The charmer

On Thursday we had picture day at school. My kindergartner was SO excited as all kids are about this day. For those of you who don't work in an elementary school let me let you in on a little secret... I don't know what it is about picture day but for some reason the kids act like it is the day before Christmas break. They are everywhere and by the end of the day all of the teachers look frazzled and like they NEED it to be Christmas break.... OK so now that I have filled you in I need to share my story.

My little guy did not want to wear a nice button down shirt but after a trip to Kohl's and a convincing talk about how handsome he was going to look he decided to give into my demands. So the morning of pictures he gets dressed and comes into me to report that he needs a flower. What???? So I asked him, "why do you need a flower?" to which he responds that it will make him look handsome. Again, What???? He proceeded to tell me that his daddy gets dressed fancy and goes out and when he comes home he always has a flower pinned to his shirt.

(Let me clarify just to be sure you understand, he is on staff at a church and has done several wedding recently. That would be the reason for the flowers- no girlfriends or other crazy scenarios...) So my little guy goes into the closet and finds one of his daddy's flowers that was a silk flower and tucks it into the pocket of his shirt. He comes in proudly smiling and revealing his lovely fuchsia rose that is sticking out of his pocket. I began to giggle.... and said "Honey, that is not necessary for picture day today." We had to have a long discussion before I could convince him to leave the flower at home.

So then later that day one of my best friends calls laughing hysterically. It seems that as my little boy's class walked out or maybe back from the portable to get their pictures taken my little guy spotted a flower on the ground he could pick. You know the kind I am talking about??? The lovely yellow weed?

He decided to pick it up and stick it into the pocket of his shirt and made sure the flower was sticking out. So I am not sure what his picture will look like. Maybe it will just be my handsome boy or maybe it will be the little charmer with a yellow weed sticking out of his pocket... time will tell. Rest assured that IF his picture has the yellow flower sticking out you will be able to see the lovely picture posted on this blog.... until then we will have to wait and see!

After he got back to his classroom our super assistant principal spotted my little one and said hello to him. My little guy loves her and often stops into her office to talk to her. (So far that has been his only visits to her but I am sure he will get to have a very different kind of visit with her at some point) My boy, the charmer, smiled at her-pulled the lovely weed from his pocket-and handed it to her! Oh my! Just wait until this one is a teenager!

Monsters!

I know that all little kids have a fear of monsters. I can remember being younger and being afraid to go down the dark hallway to my room and out of my parents sight. I remember sometime walking until my parents couldn't see and then running in and out as fast as I could.

Today I had such a flashback as my youngest went in his room to get a toy. He came barreling around the corner and mumbled, "The cookie monster didn't get me!" The cookie monster? Really? That's the monster he is afraid of??? I laughed and called him over. I told him he didn't have to be afraid of the cookie monster.... he only liked cookies and there aren't any in the bedrooms. My youngest looked at me as serious as could be and said well then "we really need to be afraid at Christmas!" I laughed and said why... "because he'll take Santa's cookies!" So I think on Christmas eve when we set out our cookies for santa we will have to set out an extra set for cookie monster and a note that asks him not to eat Santa's cookies.

I just found all of this so funny! If my boys are going to be afraid of monsters I guess cookie monster is the best to have around!

Little Bit is turning 3!!!

We are having a birthday party for our youngest this weekend! I can't believe he is almost three! He loves Lightning McQueen, cars, dogs and babies. He is so tender hearted. The teachers at his preschool says he always makes sure everyone is included and taken care of! I am so thankful for his sweet spirit and tender heart! I am praying that this year will be wonderful for him. It is so great to se ehim chnge from year to year! What did I do to deserve such amazing boys. I am blessed beyond measure!

Funny Boys

So we were leaving school yesterday and my oldest turns to my AP and says, "Bye, we are going to Barnes and Oval"! Then as we leave he says, "What's at Barnes and Oval???" So excited and he doesn't even know why....

Today at Preschool, my youngest was rubbing a baby's head. He turns to the other kids and says, "It's ok... you can touch him.... he's real!"

My tender hearted boys

My youngest was at school today and they were playing with a litebrite making letters, counting etc. When they turned off the lights one of his friends began to get upset because he was scared. My little one turned to his friend and said "Please Mason, don't be scared! There are no bears in here! We are safe even when the lights are off. Its ok I will sit right beside you so you will feel better." Awwww... I am so thankful! At times my boys are relentlessly fighting so it is so good to know that deep down we are raising who will be sweet, tenderhearted young men!

