A PIcture of Heaven

A month ago, Matthew could not draw. He felt like he couldn't do it well, so he would just scribble. Well thanks to his preschool class (and his awesome teacher, Mrs. K), his writing and drawing and coloring has improved SO much. I have been so impressed with what he has started doing. He has a journal that our cousins gave him for his birthday that he likes to draw in. He often does it at rest time. Again, the beginning pictures are just scribbles. Today he drew this picture. He came to me, telling me it was "so, so cool!" and was very excited about it. He told me he even drew daddy's "scruffies". When he explained the picture to me, he told me it was all four of us in Heaven. So sweet...my heart just melted. It's all yellow because it's Heaven. There is a small place of red and he said he tried to blend the colors, but they wouldn't mix because they were crayons (well, he didn't say "blend"...I can't remember his exact words). Then this evening after showing David the picture, David went in his room and found his book called Dangerous Journey open to this page. He was drawing his own version of this picture. Again, my hearted melted some more. Don't be surprised if you come to our house one day and see it in a frame. Maybe it's just because I'm his mom and I am naturally proud of him, but you have to admit, it's sweet. Here is his artwork next to the book.

Some other comments he made were that originally he forgot to draw arms, but he went back and added them. When I asked him why my hair was sticking up he said he didn't know how to draw it back (in a ponytail). In the picture here is our order: David, Jacob, Matthew, Mary.

28 Reasons to be Thankful on my 28th Birthday

I have had such a great birthday! All day I've been thinking of all the things I have to be thankful for and why it has been such a great day. So I decided to make a list. Here we go!

1. Spending the day with my two sons. They were so well behaved and so sweet all day. They're just pretty awesome.
2. My husband decorating the house early this morning with two birthday banners - one in Spanish and one with Cars on it :)
3. Getting a package in the mail, even though it's Veterans' Day and I shouldn't be able to get mail.
4. Not having H1N1 this year like I did last year.
5. A birthday  nap...if you know me, you know I love to sleep.
6. A nonfat, decaf pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks that I paid for with a gift card.
7. Lunch at McDonalds - I love that place more than I should.
8. A free birthday scoop of ice cream from Graeters.
9. Another free scoop of ice cream from Graeters.
10. Another free scoop of ice cream from Graeters.
11. Listening to Christmas music on the radio.
12. GORGEOUS weather - abnormal warm and sunny
13. I just looked at my list and realized I had nap written twice...I must have really enjoyed it today :)
14. My mommy brought me cookies while I was teaching dance tonight so I could share them with my students.
15. Melissa, the other dance teacher tonight surprised me with Graeters cookies (the tea ones...one of my favorite kinds of cookies. yum!) and a card.
16. "Help" opening my birthday present. Why would I want to open it myself?! ;)
17. Facebook to remind us all of each other's birthdays when we otherwise would have no clue.
18. Over 70 facebook wall posts about my birthday.
19. My two-year-old randomly bursting out in song throughout the day to sing me "Happy Birthday" (that said child is still wide awake and won't go to bed as I type this at 10:30 pm), and hearing David and Matthew both sing Feliz Cumpleanos (happy birthday in Spanish)
20. Matthew saying to me this afternoon, "Mommy, you're treating me so sweet today. You're treating me like it's my birthday. You let me get a happy meal and pick the flavor of ice cream (at Graeters). Thank you so much!!! (and he gave me a kiss)"
21. Being able to open the windows of the house on my birthday when it's usually too cold.
22. Birthday hugs from all three of my boys.
23. Baby Samad is on his or her way (even though he or she won't be born until the day after my birthday!)
24. Matthew finding a magazine picture of a cute purse and wrapping it in his "ba" (his blankie) and bringing it to me as  "present" and being very sincere about it.
25. A brownie cake with M&M's spelling "mom", made by my three boys.
26. Sugar, because I've had a lot of it today.
27. Phone messages and texts from people I love.
28. Celebrating my birthday on Saturday with family and prime rib :)

I'm sure I could go on. I just feel so blessed and had such a wonderful day. Thanks to all of you who made it that way. I feel loved.

