Today Grace Said:

While at Sam's in reference to the samples she tried:

Boy, these folks sure are doing a great job with the examples today! We need to come back here at dinner and maybe they will give us a whole fried shrimp and some more of that yummy fruit! Mmm-mmmm-mmmm! That surely would be good, wouldn't it?!?

Happy Birthday Paw Paw!

We are so thankful for you and can't wait to celebrate with you soon!

(and I will keep on trying to find the video of the birthday song for you)

Today Grace Said:

G: Mommy! Mommy! Come in here! You've GOT to see what I did!!!

Me: okay! What did you do?

G: (very, very proud of herself. Standing by our bed) See? I made your bed!

Me: well, thank you! It looks wonderful! What a sweet and kind thing to do for me!

G: yeah, ya know, I was just standing here thinking "what can I do for my mommy and daddy? I know! I can make up their bed for them. That would be something very kind and helpful I could do for my mommy and daddy!"

This girl is being extra sweet lately, y'all. :-)

Story Time

After doing the breakfast dishes this morning I came in to find this situation...

Apparently they couldn't decide on just one book and decided to pull up a couple of chairs and stay a while. The funny thing is that most of the books on that shelf are adult no-picture books... Mostly theology. Have I mentioned lately how much I love these two?!?

Little Lessons: Letter V

Well, it's been a rough couple of weeks. So lesson time has been a bit hit and miss. We took two weeks for the letter V. Of course, most of our activities were planned around Valentines Day! So here is a little recap of what we did...

We made Valentines!

Practiced writing...


Made Valentine desserts...


More crafts! Even Daddy got involved...


Nana and Paw Paw sent a great package...


Then Jack got an ear infection AND the flu so things kind of came to a screeching halt and I held him for approximately 3 days while Grace watched a lot of Curious George. Valentines Day came and went... then the fog slowly lifted...

And we made our Valentine cupcakes...


Grace made special cupcakes for herself. ;-)


Sprinkle, sprinkle!


Fun Valentine stamps from Nana and Paw Paw came in handy


We finally finished making our valentines (and I still haven't sent them out).


My sweetie girl! I love her so!


Since we had the letter V down pat by the end of things, we did a lot of reviewing of letters and numbers and shapes etc during lesson time. I was really happy with what Grace knew, and I got a good idea of the things we need to go over more closely (letters m and n, and numbers 6 and 9, for example).

She also discovered a great new talent!


And we also spent a lot of good old quality time doing things like playing Disney Dominos.


I do so love my time with my girl!

And I just have to note that she went above and beyond as big sister when Jack was sick. At the doctor she held his hand and spoke encouraging words to him while he got his blood drawn. She sang songs to him to comfort him and talked him through all the poking and prodding the doctor was doing. She made sure he got his medicine and kissed his head and prayed for him. She was beyond well behaved and just such a helper and all-around sweetie pie for the whole ordeal. She was never even jealous of all the attention I was giving him. She was patient and just concerned for his well being. What a blessing this child is!!!

Bubble Beards

Happy Birthday Blyss!

Jack got invited to a birthday party a couple of Saturdays ago. Grace got to go play too, and these kids had too much fun! I forgot to post about it, so I wanted to put up a few pictures now and remember what a fun time we had!

Ready to go!

Jacks favorite activity... Throwing balls into the "wishing well"...


Tunnel fun!


Bubbles!!!





Chick-fil-a is SO good!



The pictures really don't tell how much fun these two had. Happy Birthday, Blyss! Thank you for a wonderful, wonderful Saturday afternoon!

Just Strollin' Along

I remember this day like it was last week...

Today Grace wanted to give pushing a real stroller a try!


She did very well and was very responsible. And she got tired about about 1/4 of a mile into our walk and I got to take over for the downhill part. ;-)

Today Grace Said:

The first thing Grace said to me this morning was:

Grace: Did you know that today is a very special day, Mommy?

Me: No. Really?

Grace: Yes! A very special thing happens TOOO-DAY! Do you wanna know what it is?

Me: Yes! What is it!

Grace: Toooo-daaaayyyyy is Aunt Jooooody's Birthday!

It is a very special day, indeed!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jody!

We love you!

Stop and Smell the Roses

Before supper tonight we took the kiddos over to the Norton Gardens. They had a great time, went around the whole entire thing, and ate a really good dinner afterwards.

Grace rode her trike (about 1/3 of the time).

Jack likes the water "ah" the best.


Grace scoping out what we could explore next...


There he goes! The kid has two speeds: stop and running!


See what I mean? He is keeping me active.


Grace was riding along when she saw these rose bushes and, no lie, hollered out, "Hey! Look! Roses! Let's stop and smell the roses!"


It was a very nice outing.

Today Grace Said:

Me: Why do you like George (curious george) so much?

Grace: Because he's so curious, and I want to be curious when I grow up!

Pause...

Grace: And do you know something even MORE unusual than a firefighter that I want to be when I grow up?

Me: No. What?

Grace: A monkey!!! Hahahahaha!!!

Then she and Betsy (a girl in CG) had a pretend picnic at the park together and ate peanut butter sandwiches. Betsy wasn't on time, and Grace was afraid that maybe she wouldn't end up coming. But she came right at the last minute. Whew!

My Job

Lately I've really been struggling with uncertainty. Specifically uncertainty over whether or not I should go back to work. I hate the thought of leaving my babies. When I think of possibly having to do it my heart is just so heavy. But I also know that if I did go back our financial situation would be much easier and we could get a house etc... All of those things a family of four should have. It would be a good safety net incase something were to happen to Jonathan. I want to make sure that I'm not at home for merely selfish reasons. I want to be doing what's best for our whole family, not just me. So I have been praying a struggling without a peace. Then last night I woke up in the middle of the night and knew it was okay. What I am doing is okay. Staying at home with my babies is okay. The Lord is providing and will continue to provide. I am loving on my little ones and disciplining them and teaching them things in a way only a mother can. And what a joy and blessing this work is! And what a short blip of time I have to do it. And what sanctification comes to me through it! There is no need to be anxious about tomorrow or the future. It only makes me forget about the day at hand, the work I need to do now. So I will continue to be patient, continue to soak up each day, continue to teach and guide and discipline. I'll continue to wash and cook and clean and serve. And I'll continue to play and pretend and color and chase and comfort and rock... At 7 and 9 and 10:30 and 12:15 and 1:45 and 3:20 and 5:00 and every moment in between. And I will do it with a peace that it is what I'm supposed to be doing. Thanking God for His answered prayer and grace and provision and encouragement along the way.

Disguise

Grace ran into the kitchen while I was cooking tonight. She was wearing Papa's jacket he had on earlier in the day...

The one circa 1988...


She was totally excited and said:
You're not even gonna recognize me, Mama! Ya know what I am?!? I'm a lawyer!!!

Light Jacket Weather