My oldest finished his first six weeks of school! Kindergarten has been a blast! Last week they studied fire/police men. My boy loved that the home center had turned into a fire station. They topped off a week with a visit from the city firemen.
This week they have talked about space and darkness. Today they had dark day where they did everything with flashlights. He has been having so much fun! He did manage to get an S in conduct which I think is pretty good for the first six weeks of school. I was surprised at his letter assessment though. The teacher said he only knows 48 out of 54 letters (they have two different a's and g's that they test). I was surprised because at home he seems to know all of his letters! Oh well... I guess we have some practicing to do!

Three weeks down...but who's counting???

We just finished week three of school. My oldest is doing pretty good! He is enjoying kindergarten and his amazing teacher. Mrs. F is a perfect fit for him! She has high expectations and knows how to equip her students to meet them. I am so thankful for such a great first experience for him.
We also have a new music teacher that Nate LOVES! This week Mr. P even let them play drums! I think he is brave to put drums in kindergarten students hands but my little man thinks it was the best decision ever!
I asked Nate what the three best things about this week were and he said:
Being King of the day! (Thanks, Mrs. F)
Playing the drums (Thanks, Mr. P)
and getting to visit the outdoor garden (Thanks again, Mrs. F)

My top three favorite things included
watching the PE teachers sing and dance to "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" with K students
eating lunch with my little man
and the funniest moment...after losing my little man finding out that the reason I couldn't find him was becuase the boys bathroom locks weren't working so he decided to go in the girls bathroom because his mommy takes him in there when we are at the store.... Oh goodness... let the retraining begin!

Finally, on a more serious note...
We have a new teacher at school that is really wonderful. She is great with the kids but also an amazing woman. About a year and half ago she lost her four year old daughter to cancer. She, of course, is very sad and clings to the memory of her beautiful girl. After hearing her talk about it, I decided to go check out her blog. I sat and cried as I read of the heartbreaks this family has encountered and yet was amazed at what awesome memories they created for themselves. She is just a really incredible mom! Even more than that, as I began reading I discovered that her precious one that she lost far too early has the exact same birthday as my little man. She should be walking the halls at our school, finishing her third week of kindergarten, playing, running, etc. It made her pain feel that much more real for me. As she talks of losing her I imagine what my boy and I were doing, as she talks of her fears and worries I think of how many times I have not spent enough quality time with my boy. As she talks of how people don't treasure every moment and don't notice the little things their kids notice I realize that I am that mom! I get so caught up in the everyday life that I fail to notice the little things... so I am stepping back. I am determined to enjoy the moment, appreciate the little things, and create life long memories because in an instant one of these boys could be gone. So for my many readers (ha ha), I hope you'll hold me accountable. I hope you'll push me to enjoy each day and be thankful for the blessings that I have. I in turn, hope to inspire you to do the same!

First Day of Kindergarten

This year at our annual convocation for school our superintendant talked about parents who would be bringing their children into a school that was filled with strangers and trusting them to take care of their baby. I sat there and thought about how blessed I am that I do know all of the wonderful teachers at my son's school. Little did I know how hard it would be to drop off my baby even knowing what capable, warm, laoving hands I was leaving him in.

My oldest started Kindergarten today! He is just so big!!! He has an amazing teacher and I can't wait to see all the fun he is going to have. Today I took him to school. I stopped outside the classroom and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Which made him make a face and wipe it off!) Then I tooh him into class and got him to his seat. I asked for a high five and he gave me one and then he turned, smiled, and said "Bye mom!" I guess that's my cue to leave, huh??? I was so thankful that I do know his teacher but leaving him was still not fun! Luckily, there was plenty to do at school to keep me occupied!

After school Daddy picked up our new kindergartner and took him for ice cream. They stopped in to see me and my little man told me all about his day. He seemed to have a good time! His teacher also assured me that he had a good day! Thank goodness he has her fooled so far! After school my fabulous AP came by to tell me a story about my little man. She told me that she had spotted my little on spinning in the line in the cafeteria. She went over to correct him and found him singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy". So not only was he spinning, he was praising Jesus. Who knew he was so charasmatic???

