Park Party

We had a fun birthday party today at one of our favorite parks! The kids had a great time playing with friends and eating birthday cake (always a favorite!) Here are some highlights...

Daddy's girl

MG playing with a balloon decorations

MG and one of her buddies

Time for refreshing drinks

MG wiping the sand off her hands from the big sand box

The boys love climbing up into this fort

Lesson 11 Insect

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Col 3:23-24

The theme for this lesson was 'I am a wise child, so I work hard.' We studied different insects including ants, ladybugs, and bees. It was a lot of fun, but also gross for Mommy! We got our ants in the mail and we were so excited to get them into our ant farm! However, the ants would not cooperate and stay on the correct side of the ant farm...they kept going to the empty side instead of staying in the sand and building tunnels! I had to dump the ants out and try to get them to the other side! Some of them got free on my kitchen floor and I was screaming! These are larger Harvester ants, not tiny ants like we're used to seeing in our backyards! Luckily, they got on the sandy side and made us all happy by building lots of tunnels. Boy, ants are hard workers! We also enjoyed a honey snack when we studied bees. KK's favorite thing was practicing how some insects eat...we used a sponge to soak up applesauce like a fly, a straw to suck orange juice like a bee or butterfly, and we punctured a tomato with a syringe and saw how a mosquito eats!

The boys looking at our ant farm.

The ants finally started to cooperate and build some tunnels--a lot of fun to watch!

Helping make honey snacks

We painted rocks to look like a ladybug

KK's artistic creation of the "Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle

Our favorite book:

Medieval Times

I'm not sure what we'd do all day long if KK were not in charge of the drama department at our homestead. Every day is an imaginative adventure and he pulls us all along with him! Today, the boys built a "car" out of the chairs and little table in our schoolroom...along with balls at each corner for the "wheels." They also played "library," where KK played the role of "Mr. Peabody" the man in charge of story hour. I was appointed as "Miss Merriweather," the head librarian, who kept order in the library. Later this afternoon, KK decided he'd be a dragon, JC would be a knight, and MG would dress up as a princess. I'm not sure how the dragon ended up with a sword, but it made for a pretty intense battle and a lot of dragon growls. It is cute to see the Mads starting to follow along and try to play with her big brothers. :)

Rainy Day

We had to get out this morning for a quick errand and KK ran to get everyone's rain gear! I had to snap a picture before we got in the car!

What is a rainy day without Super Heroes?

JC has been requesting to spend time with KK during afternoon room time. Because he's now 3-years old, I've let him skip a nap a few days a week so he can spend time playing alone with with big brother. Today, they both dressed up as Superman (on their own). I love this picture of JC looking up to his big brother!

Lesson 10 Water

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters...

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live... Isaiah 55:1, 3

The theme for this lesson was 'Jesus Gives My Spirit Living Water To Drink.' We talked about how we all need water for our bodies to live and how our spirit needs 'living water' that Jesus gives. We studied the water cycle and talked about the different forms of water--liquid, solid, and gas. KK really enjoyed learning about the water cycle and where rain comes from. We did some fun experiments with ice--letting it sit out on the counter and also in a bowl in the fridge and they got to guess which one would melt first. We also saw how water turns to steam--we measured out 1 cup of water and boiled it on the stove and then measured it afterwards to see how much water was lost in the process of it turning to vapor. And we also experimented with salt and oil to see how different things mix with water.

We had this shiny foil paper that KK wanted to use for a craft, so we decided to do a picture of the water cycle.

Our favorite books from this lesson

Lesson 9 Octopus

Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them. Psa 69:34

Our theme for Lesson 9 was 'Even the Octopus Praises the Lord.' I have to say that the octopus has to be one of the strangest and most fascinating creatures that exists! Seriously, take the fact that they have 3 hearts! How weird is that? And they have no bones, so they can squeeze into tiny places. And they have a beak-like mouth that crushes crustaceans of the sea...and they have a weird hole on the side of their head that shoots the uneaten shells and stuff back out into the water. They are just some stinkin' strange creatures! I really enjoyed this lesson! We had "octopus" dogs one day for lunch and also painted a huge 3 1/2 foot wall mural of the ocean. Oh yeah, KK also spent several days pretending to be an octopus. He kept squeezing himself into tiny places all over the house and then reaching out trying to grab sea creatures (aka little siblings) that wandered by. It was interesting--he is a mess!

