Friday, February 27, 2009

It was almost a really great moment


Cameron, slightly groggy, comes into my bed to snuggle with me after waking up this morning and says:


"I love you, Momma."


He then wraps his little arms around me to give me a giant hug.


I smile.


He then lets out a giant *sigh*, and says,


"My big, big Momma."


Nice. Talk about zapping that moment into complete oblivion.


I don't know....maybe I need to start blogging over at Motivated Mommas again....



Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Alternately titled, "The New U.S. Dollar"





Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Yeah......right.


Seriously....


I'm trying, but


I just don't understand


how in the world


they


missed me?



There are just some pictures that don't need any captions.





Monday, February 23, 2009

Colin's interpretation of our fine neighbors to the North and South

Recently, Colin and I were having a very serious discussion about our family genealogy. Before I tell you about our conversation, let me just say that, a few days ago, we had another serious discussion of World Geography. It went something like this:


Me: "So, we live here (pointing to the U.S. on a North American map) and up here (pointing North) is Canada, and down here (pointing south) is Mexico."


Colin: "Oh! Canada....and Mex...Mexico."



****************************************************************************************************************

Back to genealogy:


Me: ".....and, do you know who Mommy's mommy is?"


Colin: "Grandma Jane."


Me: "Yep, Grandma Jane. And, do you know who Grandma Jane's mommy is?"


Colin: "Granny."

*pause*

"So, then, who is Granny's mommy?"


Me: "Well, we don't know her. She isn't alive anymore."


Colin: "But, did we ever see her?"


Me: "Oh, no honey. She didn't even live here. She lived in another country, far away."


Colin, pointing down: "Oh, you mean like, Dinoco?"


I stifled a chuckle, thinking of my Great-Grandmother--who lived in Germany--hailing from a land of CARS-like people. But, the conversation pressed on.


Me: "No, honey. She didn't live in Dinoco." I didn't correct him at this point, because I didn't think he was referring to an actual place.


Colin, still as serious as could be, now pointing up: "Oh, so she lived up there, in Canada, then?"


Only then did I understand that Colin had confused Mexico for Dinoco....




Sunday, February 22, 2009

I've always taught him to pray specifically.....

***Reminder: Colin is a five-year old, and his thoughts are innocent...I'd ask that you please keep that in mind as you read this post.***

Colin, to his Sunday school teacher (who was teaching on David and all of his brothers):


"Mrs. B, I'd like another brother."


Of course, then Cameron had to join the discussion. "Yeah Mrs. B, and I want a sister."


Mrs. B: "Well, you'll have to let your Mommy know!"


(Ummmmm.....yeah. I know this already. It's a daily request at our house. That, followed swiftly by "Can I also have an elephant?" When faced with either of these questions, I normally have instructed the boys, "Well, you need to pray about that....")


So, Colin thinks a moment, and then lets Mrs. B know: "Well, I think it would be fine to get a brother or a sister."


*pause*


"But.....Mrs. B? I just want a white one, not a black one. Okay?"



Wha?!



Saturday, February 21, 2009

Birthday wishes!!

To this little big guy, who turns ONE today!


Happy first Birthday Callen! We all love you so very much!
Love,
Uncle Shane, Auntie Dev,
Colin, Cameron, & Ethan

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Everything's amazing....and nobody's happy

I saw this this morning, and had to post it. It is worth the view, I promise.

I do not have TV, remember--so I have no idea who this man is that is talking. {Outside of this clip, I am not endorsing or supporting anything else he says, because, frankly, I don't KNOW what else he may be saying outside of this interview!} Forewarning: he is a bit crude (at two different points--a bleeped out curse word and some potty humor), but hilariously funny, and dead-on accurate. The point that he is making resonated so deeply with me that I just felt I couldn't not share this clip.

What is our society coming to? This.

Everything's amazing....and nobody cares. And why?

Because true happiness is found nowhere outside of Christ. Period.

Enjoy.