Torrential Rain and Sweet Prayers

For all of my faboulous readers...(ha ha) I think I have two followers and love them both dearly...anyway.....for all of my fabulous readers who don't live in DFW you missed quite the storm this week. On Wednesday one of my best friends came over to watch my boys as Adam and I met with our realtor. My oldest boy proceded to scream at her from his naptime bed because she refused to give into his fit and go pick up his blanket......finally he was so tired he fell asleep. Now please know he is about to start kindergarten and we are working on getting rid of the nap but friends don't make friends endure either boy without a nap...and yet the nap was the worst part for her.....storm #1....she survived and I think we are still friends!
Storm #2...meeting with the realtor...We have been trying to sell our house since December to no avail! We are overpriced and we know it and the housing market has dropped which would help when we get ready to buy but not sell! Our realtors are friends of ours and have been really great but today was tough! Basically we need to be prepared to have $20,000 to get out of this house and into the new one. Now I don't know about you but I don't have that sitting somewhere. So what to do now???? Rob a bank???? probably a bad idea..... Sell my first born??? at times tempting..... Let our house foreclose? that integrity thing gets me everytime... Any other ideas??? Looks like we may have to stay put. I love my house but HATE the new three story apartements that loom in back yard and cast shadows across it all afternoon (they are really that close). I also hate that it takes 911 an hour to come to my house AFTER they call me back when I leave a message on their 911 answering machine!!!! So much for help in an emergency! Please keep us in your prayers... we are trying to make the right, godly decision and we believe that going into debt to pay off debt is just not smart! I just need to win the lottery that I don't play!
Storm #3...the real thing...so I get home to my wonderfully compassionate friend and we share yucky stories together, begin making corn dogs for dinner (a dinner of champions, I know) and make plans for white cake with thick chocolate frosting (how else do you deal with such awful news?). Then the sky turned black and the clouds began to move like crazy... The news forecaster had shear (spelling?) markers everywhere. The neighbors had shingles standing striaght up on their house, trees were splitting fences were falling, I wasn't taking any chances. My friend took the boys to the walk in closet while I got pillows. I put the dogs in the bathroom and grabbed the pan of cooked corn dogs, ketchup, mustard, four cups and the pitcher of tea and took them to the closet where we had a corn dog picnic and waited for the storm to pass. Then for the rest of that night and all morning the next day the rain poured down and the thunder and lightning were relentless! I was thinking about Noah in the bible and how awful that must have been when my good friend called and said "I am so glad God did not call me to be Noah! I don't think I could have been obedient to Him." I agree wholeheartedly!!!!
So I hope these storms of life shall pass... I hope to gain clarity and peace in what to do about our house and the safety I want it to bring to my family.
Finally, I love to listen to my kids pray...... My youngest thanks God everynight for his mommy, and daddy. Sometimes he even throws in his brother. My oldest has begun praying more specifically for people that he knows are sick or need safe travel. During the storms he was praying God would make the thunder, lightning, and rain go away. But a few nights ago as he finshed praying he finished with this..."and God do people like superman, spiderman, and the transformers help you with all their work? I know they are good helpers and could really help you...amen!"

Crazy Connections

My oldest son will be 5 next week. Last week we were driving down the road and we drove past a neighborhood waterpark and of course he asked if we could go. I told him no, that it was still far too cold to go to waterpark. He got quiet for a few minutes and then responded, "Mom, do you know I have God in my heart?" I was shocked... I said "What do you mean?" He said, Well when I was at the water park I went all the way under the water." And so I am thinking where is he going with this??? Next he says, "But really mom! He thumps in there, so next time you drink that coke in church...I think I'll need some." Then it all comes clear to me and I am cracking up! So I said to him, "I think you are going to need to be little order before you are able to have some of that 'coke in church".
You see we have been in a church plant until this last year and all of our baptisms happened in backyard pools or waterparks. Then when we switched churches last summer we had a baptism service at the waterpark. Each time we talk about what that means. Then, at Christmas Eve service my oldest sat in "big church" with me and we took the Lord's Supper. (which he couldn't have and he was NOT happy about that) SO after church he had asked a lot of questions and I had answered them as best I could. So now he has put it all together. He understands the steps he has to take but doesn't quite get why we do them. I think that next time I take the Lord's Supper it will be hard to not giggle though as I drink my "coke".

I am thankful...
I am thankful that my oldest is learning and putting things together. After celebrating Easter all day we climbed onto one of the boys beds and began to pray. My youngest thanked God for Easter and the eggs and the bunny. My oldest's prayer was so simple. "Thank you God for my mommy, daddy, and brother. And thank you that Jesus came and died and went to live with the devil and then came back three days later." I am not sure where the went to live with the devil for three days part came from (we still have a few things to work out...) but he IS getting it! For Him church is becoming more than just a place to see his friends and he is asking us the questions he needs to so he can get it all together. Being a mom is so great! Just when I think Go has made a mistake trusting these sweet little boys in my care of me to mess up-we have these kind of conversations! I am SO thankful for His reassurance!

Easter!!!