KK wasn't feeling very well this day, but I think he ate most of his octopus dog

The boys working on the mural of the ocean


The finished project...notice KK had to draw 3 hearts on the octopus!


Some of our favorite books from this lesson

Lesson 8 Dinosaur

Our theme for this lesson was 'Big and Small, God Made Them All.' We had a lot of fun studying dinosaurs! One of the coolest things for me was having Kevin step off 110 feet--the length of an Ultrasaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs. He thought 110 feet would be from our garage doors to the end of our driveway, but it was all the way across the street into the neighbor's yard by a tree...so now we have a landmark that helps us remember the size of that dino every time we go outside! We also had fun making some of our favorite dinosaurs out of playdough and we also went on a field trip to our local Science Museum to see the Alabama dino fossils! One of KK's favorite things was making our own dino fossils from a kit I found at an arts and crafts store. It came with small plastic dinosaurs that you placed into plaster. When it dried, we had our own little fossil molds! Another cool fact that I learned was that dinosaur poop is still found by archaeologists today and it helps us discover interesting things about what the dinos ate, etc. Anyway, this was a fun lesson!

A large dino fish at the McWane Science Center

The boys digging for dino bones

Introducing....a Triceratops, Stegasaurus, Tyranasaurus Rex, and an Iguanadon

Making our plaster dino fossils

Some of our favorite books from this lesson

Lesson 7 Us

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psa 139: 13-14

Our theme for this lesson was 'God Made Us Wonderful'. We talked about the 5 senses and had fun learning about our bodies. KK enjoyed drawing a life-size version of himself. He, of course, had to dress up like a super hero! He drew himself as the Red Power Ranger and posed for a picture alongside his creation!

Our favorite book from this lesson

Insects and Arachnids

If you happened to be driving by my house this afternoon, you would have seen me beating the window with a blue sword with one hand and holding a squirt bottle in the other-- and you'd hear the loudest shrieks ever! I'll start by telling the fun part of the story--I accidentally stepped on a cicada in the front yard and that was exciting. I didn't shriek or freak out. We're studying insects right now and it was SO cool to get to hold a real cicada. We hear them in the trees all day long and sometimes come upon their shells outside, so it was fun for KK to finally get to see what they look like. We were able to hold it and count the wings and legs. That was fun! Now for the scary stuff-- I was walking around the front of the house and noticed a large spiderweb hanging on our window. I got a little closer to observe it and, lo and behold, it's a stinkin' black widow spider! Aaaghh! That's where the screaming and freaking out started. I knew I had to kill it since Kevin isn't home tonight and I didn't want to chance that poisonous creature getting near any of us. It took me forever to figure out how to kill it without it being able to get away or, even worse, jump on me and bite me! I was going to use my shoe to squish it, but KK advised me that I'd get poison on my shoe from the spider. That actually sounded like pretty level-headed thinking, so I got some vinegar water and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sword and decided to kill the sucker. I squirted it 5 million times and it was interesting to see it huddle into a ball with it's legs wrapped around to protect itself. Because it was protecting itself and not moving, I was then able to swat it like crazy with the sword! More screaming ensued as I had to scrape the squished spider off the end of the sword. And to think we were only outside for a few minutes-- a very eventful afternoon outing just to sit on the front porch!

You're Gonna Miss This

My mom mentioned this video to me by Trace Adkins and I had to see it for myself. It made me cry, so I thought I'd share it-- it 's just another reminder how precious this time is with our little ones. Grab some tissues if you've never heard this song!