Watch more SpikedHumor videos on AOL Video



Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: "I always feeeeeel like....somebody's waaaaatchin' meeeeeeee"


{Alternately titled:
While walking down the hall I spotted a set of
Mr. Potato head eyes in the oddest of locations....}


Monday, February 16, 2009

Next time I'll leave the sword fighting to the *real* pirates


Those swords that my Mom got the boys waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in October are still going strong.


The boys more-than-love them.


They love to smack each other senseless, pretend to be pirates, and do who-knows-what else with them.


For two bucks apiece, those swords were a great buy.


Tonight, I was playing "swords" with Cameron. I don't normally do this, because the boys play pretty rough, and I am a gigantic sissy terribly prone to injury. Nine times out of 10 I get seriously hurt in some weird, off-the-wall way just by being in the same room as them when they play. I don't even have to be involved in whatever game they are playing...I can be folding laundry on the bed on the other side of the room, and a block gets flung off the end of a tower, flies across the room, and nearly pokes my eye out.


You know....stuff like that.


But tonight, even though it was out of character for me, I joined in the "fun".


Yes--that's "fun" in quotation marks.


Cameron and I were smacking back and forth, and he dealt me a pretty good blow. I ducked my head, closed my eyes, and then--retaliated.


I swung in Cameron's general direction with full force--after all, that is, I was informed, how we play swords--and solidly connected with poor Cameron's face.


He was fine, by the way. That is why I love these swords.


However, he proceeded to take the opportunity to scold me saying:


"See? That's why grown-ups don't play swords."




The dialog a three-year-old can come up with....


Cameron looked terribly sullen on the way home from lunch today. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what was wrong with him.


We had a chance to go and have lunch with Daddy, which is always a treat. The boys absolutely adore Shane, and they soak up every chance they get with him during the day, because those times can be few and far between.


After lunch, we all said goodbye to Daddy and headed off to the park.


(What? What's that you say? Oh! Yes, yes....I should earn "Mother of the Year" for taking my boys to the park on a day when you can see your breath! I totally couldn't agree with you more, and thankyouverymuch for saying that.)


Ahem.


However, on the way there, I noticed that, despite our impending park visit, Cameron looked awfully sad. I mean pooched-lip-out-to-Indiana, if you must have details.


So, I asked: "Cameron? What the matter baby? Are you sad?"


Cameron replied with a giant *sigh*, and then said, "Yeah, Mommy."


"Honey....why are you sad? We're going to the park!!" I said, trying to be cheerful.


He looked at me.


"Well...."


*pause*


"It's just that....Daddy's gone, and now I do not have a happy heart."



Sunday, February 15, 2009

The letter "E" "F" and "G"

I realized today that I haven't done a Letter Project post in a while. So, in the interest of keeping those who want to know up to speed on Colin's progress during learning time....here you go.

The Letter "E"

Colin found:

  1. Someone eating
  2. the letter "E" from a scrabble piece
  3. someone exercising
  4. Elmo
  5. the earth {That one required a little help from me, simply because the beginning sound of the word is not at all consistent with the phonics of "E". I never realized until I started teaching the phonics of the English language how many words actually do not follow the 'rules' of phonics! For example: of ("Where's the "V" Mommy?"); to ("But there's not two "O"s, Mommy!"), all ("No, Mommy, it doesn't have an "O" in front of it. "A" says "aaaaa." It's "Al"."). I could go on and on....)
  6. an egg
  7. and an envelope

Up to this point, I was still printing all of the objects' names on the paper when Colin was done gluing.


That, however, changed with our last two projects, as Colin has been beginning to read and spell on his own. This, don'tchaknow, has been very, very exciting for me.

The "F" project:

Colin found the following items:

  1. a flag
  2. a couple different pictures of fish--goldfish, but still fish nonetheless
  3. a flower
  4. a couple of frogs
  5. a football
  6. feet
  7. fingers
  8. a fork


You can see on both of the pictures that he wrote the words all by himself. (At least, I hope you don't think that is my handwriting....) Colin sounded out as many as he could, and I spelled the rest for him and he wrote them down.