Halloween

Are Pigs Flying Somewhere?

Really...I think a pig may have flown somewhere (or hell froze over, but I think we'd know about that ;) Jacob has fallen asleep in his room or bed two nights recently! I have been meaning to make a post of pictures of all the rando places he has fallen asleep. I'll do that soon.

And last night it was kind of fun to hear our boys talking to each other in their room before they went to sleep (the five times Matthew came out to report to us the various parts of their conversations was not as cute, however) And then again this morning I heard Matthew talking loudly. I got up (because it was too early to be up!) to tell Matthew to be quiet, and I was pretty annoyed to be doing so, only to find both boys awake, sitting up, talking to each other. This is very new because Jacob is just now getting to the point where he can carry on a small conversations. Two parts of conversations I overheard were:
J: I want Mrs. Shockley (his teacher).
M: You get to spend the day with her today!

M: No, Jacob, that's my Voyage book (M and I have been reading the Narnia series together, and we're on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader). Do you know anything about The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian?
J. No.
M. Then this book isn't for you. (but he did it in a nice way)

And they are even playing together nicely as I type this! So fun!

A Quote to Remember

Anyone who has raised little boys knows how hard it can be to keep a bathroom clean. Lately I keep finding that our bathroom smells like pee no matter what I do. Well I finally discovered a puddle of pee behind the toilet...twice. After the second time, I asked Matthew, "The last two times I cleaned the bathroom I found a puddle of pee behind the toilet. Is that from you?". Matthew answered, "Well, yes. It's from rest time and night time. When I pee, it's loud and I don't want to wake you up. (As if him turning the light on in the middle of the night doesn't already do that...anyway...) So I aim here (pointing to the open lid) so that it will bounce off that and go in. But it usually doesn't work."

Priceless...his motives are kind of sweet...but the smell of pee that I think will forever be in my bathroom is not!

Broccoli

This morning Jacob asked me for broccoli...for a moment I as puzzled. The kid doesn't eat vegetables that look like vegetables. Then I listened to him a little more. He was singing Veggie Tales (when he next asked for celery, I knew...we don't do celery in our house - if you know me, you know why I don't eat it!) He wanted to watch. And by watch, I mean, watch the theme song over and over and over and over and then stop watching when the movie actually starts.

Here's a picture from his birthday with his dear teacher, Mrs. Shockley.

Turner Farm

Today we had a fabulous trip to Turner Farm. We went with some family and friends. We got to pick turnips from a field and feed them to some sheep. We got to see some baby pigs, and then we got to pick our own pumpkins. We had a great time. And then I had some fun editing the pictures (I'm just learning how...playing with Picasa - free on google). Here is some of the fun we had!

Matthew and Linnea picking turnips.

Taking the turnips to the sheep.

 Matthew and Jacob playing with the same sheep.

 Jacob was very brave for being so little.

 Chris and Linnea...too cute to not put on the blog!

 My fave!

 Another favorite - Jacob and cousin Ollie (two weeks apart in age)

 Making sure we know which pumpkin belongs to them!



That's One Way to Do It!

