, or hair brush, or sat on my bed...) and I probably looked at her like she had grown an extra head. I was queen of sticky notes and here began my love of labeling (at the time, it wasn't an organization issue, as "mine" isn't so specific). I may or may not have been difficult to live with that first year (though, I pray I got better over time!). There is a point to this thought process.

I have three kids, and they are pretty close in age. Jack was born before Anna-Kate turned five. They play pretty well together and share pretty well too. However, I'm finding that I have to be mindful that Anna-Kate, being the only girl, doesn't always get her way. Not that she doesn't share, but in the little things, like getting the pink plate (we have the Ikea set of multi colors) or princess cup. I feel it is my duty to her future roommates and husband to throw her a yellow plate and orange cup every once and again (even at the expense of poor Jack, who often ends up with a pink plate). It's the little things.

And there, is my deep thought for today. This is how my brain works. I truly try to think through my deficiencies and help my kids work throw them so as they aren't ever issues for them (or others) to encounter.

Learning to pray

2011-07-25T19:57:00.003-04:00

We've been talking to the kids about the importance of prayer. (ie, it isn't just a rote "thank you for mommy and daddy amen" wam-bam-thank-you-ma'am sorta thing). Anyway, we have told them that we ask Jesus to forgive us for the (specific) bad things we have done, ask Him to help us be obedient to Him and then thank Him for all of the blessings He has given us.

Tonight, Ryan was struggling through the various aspects of prayer and kept asking "now what" after each sentence. I reminded him it was time to thank Jesus for all of the good things He has given us. Ryan thinks a minute. So I decided to help him out and prompted him...

Me: "Ryan, what are you thankful for?"
Ryan: "Umm, Batman?"
Anna-Kate: (misunderstood and somehow thought he only mentioned Daddy) "No Ryan! You have to thank Jesus for all your family, and me, especially me!"
Ryan: "OHHH! Daddy and Mommy and Anna-Kate, kate, kate and Jackie, Jackie, Jackie...

Silly boy.

A little taste of Magic!

2011-07-24T15:52:00.004-04:00

Last week my mom came up to spend a couple of days with us. We have an interactive Disney store in our town and I decided it was time to take the kids! We had about $20 left on our Disney gift card (how we left Disneyworld without spending it all is a mystery to me) so I went to get a few pieces for the kids' Halloween costumes for this year (Yes, I already know what they will be--I knew last October. They are going as a Toy Story theme).

Anyway, wide eyed and amazed were my three kiddos as we enjoyed the store.

Anna-Kate in the princess castle looking at all of the cool things!

If you scan a barcode in front of the mirror (or, "magically wave it", whatever) the princess who was pictured on the item (in this case, a Cinderella crown) will appear in the magic mirror and sing a song or talk to you. They all loved it, surprisingly, Jack was the most astonished. The walls depicted Disney world with various characters making appearances. Not to brag, but evidently, we are very lucky people who brought Tink out. :)

I tried really hard to get Jack to walk under Mickey's area. It was lit up cool, but he had zero interest in that. :)

To top off the night, we went and saw the new Pooh movie that evening. It was the kids' first "real" movie experience and they all did great. Jack got tired of sitting with about 10 minutes left, but I still count that a success. (Bonus, we got discount tickets and free popcorn. Yippee!)

And that, is the closest we will get to Disney magic for a while. Bummer! :)

They said

2011-07-21T14:58:00.003-04:00

On the way home from Chick-fil-a...

Ryan: "Oh look, that's my work right there! I work like my daddy." (pointing towards a retail/restaurant area)
AK: "Oh husband, how nice, that is a nice work."
Me: "Ryan, what do you do when you are at work?"
Ryan: "My job is putting all of my money in big bags. Then I bring it home to my wife."
AK: "Yes, and then we give it to God. That's what you do! You work hard and give your money to God!"
Ryan: "Not all of the money! We have to pay for our house too!"
AK: "Oh, that's right, you are right, husband."
Ryan: "Yes, I am right. And you are wrong wife."
AK: "Well, we give our money to God and buy our house and then we just like to fly kites a lot."

~Can you guess which Disney movie they've been watching recently?~

I'm rallying!

2011-07-18T23:06:00.004-04:00

Here we go. Day number TWO! :)

We went to a splashpad with some church friends today. I only had my iphone (which takes a decent close up pictures--of a non moving object in good light, and deplorable far away pictures. Just a disclaimer).

Clearly, too busy to stop for a picture!! Ryan ran around like a crazy child--he LOVED it! He kept calling it the "shooting snake pool" (ie, like at Disney).

Anna-Kate being silly with her friend, Marin. I love how these two have become such sweet friends!

All this energy-exerting goodness, $1 each. :) Jack opted to stay dry. In fact, I don't think he got even one toe wet. Fine by my. The big kids played with their friends and I got to chat with several of my good friends! I winning summer day for all!

You're famous!

2011-07-17T14:02:00.010-04:00

{that's for my mother in law}. Though, I think my mother and mother in law might be the only people still faithfully checking in on the ol' blog. Guess readers expect a {witty, fun} return on their click to my page. Sigh. I just can never seem to get it all done.

Side note. I find that I get overwhelmed when I get behind on the blog. The slew of pictures needing to be uploaded, (and the huge headache that blogger makes it to upload said slew of pictures) and the smart, thought provoking post I try to provide (or, slap some words on the screen, whatever) just leaves me putting it off. Then the pictures and memories grow (I try to be a fun mom like that). Then I'm more behind. It's a vicious cycle, I tell ya. I will beat this thing though! I have too many important milestones to cover. (This is also my apology to my reader (s?) for a bad summer of blogging. :)

So, we went to St. Louis to visit Chris' side of the family the first week of July. It had been a while since our last trip {I'm ashamed to say, about 18 months!}. Clearly, we were well overdue. Anyway, the kids had been looking forward to the trip all summer. We left after a particularly long work week for Chris, (He went in at regular time, 6:30 am and only got home before 10 pm one night that week. And went in on Saturday. Poor guy.) so we all were anticipating a fun time to be together. The time away was improved on as we ate at our favorite pizza place in our college town on our way through. Yes, both ways. :)

The vacation did not disappoint! We went out for some yummy dinners, saw a lot of extended family, went to the zoo, train museum, and the girls got manicures. We were jam packed with activity. Anna-Kate had an especially good times with Mimi (whom she has taken to calling, "Meems").

On Friday we spent the day recuperating from the reeeally long drive. The boys went to a park while the girls got manicures. We all then met at a little deli. That night, Chris' grandparents came over for some steaks. This was the kids meeting Ganni and Grandpa for the first time (Chris' dads' parents).

I was worried the kids would be shy, but Anna-Kate immediately took to Ganni. :)

On Saturday we drove out to Chris' cousins' house. Many of his cousins with young kids were there and they were able to play and have a yummy chickfila picnic!
The big kids...Andrew, Kirsten, Anna-Kate.

The whole group of them.

On Sunday we went to church, then afterwards I took Jack back to the house for his nap (and watched an excellent documentary on Simon Weisenthal. I highly recommend it!). Everyone else went to the train museum. It was hot (ie, I chose wisely!). The kids had the.best.time.ever!!

I was so thankful to be able to catch up with my best friend from high school, Allison! It was so fun to see her, Matt and Noah--and their new house!

We all loved seeing the penguins.

Some of us enjoyed seeing peacocks. Some of us who do not like birds may or may not have kept our children in between us and the peacocks. (Don't judge).

The guerrilla exhibit was awesome! We got to be really close. One of them was even playing peek-a-boo with a blanket right by the glass.

The kids got a kick out of seeing the camels and thinking about the wise men riding them to find baby Jesus. :)

Even though it drizzled some, it was nice as there were light crowds and it wasn't quite as hot and humid as normal!

Watching the stingrays

They were watching one of the zoo people show how to feed the stingrays and nurse sharks.

Waiting to feel the stingrays and nurse sharks (Ryan never did. Anna-Kate felt the stingray, but every time a shark swam close she jumped off the ledge and screamed "GET YOUR HANDS OUT!! IT'S A SHARK!" Funny only the first time.

On our trek to find the hippos. Anna-Kate asked Mimi to trade umbrellas since hers was too small and she was getting wet. Mimi graciously obliged. LOL.

She is crazy about hippos for some reason. We stayed way late and walked forever out of the way so she could visit the big things, but she was a happy little girl after that!

My sweet all-American Jack...eating a cheeseburger next to an Anheiser Busch box on the 4th of July. :)

Uncle John and Aunt Anna shared their fantastic pool and had a great lunch for us! (and, you're welcome, for not posting swimming pictures).

Back at the house. Mimi produced a ton of bubbles, water guns and a styrofoam airplane. Such simple fun!

They climbed their first trees! (or, this was their first experience around trees older than they are).

Gosh, he's handsome! Just sitting there chill-axin'.

The whole gang.

Silly "Meems" and "Oomps"

Too bad I forgot to take an after shot. Shortly after this picture, Ryan fell out of the tree. His tooth almost made it through his lip. :) We had an uneventful ride home (I might have put Baby Einstein on repeat play for Jack.).

Thanks, Mimi and Oompa for making our trip special! :)

VBS

2011-07-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago (cough, cough) we had VBS at church. It is such a fun and special week--but SO tiring! :) I was in charge of food again this year (what can I say, I have a gift of eating) so found myself in the center of everyones good graces and of all of the socializing. Perfect placement for me, I'd say.

The usual me with children in our tired VBS shirts and 1/2 of the participants not caring/looking/smiling.

We were so excited to bring Anna-Kates sweet friend, Marin, to VBS with us this year! The girls played soccer together this year and will both be in kindergarten at the same school. They had a blast!

Whelps, that's it! I guess you sorely lack pictures when you are across the street socializing, err, making food. :)

Eat More {free} Chicken!

2011-07-08T20:49:00.006-04:00

I would like to take a moment to recognize cows everywhere. Today, in fact, is cow appreciation day. I take this very seriously, so opted to dine at Chick-fil-a, not once, but twice today. :)

I go to great lengths for free food. :)

With her sweet friend, Marin.