The "G" project:
Colin found:


  1. two guitars
  2. a gorilla
  3. a gift
  4. Grover
  5. a glove
  6. a pair of glasses

It truly is very exciting to watch him learn. He has come so far in just a few months! This (teaching him) is difficult for a variety of reasons--mainly, Thing 1 and Thing 2 who are constantly at my feet *giggle*--but it really is so rewarding to sit down with Colin and hear him read a book out loud to me. I feel so privileged that, even if I am not able to 'school' Colin forever, I got to do some of this fundamental early learning with him. We have great memories, that's for sure!


Friday, February 13, 2009

To my baby--who is no longer a baby--on his second birthday

If you are interested in reading Ethan's birth story, click here.....and even if you don't want to read, go check out the pictures and see how cute my third little baby was at birth! *grin* And, oh, how I miss Cameron being that little....

*****************************************************************************************************************


Ethan,


I feel like hardly any time has passed since I sat here and wrote a post on your first birthday. Here we are, already a year later, and it hardly seems possible that you are two years old!


You are such a joy to have in our family. You are both my cuddliest one and the one who will refuse to sit still in my lap to save your life--depends on the day! You have quite the affinity for brushing your teeth; for your blankie; and for your older brothers. You can certainly hold your own against the two of them, even when they have you at the bottom of the pile! You are quite tough for your small frame, that's for sure.


Some of my favorite things that you do/say:

"Ice." Such a plain word....yet you make it sound so cute!

"Mama." Not said often....and it melts my heart.

"Day-day". You want your blankie. (And, don't worry....we know you are trying to say bay-bay.*grin*)

"Heh, heh"--your reply to me when I say "Ethan, what does the "h" say?" Along with that--the "puh, puh, puh" ("p") and "buh, buh, buh" ("b") and "aaaaaaaa" ("a") and "sssssssssss" ("s"). Love that.

The way it takes you a whole minute to cry after you have decided to do so, and how cute your face looks for that minute while you are crumbling.

How much you love your Daddy.

How, just like your Daddy, you love your carbs. I think if you could, you would choose bread sticks to be your very best friend.

How you love books. Your readin'-fool of a Mommy is so excited about that.

The way you fight for position and push your way onto my lap for reading time....even if one of your brothers is already there.

(*The way your brothers always give in and let you be the one to have Mommy's lap.*)

How you always raise your hand and say "Eeeeeeee!" when I ask "Who wants to pray for our food?" at meals.

How you love all things music. Singing, playing any "instrument" you can get your hands on....you name it, if it involves making some semblance of a joyful noise, you dig it.

And, on music.....how you get your groove on when you hear almost anything--from Praise and Worship to Veggie Tales! Something about your dancing just brings laughter to everyone in this house. {*You must take after your Daddy.*}

How you give me those, "I'm too cute to get into too much trouble" eyes when you know you've done something wrong.

How you come to me with both hands raised and say "uh-puh, uh-puh"--your "up".

How you want me to hold you all. the. time. Though this can prove to be difficult to do while I'm trying to accomplish my various tasks throughout the day, I know it won't last much longer and I'm cherishing it.

That you love Mexican food. We've always joked that you are my Mexican baby.

How teeny you are.

How you don't let that stop you do any thing.

That you sit, most of the time, through an entire church service without too much disruption.

How you lay on the floor and roll your trucks back and forth for what seems like hours at a time. Trucks, semis, and all things with four wheels fascinate you!

That you are saying more and more everyday. In the last week, your language has really taken off! {For my memory: hot, up, outside, please (ee-ee-ee), ice, moon, bye (which you love to shout to anyone and everyone and, oddly enough, you pronounce 'die'....so it's sounds really funny when you are leaving somewhere and shouting, "Die! Die!" to everyone within earshot), down, thank you and excuse me (both in your own unique way *grin*), night-night, drink (dink), dada, mama, day-day (for your blankie or bay-bay), car, choo-choo, light, all done}

How you have to prop yourself up on your elbows and watch what I am doing when I change your diaper.

How you open the hymnal and wave your hand to "lead the singing" at church. Oh. My. Goodness.

How incredibly excited you get over.....yogurt. Hilarious.



I love you peanut. I'm so glad I got the chance to be your Mommy. You are a blessing to me each and every day. Happy second birthday, sweetie.



