Jeffrey is three. Really that should say it all. He has the cutest dimples and contagious smile. He loves books - even sleeps with them. He is full of energy.
He is full of energy. That just really needed to be said twice.
I love him dearly. There are days, however, when his sweet, kind of loud, voice sound like nails on a chalkboard to me.
Lately, when I ask him to do something - like finish his food, pick up his toys, get dressed - he has something more important to say. A typical conversation goes like this:
Me: Jeffrey, sweet boy, I would like you to please take your garbage to the garbage can so we can keep our house sparkling clean.
Okay, that's what I say when there are people around. The real conversation goes like this:
Me: JEFFREY! I TOLD YOU THREE TIMES TO PICK UP YOUR GARBAGE. DO IT NOW!
Jeffrey: Okay, but, Mommy...
And his voice goes up to a higher pitch at the end. Really the "mommy" sounds more like "mommeeeeeeeee"
We are working on a new pronunciation of my name!
So I don't let the "but, Mommy" go - that's back-talking in my books.
My response: No buts - go do it.
Often I get another "but, Mommy" and we have to stop and talk about how he can tell me what it is that he wants to say after he has been obedient and finished what mommy asked him to do.
That goes over really well and we usually end up with a three year old in a puddle of tears, flopped on the floor and the mommy threatening punishment if he isn't obedient right away.
It is exhausting. I think I need a nap after just telling that scenario to you.
Now, the real fun part is that Morgan has started copying Jeffrey.
So last night when I was trying to get her ready for bed and wanted her to get up on her bed this is what the conversation went like:
Me: Morgan, up on your bed so mommy can change your diaper. You are a stinky girl!
Morgan: I not a stinky girl! (for the record - she wasn't - so frustrating when they are right!)
Me: I still need to change your diaper, so get up on your bed.
Morgan: but, mommy
AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
Me: Morgan, GET UP ON YOUR BED - NO BUTS!
Morgan: no buts, no buts, no buts (in a sing-songy voice as she dances around the room)
Tired, I just pick her up and put her on the bed. As I begin to change her diaper...
Morgan: Mommy, I'mmmmmm naked! (naked is said very quickly - very cute)
Me: yes, sweetheart, mommy needs to change your diaper its almost bedtime.
Morgan: (in the same sing-songy voice) yes butts, yes butts, yes butts
I have always loved watching beauty pageants. I like competition. I like getting dressed up. So even though they are a little hokey, I am technically still a little girl who wants to grow up and be beautiful.
Well, I've found a way to get just a smidgen of that princess spotlight.
If you go to Walmart late at night, the lights are a little lower and the isles a little emptier. Go to the frozen section and wait for the isle to be completely empty. Then proceed slowly down the isle, careful to stay in the middle of the lane. As you go, there is a sensor that turns on the lights as you approach each glass door.
It's like the spotlights are coming on just for you.
Okay, since the last picture round-up ended at Morgan's birthday, so we'll pick up three days later with Jarrett's birthday. Although that now seems like months ago!!!
His choice was Red Robin, so we decided to make it a family party at the restaurant. He opened presents which included the necessary boring shirt from his parents... ...but also the more exciting XBOX game to go with the system that his Uncle Josh sent for the family. Again we were able to forgo cake and instead had this and Mountain High Mud Pie. I think the calorie count was a wash. Mike captured some great pictures of the kids...and the ad for the Red Stripe Beer!
Most of our May was spent at track. Mikalah, Judson, and Jarrett all participated and the other three did a lot of running around in the grass and dirt piles.
Judson's favorite event was discus. His best throw for the track meet was 52+ feet. His coach said he had great form and he should seep with it and be awesome in high school. that was great encouragement especially since track replaced baseball season. Jarrett competed in the long jump.
Lovingly renamed the short jump. And so did Mikalah.
Mikalah also really enjoyed the hurdles.
I love that she does it with style and a smile.
Lots of running and running and more running. Although I think this picture best captures how involved our kids were.
Mikalah listening intently, Jarrett playing. This is something new Jarrett learned. I think he taught himself, but it is just so unnatural.