Those of you who know Jacob know he has a really hard time with separation anxiety. He's fine with close family, but anywhere else, he pretty much freaks out and won't give up. I'm not sure he has ever made it through the nursery at church without someone coming to get us. Today was the fourth day of school for him. The first day, I got a call 45 minutes in that said he was showing no signs of calming down. The second week I was the parent helper, so he did fine. The third week I was in Matthew's room and I could hear him crying off and on the whole day, but at least he made it. Today our plan of action was that I would stay for a bit and leave. Each week I will try and stay for a shorter amount of time. Today I stayed about an hour. I left when they went outside to play, which is the one time he tends to calm down. When we left the room I told him I was going and it didn't seem to phase him. But when I turned to go to the car instead of to the playground, the meltdown started. I was told he cried for awhile, but ended up playing okay for the last ten minutes. He was asking for his blankie (his "ba"). His teacher (Mrs. Shockley...we love her!) let him have it when they went inside. She also gave him a little photo book I had made for him that he hadn't seen yet. He curled up in their "quiet place" and next thing she knew, Mrs. Shockley saw he was asleep. He slept for about 45 minutes (through lunch!) and woke up, but stayed in the quiet place kind of dozing for the last hour. They said they could tell he was listening to the stories being read, but just chilled there. At least he didn't wake up crying or scared. He seemed okay with being there. Progress, I guess! I know when I"m somewhere I don't really want to be, like a long car ride, I sleep because it makes it go faster. He did the same for school!

This afternoon I asked Jacob what his favorite thing about school was, and he answered, "Shockley". He really does seem to like her, so that's great. Last week I asked him what his favorite thing about Mrs. Shockley was and he said, "stories". It's cute to have little mini conversations :) I remember being so excited when Matthew could "tell" me about his day at school when he was about this age. So fun.

Another fun thing, Jacob told his first joke today. This is how it goes:
J: Knock knock
Me: Who's there?
J: Nama
Me: Nama who?
J: Papa!!! (with the silliest laugh)

Makes no sense, but it's hilarious that he made it up, could tell it several times, and knew he was being funny!

The Boy Who Didn't Talk

About a month ago I was starting to get a little concerned about Jacob's lack of talking. I wasn't really worried...just starting to think he was just more "non verbal" than our other sun (chuckle, chuckle). I was figuring I'd ask about it at Jacob's two year appointment. Well, suddenly, Jacob has burst out with so much more language. It's amazing how that happens. They go from saying hardly anything, to labeling everything they see and do. I'm always amazed at how he can observe and say something I either didn't notice or take for granted. For example, he is amazing at hearing any airplane in the sky when I wouldn't even think twice about it. He commentates our drives, saying "up" and "down" and "weeee" when we go up and down hills. Here is a list of words he is saying. I started making this list a week or so ago, just for memories sake, and I am quickly learning that I can't keep up or write everything down. I decided the other day, when he said "Agador" (the neighbors' dog), that I could stop trying to get every word! But just for fun, here's what we've been hearing lately (not in any order). I'll put how he says it in parentheses, again, just for fun.:
mama/mommy, dada/daddy, nama, mawmaw,pawpaw,becca (said Beppa),brian (bine),dylan (din),I want a cup (iwunacup),I want ___ fill in the blank,I want to see (I unna see),candy,eat,snacks,elmo,blue,blues clues,choo choo,thomas (tos),brother,Jacob,Sean,Shockley (his teacher),please,stories,thank you (dank dank),pooh,bikes,outside,swing,fishies,down,aisle,up,moon,light,bath, bubbles, slide, up, up high, potty, open, close (blose), pizza (za), bowl, fork, apple, blueberry, strawberry, ball (ball ball), blocks, puzzle, tv, remote (mote), night night, by bye, please excused, eyes, feet, chips, pretzels, "si, me ama" (jesus loves me in spanish), Happy birthday (happy day), me, mine, ba (his blankie), binki, cup, boo boo, I got boo boo, airplane, no, yes (uh), east, west, green, red, mail box, juice box (box), m&m's, hot dog, cheese, chicken (chichen), that (dat), this (dis), ow, I need help (I ee help), baby, sheet, I got it, bob, church, stand up, button

I'm sure there's plenty more. He also likes to sing. Some of his favorites are "bob the builder", Veggie Tales, East to West (VBS song), Go and Trust the Lord (VBS song), Baobab Blast (another VBS song), Christo me ama (Jesus loves me in Spanish), ABC's. He's also pretty good at counting to 10 (although today I heard 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 :)

Singing in the Shower

I have plenty to post from this weekend since it was Jacob's birthday, but it's late and I'll do that later. But here is a little taste of who Jacob is becoming. He likes to sing...you can usually figure out what he is signing, but he's far from getting all the words! Here he is singing in the shower, all by himself, where he likes to stay for a long time. I think today he was there probably close to 30 minuets (hey, it let me get dressed and do my hair and makeup!) Of couse it was cuter before I got the camera, but you get the idea.