Anna-Kate was ecstatic to find a girl cow. Most exciting to Anna-Kate? Her big bow. :)

Poor guy. The one we went to for lunch has a playground that he isn't quite big enough to climb (alone...which is key). Thankfully he was happy to chill in a seat with a juice box (BIG treat for him!).

Dancing. They were doing the "cow" line (cow, cow, cow, cow, cow, COW!).

My boys. This would be for dinner. Ya, we went back.

All grown up

2011-07-02T14:27:00.001-04:00

As we drove through Chattanooga on the way to visit chris' parents we stopped at our favorite pizza place, Lupis. We passed the childrens museum and Ryan got really excited seeing all of the fun things to do. Anna-Kate turned to Ryan and said, "when I was a child I used to go there all of the time!" (started crying I was laughing so hard). Note, not when she was a baby or just younger...but a child.

{Shame}

2011-06-28T08:17:00.005-04:00

So, today, this 28th day of June, I will share with you Anna-Kate's ballet recital and end of the year program pictures from May 27. Wow, fail on my part!

Dancing with her sweet friends, Hannah and Campbell.

Look at that form! :)

Exit strategy.

This guy was there too (trooper. Show went until 8).

Anna-Kate had a wonderful pre-k teacher, Miss Mandy! We both just loved her and she always seemed to have a special place in her heart for Anna-Kate (but who wouldn't love a sweet little girl who always follows the rules and doesn't cause trouble, especially when she is one of 4 girls in a classroom???). But, I digress {and am only a bit biased}. One of the things we play most this summer is "school". When Anna-Kate teaches her brothers and me I can hear Mandy in her voice (inflection, words she uses etc). It's so funny and too precious!

"If I were a fuzzy-wuzzy bear, I'd thank you, Lord for my fuzzy-wuzzy hair, and I just thank you Father for making me, ME!"

Singing their little hearts out!

Such a rule follower, even at songs' end, she never took her eyes off the teacher!

She was on cloud nine to get to sit next to Mandy during the program! So sweet!

They got their "diplomas" and thus officially kindergartners {cue me crying}.

Anna-Kate with Mandy and her sweet friend, Natalie (who is going to her same school next year!).

Goals

2011-06-25T11:47:00.001-04:00

My parents offered a fun "grandparent camp" at their house for the big two. As we just finished up VBS (and I'm beyond exhausted) it us the perfect time!

So, my goals for my four days with only one child are to scrapbook February-September of 2010, (that would be what I have pictures printed for) have the house completely cleaned and be packed for an up coming trip to visit chris' family. Ambitious? Yes. ;) I will get back to you on my success. Ha.

For now jack is positively eating up the copious amount of attention he us receiving and chris is heading back into work (major project week. He got home at 10pm mist nights last week). So, quiet (productive!) afternoon scheduled here.

Busy

2011-06-21T16:09:00.003-04:00

It's VBS week and that means my life is crazy! Between that and doing a huge sewing project for a lady, the blog has fallen by the wayside for sure. Unfortunate.

I did get the kids' picture taken for Fathers Day.

I know--all three looking and smiling! Unreal! :) We had a laid back morning--I made Chris' favorite, Southern Living breakfast enchiladas, we went to church as a family and then I stayed to decorate the church for VBS {I'm so tired}. We went out for dinner and just say and enjoyed one another. A lovely day.

Happy Father's day to my wonderful father and to Chris--a wonderful husband and the best father I could hope for my children to have. I am so blessed.

Ryanisms

2011-06-19T21:52:00.002-04:00

Ryans current set of words that I don't have the heart to correct and that I will positively miss {and maybe tear up} when he quits saying...

"Stevie-pee-pee-o"--C3PO

"Pokey-Knowkey"--Pinnochio

"Lightning and the Queen"--Lightning McQueen

Sit, relax, it's gonna be a while.

2011-06-10T15:47:00.015-04:00

So, four hours later, I present, our vacation.

Here is the WHOLE story from Disney! Truly magical, so much fun, a complete blessing to get to go with our family and be with my parents--wonderful! Remember my score on fastpasses? They came in handy for sure!

Ready, set, go! Ready to load 'em up!

We drove to Orlando on Saturday morning. A million hours later, we arrived, and headed straight to a (non-Disney resort. Boo.) to drop our stuff, then to Downtown Disney. We had dinner at the Earl of Sandwich (a serious favorite) took a boat ride, took in the HUGE Disney store and got our first taste of that weeks' magic! :)

Annual picture with Pooh in downtown Disney

We got the kids to bed (all in one room, so Chris just went to sleep with them at 8:30 while I got everything ready for the morning by the light of my cell phone). (My parents met us for dinner, but stayed at a different hotel closer to a church they like to visit in the Orlando area).

We woke up bright and early, got ready, did "church" in our hotel room, then headed to Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to check in and leave our things. God bless Chris, he fed the kids and kept them entertained in the front of the lobby while I checked us in, finalized reservations etc. The 5 of us then headed to Epcot. None of us had been before, so we were all very excited! It didn't quite live up to the hype in my mind (though, it is just not the park for 3 little kids to spend a whole day, but we don't park hop). The kids loved the Nemo ride and aquarium, seeing the countries was cool and we had a yummy dinner in "Norway" with the princesses. Chris ordered something he couldn't pronounce and it turned out to be a Norwegian meatball type thing. I went safe and got beef tips and garlic mashed potatoes. Anna-Kate was wide-eyed at the individual attention the princesses gave her and Ryan was a complete ham and had them all rolling with laughter at him! Chris took the boys to ride Nemo again and Anna-Kate and I had a "girls only ride" on Soarin. I was so proud of her! She loved it (despite the guy next to her freaking out and the woman walking out with us having a (literal) panic attack) and begged to do it again! My parents offered to pick up the kids after their dinner reservation so we were able to ride Test Track and Soarin together before the (really cool!) firework display that evening.

Me with my love

Ariel! (I can't tell you how lovely it was to have them come to us--NO WAITING in line at the parks!!)

Ryan was seemingly smitten with Snow White, the little flirt.

She got you good!

Proper princesses. :)

Both kids loved meeting Cinderella

Family shot in front of the Epcot "golfball", as Ryan called it.

Ryan was petrified to get inside Bruces' mouth (a la Finding Nemo). Other two loved it!

Family picture with Minnie and Goofy. If you have the Disney credit card, there is a special meet and greet (and free picture) for cardmembers at Epcot. I'm all about the perks. (and, remember last year how we received those 200 free points for getting the card? Well, we used them. This year, we got a letter saying we had 223 points (which, we don't use credit cards, so there was no way we had that many...maybe 23). I called and explained what had happened, how we had used them etc. The lady said if they were showing up they were ours to use and to go ahead. So, just for signing up for the credit card Disney gave us 400 points (spend dollar for dollar) and a free picture with Goofy and Minnie. I'd say that's a deal! :)

The next day (Monday) we chilled at the resort pool. It was zero entry with 2 water slides (1 small one, made with my kids in mind!) and a HUGE splashpad area. Buckets of water, slides, waterfalls...water everywhere. So fun! We all had a lovely lunch poolside, then Daddy, Chris and Jack went back for naps while Mom, the big kids and I participated in the free activities. We made necklaces, colored pictures, watched part of a movie (there was also a Wii, board games, pool etc that we didn't use). We had a delicious dinner at Boma that evening then drove over to the Polynesian to watch the evening water parade. My parents took an extended ride on the monorail with the kids so Chris and I could go back to Epcot to get our (free!!) picture with Minnie and Goofy that we had forgotten to pick up the day before.

The view out our window!!!

At Boma

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. Chris commented on Facebook that he didn't know if the real India was as crowded as "India" in the park that day. We crossed our fingers that the Memorial Day crowds would leave soon! The day was super, despite being hot. We saw the shows we wanted to, hit the big rides, saw the parade (that we missed the year of 18 inches of rain...) and had the most fantastic dinner at the Yak and Yeti (highly recommend it!! Also, recommend getting the last dinner seating. Since the park closes at 6, when we finished dinner at 6:45ish, the park was empty and we were able to leisurely stroll out and snap pictures and let the kids run a bit freer without a million people all swarming with us to exit. It was perfectly delightful!).

Post-safari (Anna-Kate bought into the story that poachers were after us. I'll just say there were 3 people crying on the safari. They may or may not have initials of "AK", "R" and "J". Sigh.

Tree of life. I love looking at the carvings.

Animal Kingdoms version of Dumbo.

After three years of looking, we finally met Pocohontas! (and, I waited longer to ride the train out to see her than I did for any {fun} ride the whole week.). Side note, I think she is one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in my life.

Parade pics.

The highlight for Ryan, meeting Br'er Rabbit!

In front of Expedition Everest.

Wednesday was, again, spent in recuperation at the resort! :) We hit the pool in the morning, but had to cut it short when it started pouring rain. I couldn't help but laugh since we had reservations to attend the Luau that evening (that we went to last year, but it was rained out...the only day of rain last year and this!). Plan B was drive to lunch. I had heard great things about "Beaches and Cream" for their burgers and milkshakes (two of my love languages) so we headed to the Boardwalk. Fail on my part, it is at the Beach Club. So, we loaded up and drove there. Upon arriving we found out it wasn't a "quick" meal (thus would throw off our meal plan) so we scrambled and ended up at the Polynesian, per Chris' request, for bbq sandwiches. After lunch Mom and I did our annual outlet mall shopping while the others went back for naps. We met them back at the luau (not rained out!) and had such a fun evening! Ryan and Anna-Kate were positively enamored watching (especially the fire thrower. He was unreal!!).

Before heading out to lunch. Love these kids!

My mom and me

All those celebrating anniversaries...

and Ryan...

The kids learning to hula.

The flame thrower/dancer guy.

My kids on the beach {and possibly my favorite picture from the whole trip}

Our annual family picture in front of the waterfall at the GCH.

