We played a little "hooky" - well, not really

Okay, on Friday we did - but I'm refusing to call it that!
Truthfully - Chayse was up Thursday night coughing quite a bit and Colton had a bit of a hard day on Thursday (the only one so far this year - yeah!) so we decided that with our busy lifestyle the kids needed a whole day off (not a Saturday when we have to leave for church at 3 - but the WHOLE DAY off!) - so we all played hooky!

Here was the highlight of the kids' day (well, the 2nd highlight - the first one I didn't get pictures of, but Daddy made GREAT pancakes for breakfast):














Eating grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup (Cars shaped) and pickles while watching new episodes (new to them) of the Backyardigans! :)
Chayse & Colton actually SHARED A CHAIR to accomplish this feat! That's a moment to treasure!

What do you do when your baby boy is lonesome?

My "baby" is 2 1/2 now and has grown quite lonesome at naptime and constantly wants to sleep in his sisters bed (which I wouldn't mind if he actually went to sleep), on my bed or in odd places in his room.

Here's his latest adventure...



















It's kind of hard to tell, but his bunk bed has little shelves next to it and his legs are under the shelf and he's curled up next to the wall (the ugly plaid thing on the left is a sheet I'm temporarily using to make his room darker so he'll go to sleep better).

All I can say is - he's mine! :)

Okay, I'll be "tagged it"...

I was tagged by Susan on her blog (prayer journal), rules as follows: I have to write 6 random things about myself. Then at the end of my entry I have to tag 6 people who HAVE to also do what I am about to do (random write). My 6 random things are…

1. As girlie as I try to be sometimes - I am still quite the tomboy at heart... I love to play outside, wear jeans and a T-shirt and just have fun!
2. I want to go to Israel someday (before we leave earth) just to see where Jesus walked.
3. At a "get-together" I'm much more apt to go and talk to any young people there (junior highers especially) over talking to adults. Bad habit - working to change it...
4. I was always nervous to have a boy (and in fact, was quite okay with just having Chayse for a long time) - but now I can't imagine my life without my boys! :) Their hair is MUCH easier to do! And, despite what people say, they are SO MUCH FUN to dress!
5. I have tried to do a blog MANY TIMES since Chayse was born (that was 9 years ago!) but this time I'm actually succeeding (so far). I think that's because of Facebook! :)
6. I really want to make a quilt someday! :)
   

I am now tagging… Melissa, Evan, (I would tag Leslie - but she doesn't have a blog) Fred (even though Susan already did), Jen House (if she ever reads this), and that's all the people that I know who blog (right now) - sorry!

The little drummer boy

Connor REALLY likes to sing/play/dance whatever to music and is actually getting good at singing a few songs. He's always loved to "bang" on the drums - but yesterday he got a little good at it... his lovely singing in the video is drowned out by his Daddy, brother and sister laughing and wrestling in the background - but watch for Connor to sing and nod his head to the music.



Here's a few stills for you as well... (don't you love the diaper attire)

I love my boys...

Before you freak out on me - I do love my girl also, but this post is dedicated to how much I love my boys!

Now understand, I grew up in a house of plenty of girls (not as many as my mom - she had 4 sisters) but I had two sister and my mom around - let's just say the estrogen count outnumbered the testosterone count any day (no matter how many boyfriends we had around) so to now be in a house where the boys outnumber the girls is always filled with so many fun boy moments. So I thought I'd share some...


My 1st boy who would literally LIVE in his "flootball shirt" and his "army shorts" - but can throw a football like a pro (4 year old - but still a pro!)















My music boy (who first of all follows his
big brother and daddy everywhere) was at church last night about 2 hours BEFORE he could go to "class" - but did he complain? No, he just took off his shoes and socks and decided to dance on the stage during band practice (there he is following Daddy's lead and watching the drummer)!!


Like I said - I love my daughter! She is the best!

But MAN, my boys are a hoot! :)

You just don't realize...

I do usually make a point to thank my Father for a lot of things in life...
but I know I can usually tend to complain about a few things as well.

Lately I've been frustrated with a few things in life - just the norm (money, obedient kids, work, whatever) and working on giving my cares over to the Lord.

Tonight I was stopped in my tracks and brought to tears... I was reading a friends blog and noticed another blog that he subscribes to and thought I'd check it out. It was the blog of a young boy (around my Connor's age) who's battling some serious battles in regards to his health. I was reading the words of his loving momma and what she's going through in trips to the hospital (she said something about being at home only 2 days this month so far), medications, wheelchairs, and dealing with doctors...

