Splash in the Rain Puddles

I love when I see glimpses of myself in my boys.  First of all, they are boys.....rough, rowdy, true to the core, boys...... and for that reason alone it seems hard at times to see myself in them.  But there are glimpses.  The most recent one came from Jack.  I discovered something he apparently has been doing for awhile without mommy knowing :).  When I went in to check on him a few nights ago, quite some time after he had gone to bed, I found him under the covers with his flashlight, reading a book.  And by reading, I mean going through our giant bedtime Bible story book, finding words and phrases that he knows.  But hey, that totally qualifies as reading when you are 6.  It was so sweet to hear him try to explain what he was doing and why he was doing it and why he "just wasn't quite sleepy yet."  Yes, I did need to shut the operation down for that moment but at the same time my heart was proud.  I love to read.  I would much rat...

Things that currently make my boys very, very happy...... Nothing, literally nothing, makes my oldest happier than going to work with daddy.   I'm convinced that Chase would swing all day if I let him.  Mommy is getting some pretty strong forearms from all the pushing!!  And my little one loves to be upright, in the middle of all the action.  He loves pedaling around in the walker. And things that are making mommy happy these days.... The fact that Jack begs me for jobs around the house.......things like washing our outdoor light fixtures!! T-ball!! Bike rides! Easter spent with these sweet little nieces! And moments like this with these guys!!

Well it's Saturday....all hands on deck.  Poor Luke! Other recent happenings.... Chase had a wonderful time on his field trip to Pizza King where he made his very own pizza! And then wore his gear the entire rest of the day while carrying around his leftover pizza box :) Jack blew the minds of people at church when he showed up at 8am to help with the spring workday, and worked all the way until noon.  Thank you Grandma for making this happen! Another tooth down!  he pulled this one himself :) T ball is underway growing, growing, growing......new sneakers again....and he was so excited to wear them to school And this pumpkin is getting the hang of sitting up.  opens a whole new world of contentment.  Cheers for that! And if you just need a reason to smile today....this ought to do it..... he loves to ride in the car in his jammies and my sunglasses when we take Jack to the b...

Oh spring......I cannot express how happy I will be when you come to stay.  Enough snow days.....enough getting bundled up.....enough spending far too much time inside.  I know it's close.  It will be so wonderful. But here are two little guys who were still excited for more snow.... The exciting discovery of last week's snow day was that if you fill the slide with a whole bunch of snow and slide down continuously, it eventually turns into ice...which eventually makes the slide incredibly fast.  Very, very exciting  :)  They were quite proud of their discovery.    You know what you don't get to do when you're 32?  You don't get to celebrate your birthday 4 times.....once at Disney World, once at home, once at school, and then once again last weekend when your Grandpa and Grandma come, with another cake :)  But if you are 4, you can definitely pull it off.  And there is no one who loves to party more than my 4 year old so...

7 Adults, 5 kids....2 of which are infants, 3 strollers....Disney World for a week.  Are we crazy?  Possibly.  But we did it anyway and had a wonderful time.  The only ironic thing was that it wasn't until we were leaving the airport...in the car....on our way home....after our vacation...the older boys were watching a movie, Luke was sleeping and Chad and I were just sitting.....sitting there in complete stillness and silence that we said, "this is the first moment like this that we've had all week!"  Hmmmm......restful vacation? Maybe not....but certainly one that made alot of very sweet memories...  like when we arrived and grandma had matching Mickey pj's laid out on the beds for all the kiddos... and when the boys met Mickey and all their other favorite characters for the first time.  so cute as they all held out their autograph books to be signed. and when we rode Dumbo.....and when Jack couldn't help but be a 6 six year old and smile that swee...

One night this past week after Jack finished his homework he had an idea that he should be Chase's teacher....that with a little help, Chase would be able to read sight words just like him.  Despite my best efforts to explain that Chase is only 3 and he doesn't know how to read yet, he was determined.  Poor Chase, what a good sport he was as Jack would point a to a word and then say, "Ok, read this word Chase.  Just sound it out, I know you can do it."  Chase would guess some random word and Jack would try so hard not to get frustrated and patiently explain that it was not even close.  It was quite amusing to witness. I love when I get to watch Chase interact with his preschool friends.  He had his Valentines Day party a little late since bad weather cancelled the original date.  I was so proud as he politely said thank you to each of his friends when they put a Valentine in his bag.  So sweet! Speaking of sweet......Chase is just t...

Jack loves to write sentences now that he knows enough words and can sound out most of what he wants to write.  I love the phonetics of a kindergartner.  In church on Sunday he was writing and this was the first thing that came to his mind..... It says, "I like to worc (work) and help. and polaay (play)."  So fitting for Jack that working and helping would be on the top of his list.  Playing seems to be an afterthought :)   Then the next one was this..... "I like to go to get wood." One of his absolute favorite things to do with his daddy.  One of a kind indeed.   I'm amazed at how fast he is learning and so grateful for a wonderful school and teacher that continues to help him grow and develop into a little scholar. :)   And what a great big brother he is.  He truly does love to help. This one just makes me laugh.  It was so cold for so long that we had to wait until it warmed up to build a snowman.  ...