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching dance...my very own classes. I haven't really danced since high school (almost 10 years!), so I'm nervous. I'd be less nervous if I could find my tap shoes! I have the first day of school jitters. I'll report how it goes!

Family Camp

I'm way behind in posting for family camp. We had a total blast...I think the easiest way to show you the fun we had is to put up the link from Facebook. Hope this works :) For those of you on facebook, it's all the same pics.
Family Camp Facebook Pictures

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for BOTH boys! What an exciting day (depends on who you ask, though :) Matthew is in the 4 year old class with Mrs. K (Amanda Kontopos) and already loves it. He has made so many friends over the last two years and totally feels at home. It was so nice to have him just run right in. I didn't have to worry about him at all. He knows what to do and I am so proud of his ease at running into something (sort of) new. Jacob was another story. Perhaps he's too young...I've been doubting myself all day. He turns two next week. He is in the two year old class with Mrs. Shockley. Matthew did the same class and was just about the same age, only about 6 weeks older. Matthew had issues with separation anxiety, and pre-school was what broke that. My hope is that the same thing will happen with Jacob. I think Jacob's separation anxiety is way worse than Matthew's (but it could just be because I'm in the moment with Jacob and the memory of the issue with Matthew is faded!) So I dropped Jacob off today, expecting him to cry. He's pretty stubborn when I leave him. He doesn't give in. So, sure enough, about 45 minutes after I left, I got a call that he wasn't calming down. Little booger... So my plan of going for a run then going home to shower and do some things before I had a meeting at 1130 didn't happen. I got to run, but no shower. I apologize to everyone I saw between my run and the end of the day...I wasn't looking (or probably smelling!) my best! I stayed with Jacob in his class for about an hour. During that hour he did great. He wasn't clingy, which was what I had expected. I had to leave again at 1130 for a meeting. I left him behind and he did much better. They said he even had fun and laughed a bit. He was crying by the time I got back, but I think that was because someone else was crying. I stayed with them the last 30 minutes or so. So I think he made progress. It was an eventful day, but, we'll measure in baby steps!

This week, Matthew's class was split so that half of the students went today and half go on Friday. Everyone will start all three days of the week (M/W/F) on Monday. Jacob just goes on Wednesdays.

Here is the saga of our day.
The closest I got to both boys looking at me.

Practicing using his backpack (really, he's been practicing for weeks...)

Apparently I took too many pictures...

It was Jacob's idea to bring in the garbage cans. He's so responsible. I would have left them for daddy to get!

Taking in Ms. Norma's cans (she lives next door and is pretty sick with cancer)

At school

The big four-year-old

If you know Jacob at all, you know he has a passion for air conditioners (seriously). The only way I got him to pose was in front of the air conditioner!

The "I'm not sure about this" look.

Washing hands...they do it about 18,000 times a day!

Matthew has to find his name and "write on the wall" when he gets there. I'm so proud of how well he is writing his name! Poor guy...has kind of a long name. Sorry, kiddo!

Got a splinter on the first day...Daddy had just removed it from his finger, much to Matthew's dissatisfaction!