My parents kindly offered to stay back with the kids so Chris and I could go out (for an early anniversary. We rode over to the Magic Kingdom to people watch and then went back to the resort for Chris to try a Kenyan beer {Tusker}. We wore our "It's our Anniversary" buttons and when we sat at the bar the bartender presented us each with a complimentary glass of champagne! We love this place!

Thursday morning began bright and early! There were magic hours from 8-9 am at Magic Kingdom so we left our resort at 7:30 am (early for poor Jack-Jack who prefers to sleep until closer to 8:30). We went in and enjoyed the minimal lines and scored some fastpasses for an hour before the park officially opened. The low point of the day was when Ryan was not allowed on Splash Mountain because he was too small. He had been talking about riding the "bunny ride" for weeks and daily requests to watch the ride via Youtube. Chris carried him away crying, "I just want to ride the bunny ride. I just want to be big!". I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a few tears in my eyes. Poor guy {and then Anna-Kate cried a majority of it because she got splashed and "never wants to ride it again. Ever." Urgh to injustice!}. We had a perfect day of rides with no wait times, delicious lunch at Pecos Bills, watching the midday parade in the shade atop the train station, a delightful meal at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and his friends, and ended with the evening parade and fireworks. Miraculously, there were no meltdowns, no tantrums and all happy people (except Splash Mountain incident). Cheesy as it sounds, it truly is magical...

On Main Street USA in front of Cinderella's Castle! Yay! We're here!

First Dumbo ride of the day

Clearly, a little excited!

In Pooh's new house (the new interactive wait area is AMAZING. Leave it to Disney to make you want to wait in line!

On the carousel!

With Woody and Jessie!! (thanks, Mom, for waiting in that line!)

Rockin' the ears.

Precious boy who totally astounded us with his patience and ability to "roll with it". He's happily waiting for dinner.

Jack was absolutely petrified of the characters. He had a death grip on whomever was holding him and screamed. Tiger being the exception (and it didn't hurt that I was in between them!)

Last Dumbo ride of the day...Chris was holding a spot to view the parade and Mom and Dad were riding Thunder Mtn Railroad again (they let us ride Space Mtn, then it was shut down and they didn't get to ride).

Tinkerbell flying from the castle.

So I mentioned we left our hotel at 7:30 am. We got back at 11:15 pm! The big kids totally passed out after the parade.

On the other hand, this guy can hang! Geesh! Happy baby until the very end {the "very end" being when we threw them all in the tub upon returning to the hotel. It was three very loud, very distinctively different cries at once. Sad...but kinda comical too.}.

Friday my parents went to Hollywood Studios while we relaxed at the resort. It was weird being at Disney for a whole day without them. The kids asked constantly where Nana and Poppy were. :) We played at the pool in the morning then Chris took the boys back for naps while Anna-Kate and I played. Today was the day she turned a HUGE corner--she is now swimming! This is a huge accomplishment for her and we are so proud! When we returned to the room around 4:15 (after getting there at 10:30 that morning!) I felt Ryan's head and he was on fire. As I always travel with their thermometers (and thankfully, with motrin!) I took his temperature and found him to have 103.7. Yowza! We gave him some motrin {waited for it to kick in} then grabbed a quick dinner and visited the flamingos. He seemed to be feeling better {I think part of it was just too much sun exposure} so they played on the playground a few minutes.

Watching Toy Story

Lunching poolside

Bathing beauty!

The awesome kids' play area!

YUM

Flamingos

After dinner we went back to the pool (and play area) for a little while for our final swim and so Anna-Kate could show Chris what she had learned that day. Way to go, Anna-Kate!

The kids watching old school (ie, what I grew up watching on Saturday mornings!) Mickey Mouse cartoons. They were completely tickled watching Pluto that morning as I checked out.

Our tradition has become to eat breakfast at O'hana our last morning (YUM. Feel like I've written that a lot...) and then take a boat ride around the seven seas lagoon and get one last Dole whip before heading home. I'm such a sucker for tradition and special memories!

Happy Anniversary!

Goodbye, Mickey! See you next year!

8 years

2011-06-07T16:28:00.002-04:00

Today, 8 years ago, I married my best friend. I love you Chris! You are an amazing father, husband and loyal friend. I couldn't have asked for more! I am so thankful for you and feel so blessed to be your wife! Here's to many more!

Disney recap, the 2011 edition

2011-06-06T15:32:00.005-04:00

We just got back from another magical week at Disney! This year we stayed at Kidani village, a part of the Animal Kingdom lodge. We looked out our window at this:

My kids were in heaven! As always, the food was amazing, the pool was so awesome, the week went by waaaay too fast, and the memories {and subsequent 300+ pictures} we made are precious! Per usual, we drove away not ready to leave, shedding a few tears, and dreaming of next year.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures, more to come later.

All of us in front of Cinderella's Castle

My three little mice. :)

On the beach at the Polynesian, post luau. Precious!

Our annual picture by the water fall in the Great Ceremonial House (Jack missed the memo to open his eyes. Sigh).

Checking out the flamingo bed at the Animal Kingdom. My kids were content to watch them for a solid 20 minutes {that's eons in little kid time}.

A fancy party, indeed!

2011-05-27T23:50:00.010-04:00

Well, my girl is FIVE and we celebrated in a posh manner (that's a fancy word for fancy). Anna-Kate is crazy about Fancy Nancy books. Nancy is a little girl who adores all things fancy, French and abhors the ordinary. She uses flamboyant vocabulary and is such fun! It was the obvious choice for our soiree (that's fancy for party). Traditionally, at least half of the invited guests can't attend (see previous post on May being busier than December). Imagine my surprise (and delight, just a little fear at first, ha!) when 15 friends affirmed their attendance! Thankfully my parents and our dear friends stayed to help our parent/child ratio a bit. :) Per usual, I was a bit more ambitious in my planning than five year olds evidently like for a party. Sigh.

We did some crafts, ate, (Chick-fil-a nuggets, fruit, pretzels and strawberry lemonade) had cake, attempted our games {which flopped} and went straight to plan B, pull out the bounce house--STAT! We squeezed in some present opening and it was a perfect party!

Setting the stage...the place settings (with bejeweled flatware and fancy flower straws--thank you, dollar store!).

The centerpiece. We used some more boas and mom (the master gardener) fixed the arrangments. As I don't have 5 matching bud vases we went for what I do have five of, wine glasses. I think they turned out perfect!

Ooh la la! The cake! Tres chic! :)

Despite looking like the leaning tower of Pisa, it was actually straight, unlike my camera, evidently.

The boas displayed (to be used for our game).

Peppermint white chocolate lollipops for favors (with their fancy accessories)

Fruit kebabs

At the fancification (that's a word, right?) stations...they took turns decorating crowns with jewels and coloring wands (both for the "pretty princess" game we played later).

Decorating.

Poor guys. We were a bit lacking in the testosterone department. Thankfully, they were perfectly dapper gentlemen. :)

This is the look she got on her face each time (ie, at school, our little family singing on her actual birthday and today) all eyes were on her to sing "Happy Birthday".

Takes a big breath to get all of those candles out!

All of the party go-ers.

"I'm a whole hand Mama!" (and a big thank you to Mimi and Oompa for the fanciest of all Fancy Nancy dresses!)

I'm not gonna lie, when the party ended, I was exhausted. But, it was all just lovely, the girls were on their best behavior and Anna-Kate had a wonderful time. So, I'll call it a success!

I'm alive!

2011-05-25T13:58:00.001-04:00

(where you doubting it with the lack of posts?)

I've said it before and I will say it again...May is crazier than December. End of the year ballet, soccer and school pics to come, along with THE party! ;)

Side note, excited to try out my blogger for iPhone. Does this make me a dork?

A whole hand

2011-05-18T22:58:00.006-04:00

Gulp. She's five. I may or may not have cried {if I were you I would lean more towards the latter half of that statement).

Last night was a little rocky, but we rallied. I baked cupcakes for her school party today. Despite baking them the smallest amount of time recommended, they bottoms burned. Since I couldn't very well tell the 5 year old to tear off and throw away half of their cupcake, I scratched the idea of cupcakes (after icing and decorating them, of course) and made a cookie cake. Then wrapped presents. Then arranged flowers. It was a late night. :)

We had a lovely day--and the weather this end of May was pristine, a breezy high 60's. We had fresh hot pink roses waiting in her room when she woke up and Anna-Kate came rushing in to our room this morning to thank us both. I had donuts, eggs, bacon and orange juice for breakfast. Both big kids (and Jack, if you count eating seconds) repeatedly told us this was their favorite (or fabrit, as the case may be) breakfast.

I took Anna-Kate to school and the boys and I came home. My mom (who shares a birthday with Anna-Kate) drove up for the day and when she arrived we drove to school to surprise her and take her cookie cake (and juice box. Healthy, I know.). Mom treated us to Chick-fil-a (what a way to spend a birthday! Thanks again, Mom) and then we came home to play and read books. For dinner, we headed to our favorite deli for dinner and then back home for presents. Leigh-Ann and the kids joined us for cupcakes (or, the tops. Seinfeld was quoted more than once) and to play outside. As she got ready for bed she said, "my belly hurts so bad. I think I need to eat vegetables and no sugar tomorrow!"

Anna-Kate, you are a blessing to us! You have a sweet, tender spirit, are sensitive to the Lord and to Truth. You bring laughter, silliness and joy to our house. I love to watch you pretend and use the imagination God blessed you to inherit from your Daddy. You love to color, you are doing so well with your writing and reading...you are growing up every day before my eyes. I am so blessed to have a daughter, but you, my precious, are more wonderful than I would have known to ask Jesus for. I love you, sweet Anna-Kate. Happy birthday!

First picture

Enjoying sweet snuggles in the hospital. [Possibly the only time ever I will be seen without any makeup on {shudder}.]

First birthday!

2nd birthday {See, time is literally flying. There is tiny Ryan!}.