And I realized just how truly blessed I am that my children are all healthy, happy and blessed (so are her children - but I think I have an easier time seeing that instead of just believing for that) in that I don't have to deal with the things she was describing.

Thank you Lord for how TRULY blessed I am - please help me remember not to take the little things for granted. I'm blessed and happy for how wonderful, happy, healthy, and blessed my family is.

Sometimes a boy just wants his momma...

I think my son is still in the "adjustment" phase of my other two kids going back to school (either that or I ran errands too long today and COMPLETELY wore him out??).

Today, after running a few errands, it was time to come home and take a nap...

I laid him down and about 5 minutes later I heard this whining (which is usually a Connor thing for "I don't want to sleep") but then it turned into crying... which was strange? I didn't hear any "thumps"?? So I go in there to see what's wrong and he has tears and everything and he wants to sleep on his sissy's bed - of which I told him "no". Then he wanted to sleep on his floor, so I said "okay" but then he said something to the effect of "no momma, you"... which I didn't totally understand.

So I took a brave step - "do you want to sleep in Mommy's room?". "Yes." and he picked up his things and climbed up on my bed and promptly fell asleep with NO CRYING.




























Like I said - not sure if I just wore him out or if he just missed the other two being around... either way - he's still cute! Who can resist a cute boy in a diaper!!!

God is faithful!

So the other day, my hubby's sunglasses (might I add - 3 week old expensive sunglasses) disappear... which is TOTALLY NOT my husband! I think he still has the same pair around that he had when we were dating 14 years ago (not that he still wears them - but he has them... he just doesn't "lose" things)!!

So we agreed that they would be found or returned if they had been "borrowed" by some mysterious person or one of my boys on a "treasure hunt". And we know that God is faithful - just His faithfulness is a little funny to me sometimes... you'll see why.

One of the things I MOST love about my new house is this:

An "in house" vacuuming system... this is all that I have to lug around to all three levels of the house and plug in and its WONDERFUL!!

BUT!!! It's also the job my husband has "claimed" for himself to do each week... yeah for the help, but bummer that I don't get to play with the "cool toy".

Anyways... last week he didn't get the opportunity to do his "weekly chore" so as I'm pondering what I want to do today I feel this "leading" that I should vacuum the house. And I'm thinking to myself... no, that is Fred's "job" and he's off tomorrow and he'll do it then. But still this nagging thought of, "no, I should do it today". SOOO I get going and start vacuuming the house.



All is going well and working up a good sweat - when I come to vacuum my room and again, that "leading" of "vacuum under the bed"... I normally do this in my big "monthly cleaning" so its really not necessary today, but again - that leading. So I do. Which was actually VERY easy with this new system!! :)

As I do, I bump a couple of things under the bed (other than boxes which are waiting until its colder outside to finish unpacking) so I look under the bed to see what I "bumped" and look at this:














Here's a better view....



In case you couldn't tell from the picture above... that's MY HUBBY'S SUNGLASSES and a book from our pre-bedtime book time (which you can read more about here) from the other night.

Like I said - God is faithful... just the figuring out of just HOW faithful He is can be a funny experience sometimes.

I can't tell you how many times we searched all around the bedroom the other day looking for his sunglasses and it wasn't until I was obedient to that "leading" to vacuum and then again to vacuum under the bed that I really understood what He was showing me in my obedience quest... I love God's personality :)

In the swing of things...

I'll admit it - I am very much a "creature of habit" kind of person...
- I tend to stick with the same haircut... because I know how to fix it.
- I stick with the same pair of jeans 'til I wear them out... because I love the way they fit!
- I get a routine going and its "tricky" to change...

Don't get me wrong - I get in "spells" and I have to change it all... my hair, new jeans, new makeup, new devotional notebook, move the furniture - all of it, just to have some change.

But I do love the "routine" of the kids going off to school each day, my sons TWO NAPS A DAY schedule, and being able to (kind of) direct my days as I need to (without continually having to redirect kids, break up fights and feed them snacks) - but this morning was THE BEST! Don't get me wrong - I love my kids and I love time with them - but I also appreciate time on my own.

So this morning as my hubby was getting ready to take the two older ones to school - my baby boy stood at the door with big tears running down his cheeks because he wanted to go somewhere too... so his loving daddy took him along with for the ride. Yahoo for Connor!!!

But an even bigger YAHOO for mommy - I got to work out, start the laundry, eat my breakfast, spend an UN-INTERRUPTED 45 minutes reading my devotion books, journaling, prayer, word time AND even a nice, long, hot shower - ALONE!!! It was wonderful...