I mean really, how?...why? Next birthday was mine and we won't talk too much except to say I think I'm getting old. I asked for oatmeal for breakfast and a toothbrush as a present. Thankfully Mike saved me and took me to dinner and disco bowling with some friends! (Notice how I cleverly posted the picture of me behind the box - yeah, this was before a shower in the morning!) For Judson and Jarrett's birthdays, we told them they could each pick one friend to take to our local game park.
One handsome dude! I'm preparing myself now to fight off the girls! How many goofy boys does it take to get the ball in the whole?
Okay - so this is just wrong, but too cute not to include! He is just getting so big! Speaking of big, Morgan moved into her "big girl bed".
She loved it and I love it because she looks so little in that big bed! Present from the grandparents - a Wii. I know does one family really need two game systems? With six kids and their friends...YES!!! I love the Wii, because even the little ones can play. Meredith is our bowling champion. She beat Daddy last week! Mike had a birthday - with no pictures. I love him, he's a handsome guy, but not picture cute! :) Okay really, I just forgot. But for Father's Day - the next day - after church we went for Chinese food. Really small children and eating out at nap time is not a good combination. The kids did really well, but the five minute ride home was too much for Morgan.So there you have our last bit in pictures. We did not have two kids have tonsillectomies, but we will in the next few months. They were rescheduled due to an insurance mix-up. I am thankful, though. I had cleared our schedule for these two weeks so that they could recover. Now we are just having lazy days of summer and lots of FUN!!!!
June is over! Hallelujah! Don't get me wrong, I love the month of June. My birthday, Summer arrives - it has always been a favorite. However, it also contains Judson & Mike's birthdays and Father's Day, and the kids summer break beginning. It's a lot of fun, but it is a lot! So now birthdays are over, and we have finally begun to settle into a routine. The pool is up and being used in the backyard, and there are wonderful fruits in season.
I know the fruit thing seems odd, but really by this time of year I am so tired of apples and bananas and oranges, that I don't care that cherries are $5/lb. I'm buying!!! The tomatoes are finally yummy and we can't seem to keep blueberries in the house - they're demolished too fast!
This is where I would show you a bunch of pictures from the last month, but my husband recycled a laptop for me. Yeah I have a laptop that i can cart around the house and out of the house with me. It means I can go and sit at Starbucks and work, or even just sit on my bed or the sofa. However, it does not have a card reader for my camera. Apparently I have to get some kind of reader. I'm not that technically minded to just run and get it. So, the process of putting pictures up goes like this:
Upload pictures to kitchen computer. Edit and save. Save to jump drive. Remove jump drive. Put jump drive into laptop. Upload pictures. Upload pictures to blogger.
So, I need to find whatever reader thingy I need. Then I do several posts of pictures.
Also this past month my ladies Bible study started Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself. I had started with a good friend a couple of weeks ahead so that I would be prepared and not just at the last minute. The study is awesome!!! Interestingly enough, she spent the first two weeks talking about the Holy Spirit. Call it a blonde moment (hard to do since I'm not blonde), but I was surprised by my "aha" moment that the fruit of the spirit is talking about the Holy Spirit!!!! I had just never made that connection. Now I'm really not sure why I hadn't made that connection, but I hadn't.
This week, my ladies are studying "joy". I have to confess that i am no longer ahead. I desperately want to be and I'm hoping that the next week I can actually work ahead, but I got stuck. It has been one year since my sister died, and having to do a study where every other word is her name has been really hard. It's not so much that they are talking about her - although if there was a person that fit her name, it was Joy, it's really just seeing her name over and over again. I can't pick up the phone and call her and tell her what I am studying.
What is totally awesome is what true joy is. Ultimately, no matter what is going on in our lives, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and take the punishment that we deserve, so we don't have to. Nothing can compare. All my trials pale in comparison. When we accept that gift that God offers - the gift of His Son, we are adopted out of our sinful family into God's eternal family. WOW!
Philippians 3:8a "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
Thirty-four years ago today, I was welcomed into the home of my earthly adopted family. We call today my "Gotcha Day." I am so thankful that God gave them to me so that I could learn about His complete love at an early age. I am even more thankful that God has His own "Gotcha Day" for me!
So there you have our last bit in pictures. We did not have two kids have tonsillectomies, but we will in the next few months. They were rescheduled due to an insurance mix-up. I am thankful, though. I had cleared our schedule for these two weeks so that they could recover. Now we are just having lazy days of summer and lots of FUN!!!!