Cuddling your gift, Baby Kate--maternal already! {also, wearing the first dress I ever smocked}

Big 3 year old!

The birthday girls on your 4th birthday.

A princess at her party. :)

Today...a whole hand of fingers, she's five.

Birthday girls.

Ryan wanted in on the Nana in a picture action.

***Having issues with my phone, you know, where the rest of the pictures are. Will add more tomorrow. :)

Birthday week.

2011-05-17T14:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, at the breakfast table, Anna-Kate said, "have you made your purchases yet for my birthday breakfast?" {really, these are actually the words my still-four-year-old uttered). I laughed and said not yet, then asked her what she wanted to eat on her birthday. {boy, did I get an earful!}.

"Well, I would like those donuts (the small powdered ones from the grocery) for breakfast. And you can just go ahead and color me a picture, because I very like getting cards. And you can just run to Publix and get me some fresh flowers for my room. I very like having flowers in my room." I asked what her favorite flowers were. "Pink ones. No, pink roses, those are my favorite" she said.

I said, "Ok then, where shall we go for your birthday dinner?". She responded, "well, for lunch I want to go to Chick-fil-a, but not one that is just food, I want the one that has a playground too. Then, for dinner, I'd like to go to that place we go with Mimi and Oompa (Chris' parents) that you get a sandwich and I get a big hotdog (a local deli)."

Well of course you do. Anything else your majesty? :) At the age of almost five, she has birthday week.

{In case there was any doubt, she is my daughter!}

Control {or the lack thereof}

2011-05-12T14:00:00.001-04:00

I flipped out this morning.

A couple of weeks ago a note came home from school that all of the pre-K kids would be going to a nearby (like, across the street and up a block) elementary school for an early lunch to see what it will be like for next year. My initial reaction was, "this is stupid, she isn't even going to public school next year and areyoukiddingme, you think I'm gonna let my little girl walk across the street?!?" I figured I would get a sitter for Jack and Anna-Kate and I would do something fun so she wouldn't feel jipped.

I may have kinda been anxious about it ever since, then somehow forgot about it. Until last night. When I saw the reminder paper. I hadn't done anything about it, so decided I would take her in and ask her teacher what time they would go and just pick her up early or bring her back to school afterwards.

A little history. I have serious street issues. My brother was run over by a car and killed when we were younger. He wasn't being careless, in fact, he was with my dad {Who was also not be careless. Who, actually, was holding his hand.}. I seriously have to come inside when I see kids playing in the street. I know it's probably fine as our street is pretty low traffic, but I can literally feel my heart beating through my chest when I see it. It's so bad that when my kids see people crossing the street (in the crosswalk, mind you) they say, "Look at them in the street! They are not being safe at all!" Accidents happen. My "safety bubble" has been burst. Things happen to people, not just "someone out there" and it could happen to me {again} too.

Mandy (Anna-Kate's teacher) said when they were going and instead of saying what I had planned, I started crying, or, tearing up. Poor thing, (no kids yet) I'm sure she didn't know what to think of crazy Mama! I barely choked out that I had street issues because my brother was hit by a car and then couldn't talk for a minute. She promised me that she would carry Anna-Kate across the street and text me when they got back to school. I agreed to leave her and walked away, completely embarrassed by my emotional unsteadiness. It was an act of trusting the Lord. It was step one of relinquishing control over my girl. I'm sure it sounds so silly that I was so worked up about something so small. But I was.

I sat in the car finishing my mascara (or, reapplying what had been cried off, whatever). I was secretly hoping to take a long time and that they would leave early so I could watch them cross the street. I forced myself to drive away (though couldn't even run my errands as I wanted to be close to school). I drove the way they would be walking and prayed for protection. I literally was crying out to God to calm my fears, to protect my girl, claiming the peace He promises. And He did. It washed over me. Right on time, Mandy texted me. They were back and had a fun time and all was good again.

It's all so silly, really. But is so very real. This morning on the Christian radio station, one of the dj's asked what was one thing your Mom said to you as a kid that you rolled your eyes at, but turned out to be right (and I thought, "just one?"). The most applicable of them for today was after Mark died. She said I would probably have to re-grieve his death and deal with this again when I had children of my own. I told her I certainly would not that I had dealt with it and was fine. As I am not an anxious worrier by nature, clearly, she was right.

The valley

2011-05-10T22:54:00.003-04:00

You know, today is just one of those days that makes me long for heaven.

No more tears, no more pain, no more hurt feelings, no more mis-communications, no more drama.

I'm praying for love and the ability to forgive and give others the benefit of the doubt. I need Jesus to take away my apathy. Chris wisely reminded me that I was not called to an easy life, but one of sacrifice and persecution. {Thankfully, mine isn't so much the physical kind.} Thankful tonight that God doesn't give me more than I can handle and that He promises to walk with me through the valleys.

That "mountain-top" is gonna be beautiful...

Just another day in paradise!

2011-05-09T15:24:00.004-04:00

I mean, I grew up in Texas. Are you shocked that I automatically think of country music to describe emotions? (What? Don't know that song?? Try this. Thanks, Phil Vassar!)

I had the best Mothers Day weekend! (yes, I said, weekend, not day). Chris is so amazing and tried so hard to make my Saturday special since Sunday is so busy with church. We had an early soccer game and had Chick-fil-a breakfast to start the day off, then Chris did some planting/landscaping {including my new knock-out rose!!} for me while I made bows {more on that later}. The big kids went to Target with Chris and each chose me a gift from the dollar bin (HUGE "frog eye" sunglasses from Ryan and a dishtowel with a hot pink flower from Anna-Kate). Chris also got new carseats for the boys (on the to-do list forever and they were on sale) and he even installed Ryan's without being asked! The boys took great naps and Chris and Anna-Kate went out to buy food to cook a big dinner for me. For various reasons, we ended up going out to dinner that night (yay for a "free" groupon dinner!) and had pizza at our favorite local pizza place with some live music (sidenote, I love that my kids are still in the carefree kid age of dancing freely and not caring what others think. :)).

Sunday we went to church then home for leftover pizza. Our neighbors' son was baptized, so we headed over to celebrate for a little while. I spent the rest of the afternoon making bows (Chris even ran a bow-related errand for me, now that is love!). Our friends came over for dinner and the adults sat outside enjoying the last of the spring like weather as the kids played on the bounce house. I couldn't have asked for a more lovely weekend!

So hard to get everyone looking {and smiling} at the same place at the same time...

Could they be any cuter?!?

You know, I'm human and I'm sinful (I know, the most brilliant statement I've ever made, huh?). I often forget to acknowledge how truly blessed I am. I often let the little things in my daily life annoy {or anger?} me. I truly am living the life that I dreamed I would, as a little girl. I am married to my prince Charming who loves me and provides for me and our family, I have precious children, amazing family and friends...I truly am blessed. As I reflect on the constant laundry, the mess, times of frustration and tears, and the sacrifice that children require, I am absolutely struck by how much, so very much more, I get. I don't deserve it. Thank you Jesus for gifting me my husband, these children, these days...

A "tea"

2011-05-06T22:58:00.006-04:00

Today was a special Mothers Day tea for the 4k kids and their moms at Anna-Kate's school. A friend from church (thanks, Laura!) graciously agreed to watch my boys and Leigh-Anns' girls so we could go and provide undivided attention to the big kids. We were there when the kids came down to the fellowship hall and Anna-Kate ran over, very excited to see me. She asked where the boys were and I reminded her they were home with Miss Laura. She had the biggest grin on her face the whole time we were there. She and I don't get many opportunities for concentrated one-on-one attention outside of the house. I so enjoyed our little lunch together!

As we sat at the table, I turned over Anna-Kate's placemat and saw this {I just love these things--double click to enlarge}:

We had some cake, veggies and punch {mysteriously, no tea to be found at this "tea"}. It was a sweet time with my girl. I am so thankful for her!

She says

2011-05-04T11:07:00.004-04:00

Wow, tough crowd. No comments on my first hand written note? Shame to the tens of you that read this blog! :) Guess I'll try again. Ha!

Yesterday, Anna-Kate came in wearing a skirt on her head. Clearly, her bridal veil.

I asked her to tell me a little bit about her husband and she said, "well, his name is James. He isn't a train, he's a real man (for those without little boys, James is one of Thomas the train engines' friends). He's a prince and he's tall and handsome and we are married now. So, I'm a princess now since I married him, just like the real Princess Kate, huh?" I told her that since Jesus lives in her heart that she is a real princess because she is a daughter of the King, to which she responded, "ya, but now since I'm married to Prince James I'm a really real princess here, not just in heaven."

So did not know how to follow that comment up.

***

Last night we went to our friends' house, as we rotate each Tuesday night. She and Adam are the best of friends, more like siblings or cousins than anything (Friblings, anyone?). Anyway, as they waited to use the bathroom before bed (we put the kids down in their sleeping bags for some adult time) they had a very serious conversation about today at school. They talked about what they'd do (draw). What they would draw together (a giant with 4 arms holding little guys--Adam's idea). What Adam would draw for Anna-Kate since she only likes "castles, hearts and flowers" (a princess).

Leigh-Ann and I sat in the hallway with those two and Ryan (always along for the ride when there is a social scene to crash) and just soaked it in. I walked away from that 10 minutes of staying up late so blessed. They were so sweet and genuine in their conversations and their love for each other. They were so innocent. I was struck by how often I might have missed little things like that as I put the kids to bed and rush away to do the fifty things on my to-do list. It was just precious...how long will they want us around to eavesdrop and snuggle?

Sweet times with sweet friends. :)

***

I have to add what Ryan said yesterday morning...he got up earlier than the other two (I wish I could say that was a shocking comment...) so was ready before them. He had his shoes on, tapping the floor with his foot and called to Anna-Kate and said, "Come on Anna-Kate, let's speed it up, girlfriend!". I about lost it I was laughing so hard. It's weird to hear yourself through your kids.

The power of words

2011-05-01T14:35:00.005-04:00

I am trying to be extremely intentional and cautious with my words. Words hold an amazing power--to uplift, teach and encourage or to tear down and devastate.

