Snow Much Fun

With so much excitement in his little voice, Jon David bounced into our room at 7:11 am this morning and said, "Mommy, there is SNOW on the ground! Snow!!!" It was just so cute. What fun we had on this special day with probably about 5 inches of that fun, white powdery snow!

Little Josiah was about the cutest thing you ever saw with his little puppy hat. Oh, and he had to learn how to walk in the snow boots. He only wears Robeez (soft-soled shoes) so the chunky boots were quite tricky for our little guy. We stood him up with the boots and he immediately fell flat on his face. Poor guy! But, he's a determined a little fellow and after a good amount of falling, he was able to walk a good bit without toppling over.

In our early morning adventure, the little mittens he had on kept falling off. A friend gave me a tip to put socks on his hands and that was a great trick for our other outings today. But, with the layers of clothes, bulky boots and hands wrapped in a couple layers of socks, Josiah stood no chance (no pun intended) of getting up after falling down. And to make matters worse, he often fell face first in the snow. He even managed to get some scratches on that sweet little face. But, no worries - Josiah loved his time in the snow!

And, and big brother had a great time too! He especially enjoyed having snow ball fights and eating snow cream. It was quite sweet and sad when he got up from his nap with little tears as he told me, "Mommy, I'm so sad that the snow is melting..."

It was also neat to teach Jon David that God designs each snowflake to be different - not one is the same. If God takes so much time and care with His snowflakes, how much more does He care about us!

Mom's Beauty Parlor

Moms - we can do anything, right? I mean, we are nurses, chefs, counselors, chauffeurs... the list never ends. Well, I wanted to add to my resume the role of beautician! My three fellas all get varying degrees of "high and tight" and I wanted to give it a go. I've paid too much money for traumatic experiences at some cheap "salon" at the mall - and with not very good results.

I purchased my kit at Tar-jay for $25 and knew that if I only gave each guy one hair cut, I'd save about $10 - $15. JD was my first brave customer. Truth be told, he just wants to shave his all off since his hair is steadily going away (and not coming back). I figured if I really botched it up, he could get his wish and just lose it all.

I had to do about three touch-ups and there is a weird line above his right ear. But, all in all, it's passable.

On to Josiah, he is so easy. Give him a cookie and he's all yours. His 'do is a little better than Daddy's.

Lastly, I took on my oldest. This was going to be interesting, I just knew. Since he hates getting his hair cut, I had the persuasive argument of telling him that if I did not cut his hair, someone at the mall would. My big error was not putting a towel around him since he started getting agitated when he saw the hair all around him and on his shirt. We finally ended the session with his head about 80% cut. I've since gone back and he's now about 95% done. I just need to do the neck. It's not great but it's not too bad.

So, I'm proud of myself for being resourceful. Truth be told, the cuts are really, well, lacking. But, I bet the gold standard of mommies in Proverbs 31 would have used some clippers for her fellas too!

Alert - Kindness Missing!!

I didn't know that it could happen. I've never read about it in the papers and am not sure that there has ever been a documented case of this strange occurrence. This afternoon, my dear son reported to me that his "kindness had disappeared." Imagine my alarm to hear this statement. Well, based upon his behavior, I knew that some sort of abduction had taken place.

Here's a little background... I am reading a very good book on parenting by Kevin Leman. I'm really enjoying it and feel encouraged by some of the good things we are doing. I also feel the need to change or keep an eye out for some things that I don't really want to impart upon my son. So, some things we are doing are right on and others are things that I could see being potential problems in the future. Leman talks a lot about making the kind of home where your kids want to be there and making sure that our role of parents is not pushed aside due to overly busy schedules and overly ambitious plans.

Leman advises to praise your children for who they are and not always on their abilities and appearance. So, I heaped praise upon Jon David for not only climbing so well at the Chick-fil-A kid area but mostly for not giving up when it was hard to do at first. Last night, I started talking to him about how I like that he is so smart but that I really love how kind he is. I could see his little face light up as I told him of all the times recently that I'd seen him being kind. I'm learning that one of his love languages seems to be words of affirmation.

So, here we are today with a whiny boy whose ears must not have been working based upon the lack of good listening he exhibited. He cried, he sassed and at times was lacking any kindness.

I do hope that his kindness reappears tomorrow!

Thomas the Tank Engine and a Puppy

My sons have great passions in life. For Jon David, it's Thomas the Tank Engine, of course. I cannot even begin to count the number of wooden engines, coal tenders and tracks that are on the floor in the family room right at this moment.