I'm not sure what I can do for my hubby to make it up to him - but I'm sure he'll give me some ideas...

What's your idea of "heaven on earth"? :)

Treasure...

You know how everyone tells you to "treasure the time you have with your kids - because they grow up so fast"... after the events of this past summer (well, actually you could just say August) I think I'm realizing more and more how you have to "treasure" every relationship you have...

Here's my thoughts today - my daughter, is now 8 (soon to be nine) and I went to the grocery store today for the first time (since summer began) without her. She is normally my biggest helper (granted - she does ask A TON of questions and ask for a lot of things - but she's also great company and helps me more than I realized) - I thought I was TOTALLY going to enjoy only having one kid with me - but it was kind of the opposite.

I did enjoy only having one kid in the cart to watch over and buy snacks for - but it made me think back to when I only had Chayse in the cart and how "busy" life seemed then. I think my daughter is getting older when I actually miss her company as a "friend" to talk to in the store - as much as her asking for everything bugs me... I really did miss her company.

And I have to admit - I missed Colton too... 40,000 questions and all! It wasn't as much fun looking at all the "Cars" stuff without him. All I can say is - God is good and I appreciate what He's blessed me with and that He's gentle enough to remind me sometimes how wonderful things really are...

The next 1st day of school

Now it's Colton's turn! His first day of preschool (for this year) that he gets to go to EVERYDAY!! He's so excited! And he was excited that he got a different teacher than Chayse had when she was in preschool - hey, it's cool to be different when you're the 2nd child.
Posing for mom before we left the house
He wanted to pretend he was shy... but he's still cute!
Then his puppy had to check out Colton's cot for naptime and make sure it was ready. So Colton decided that puppy needed to take a nap - so he had to snuggle him for nappy-time (that's what Colton calls it)

And lastly, he went into his class, hugged his teacher and then found his "spot" at the tables - complete with his own name tag (to wear and one on the table) "Look Mom, I found my name!"
I think I'm going to miss him today... but I have Connor to keep me busy so far!

A moment from last night... "YOOK IT"

I was trying to post this last night, but couldn't get my wifi to work... oh well. You can enjoy it now!

After the HEIGHT of Connor's 2's behavior - he's two, he wants to get into everything and just learned that he can say "no" and how to run away when he knows he's in trouble... resulting in many moments spent in the time out chair.

So my new solution when I'm frustrated with his behavior is to stick him in what I call "the containment field" (Fred hates that name) - otherwise known as the high chair. He can't get out and I can keep him busy there while I get dinner ready or school stuff done. So last night after two consecutive time outs I put him in the time out chair (of which he replied "NNNooooo") - after about 10 minutes there I hear "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy - YOOK IT!" (That's Connor's version of "look at this" and here was his accomplishment:He balanced his phone (an old one that doesn't work) on his cup of milk and was quite proud of himself.
He then followed that up with his usual pose when he thinks he's cute (I don't know why he does it - but its Connor, what can you say!)

School has officially begun...

Today is Chayse's first day of school... last night we went and talked with her teacher (whom she loves) and this year (as a big 3rd grader) she gets a LOCKER!!!
which, as you can see, she is pretty excited about! She also loves the fact that some of her "friends" (really my friends) used to have the same teacher!!
So today, I got her all dressed up, did her hair, made a lunch (at 7:15 am - that's a change), packed her bag and got her ready for school... my little girlie!
THEN - her father took her off on his silver horse to school and probably messed up her pretty hair - but that's okay... the smile on her face is worth it.

so... no I may not have the "perfect-looking" little girl on the first day of school - but I know my girlie is happy! :) Her mom may be a little sad at how quiet the house is right now... but I know I'm sure going to enjoy that in about 4 hours when it's NAP TIME and I'll actually get some work done! YAHOO!!

The cheapest fun you'll ever find...

So this is my children a week ago Sunday (yes, Connor is in just a diaper - look at who his dad is!)... having TRUE hillbilly fun! The three of them are gathered around a paint bucket with about 3 inches of water and a Christmas candy cane (hollow) that my dad bought at Menards for "a buck" and Colton is using that cane to blow water on his brother and sister.

So I ask you... why do I spend PLENTY of money each year on toys when my children laugh and scream at a paint bucket, a cane that costs "a buck" and 3 inches of water??? Oh, the joy of childhood.

The funnier thing is - they want to go back again this Sunday because my dad found (just as we were leaving last time) a BIGGER bucket that I used to play with when I was little (no judgement please - yes, a bucket and a little water entertained me as well when I was a toddler!)