The other day I dropped Anna-Kate at the soccer field and told her to start playing and I'd park and be there in a minute {our friends were right there to intercept her, it wasn't dangerous. We were late, what else is new?}. I came back and she was playing with a friend on the side of the field. I called her name and she didn't hear me, so I called it louder followed with "what are you doing I thought I told you to go play your game???" {or something equally as sensitive and kind...}. The look on her face brought tears to my eyes. I had beyond embarrassed and shamed her in front of her friends, and for what? She had misunderstood me, she was not intentionally disobeying. My words absolutely cut her down. That evening I pulled her aside and told her that I was so very sorry for embarrassing her in front of her friends and for not speaking with kindness and love. She smiled and told me she forgave me and loved me. I teared up--I had an opportunity to show her love and grace {and teach about giving others the benefit of the doubt} and I blew it by raising my voice. Shame.

The next morning she handed me this note. She got help with her spelling, but this is my first note from her. I will cherish these words, simple as they are, always.

When she read me her note she said, "I love you. Love, Anna-Kate. For Mom." and added, "I did your name in pink because it's our fabrit {favorite--I just will cry when she says this right. It's one of the few things she incorrectly says} color". :)

***

Ryan keeps me laughing with the things he says. So I can remember...

"I want a peanut bluller sandwich".
"I need persmishion?" {permission}
"Get these things of of me!" {desperately wiping tears off his face. This always makes me laugh and think of Seinfeld's "salty discharge" episode. LOL.}

***

Jack is now speaking, which is thrilling. In addition to "dada" {which he has said exclusively for months, little stinker} he now appropriately says "mama", "yay", {with arms lifted up to cheer for something} "anana", (banana) "Kaaa" {long "A" sound, Anna-Kate} and he is signing "please". I'm thrilled with his progress and desperately trying not to compare him to his much more verbal siblings. :)

It finally came!

2011-04-30T16:23:00.005-04:00

So, how about the wedding of the century? Not too shabby I say. :) I loved the trees, but am perplexed by the price tag (estimated at 85k) and think it would have been most unfortunate to actually get an invite and then have the view blocked by a tree. Just sayin'. I thought the bride was gorgeous. I mean, truly beautiful. Wills is a lucky guy I'd say. I thought Camilla's pleats in her khaki coat looked like a school uniform skirt, but loved her hat. And, Oh, the hats! Such fun. Why o why can't we wear hats? To be fair, I'm not sure I could rock a fascinator, but wouldn't it be fun? Anywho.

For months, Anna-Kate has asked, almost daily, when Princess Kate is getting married. I was relieved {and excited myself} that the day finally came! We set the tivo and invited Leigh-Ann over for a girls night viewing. We sipped our fancy drinks {err, Chick-fil-a banana pudding milkshakes...} and watched the wedding.

Here is my girl, "all fancy" for the viewing (yes, she's wearing a tiara, has a scepter, large ring and a purse with her nightgown).

I am so thankful for my daughter! It was so fun to see her excitement and let her stay up late (9:50, to be exact!!!) for a special treat. She was precious.

A few of Anna-Kate's observations..."Why is Prince William such a copy-cat?" (as he repeated after the minister during the vows. I may or may not have laughed really hard). We had a great time looking at the various hats, but at the royal blue one that came to a point between the girls' eyes she said, "Oh gracious, that is just horrible isn't it?"

A few thoughts of my own...

1. The new Duchess' name is Kate, yet Catherine. This makes no sense in my head.

2. William is Wills? Why not Will?

3. Those giving the play-by-play seemed sure they were going to make it because they had lived together so long. While I too hope their marriage stands the test of time, I was troubled that they laughed off "living in sin" {their words}as old-fashioned negativity and being the obvious more practical option for establishing durability in a relationship. Sigh.

O well, it was a true fairytale to watch and I loved every second! :)

I give that a Cathy "ACK"!

2011-04-27T14:14:00.008-04:00

{A la the comic strip. SNL, anyone?}

A whole week with no blogging? Dang. Sure isn't for lack of content. So, here we go.

Anna-Kate and I dyed eggs (with the insides taken out and cleaned) to make cascarones {confetti filled eggs that one can crack over someones head. I grew up in south Texas. It is completely nostalgic for me). She really got in to it!

Ryan had his party at school on Thursday. They had an egg hunt (I believe he will be my competitive one. All of the kids ran towards the playground part looking for eggs while Ryan ran around the edge of the playground, opposite to the other kids, and scooped up tons of eggs!). The kids went inside to a yummy pizza lunch with carrots, strawberries, cookies and peeps. Guess what my son ate first. Yep, blue peep. It was fun to have my mom in town and Ryan loved having his Nana at his party (Mom and I attended a history (founding fathers) of gardening seminar the night before. Here's the history dork in me, I actually enjoyed it--but for different reasons than the rest of the gardening people there loved it).

Serious egg hunting

Excited and surprised to see Nana!

With my sweet boy!

Blue peep

Happy kids after party # 1. :)

The following day was Anna-Kate's party. I was late getting to school {for once, through no fault of my own} and missed her egg hunt, I was sad, but she seemed pretty un-phased. Not sure if that is good or not. :) We had almost the exact lunch from the day before then went home for naps before heading to church for a Good Friday service.

Ryan and Lydia praying {love his effort to keep his eyes closed}

Anna-Kate with her "buddy team", (aka best friend} Campbell.

My sweet girl.

Anna-Kate with her teacher, Ms. Mandy

Saturday morning we woke up and headed back across town for our church preschool egg hunt. We had such a great time! This is me relaxing in my old age. We've never been to the picnic because it is far away and butts up to naptime, but we did it this year and enjoyed seeing our church family in a casual atmosphere--a new annual thing for our family that won't be missed! Here's my attempt at a kid shot. Epic fail on my part...this is picture attempt number fourteen. This was also as we were leaving. Sugar high was waning and sleepiness was setting in. O well. :)

That afternoon was our neighborhood egg hunt. The kids had a great time, as always. This is Jack's first egg hunt (Chris and I had a misunderstanding so Jack missed his age group that morning. I may or may not have over-reacted over that issue. I suppose Chris was right. He wasn't forever scarred and was able to have an egg hunt experience. :) ).

With my precious "baby". {boo to growing up too fast!}

He follows directions well. Even though he doesn't speak much, if I tell him to do something, (ie, go get the egg and put it in your basket) he will.

Anna-Kate with her friend Annie.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to church early. Chris was ushering that week so we had to get there about 8:45. The worship service was beautiful and the kids behaved well (it was a "family" service--aka, no Sunday school for kids so they were in there with me...and Chris was ushering and not there, goodie. :) ). After church we headed down to my parents' house for a big family lunch.

Family picture (clearly, Ryan doesn't perform under less than ideal circumstances. Ideal circumstances defined as: him not hot.)

I bought a football cake pan a while back and decided to be "fun mom" and make an egg cake for Easter. Unfortunately, I was extremely tired Saturday night (or at least I will chose to blame tiredness) and put peppermint extract instead of {clear} vanilla extract into my icing. In Chris' words, "wow, it tastes like Crest". So, threw it away and had to make new icing and decorate the thing at my parents' house day of. Not how I like to roll, but the kids' appreciated it and I thought it turned out cute.

Ready for an egg hunt!

I told the big kids to leave all of the yellow eggs for Jack. I filled his with goldfish and he couldn't have been happier as he sat there eating his treats as the big kids ran around gathering all 1 million eggs (I totally "re-gifted" the eggs from egg hunts from the past few days. I mean seriously, how much candy does a kid need?).

She is great at finding the "hard" to find eggs.

Ryan was only interested in blue and orange eggs (not "girl" ones) until he saw Anna-Kate had twice as many as him. :)

I could positively eat him up!

I admit to slight bias, but I don't know that I have seen a more beautiful baby--I am crazy about this boy! :)

My cousin, Philip, is a senior and plays baseball. My parents' took the kids to one of his games when they had them a couple of weeks ago and Ryan has been obsessed with baseball ever since. Here they are looking through baseball pictures with him--this is HUGE for Anna-Kate as she usually has nothing to do with boys/men! And, in fact, they both requested to sit next to Philip at dinner...lucky guy, had a kid on each side. I'm not sure he was impressed with his honored status. :) ha!

.

Soakin' it up!

2011-04-20T21:55:00.005-04:00

These warmer days and absolutely perfect nights that we've been blessed with lately have been wonderful! We have been spending hours outside on walks, playing in the backyard, coloring with chalk on the sidewalk, and pitching the baseball to Ryan (he refuses to use a "T"--only live pitch for him, and he's good!). I could sit outside on the patio and watch my kids enjoying each other, creation and simple imaginative play for hours--it's been such a blessing and a joy!

I got the camera out on Sunday evening. Ryan would hit the ball and run around the playground, clockwise. I finally stopped him mid-run and told him to run the other way (call me a sucker for the details...) and he looked right at me and said, "On it. Winning." Chris and I both lost it--we were laughing so hard. He gets a big kick out of counting his strikes, noting "taps", does his arms like an ump for safe and giggles when I say in a loud deep voice, "you're ooooout!"

Swing, batter!

Gracious! How handsome is he?? I could just eat him up!

Ryan's biggest fan. {Her words: "I'm a cheerleader-go team, go, go team!"}

I said smile as she was watching Ryan play, and in one swift movement she turned to face me, tilted her head and smiled. I guess I've trained her well... :) So much for an un-posed picture...

Daddy lovin's!

I sure love these boys!

So happy...especially when he's walking/climbing exploring. He thinks he is such big stuff when he does things the big kids do. :)

I love how my kids play together so well--we really try to emphasize their relationships as "best friends" with high importance. Clearly, Anna-Kate is loving carrying Jack around like a {live} baby doll, and he enjoys it. Bliss.

I've got another "all boy". He loves trains, cars, and sports--but especially baseball and basketball!

Yep, still smiling as he high-tails it across the yard!