A Castle and a Mean Man

The boys stacked pillows around the den this afternoon making a castle. They invited me into their humble abode to play with them. I was introduced to Prince Raow Raow and Prince Puppy (JC's stuffed animals that go everywhere with him). Then they informed me that I must hurry and get inside to hide. I asked who we were hiding from and JC said "a mean man that jumps out and scares people." Interesting. So, we all hid behind the "castle wall" and quietly waited. Unbeknownst to us, Kevin decided he'd play too. He was in the kitchen cutting up fresh okra and decided he'd jumped out and scream--his take on the "scary mean man." I don't think he realized he still had the okra knife in his hand, so he made a pretty scary sight to all of us! Even Mommy screamed! So, we played that game over and over again. We hid and the crazy knife-wielding Daddy jumped out screaming at us. It was fun. The boys then decided to put on their knight costumes and that MG must put on a princess costume too. Of course, I had to take a picture.

Enjoying This Time

Last Saturday, Kevin took KK out for "Daddy-time." They ran a bunch of errands and had lunch at What-a-Burger. Today was JC's day to spend time with Daddy; however, JC refused to go anywhere without his brother tagging along too! So, they all put on their Alabama football attire and loaded up to go to breakfast at Chick-fil-a.

As they were having their breakfast, Kevin said there was an older couple that kept watching them. When they finished eating, the couple came over and apologized for staring at them during their meal and explained that they had just dropped their son off at the University of Alabama yesterday for his first year of college. They said they were watching Kevin with the boys and were reminded of how quickly time flies --they said it seemed like yesterday that their son was small and having breakfast with his parents at Chick-fil-a. They told him to enjoy these precious times because it goes so quickly.

This seems to be a common statement made by empty-nesters..."enjoy them while you can." I already feel like time is passing so quickly. It seems that real life often gets in the way of me truly enjoying every single moment. There's always a diaper that needs changing, a fight to break up, or a mouth that needs to be cleaned. It's sometimes hard to slow down and just enjoy playing with them-- or to just sit and watch them play. Along the lines of enjoying our kids, I've been struck recently by some funny things that they've said...

The boys were playing real sweet together this week and apparently JC was wide-eyed at some point...
KK: "Mom, JC looks kinda cute when he opens his eyes real big like that"
Me: "Oh"
KK: "Yeah, it makes him look cuter than he really is"

JC was begging to ring the doorbell and knock at our neighbor's door this week when we went for a visit and he said " Mom, I want to ring the dingbell...can I please ring the dingbell?"

KK's reaction when I got dressed to go out to dinner--I had on make-up and a new yellow shirt (I hardly ever wear yellow, but apparently it's a hit!)...
"Mom, you look really pretty in that...you sort of look like Belle!" (from Beauty and the Beast). I just LOVE that boy!

Not the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

JC ran to the kitchen this morning calling us to come look! There was this big, humongous spider hanging on a web outside the window--it apparently snagged a beetle about the same size! I had to take a picture of it. The funniest part was MG later grabbed a magazine and started swatting the glass! It was hilarious because she kept doing it over and over again while screaming "YUCK!" I wonder where she learned that from!?

This is fascinating, but also utterly horrifying to me!!

I have trained her well!!!

Remembering

I have been close to bursting into tears all day long-- tears of gratitude and thanksgiving. Although it's easy for me to dismiss my tearfulness as hormones, I really feel like it's the Lord working on my heart. One of the things impressed upon me recently is my neediness-- how much I need the Lord for every single second!

I have spent most of my life wandering and searching for some kind of meaning. I was not a believer until I was 26-years old. However, there are moments, even as a small child, that I can now look back and see that God was whispering to my heart all along. As a little girl, I attended church and went through the motions, but I never understood what it all meant. Asking Jesus into my heart sounded foreign and I never could grasp what that was all about. It wasn't until college that I started having an animosity towards Christianity. I was an agnostic, at best. I believed the lies of college professors that said there was no meaning to our existence and everything happened by chance-- they are the "experts," right? I scoured books claiming that Christianity was false. I explored other religions. I had no answers, but strongly felt the Bible was a lie.