Thursday, February 12, 2009

*Because he loves me*


Awwwwwwww.....
and I love him, too.
So very much.

My little mockingbird...and it's sounds so much cuter coming from him

Me, from across the room, to Colin:


"Colin, could you make sure to pick up all your blocks when you are done with them?"


No answer.


"Col?"


He's in the zone. Not ignoring me, just not hearing me. Still no answer.


I walk across the room, bend down to his level.


"Col?"


He finally looks up.


"Yeah, Mom?" he says, cheerfully.


"I would like you to make sure to pick up all of your blocks when you are done with them."


I know he hears my instruction, but he doesn't acknowledge me. His attention goes right back to the blocks, and I get no answer. I always want him to answer me out loud so I know he knows what I expect out of him.


"Okay?" I say, starting to walk away.


No answer. He is engrossed.


Walk back over. Bend down again.


Take his face in my hands and make him connect eyes with me.


"Okay, baby?"


He looks up at me, smiles, and says,


"O-kay, baby!"

Leave the room trying to stifle my giggles and hide my smile.....



Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mexican Birthday

The day after Ethan's birthday party, Shane, the boys, Shane's mom and dad, and I all went out after church to our favorite little Mexican restaurant here in town.

We love this place, and frequently go there on Sunday nights to take advantage of the "Kids Eat Free!" program. *grin*

The waiters at this place are the best....and they have gotten to know our boys and seem to really like them.

Then again....maybe they like all the kids that come in there. Who knows. But they just seem to be really, really friendly to my boys. I happened to mention to one of them that Ethan had turned two the day before, and after our meal, they all came out (seriously--there were like 9 of them!) and sang a Mexican rendition of Happy Birthday to Ethan. Complete with sombrero and everything!

Ethan wasn't all too excited about the singing....but once they placed that giant bowl of Fried Ice Cream in front of him, he brightened right up!



He seemed to really like the hat....
....and decided to play a quick game of 'peekie'....

....but certainly liked the ice cream best of all.




It was a great way to end a wonderful birthday weekend.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't do so many things for our children....


Cameron snuggles up to me on my bed:


"Mommy?"


I look over.


"Yeah, honey?"


With a questioning look on his face, he says:


"Does my breath stink?"


(This, by the way, is a phrase that I use with the boys quite a bit when discussing reasons why we need to brush our teeth on a consistent basis--".....because we don't want to have holes in our teeth or stinky breath.....")


So, I replied:


"I don't know, buddy....let me smell." And then I leaned over close, so that he could open his mouth, breathe on me, and I could let him know if he, indeed, had stinky breath. 'Cause that's just what a mother does for her son. Right, mommies?


However, I was not expecting this:


Cameron proceeds to firmly close his mouth, look up at the ceiling, and shoot a hard and deep breath my way--out of his nostrils. In the process, he managed to send a booger flying out of his nose, which landed squarely. on. my. cheek.


*shudder*


I've said it before.


I'll say it again.


I just could not make this stuff up.


I never did determine if the poor kid had stinky breath.....


Sunday, February 8, 2009

Ethan's birthday party, in pictures

Ethan's party was a wonderful mix of family and friends. We had a great day, celebrating my littlest little's 2nd birthday. The start and first half of our day, in pictures:



Mommy and Ethan--leaving their 20's and their....well....1's behind!
Playtime before the party
"Where's Ethan? Ethan.....Eeeeeethaaaaaaan?"

"There you are!"
{This went on this way for about another eight minutes....he loves 'peekie'}

Ethan's favorite non-family member--our Pastor. He loves him!
(I think it's solely because Pastor is like 6'5" -- E never gets a chance to be up
that high other than when he's hangin' with Pastor....)
*giggle*
Having some fun touching all of the lights on the ceiling.....


....literally. Every one.

To the cake!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm.....getting every last bit off the spoon


Ummmm....can anyone say "too young to know this technology"?
Brooklyn and Colin snapping some pics with their fake cell phones

Back to shoveling cake


Get it all in there, buddy

All the kids around the table sucking down the sugar *grin*

Next up: Presents!