Thank you, Jesus, for these days. These are glimpses of heaven and I pray I never forget or lose sight of these simple little things. These truly are the sweet and interesting moments of my life.

How do I KNOW?

2011-04-15T14:51:00.004-04:00

{And here I go being all transparent again. And long-winded, very long-winded.}

I think one of the hardest things is trying to figure out what the right decision is. When we're younger, the decisions are relatively harmless, (where to go to college) but the stakes get higher as we age.

I had my heart broken years ago, so when I decided to start dating Chris, it was with much prayer and after years of friendship. For those who don't know, Chris broke up with me for a time (not a "we're on a break" but "we're done, forever" kinda thing). I was devastated. Prior to the breakup I just knew I was going to marry him. When we broke up I started questioning how I would ever really know anything again. I had so strongly felt the Lord leading me into this relationship that I was blindsided by the break up and left reeling. That 10 months that we were broken up ended up being a really sweet time in my life. I threw myself into my school work, {college} invested in relationships with my dearest girlfriends, went on a few dates, but mostly I desperately sought the face of God. I was floundering and that year the Lord showed me that He loves me and will always care for me and my needs. Clearly, we got back together, and our relationship is that much stronger and sweeter because of the time apart. God grew us so much as individuals and showed us His will so very clearly. It was as if I appreciated Chris even more knowing that I almost didn't get to marry him and knew how much I would be missing out on.

As a Christian it is often something I pray, "Your will be done". When the rubber meets the road, however, I am a type-A who likes to be in control of life (both mine and those around me). It's been a while since we've gone through something where we have struggled so intensely to find the will of the Lord. We have had the opportunity to, once again, earnestly seek the will of the Lord and be tested as we have waited for Him to show us His plan for our family.

Last October began the investigation into kindergarten. Honestly, I had heard parents talking about how stressful it was and I thought it was a little crazy to let yourself get so stressed over "silly little kindergarten". For the past few years we had planned to send Anna-Kate to the kindergarten at her current preschool; it is half-day (which I love) and cheap (and I also love that). I felt that to do my due diligence, I should look around at other schools for a 1st grade plan. Leigh-Ann and I toured school after school (after school...) and each one felt not quite right, including her current school. I just didn't have a peace in my heart. Homeschooling was also an option for us, and something I have been praying about for quite some time, but I still continued to search. I had heard wonderful things about a school that is just a few miles from our house, but honestly didn't think we could afford it. I found out they actually offer money to families they think are a good fit for their school. Chris and I prayed about it and priced it out before we stepped foot on campus (assuming it would be beautiful and wonderful and not wanting to do that to ourselves if it couldn't work for us). We prayed about it and decided to take a tour. I left in tears, it was perfect, everything I had (very specifically) prayed for, and more. I felt the Lord pulling my heart to entrust our precious girl to this school for kindergarten. We went through the entire application process, (which included IQ testing, a long application for us and an observation/interview of Anna-Kate) financial aid process, and eagerly awaited the day the letter was to arrive. We prayed, a lot, and truly felt like we were on the path that the Lord had for our family. I truly wasn't worried about getting in, despite the fact that there were 55 applicants trying to get in to the one new class they were opening, I was concerned with the money situation, but ultimately felt like we were following the Lords will and that it would be taken care of.

I opened the acceptance letter and read that we would not be getting any money. I think I stopped breathing, knowing that we just couldn't do it with two more kids and me staying at home. I was crushed, and once again I cried out to the Lord, "why, Lord? Why would you let me go through this process and get my hopes up? Why did you let me believe this was Your will for us? How will I know Your will? We so strongly felt You as we made this decision, why?". I spent the Saturday (day I received the paperwork) and Sunday physically sick. I was worried about the future, I felt so not connected to the Lord, like I had missed something big time.

It turns out that we had made a mistake. I called and talked with the school, honestly expecting nothing--it just felt better to know there was a mistake (can't explain that one, it just did). The lady told me she was sorry about the mistake and that she would look at it, but that they had already over promised money and there just wasn't any money left. The same lady called back the next morning and said that she had spoken to the "higher powers" and they had some money to offer our family.

Upon reflection, it was a similar set of emotions as what I had experienced after the break up. The Lord again revealed Himself to us--showed us His love and provision. We just had to wait. I will tell you, the waiting made the end result a little bit sweeter. I dropped off our contract and had such a joyful peace in my heart. I am so thankful for a Father who looks after me and continually shows Himself, and His love, to His children.

Bees, beware!

2011-04-13T14:30:00.002-04:00

Defender of fair damsel in distress (Anna-Kate, quite fearful of bees).

His comment after lots of sound effects and running around the backyard swinging his bat: "AHA! Those bees ran away from me with their wings!"

Love this boy!

Thoughts on the weekend

2011-04-12T16:17:00.003-04:00

California pictures coming...along with my parents' pictures of their time with the kids. However, I've been thinking. {So, here goes stream of consciousness.}

Chris and I visited a winery/vinyards on Saturday. We ran in to so many couples who went wine tasting most weekends. Don't get me wrong, we had a lovely time, but I left a little sad. As we talked, Chris pointed out that how you spend "free" or weekend time, is where your passion is. We had a lovely, casual brunch with multiple refills of coffee, walked around Carmel and then saw a couple of wineries. But by early afternoon we were wishing we had an earlier flight home since we missed our kids and felt like we were missing out on our family day (that we typically jealously guard).

How often is the way we spend our time used in such a way that it truly counts? I am not arguing that time away with a spouse, visiting a winery, yard work or any of the other ways we spend our Saturdays are bad, but it made us both more aware of fleeting time and that relationships are the most important thing--they won't wait.

That's all. Pictures soon. :)

Airport Woes

2011-04-08T19:12:00.004-04:00

Traveling on Wednesday should have been seamless. I mean, really, the last time I flew it was with two young kids and no Chris. This was cake (especially since I packed most of my stuff in Chris' suitcase so I just had one carry-on!).

Anyway, I got to the airport early (thinking that I would have to wait forever since I didn't have my stroller {which is a magic "ticket to the front of the line", fyi}. I breezed through relatively quickly and was making mental plans to have a burger at Chilis while I passed the time. I got the lady who had been at work too long and asked me to take off my cardigan. I looked at her and told her I wasn't interested in wearing a lacy cami without my cardigan on top. So she gave me a full body pat down...and was quite thorough. After, she said, "pull your sleeves down". After the frisking I had just received I decided to throw in the towel and take my cardigan off, and she said, "NO, I said your sleeves not your shirt. Am I not speaking English today or what?" I looked at her with wide eyes and she said, "no really, not sarcastic, am I not speaking English because clearly I am not communicating with you." Wow. Finally got past her and then was pulled out of the line as my purse had to be more closely inspected. I wasn't worried, I am always the random search. Always. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to take my swiss army knife off my keychain. {this would be the one I bought in Switzerland after my junior year of highschool with my friends, right before I moved across the country for my senior year. I was really sad as it's been a staple on my keychain for lo these many years.} She then pulled out my bottle that Leigh-Ann gave me when I had Jack. She had his name put on it and there was purell in there. She said that it was 6 oz and would need to be thrown away. At that point, I started crying. I'm really not proud of that fact, but I did. She asked if there was sentimental significance and I told her the whole story about moving before my senior year and that knife that I bought etc and that my friend gave me that purell when my baby was born. Then, my voice cracked. I am mortified just writing this down. She looked at me like I was completely an emotional liability. Since she found the knife she had to throw it away but she told me I could go find someone who dropped me off to give my bottle to. I just shook my head that no one was there. Poor woman, took my bottle, dumped the purell out, washed it out, then refilled it with her own purell as I sat there trying to pull myself together. As she handed it back and smiled, her kindness brought tears to my eyes...I said, "I know you see all kinds, I just didn't think I would be one of them." She gave me a nervous laugh and a pat on the back.

Geesh. Clearly, I needed some sleep.

The trip wasn't amazing. I was seated next to a woman with no concept of personal space (nor did she possess the ability to not rip 'em every two seconds...). It was a looong flight, that left an hour late. But, I was thankful that the kids weren't there. It was a problem free trip and I am OK a few hours short on sleep, the kids would have had a lot harder time with that. :)

Renewed energy

2011-04-07T12:53:00.003-04:00

I try really hard to never wish away even one moment, because I know that I will look back one day {probably not too far in the future} and long for the "simple" days when my kids were young and constantly wanted my attention. It's very hard sometimes. If you know me (or casually read this blog) you know that March was a loooong month for us. Between sickness, school stuff, {planning for, waiting on decisions, and all of the emotions that come with that plus thinking about my first baby being big enough for kindergarten--but that is for a future blog post. Intriqued?} and Chris' business travel, I was happy to see March end and a new month begin. Just call me a sucker for a clean slate {or calendar, as the case may be}.

Anyway, I feel very blessed. The Lord promises not to give us more than we can handle, and I definately was feeling pushed to the breaking point last weekend. Thankfully, Chris had another business trip to Monterey, {CA} but since it was a conference, {ie no late nights working for a client} we decided to use skymiles for me to fly out for the last half of his trip. My parents graciously offered to keep the kids so I could come and the kids would get to have a fun spring break with their Nana and Poppy. I woke up a few minutes before 8 this morning, but really 11 eastern time. I wasn't sure if I should relish the rested feeling or feel like a slacker. I went with the former. :) Chris headed off to his meetings and I watched GMA in bed, then moved to the comfy chair by the window overlooking the pool as I sipped my starbucks {feel free to hate, but just for a minute}. The forcast called for rain in the morning and storms in the afternoon {of course, I always bring the rain!} so I headed out to Carmel for a morning of window shopping, walking on the beach and searching for the perfect place to eat lunch. Rough life, I know. :) I walked down to the beach {which, Pacific coast beaches are eerily near hiking for me. The fact that I walked 1 mile each way almost took away from my enjoyment, but it was so beautiful, despite the fact that I was freezing). I enjoyed walking in the stores in the area and found a yummy place to eat lunch (and love the "California" aspect of a sandwich here...these people seem to like avacado as much as I do!). After lunch the temperature dropped enough that I got a coffee to stay warm and still couldn't stop shivering. So, I've come full circle and am sitting in the big comfy chair overlooking the pool with a coffee. Bliss. Thinking about hitting the hot tub. Or maybe a trip to Target to get something warm to wear tomorrow.

