Snow Day & First Day of School

We've had an eventful week! Jonah went to his first day of Preschool on Tuesday and had so much fun. He was pooped out by the end of the day! He was so proud, because as he puts it, "Three kids got time out, but I didn't"! I didn't even cry when I dropped him off or anything - I know he's in good hands and he loves to be around the other kids too.

On the same day he started school, we also woke up to about 4 inches of snow. It was so beautiful and peaceful to wake up to. I woke up that morning and turned on the tv to see if the area schools were being cancelled, and I couldn't stop watching the little scrolling thing across the bottom of the screen. It's like I get addicted to it. I finally just had to make myself stop watching it! Kinda weird, I know! I get all giddy on a snow day, like a kid who doesn't have to go to school or something - even though it probably has more of a negative impact on my day being at home and not getting to go outside! I guess it's just a habit you get into from being a kid! Here's some pictures of our snow day. We didn't get to make a snowman, because it was too powdery!

I also went to my first doctor's appointment yesterday. I switched OB doctors and I'm really pleased with my new one. He even does 3-D ultrasounds, so I'm excited about that. My nausea is still here, but I think I'm getting more used to it. I told Adam the other day that I am a walking Pepto-Bismol commercial minus one of those symptoms in the song. I hope you are all singing that Pepto-Bismol song now, maybe it will be stuck in your head all day!! Hee-hee! I just finished my snack of Ginger Snaps and Ginger Ale. Supposedly ginger helps nausea, but I haven't noticed a significant difference.

Here's a cute story: The other day I was sitting there drinking my drink when Jonah looked very concerned and yelled out "No, Mom don't drink that!" I asked him why and he said "It's gonna dump on the baby's head!" After that, we had a little discussion about where the baby is and isn't!...He also had a funny observation just a minute ago. Since it started snowing today, we were looking outside and watching the snowfall. I said, "Isn't the snow pretty?" Being the poet that he is he says..."I think it's not snow - I think a lot of birds are standing on the clouds and poo-pooing!!"...So ya'll watch out for any snowstorms today!!

...Still Going!

Well, I haven't done the best job of blogging in the past week, but I'm still truckin' along! Still about the same on the whole first trimester symptoms, but I'm hanging in there. I'm really trying to focus on the positive things, so as to not get down! I'm thankful for a wonderful husband who supports me in every way and does everything he can to help out! It's not easy taking care of 2 kids while you feel so yuck, but I'm thankful for being at home and not having to look a certain way or be a lot of places at a certain time during the day. I even get to rest sometimes during the kids rest time in the afternoon. I'm also (saying this with gritted teeth) thankful that all these yucky symptoms do mean that there is a baby being formed inside and it's just a reminder every day how we have to depend on the Lord for our every need! I may not have this whole gratitude thing down all the time, but I'm doing my best right now!

On another note, Jonah is starting his first day of Preschool tomorrow! He is going to go on Tue/Thur from 9-2:30 p.m. Pray for me tomorrow, because I'm sure there will be a lot of tears (on my part, not his) after he gets dropped off. Also, I would appreciate your prayers for his safety, considering his whole life-threatening peanut allergy. If you didn't know, Jonah has an anaphylactic reaction when ingesting even a trace amount of peanuts. We have taken all the precautions that we possibly can with the school, and now we just have to leave it in the Lord's hands. It's a wonderful little school that has just started and has such Godly people working there. We are so fortunate that God provided this school, because it is a small environment, so that the peanut issue is not quite so hard to control! It is a University Model School, if you want to check out their website it is http://www.forerunnerchristianacademy.org/ ! I'll probably tell you more about it later, though.

Speaking of allergies, we found out Jonah is also allergic to horses the other day. We went to some friends pasture to let Jonah ride their horse a little. He had so much fun! When we got home, his eye had swollen shut though! Add that to the list of allergies: peanuts, watermelon, eggs, horses, and dogs! Maybe one day we'll grow out of all this!

The last picture is of Caleb! He is so curious and into everything!!! Here, I walked in and he had gotten an Oreo cookie off the table (you can see it all over his face) and swiped all the books off the bookshelf all in one breath!

I'm Back!

Well, everyone it's been a while since my last post! I'm sure you're all just dying to know what's going on in our exciting life!? (ha) Well, if you still didn't get the last post - we are expecting a new baby in October. We're very excited, but I've also been very sick! I guess it goes with the territory! I just constantly have that "feel like your gonna throw up feeling", which is always fun when you've got two very energetic boys sprinting around the house at all times. By the grace of God, so far I've survived and I've even felt a little better these last 2 days. I've figured out if I eat something every hour then I can curb the feeling a little. Which sounds like fun, but it's not as glamorous as it seems! I also have to constantly chew gum every moment I'm not eating just to help that sickie feeling. I'm also extremely tired, but I guess that's what happens when you're creating a person inside! One day at a time, right?
I'll post again when I have the energy and time to put some pictures on the blog too. Thanks for sticking with the absent blogger!