Little brother is also showing signs of what really moves him. For him, he cannot resist playing with a ball and he finds dogs VERY exciting! He gets so happy just seeing a dog walk by our house and is learning to say, "woof woof." Oh, it's really so very cute!




So, finding their costumes was rather easy. Jon David's even contained a litle section to hold candy - how cool is that? We had a great time and gathered quite a bit of candy. Josiah tried his first candy bar (Twix) and was a big fan!!

Next year, I hope to find some cute costumes that they can wear together, like Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. Can't wait!

With Miss 'Cole!

Warning - I'm 3!!

His shirt says, "WARNING, I'm 3!"

My big boy is 3 years old. What a glorious time it has been with our beloved son. I thank the good Lord every day for my sweet, sweet son.

Jon David had a LARGE time at his Pump it Up party. It was wild but in a good way. He had the best time and especially enjoyed his Maggio Moo's Thomas the Tank Engine cake.

Josiah was not really feeling the whole birthday party thing. He was a bit crabby.

This cool present from Cousin Kenzie reads, "Happy 3rd Birthday, Jon Jon." Of course, it's Thomas the Take Engine.

As if one party were not enough, his sweet Sunday School teachers threw him a dream party - a donut birthday party! Mr. Doug and Miss Lynn have been so kind to Jon David (or, as they call him, "JD"). They have been instrumental in getting Jon David to stop screaming for the entire time he spent at church. And, they knew how much our boy loves him some donuts. They even got the GOOD stuff, Krispy Kreme and brought the kids hats. What a sweet send-off for our big boy!

Catching Up

I don't remember Jon David being up to this much mischief. He's never really been one to try and touch "bad" things like electrical outlets, etc. I'm still amazed that when he wakes up from naps and in the morning that he reaches for a few books, turns on his little Tyke Light and reads. He rarely even calls for me. That AMAZES me. He knows how to turn on the TV in the bonus room and I'm always surprised that he just stays in his bed.

I know it's bad parenting to compare children but how can you not? I'm not comparing with the intention of one child being my favorite, etc. That would be impossible. But, this journey of parenting is new for me and I can't help but compare experiences.

So, today Josiah was playing with the lazy-susan. He takes a bottle of vegetable oil and puts it in his chubby hands. I casually glance at him, thinking nothing of it. Then, something tells me to walk over and look at him. It takes me a few minutes to figure out why his PJs are wet in some places and what's in his hair. Then I realize, he opened the bottle of oil and it was soon all over the floor. Lovely!! Of course, these things only happen when Daddy is gone. Thankfully, it was also time for his AM nap and I quickly scooped him up to bed (being careful not to slip on the VERY slick floor). Sorry, no picture but I did include one from another messy episode.

Jon David kept me on my toes Thursday morning. We had one of our all-time worst public outings. I took both boys to get haircuts. Jon David started out being so sweet. He complimented the stylist on her use of the water bottle on his hair. "Oh, you are good with the water. That's nice. I like water!" He was so ready to be the good boy that we talked of him being. Well, she was new and slow. And, she jumped every time he moved (which was often). Things were not going well.

And about halfway through the cut, things start to QUICKLY unravel. Just imagine a child with a half-cut head of hair totally acting out. I was DETERMINED to not leave with him looking like that. And it was totally ridiculous. The end result: a so-so haircut and nicks upon his neck. It was a disaster. We've since talked about it a few times and I've told him, "Jon David, that cannot happen again." Ugh!

Alas, the boys remain super sweet. Bath time is great fun as my two monkeys splash together in the tub. We found out that Dora the Explorer bubbles are the best - lots of bubbly fun. Josiah adores his big brother. Jon David now calls his beloved cow his "baby" and even puts the cow down for a nap. (I'll have to blog about that someday). These are indeed the sweetest days.

Blame it on Facebook!



I have found updating my status much easier than doing a blog post. Bad mommy!! I'm taking the easy road. To use Facebook language Denise is... sorry she has not blogged.



Jon David is doing very well. His cough is almost gone and he's had a few little viruses that remained minor deals. Normally, minor viruses turn into week-long exiles at home. But, he's been able to show real improvement. Praise the Lord!

Josiah is a MESS! He's all over the place and now says my name for any and every need. You will hear him all day long saying, "MaMa MaMa MaMa!!!" It's cute but, wow, he says it a lot!

I also took pictures tonight of the boys taking a bath together. They are so cute and really have fun playing together. I just love it!

So, if you want to hear more from me, let's become Facebook friends! :)






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