Cross-stitching

2011-04-01T11:45:00.006-04:00

I have a lot of {possibly random, unrelated} thoughts in my head these days.

For starters, I really should look into cross stitching a pillow with the words, "I am the Mommy. I have to win. I will be consistent" onto a pillow for a little daily {err, minutely} reminder.

It's funny {in the ironic, not 'haha' kinda way} how God provides such immediate opportunities to try out what He teaches. We have always told our children that obedience is "first time, quickly and with a joyful heart" but felt that we really needed to drive home the quickly aspect. So for the last week we've really been harping on the fact that if all three components of obedience are not there, it is in effect, disobedience--and disciplining as such {Did I mention Chris was out of town this week. Ya, it's been a long week. Lucky dog also missed out on the good times of putting eye drops in Ryans' eyes. Oh itissogoodtoseeyouFriday!}. Anyway, we were talking with our friends last night about our renewed vigor in this arena and, wouldn't you know it, Ryan gave me the opportunity to follow through this very morning. Let's just say, it took me 45 minutes to put Ryan's clothes on and get to school. An endeavor that generally takes about 12-15 total {Did I mention I was exhausted?}. I welcome all prayers for patience and grace {for me} and a break through to my precious strong willed sons' heart. As I drove Anna-Kate to school, I was seething. We were late, I was forced to do the preschool "walk of shame" (walk her in after missing carpool) and I was physically, emotionally and Spiritually depleted. I was angry with Ryan. In fact, I told him to sit in his carseat and think about the discipline he had coming to him {because I couldn't discipline him in love at that moment}. I didn't want to listen to the traffic report so I put Anna-Kate's church Easter {choir} music in. I heard these lyrics and just cried.

"...Cause when we see You we find strength to face the day, in Your presence all our fears are washed away... Hosanna! You are the God who saves us...worthy of all our praises..."

I need the Lords daily renewing mercies, grace and strength to face each day. Motherhood simply makes me more tangibly aware of that fact.

***

Last week the women leadership in our church sponsored a dinner for the ladies to bring unbelieving friends that we have been praying for. It was a great dinner, fun fellowship and a fantastic speaker. The speaker shared her testimony and as she was sharing the first Bible verse she ever heard to a silent room, the wait staff turned up rap music (in the kitchen in the back) so loud that I literally couldn't hear a word she was saying. A few minutes later she was sharing a different Scripture and someones phone rang, sending almost everyone diving for their purses to turn it off. Finally, moments before she prayed for those who didn't yet know and love the Lord a girl left {and all eyes followed her} and she *happened* to walk back in during the crux of the prayer. It was jaw dropping, the spiritual warfare that took place that night. Clearly, the Lord was moving and doing big things! Very exciting!

Kidisms

2011-03-30T16:19:00.007-04:00

Anna-Kate: (came up behind me and said) "Boo! Did you see me coming?"
Me: "No, I didn't see you!"
AK: (in utter shock and disbelief) "But, I thought you had eyes on the back of your head?"

***

Ryans prayer last night: "Dear God, thank you for my Mommy, Daddy, family, me and my lamby. AAAAA-men."

***

AK: "I'm a callerpiller." {scooching on floor}. "Now I'm am in my cocoon {wrapped in blanket on floor." "Look Mommy, I hatched. Now I"m a beautiful monarch butterfly. Did you know that monarch butterflies are the biggest butterflies in North America? They are. I better watch out for birds, because birds eat butterflies. Did you know that Mommy?"

2011-03-30T16:19:00.003-04:00

The stats

2011-03-29T14:34:00.003-04:00

I took Jack in for his 12 month well baby {what a joke!} today. In addition to discovering that he has another double ear infection, (no surprise there) he has also lost 1 1/2 lbs in the last month. I think it's a combination of eating less, being sick and being so very active. She wasn't too concerned, but we are going back in two weeks for a weight/ear check. It's always something, I guess.

He is 19.8 lbs, (10%) 28 in. (10%) and 47 1/2 head (92%). LOL, another "little and smart" one. :) He took his shots pretty well and is just chilling, despite the extremely bad ears. She wanted to move him up in the antibiotic world, but I asked if we could try amoxicillan again. Fingers crossed that it works!

I told my pediatrician about our month and asked for another pink eye prescription since there has been a lot of waste on Ryans' eyes {in case you were wondering, of all of my kids the 4 year old and 1 year old take the drops well--the newly 3 year old is the hands down hardest to put eye drops in. In fact, I have to sit on his chest using my knees to hold his hands down and head from moving..}. I had to laugh when she wrote me a prescription with three refills so everyone could have their own. Only other reportable news is this annoying keep them rear-facing in the carseat until age two business. Our carseat goes until 30 lbs so I will keep him rearfacing until that point (which, if he follows his siblings, will be quite a while...) but I just feel bad for him. The statistics are staggering though, 75% less likely to have a spinal injury if rear facing. With those stats I couldn't in good conscious turn him to the front. O well. :)

It continues...

2011-03-28T10:20:00.002-04:00

Ryan walked into my room this morning a few minutes before 8.

R: "Look Mommy, my eye is crying!"
Me: "Inconceivable! You have pink eye!" {why I was shocked at this point, I'm not quite sure}.
R: "I a boy, I not have pink eye, I have green eye."
Me: "Sadly, you have both at this point."

***

I've almost finished my second bottle of Lysol spray this month. My toys have never been cleaner and I'm exhausted. This is a pink eye super bug, evidently. So I, for one, cannot wait for the month of March to end. We have only had seven days since February 22 that someone hasn't been sick in our house...It has to end soon, right?

Jack turns ONE!

2011-03-26T15:19:00.001-04:00

What?!? My baby is a year old? Say it ain't so!

Alas, it's true.

Chris' parents came in town last week to kick off the big birthday festivities. Friday we went out to a yummy dinner and then watched Anna-Kate's soccer game. She did a great job! We got home and Chris began smoking pork to be made into bbq while I prepped the sides (macaroni and cheese, fruit, and cakes, of course. Thanks to mom for bringing slaw and baked beans!) Saturday morning Jack woke up with (what I would be shocked to find out is not) an ear infection. He was not happy. We made the best of it singing "happy birthday" as we got him up. Chris, Mimi, Oompa and the big kids took a trip to browse Toys R Us while I did last minute party preparations. Jack woke up way early from his nap which was bad news for both my preparedness and his mood. Lunch was delicious and we were blessed to be surrounded by family (and friends who are like family). Jack ate his weight in macaroni and cheese and then shocked no one by eating {almost} the entire smash cake! He was loving his life about that moment! He took a rock-star nap and woke up in much better spirits. It began pouring rain, but despite the weather, we went out for dinner since I was DONE being in the kitchen! We went to our two favorite pizza places and both were at max capacity from multiple parties, so ended up at IHOP for Jack's birthday dinner. At least kids eat free, right? :)

The cake table:

Family pictures, pre-bbq sauce :)

Mommy, Daddy and the big birthday boy!

The big kids felt they needed to join in. :)

It only took one look at the cake {that didn't immediately get snatched out of his hand}...

Making some headway...

He's all in...

Chasing the goodness with some cold milk. :)

Opening presents (post-bath):

Enjoying his new book:

Ryan with his Poppy {total trooper who sat with an iced foot all day after having surgery the day before!}

Papa, Anna-Kate, Ryan and my dad.

This picture makes me laugh! Anna-Kate is all into the "silly picture" now. :)

Ryan wanted in on the silly-action!

Sweet Anna-Kate and Nana picture

After festivity naps. Oompa read Ryan so many books and they fell asleep together reading about Jimmy Zangwow and moonpies (for the millionth time!). Ryan ate all of the attention up!

***

Happy birthday, sweet Jack. We love you so much and have been beyond blessed this first year of your life.

All grown up.

2011-03-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

In preparation for Jack's 12 month pictures, I decided to get his hair cut. It was long overdue. {like, she cut two inches of straight, not at all curly, hair. Long overdue.}

He did great and sat pretty still with no tears {even with the buzzer!}. At first he was a bit wiggly and I asked Ms. Gwen how long it takes to get used to moving targets. She replied that she'd been cutting kids' hair for over twenty years and it "ain't no thang".

The first cut {watching Toy Story in a daze}

He loved the airplane!

"AHH! I'm one!"

Taking the buzzer like a man! :)

I was trying to get him to look down under the airplane so she could buzz his neck. Cutie pie!

All done! Such a handsome boy.

With my big boy!

***

{an iphone picture of the picture}

Fun out of the mundane

2011-03-22T10:34:00.004-04:00

In an effort to establish fun {sometimes silly} traditions, I attempt to make a big deal out of even the smallest holidays. :) Anna-Kate had been learning about St. Patrick's Day at school {and woke up every day for a week saying, "I have to wear green today or I get a pinch!!!" Ha.}. So, I woke up extra early that Thursday (and was quite thankful that no one happened to be sick on that day in March...) and made a special breakfast. I made green banana pancakes, dyed their milk green and green eggs {and ham}. I felt like Dr. Seuss as I was making it as all I heard was, "I don't like green eggs and ham, just yellow eggs" from a certain almost-five-year-old, but when I served breakfast, there wasn't a bit of food left. I'd call that a success! :)

Only green thing Jack owns (can you tell I don't do "gender neutral" clothes...especially given people's confusion over his pretty little face?) and the first time I've ever put jeans on Ryan. Sniff, he's growing up.

