More May Fun

Here's some more fun May stuff. This is Jonah's pre-K teacher this year. What a sweetheart she was - the class gave a plant to her as a thank you gift for being such a great teacher.

We had a field day at school. Here's Caleb joining in the fun with the other 2 year olds at the school.

Jonah's class at Field Day - The Green Team! All the kids had so much fun.

We had every event from potato sack races and obstacle courses to...the cake eating contest. Here's Jonah and friends diggin' in! The little girl on the right, Victoria, actually won. She was one of those quiet ones that sneaks up on you in the contest. Good job Victoria! Caleb actually participated in the 2 year old class and won! He even wanted more when he got finished! (No pictures, didn't get to see it!)

On Sunday, we had Caleb and Hannah's baby dedication. Caleb is not really a baby anymore, but we finally had an official dedication for him. We are so blessed to have these two wonderful kids. My prayer is that we will do our best to teach them to honor the Lord and love Him with all their heart, soul and strength! Caleb was not real happy about going on stage. I don't have a picture, but at one point he was flopped out in the floor crying. He wanted to go down and sit with his cousin "Wogan" (Logan) who was there to see the dedication. What can you do??!

My Dad came and said a special prayer over the family. Boy, I realize every day more and more how much I need the prayers of those around me. What an awesome responsibility to be a parent. Thank goodness for the grace of God!

Daddy comes over and says a prayer with the family. Caleb is still not real happy about the whole situation.

I finally get Caleb to stay on the stage with me. Here's the 8 babies who were dedicated at our church on Sunday. Afterward, some of us went out to eat. My side of the family had to get back home, but the rest of us enjoyed an Italian lunch. We were so blessed to see family that we had not seen in a while. Adam's Buckshot (grandfather from his mom's side), Mimi (grandmother from Adam's Dad's side), and Adam's mom Tootsie.
Mimi got to stay with us for a couple of days. The boys are enjoying a traditional Mimi story of Peter Rabbit. Mimi is a very gifted storyteller, and all the grandkids are very familiar with her many stories that she loves to tell.

Here is Mimi and Jonah in the kitchen cookin' up some treats. Mimi always has to make spinach dip which is Adam's favorite and she also made some Hello Dolly Cake. Jonah was excited to help out by crushing the cracker crumbs. I have a special love and respect for Mimi, because she too was a preacher's wife. She has so much wisdom and love to show to all around. On Memorial Day we visited the Dallas Arboretum. What a beautiful place. We got to see lots of storybook playhouses and of course tons of gorgeous flowers.
Here's Jonah playing in the water at the Arboretum. They have these little splash fountains that you can either splash in...or get drenched. Guess which one Jonah did? We didn't have any other clothes, so at first I told him to just get a little wet. Have you ever known of a kid to understand a "little wet". I don't know why I even bothered! Caleb was not into the whole wet thing that day, so he steered clear. Hannah just enjoyed watching her brother get soaked.

Whew! -An Exhausting Month!

Can you tell we've been a little busy this month? Hannah has to catch her zzzz's when she can.

Jonah's End of Year Class Party - Blowing Bubbles! Caleb joined in the fun!

Miss Angela, Jonah's teacher is such a wonderfully creative and fun teacher. She runs such an organized classroom and Jonah came home every day talking about what he learned. We love you Miss Angela!

Pre-K Graduation - last night we had an awards ceremony at our school, Forerunner Christian Academy. The Pre-K graduated complete with graduation music and hats. The hats were really cute made out of posterboard. Miss Angela and I had a fun time making them - I just kind of did what she said because when it comes to any sort of Geometry - my mind just goes completely blank! Somehow I missed that part of my brain. Thanks to my mom and dad for coming up to enjoy the ceremony and helping watch my little rugrats while I took pictures!

Here's Jonah graduating from Pre-K, diploma and all. He was so proud. He received an award for Academic Excellence for always doing his work neatly and he also got the most improved P.E. award. He adores his P.E. teacher, Mrs. Turpin and she's done a great job getting him excited about all kinds of athletic activities. He's even going to run a race at the end of this month.