Today we colored Easter eggs with our two little boys. They were in awe as the eggs turned colors. They kept putting them in and taking them out. Their fingers were so many different colors. At times this excitement led to much frustration for Adam and I as the dye would spill, or eggs were dropped. But all in all, it was a great time! I love their excitement over such a little thing!
Easter is one of my favorite holidays! It is a time when we get to celebrate without the awkwardness of opening presents while everyone watches and just hoping your expressions really show how much you appreciate something or someone. It is a time when there isn't the pressure of what to do, or who to invite, or what you should say in your cards. I love that I get to focus on my family at this time of year and there aren't expectations. But most of all, I love what this holiday means....
Christmas is nice because I get to celebrate my Savior, Jesus', birth. Yet, to me Easter is even better. Because Easter is about making Jesus my Savior. Before he sacrificed His life, after living it blamelessly, he was just another man. Many people say a good man, a man who did great things. Some people called his great things miracles, some called them coincidences. But when He was killed and put in a sealed and guarded tomb; yet, somehow managed to come back to life and live back on the Earth for 40 days before he ascended to heaven- that made Him extraordinary and divine. You see many people worship great men, Muhammad, Buddha, etc. And I must admit they were great men, but they weren't set apart like Christ was. They didn't die and come back to prove that they were who they said they were. And they didn't get beaten, and mocked and ridiculed and still forgive as they gave up their lives for people who didn't know that they needed him.
So tomorrow, as I celebrate Easter, I will be forever grateful. Because even when I didn't know I needed Him, He gave His life up for me. Even when I try to do things on my own, he stands by me and helps me anyway. Even when I don't understand why things are the way they are, or when I question Him, he remains forever patient with me. Because He is who he says He is, because He loves even when I am unlovable, because He made a way for me when I didn't deserve it- I will live for HIM!
Happy Easter everyone! I hope that this day means as much to you as it does to me.

TLA

I just returned from a three day trip to Houston. I was there for the Texas Library Conference. I am always amazed to talk to librarians from across the state. I feel refreshed and ready to go!!!
First, I want to post the Texas 2x2 list. These are books that are chosen by a panel of librarians that are the best books published from 2008 for 2 year old through second graders. For those of you who have children in this age group these are some great books to check out!
A Visitor For Bear by Bonny Becker, The Littlest Llama by Jane Browning Buxton, Quinito, Day and Night, Quinito, Dia y Noche by Ina Cumpiano, On the Farm by David Elliott, Ten Little FINGERS and Ten Little TOES by Mem Fox, How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham, Chicken Said, “Cluck!” by Judyann Ackerman Grant, What’s Up Duck? A Book of Opposites by Tad Hills, Uh-oh! by Rachel Isadora, Sort it Out! by Barbara Mariconda, Let’s Eat! ! A comer! by Pat Mora, Baseball Hour by Carol Nevius, Jack Wants a Snack by Pat Schories, No Babysitters Allowed by Amber Stewart, Roadwork by Sally Sutton, What Can You Do With a Rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla, Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup, The Doghouse by Jan Thomas, Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic, and 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World by Melanie Walsh.
You can go to this website http://www.txla.org/groups/crt/2x2intro.htm for more information or activities to do with your child. There are some really great books on the list this year!
Finally, while at TLA I got to meet several authors which is always fun. My favorite quote of the week came form one of the authors' presentations. Jeanne DuPrau, the author of City of Ember, said something that really sums up many of the children's authors. I am not going to put it into quotes because I was writing while she talk and I don't want to miss quote! She said something like:
I don't write books for children because I like children, although I do like some children just like I like some adults, I write because I love to write.
To me this was so funny because there are many children's authors who love to write books for this age but are not fond of children, don't know how to speak to them, or are just flat out terrified at the idea of having to entertain a group of children.... Let this be a warning to you....if ever you take your child to meet an author be ready for anything! Of course there are MANY children's authors who write because they LOVE children and they are fabulous with them. :) I personally, loved Jeanne Duprau's Ember's series and thought she really was a good speaker. I was thankful for her honesty and how genuine she really was.

Giving in....

So I have decided that I am going to transform this blog... I have always been terrible and journaling and so I have been reluctant to blog.... I mean who cares what I am thinking or what I have to say about life. But after increasing pressure I am giving in. I have this blog because I needed it for my children's literature class. I intend to still post book reviews some because I am also being pressured about that but I am also going to add information about our family on here. So here goes....
This week was crazy. We had some friends get married this past weekend and Adam got to perform the ceremony! It was such a proud moment for me!! Then C got pink eye and my dear mother got to take him to the doctor since we were busy with the wedding. So the week gets going and N trips on his shoes and falls on the floor and hits his elbow and forearm. He says it hurts and won't move it- this is not surprising since he is my little drama king. So we decide to give it a day or two. He goes to school the next day and falls on it AGAIN!!! This time it swells up and he appears to have lost his elbow. Or as N says "My bone fell out!" So we get to go get X-rays which are still confusing because they say he might have a crack but they aren't sure give it a few days and see if the swelling goes down and he can move it.... As of today, Saturday. he can move it but when he bumps it he still has to give a little bit of a dramatic presentation! THEN on Friday, the school calls me to tell me that N has pinkeye now.... thank goodness the week is over. I hope next week is much better!