Sick

2011-03-21T10:34:00.006-04:00

Hopefully, when we are all well someday (I know it's gonna happen, right?) I will look back at this time and truly appreciate the goodness that is health. So I can remember:

Whole month of February and March-Chris has hacking cough
February 22-Jack, double ear infection
March 4-Anna-Kate, pink eye (both eyes).
March 6-Ryan, threw up
March 8-Chris, pink eye
March 11-Jack, threw up
March 12-Me, something got massively screwed up with my back (in bed--still ongoing, just not in bed)
March 13-Anna-Kate, fever
March 15-Ryan-not acting himself, had to pick him up early from school.
March 18-Me-I got Chris' cough finally.
March 18 and 19-Ryan, croup and stridor. Had his steroids both days.
March 20-Anna-Kate-threw up and fever
Jack-double pink eye, suspected ear infection
March 21-Jack-fever

***

Choosing to believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Choosing to be thankful for extra snuggles from sick littles. Choosing to be thankful for a really clean house as all toys have been bleached, all surfaces bleached and the whole house lysoled about 15 times this month (how are these germs surviving?!?!?!?).

I'm tired.

Even though...I'm thankful

2011-03-18T10:38:00.005-04:00

Even though today would mark hospital trip number four (this winter) for Ryan, {his croup/breathing issues} I am so thankful for the steroids that make him better (enough to stay home). (*Bonus, Jack was deemed to have "the best lungs I've heard in weeks" by our pediatrician--yippee!)

Even though I've done upwards of 20 loads of laundry in the last week and a half (2 different people with pink eye, a kid with fever, and 2 who threw up) I am so thankful that I have an awesome washing machine and drier that make my life easier.

Even though there is constantly something in my house that {desperately} needs cleaning, I am so thankful that we have a house and for a daughter who loves to help, often asking what chores she can do to help our family.

Even though my back hurts, I am so thankful for a husband who has bent over backwards to help me and lighten my load.

Even though my days are often long, tedious and filled with "being consistent" I am beyond blessed and thankful for the children that take my time, that I can stay home with them and that Chris absolutely supports our decision for me to do so.

Really? Already?

2011-03-16T17:22:00.002-04:00

This morning I threw some cheerios at Jack, as I do every morning (and by "threw" I mean I put a handful on his tray). He ate one, then I noticed him look at the other two kids' breakfasts. He saw Ryan eating instant oatmeal (his fav) and immediately pushed his cheerios away (not off the tray--yay--he's learning!) and pointed at Ryan's bowl, then signed "eat". Seriously? I tried to entice him to the yumminess of dry cheerios by putting one in his mouth for him and he pushed his lips together so hard I couldn't get it in. I pulled out a bowl and asked him if he wanted oatmeal and he {excitedly} signed more. {Guess I should be thankful for communication?}

Ugh. Not even one yet and is not only a picky eater but knows exactly what he wants? Geesh. I don't know that I'm ready for that!

A long time comin'

2011-03-12T11:06:00.008-05:00

So, Ryan turned three {horrible it took me this long!}.

A quick Ryan recap.

BIRTHday:

Announcement picture:

Age 1:

Age 2:

Age 3:

***

We went to his well baby last week and he is 31 lbs (50%) and 36" (40%). Ryan absolutely is the cuddler of all three kids and I treasure the way he curls up into my lap, pats my back and just snuggles. He is very independent (we're in the "I do it" stage. Sigh.) and extremely strong willed. I keep telling myself (and fervently praying) that this is a good trait. Once the Lord gets his heart, our prayer is that Ryan is a strong fighter for the Lord. He doesn't care what other people think and know what he wants (both good traits, just still tweaking that...). :) Ryan is the entertainer, the life of the party and I have yet to find someone he cannot weasel his way into their hearts. I truly believe that God gave him a little extra helping of cute to cover his naughtiness. He doesn't meet a stranger he won't speak to, loves to laugh and all of his little friends stop what they are doing and say "Ryan's here!" when he goes to school. (So cute!) I absolutely cannot believe he is three! We sure do love you buddy!!

Sound Bites

2011-03-11T11:05:00.002-05:00

AK: "I see the sun {finally}! Oh no, it's gone again."
R: "The sun needs more batteries to blow those clouds away!"
Ak: {sighs, deep breath} "Ryan, the sun doesn't have a spot for batteries!"

***

Ryan: {pretend playing in his carseat, holding no toys} "Well hello Pwuto {Pluto}, I'm pweased {pleased} to meet you."

***

{I called to Ryan}
R: "what?"
Me: "Ryan, what do you say when Mommy calls your name?"
R: "Umm, I'm sorry?"
Me: "well, generally that is also appropriate...but no, you say, 'yes ma'am'".
R: "Oooooh." {Please, like that is new information}

***

{while playing with his trains, by himself, I hear}
Ryan: "aww nut. That what Donald (duck) say Thomas"
Me: "Ryan, the saying is "aww nuts".
Ryan: "OOOOh, ok Mommy. Aww nut. Ssssss."

The zoo

2011-03-09T20:48:00.002-05:00

{and all of the non-animal things we do}

Carousal

The boys playin' the drums!

My day, as told by Ryan

2011-03-07T15:41:00.004-05:00

"The sun woke me up Mommy" {a little early}

Me: "Ryan, when Mommy tells you to do something, but you want to do something else, what do you do?"
Ryan: "What I want to do."
{enter teaching opportunity, and deep breaths}

{a few minutes later}
Ryan: "I no want spankings! Daddy told me he doesn't like spanking me."
Me: "I don't like spanking you either Ryan."
Ryan: "well then just don't".

{just when I think I'm gonna lose it}
"I want to cuddle you and me on the blue rocker Mama." {snuggles in} "I love you Mommy."

***

With slight variation, wash, rinse repeat for most of my day, most days. But, I love him and wouldn't trade him for the world!

How do you spell love?

2011-03-06T15:41:00.004-05:00

As I drove to church this morning I heard a mother of five speaking on the radio about time management. Naturally, my ears perked up, as I feel like I'm barely holding it together with three at times. Her (abbreviated) thoughts:

I cannot be all things to all people. All I know is that I am the only wife my husband has and I need to be all the wife he needs and that I am the only mother my kids have and I need to fully be their mother. What fits besides that is icing. What doesn't fit I pray through and help those needing pieces of me to find someone else to serve instead.

Seems to be a running theme to anyone speaking about time management, especially where young children are concerned. Learning to say "no" and realizing that life consists of seasons. What can be a wonderful thing (be it personally or for the Kingdom) simply might not be good at all for me in my current season. Another nugget I took from a blog I read said, "little children spell love like this, T-I-M-E." Oh, how true that is!

Mileage off the insurance card

2011-03-05T20:20:00.002-05:00

Well. Gracious, it's been a week (or two).

Last week Jack had his double ear infection and we missed Ryan's well baby. Friday was his "makeup" appointment. Jack had been pulling on his ear all week, but I am so cheap I didn't take him in to pay an extra co-pay so waited to kill two birds with one stone. {shrugs} Good news, his ears were clear. Hallelujah! Ryans appointment went really well. He's moved up to just shy of 50% in weight and is hanging steady at 25% in height. Evidently, there are no shots at the 3 year well baby so off we went (with a really happy Ryan). I was depositing some checks at the bank (that shares a parking lot with my pediatrician--love it!) when I got a call from my doctor. Evidently there is some booster to something he got as a baby because more strands of whatever it was have developed. She asked us to swing back in for his shot. {enter loud protests and tears by the boy}. We circled back in and were quickly in and out and on our way home to watch Toy Story (bribe, err, reward for being brave). I know, I know, if we were still at Kaiser my blood would be boiling. Whatever, we'll call it strike one for current pediatrician. She had bonus points already for a) being awesome and b) changing the wording on my billing to save us about $300 (for getting the splinter out of Anna-Kate's foot).

The day progressed like any other until I went in to read Anna-Kate her story towards the end of quiet play time. She had a HUGE eye booger which I wiped away. About 10 minutes later, there was another one. I immediately wondered if it was pink eye, but her eyes looked normal, so I dismissed it (with a hopeful heart). Sure enough, about 45 minutes later it was there again and this time she commented that her eyes were itching {of course they were, it was after 5 now}.

For the first time, I utilized the Saturday hours our pediatrician offers (because they wouldn't just give me a prescription over the phone since I didn't know someone who had directly infected her. They cited it was possibly a different type of eye infection. It wasn't.). Doctor walked in and announced, from five feet away, "well, I know what's wrong with you!". Yep, pink eye in both eyes. Let me tell you, 3 times a day for a week is not going to be fun. And, bonus, if she cries, I have to do it again because she cries them out. So, needless to say, it's been a long day as I've followed her around spraying lysol on everything she passes by (all the while saying "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!") and doing laundry. Lots and lots of laundry (basically, anything she's come in contact with in the last 48 hours. I am determined for this not to spread throughout the family!!!). Bless her heart, she went to her room crying today because she thought she was in trouble and that no one wanted to be around her; breaks my heart. :(

Thankful that tomorrow begins a new week. :)

The bottom line

2011-03-04T16:12:00.003-05:00

My kids love to eat out. I don't know if it's a) a result of my cooking (hope not!) or b) it's just fun and often doesn't contain veggies. Either way, most days I get asked by someone if we can eat at a restwant. Today was no exception. On our way home from school Anna-Kate asked me where we were going to eat dinner. I told her at home. She asked why we couldn't eat out. I told her we were trying to be healthier as a family and to save money for school next year (fingers crossed). She wasn't happy with the answer, but that's all I heard about it.

For then.

During quiet rest time she asked if she could do some extra chores. This is pretty normal for her. She loves to have extra time cleaning with me, and for volunteering to do extra work we give her a little bit of money to begin teaching her about tithing, spending, saving (etc). She worked hard and I am always blessed by her helpers attitude.

At dinner she told Chris that she did extra chores today so she "could earn extra money for our family" (clearly missing the point that we pay her, thus it doesn't actually help the bottom line, but anyway). I had related the conversation to him so he asked if she was trying to save money for school next year. She responded, "No, now we have extra money to eat at restaurants, right?" Ha!