Here's the Peter Rabbit skit the kids did for the ceremony. Jonah played the Gardener. He just loves to do anything that involves dramatic play or creativity. It's so fun to watch his little brain work. The other day in the car he just pops up and asks me, "Why did God make sickness?" Talk about a hard question to answer. Then he proceeds to tell me that "our world feels like we're in a book, and the trees and people are like the story - then when it's nighttime, it's like you closed the book"... Whew - too philosophical for my little brain!! I think I've been reading board books and changing diapers a little too long! :)

Boys will be Boys!

This scene will make any mother's heart melt. Somedays you wonder if your kids will ever stop fighting and arguing with each other... and the next minute you catch a spontaneous bear hug with your camera. Priceless.



We have a frog friend in our yard now. I'm sure he's not the only one. Jonah and Caleb ran all over the yard chasing this little guy. We were outside playing in the warm rain today. Jonah was so excited that we were getting to stay outside in the rain. We had to come back in a few times when it started coming down harder. There's something relaxing and a little rebellious about playing in the rain!

As always, Caleb was very into getting up close and personal with the frog. He's always ready to manhandle any creature that comes along. The frog has not "croaked" here, he's just turned over on his back. Caleb kept touching that little croaky part of their throat that moves up and down - and then he would just giggle. Poor frog - we let him go free after a little bit of love. Jonah really didn't want to hold the frog, he preferred just petting it.

Caleb is all boy!! We were eating popsicles outside, and of course Caleb is covered from head to toe in sticky. I looked over and he didn't have his popsicle, so naturally I thought he had thrown it down or finished it. After a few minutes he had it again. See if you can figure out what he had done with it...look closely at the picture...yes he had put it in his pocket for later! I guess that makes sense!

MMMMM!

Hannah now has 2 teeth! My mom and I discovered them this past weekend. She has her 2 bottom teeth in the front now. She is loving all her baby food now, she's a good eater like her brothers were. Here in the picture she is eating a teething biscuit. She's such a big girl!

"You better not try to go anywhere biscuit!"

My pastor husband is starting them early!!! Hannah can already beat us all at 5 card stud!...This is actually a rousing game of slapjack! Caleb did more slapping than playing but they have fun. They also like to play Indian feathers! Caleb likes to irritate his brother by saying "I won" over and over! I dont' really know if he fully understands what he's saying, but he knows he gets a reaction from Jonah and that's all that matters! Oh Brother!!

Just a thought...

I was just sitting here thinking, so I thought I'd share...

I am so thankful today.

As I'm writing, my 2 year old son is screaming in the background, because he doesn't want to take his nap. I have multiple piles of laundry (with a special smell that I can't quite figure out?). My house is not clean. My potty-training son has tee-teed in his underwear for about 5 days now, with only 2 victories. I have so many projects and things for church and school that are not finished. I can't even get in my closet because it is so packed full of junk.

I say all that to say that I am so thankful. God teaches me more everyday to be thankful and content with what He has given me at this very moment... I am a work in progress. I am not thankful because of circumstances. I am not thankful because everything goes my way. I am thankful because God has given me this day and these circumstances, and He does not make mistakes.

So, I'll keep cleaning up tee-tee. I'll keep sniffing to find out the special smell in my laundry. I'll keep trying to finish all my projects. And yes I'll keep trying to teach my son that it's time to go to sleep. I do these things, not because they are always fun or fulfilling, but because this is where God has placed me at this time and He has entrusted me with these things. I am so blessed to be able to share each day with my children and I am so grateful that I have been able to stay at home with my kids through these years. I would not replace these tiring, monotonous but joyous moments with anything else.

Here are some pictures that make me smile:

Easter Fun

Dirty-faced little boy playing in the tire swing....SERIOUS POTTY TRAINING BEGINS TODAY, PRAY FOR ME!!!

We had a wonderful Easter this year! Here's a picture of the kids at Jonah's Easter party at school! Silly kids! We did Resurrection Eggs, played a rousing game of "He's Alive" and had an Easter Egg Hunt too! What a day!

We went to my mom and Dad's for the day on Good Friday. We had an Easter Egg hunt with cousins, ate lots of yummy food, and rode on the new Go-cart. Could it get any better than that?
Caleb has the whole Easter Egg Hunt figured out! He liked to snack along the way too.
Hannah enjoyed watching the action and chewing on things that she got from her brothers.