Pre-Valentine's Riddle

SEE IF YOU CAN SOLVE THIS RIDDLE?

...THERE'S MORE

...KEEP GOING

...KEEP LOOKING

...STILL GOING

...AND IF YOU STILL DON'T KNOW

...LAST BUT NOT LEAST

Official Letterboxers Now!

Today we had such a great time going Letterboxing. Some of you may be saying, "What is that?". Some friends of ours introduced us to letterboxing about a year and a half ago and it sounded like so much fine. The whole premise is that your whole family follows clues to find small boxes hidden anywhere in the United States (there are thousands of them). Inside the box is a stamp, and a little notebook. In the notebook, you put your stamp and write where you're from and the date and whatever else you want to put. Then you take their stamp and put it in your notebook and document any information that you want. The whole idea is to get families out of the house exploring new places, mostly outside at parks or interesting areas. We found our 2nd and 3rd letterbox today at a park in McKinney. If you're interested you can go to http://www.letterboxing.org/ to get clues or find out more about it. We have a lot of fun searching for the boxes and we get to try new trails and places we might not have otherwise explored. Here are some pics of our adventure:

Jonah and I searching for the box hidden in the hole of a fallen tree. They are very hidden, so that people don't take them who don't know what they are.

Jonah, Caleb and Adam searching for our second box. We were searching for four trees that together made a V shape.

We found the box! Notice the V shaped tree behind us!

Here we are stamping our books. Don't you like Jonah's "Safari" hat, as he calls it!

Afterward we explored the Town Lake Park, and even fed the ducks some Cheez-Its that we had stashed in the car. Some birds decided to join the fun and we threw the crackers in the air as they swooped down to catch it. Jonah just giggled away, and Caleb just ate the Cheez-Its!

Where does he come up with this?

I have to share an equally frustrating and cute moment from yesterday. Jonah had a hard morning at Wal-Mart to say the least. After a long, drawn out speech, I told him that he could not watch TV or play computer games for the rest of the day. You would have thought that I'd taken his whole world away, he was so distraught. When we get into the house he immediately gets a piece of paper and a marker and is drawing a picture. At this point I'm just glad that he's not crying or whining! As I'm sitting there fixing lunch, Jonah walks up and says look Mom I can watch this TV! Here's the drawing of his TV below:

It was hard to know whether to laugh, cry, or throw my hands up in surrender! We had a little discussion about attitude of the heart after that! And he agreed that he shouldn't get to watch his paper TV either!

Past Week

Well, I'm sitting here at midnight and for some reason I just felt like blogging, so I'll try to remember all the highlights of this week. The kids have really been keeping me smiling this week with all their funny little moments. I may breathe a little sigh of exhaustion before I begin laughing, but ultimately I've looked back on this week with a little grin in my heart.

This first picture is of my little adventurer Caleb. I was cooking and he was, as usual, exploring every inch of unknown space that he could find. I walked in the laundry room and this is what I found! He was so happy in there too! I think he thought it was his own little club house.

This is Jonah and his diorama that he and Adam made this weekend. I think Adam might have enjoyed making it even more than Jonah. It's a zoo, if you couldn't tell. It even has a light in the corner for the sun.

I also found a new recipe for spinach this week. We all love spinach at our house, but I have not been able to find many quick and easy ways to prepare spinach. Here's my new recipe and my little tester enjoying every minute. Jonah ate it up too! So mom's try this recipe for Creamed Spinach.

*Prepare spinach and drain (I used 2 cans, but you could use frozen or fresh) Put it in a saucepan with a a bar of cream cheese and a little parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat until creamy and bubbly. It is very yummy!

It can even be used as a hair conditioner for extra shine! (Don't try this at home!)

Other great moments this week:

*Caleb kneeling down to pray at bedtime. It may have only been for 3 seconds, but he did it on his own!

*Jonah reading some of his first words on his own. He's really grasping the whole putting letter sounds together thing! Way to go Jonah!

* Jonah woke us up one morning this week - with a little sleepy voice he asks if he can read the story of Jesus feeding the people with Daddy again! (They had done this the morning before) What a sweet way to start your day!

*Jonah, on his own initiative, makes a book for a church member, named Dink, who has cancer. The book was titled "Dink and the Pokey Bush". The title pretty much sums up the plot of the story! Dink was so thrilled!

*Tonight, while several ladies were here at the house, Jonah was supposed to be going to bed. He comes back in and says "Mom, I can't sleep because I close my eyes and it pretends to make writing in my head. The writing just keeps on coming out !" I'm not real sure what that means, but it was cute!

*When we went to the park on Saturday, Caleb was so happy to be outside and free! There was a walking trail there at the park and I followed him as he ran around that track for a whole mile straight, literally! Maybe he thought if he just kept running we'd never have to go home! I think we've found our distance runner!