We got in the car to go get ice cream to celebrate the day and, by golly, the ice cream truck drove down the street. Perfect timing! (Although Daddy wasn't too thrilled with my idea to get it from them...he's not a fan of the cost. I say we're paying for the experience! :)

An oldie, just for comparison!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

It's hard to believe our baby is turning four! He's getting to be so grown up and so many times surprises us with his maturity (but don't get me wrong, he's still only 4 and has 4 year old moments!). He can be so thoughtful of others, loves to cuddle, LOVES to read (we've started reading chapter books and he really enjoys it), loves people, loves babies...loves lots of things. He is always asking to be with friends. We'll leave one event and he'll ask what we're doing next and if he can have a friend over. His favorite food, he'd probably say, is broccoli. He did say that for school this year. And when I was planning his birthday party menu, the only food he requested was broccoli and carrots (but NOT cooked carrots...he won't eat those!) He also loves berries - especially black berries. He's doing amazing with learning how to swim. He took one session of swim lessons and the YMCA and loved them. He was so brave. He was the only one in his class who would jump in all by himself off the side of the pool. He also took a week of CHPC's swim ministry (totally recommend it!) He started out the week having a hard time and wanting mommy, but on the last two days he (after being bribed with a date with mommy) got so brave and passed his first level, which includes diving for things on the bottom of the pool. We're so proud of him. This summer he also took a tumbling class at the YMCA and enjoyed it. He's asking when his next class is...sorry buddy, too expensive to do it all the time! He's going to take dance again in the fall and is excited about that. We considered soccer, but, again, decided it was too expensive. He wasn't asking to do it - we were just going to put him in it. So maybe we'll wait another year until he wants it or something else. So those are a couple random thoughts I have about Matthew. I wasn't going to write all that...it was all off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll think of other things to add later. But for now, here are a million pictures of his party. He had a blast. I think he's forgetting that his actual birthday hasn't happened yet. It's next Monday.










I was going to do more, but our internet is spotty due to a storm. Check back later for more!

New Camera

My mom and I recently got a new camera as a present from Grammy - something to remember her by. I had to convince my mom that this would be a good present. She wanted something that would last forever, so I could always look at it and think of grammy. While I know the camera will not last forever, my pictures of my family will! I was finally able to talk her into it (and a set of chairs to go with the table my other grandma gave me - that we've been using a hodge podge of random chairs for, some of which are folding chairs!) I LOVE the new camera. While I'm still definitely learning how to use it (especially at dusk and at night), here are a couple of my favorites I capured.



Everything is just so sharp and it takes pictures so quickly (my favorite part). Now I am less likely to miss those kodak moments that I always miss with the point and shoot camera!

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA for about a month now...honestly, I just kind of forgot about the blog :) Guess that means we've been having fun. We have been up to lots and lots, so here is a glimpse! Vacation Bible School The boys and I did Northminster's Vacation Bible School. Matthew goes to preschool there. I knew DAvid would be taking classes all day, so I offered to help. I'm so glad I did. I really had a blast with the 4 year olds. I would have preferred to do it without a toddler on my hip (Jacob wouldn't leave my side!), but really, it went well. I loved watching Matthew, in particular. It's just fun watching him have fun with other kids, and to be under the instruction of other adults. My favorite part was watching him sing. This was the first time that he was old enough to join the "big kids". At the end of the week they had a performance, singing their songs they learned throughout the week. Matthew was working so hard at the motions with the songs. He was so serious about learning to do them. It's neat watching your child be eager to learn and eager to do something well. Here is a clip of their performance.
Summer Sunday Nights So far this summer, our church has had two "Summer Sunday Nights". The first had a fishing theme. The kids got to go fishing in the lake on the church property. The bait: hot dogs. Aparently the fish love them, and it's cheaper than night crawlers. We were among the first on the scene to fish. Jacob found the box of hot dogs and said, "hot dog". It was his first two-word combination. Part of me was excited that he put two words together, and part of me was bothered that it had to be the words for a random assortment of pig byproducts...But anyway, Matthew really enjoyed fishing. He has been asking to go fishing for a long time. While we didn't catch anything (no one did), Matthew at least satisfied his curiosity for fishing for now. Here is a picture of Matthew with his really good friend, Linnea. They are pretty cute (and can be double trouble together, for sure!)

I have plenty more to write, but I need to let David write his paper....priorities....