The Lord stepped into our lives 9 years ago. Kevin and I had been married for 4 years at the time. So,we have a pretty long history together as nonbelievers-- memories of each other in our yuckiest moments while dating and being married. Out of desperation, we drove to a church down the road that we had attended a few times. We walked in without an appointment to see the pastor. He welcomed us in and loved us both. He wasn't shocked by our sin! We were hungry and he fed us the word-- the truth. Our eyes, ears, and hearts were finally open.

It is good for me to remember the day of our salvation and our neediness on that day. There's no need to dwell on our depravity. But, remembering where we were and how far He has brought us is like taking a cool drink of water on an unbearably hot Alabama afternoon. I need to be reminded of how He has redeemed this lost little girl and restored my marriage! Praise the Lord!

Here is one of my favorite verses that sums up our conversion-- Psalm 30: 11 "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever." May all of us remember how far He's brought us.

Just a few of the many things I'm thankful for:

• An husband who loves Christ and who still adores me after 13 years of marriage-- a man who also loves his children dearly.
• My parents-- who are always willing to sacrifice to help take care of us and our kids--because they love us.
• The precious friends the Lord has placed in our lives-- friends who love and serve us in amazing ways--friends who love our children as their own.
• That I am able to be home with my children and teach them-- such a joy!
• That the Lord saved us before we had our children!
  
• That He is good and merciful and always with me
• Everything else like the fact that someone thought to make Reese's cup ice cream and eyelash curlers!
  

Bye Bye Tonsils

This morning we took little JC to the hospital to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Kevin and I started the day already exhausted since neither of us slept well last night and we both woke up at 4am! Although MG had surgery on her mouth when she was 4 months old, I think we were more nervous about JC's procedure. For one thing, MG had no idea at 4 months what was going on. A 3-year old's reaction to the whole process is a whole other ball of wax. We got to the hospital this morning at 7:15 and they checked JC's weight, blood pressure, and heart rate--he started crying because he didn't like them taking his blood pressure and heart rate, but 2 stickers quickly cheered him up. We then went to our room where he put on his hospital gown and we got to color some Dora and Blue's Clues pictures. We had a "surprise" for him this morning (a wooden house with little keys for each door and doorbells to ring)--he loved playing with it while we waited! We also went to the playroom at the hospital and wheeled him up and down the hall in a riding car. Then several nurses came in to explain the procedure and asked JC what flavor he would like in his "Mickey Mouse Mask" aka anesthesia mask. He chose strawberry and he was very excited about the prospect of getting to go back with the nurse through the double doors that had a big clown taped to the doors. He kept asking over and over when he'd get to go get his strawberry mask. The heart-wrenching part was when the nurse actually came to get him to go through the long-awaited "clown doors." It wasn't quite as exciting that Mommy and Daddy weren't coming with him. His cries echoed down the halls as Kevin and I quietly slipped back into the room. We were both trying to hold it together! Kevin ran to McDonalds to get us some breakfast to help pass the time-- but, most importantly, we sat in the room and prayed together. It was really a quick procedure and he was back to the room within an hour. Everything went well and he is recovering nicely at home! We are so thankful for all our friends and family who have lifted us up in prayer today!

JC and Daddy coloring a Dora page

JC playing with his new Doorbell House

We had to get a picture of Mr. Striker striking a pose on the hospital bed--notice the name of the bed--Stryker. We thought this was funny!

JC after the surgery with his puppy (brought from home)--he's still trying to wake up in Mommy's arms



Waking up to eat a red popsicle

Getting his IV taken out-- almost ready to go home

Tasmanian Devil

Our sweet MG has been on a roll (no pun intended) lately of totally destroying our house. Last week, I left the room for a second and came back to find all the pillows off our couch and a magazine torn to shreds. It's amazing how quickly a little one can make such a BIG mess. Today I caught her on film--these were taken within a 30 minute time period!

She somehow got a hold of the papertowels and completely unrolled them onto the kitchen floor

I tried to fix my paper towels by rolling them back up--no luck!

This is my laundry basket of clean clothes that I set out to fold--she actually emptied most of the basket...I got some of the things back in the basket before taking this pic. But, most of the clothes were thrown over the stair rail onto the stairs--thanks a lot Mads!

Pulling all the puzzles off the bookshelf