Here's the famous Go-cart. All the boys had so much fun with it. Including the big boys (I mean adults). I rode on it for a little while - did go-carts always shake you to death? I really don't remember that as a kid, but I think perspective has changed.

This is Jonah's first baseball game. He is #10 on the Pirates this year. Here he is in outfield. He gets a little bored in the outfield, because the balls don't really come out there too much at this age. He finds ways to occupy himself by drawing pictures in the sand with his feet and dancing around. Jonah is like his Daddy, he likes a little quicker moving things. I think it will be good for him to learn patience though. He did a great job and even got the last ball of the game and threw it in to the pitcher. Way to go Jonah!

Here he is batting. They do 3 coach pitches and then do 2 off of the tee if they haven't hit it. Jonah actually got a triple and a double both times he went up to bat! I think that's pretty good for a four year old. He even got 2 runs! We were proud that he had fun! When he first went up to bat I yelled out "Go Jonah"! He turned around and said, "Thanks Mom - when's the real game start!"

Here he is running home from 3rd base. Once when he was on 2nd base waiting for a hitter, he got a little distracted and starting chasing a little piece of paper that was blowing around...Then he got back on track. It's a little hard to stay focused at this age!
Here's Hannah in her cute little Easter dress given to me by my friend Brooke when she was first born. It was so beautiful on her! She looks a little awkward in this picture, but that's what you get when she can't sit up by herself yet! What a big girl - she's now 6 months old today! She just started eating baby food (sweet potatoes) and she goes a mile a minute when you hold her. It won't be long before she's getting into everything!

HAPPY EASTER!

April Days

No - I did not have a red-headed little girl that no one knows about. Caleb loves to try on Hannah's bows, as you can see. Here you see him hugging two of his millions of stuffed animals that he has to have piled on top of him every night for bed!


Here's Hannah in her saucer. She finally enjoys sitting in it. She mostly just likes to gnaw on the heads of all the poor little animal toys surrounding her!

Such a happy girl!

Oh no - a giant bee in the cookie!!

April Fool's!! Jonah just had to play an April Fool's joke on May-May (Mary). He made a big cookie and then stuck this toy bee on it. When Mary opened it she screamed and Jonah felt like a success! Sorry May-May, you're just too fun to play jokes on!

This is Hannah's new love - Johnny Jump-up. She can bounce in this for 2 hours without a peep! She looks so cute - it's weird to see her jumping up and down - it just doesn't look right!

The first time Hannah jumped, Caleb went straight to her room to grab a doll. You can see that Caleb is making the doll bounce with Hannah. So funny how little ones think!
Here are some pictures of our church tearing down the two houses behind our church. We just finished paying off the two houses that we bought a couple of years ago. The houses were just in terrible shape, so here we are tearing them down.

It's so funny how men, become little boys with their toys!
You might be a redneck if...you set chairs up in the bathroom so you can watch demolition out the window! We had a perfect view of all the excitement, without having to go out in the cold that morning. Later, as it warmed up we got to enjoy spending time with all the ladies and wives who were watching from their lawnchairs. We also got to go eat a big lunch that everyone brought. It felt like one of those old-fashioned barn raisings. That is something I love about a smaller church - good times!
We almost finished both houses, but it got dark so this is what is left of the demo. The land is so beautiful without the two eye-sores! Now we're in the process of figuring out exactly what will be built on this land. We know we need space for our Manna House (food ministry) and we need a bigger fellowship hall, and more classroom space. The Building Fund begins. It's so exciting, God is really blessing our little church in so many ways!

Here's a funny story that was approved by my husband for me to blog:

We were in the car and we were talking about what made each of us special. Jonah said, "Mom you have freckles and that makes you special, Caleb has red hair and that makes him special, I (Jonah) have the blonde spot in my hair and that makes me special." (Pause) So I said what about Daddy?

Jonah's reply with absolutely no hesitation: "Daddy toots alot, that's what makes him special!"

*Sorry Adam, you have to take one for the team- and for the sake of documentation!!!