I'm just watering the plants, Mom!

This is a very bad habit of Max's. Oh what the neighbors must think as they drive by to see those cute little cheeks exposed for all to see. Max has issues with pee. At any given time you can go check his underwear only to find a small spot we like to call his "weenie wet spot". It happens so often we have found a name for it. We need to fix these issues of his. Soon. Before we are labeled as the "white trash people who let their kids pee outside", which we don't by the way...we usually catch him mid-stream!

Night Night Maxi

Last night as I was tucking the little guys into bed, Max had already fallen asleep. He had played so hard that day that he fell asleep as his head hit the pillow. I took advantage of him in his slumber state and crawled in bed with him to admire his sweet features as he lay there so silent and still (we all know that Max is rarely silent & almost never still). I pressed my nose up to his and felt his warm breath on my face as he exhaled. He was so peaceful and adorable. His hands and arms still have the presence of that of a baby. His knuckles and elbows are covered with dimples and wrists with creases and I had to control myself because I just wanted to nibble them. It is times like these that remind me just how precious of a gift my children are and makes me feel guilty that I am not soaking up every single second with them. They are growing so fast and time is slipping away. But now, as I sit here and type Max is whining and crying and I am reminded why it is hard to savor all of the moments of every day! But I want to try...before it is too late.

Pine Cones

Little John had another track meet this weekend so Max & I went to watch him (John took Sam to work with him). While we were there we were resting under a shade tree, when all of a sudden Max found some pine cones. Apparently this was the first time he has ever seen these because he was so excited. They entertained him for hours and I was very grateful for those little gems! He was hugging them, kissing them, rubbing them up against his face (all which seems pretty painful if you ask me), rolling them on the ground. When we left we loaded them all up into our bag. As soon as we got home he insisted on unloading them. As he was getting out of the car he dropped one. As it hit the ground 15 or so, bugs scattered across the garage. I almost died!! Just a few hours earlier he had those cones up to his mouth. Uggggghhhh..... gross!

School Picnic

Samuel's school had their yearly umbrella picnic at school on Friday. They do this every year before spring break to celebrate their "letter friend" of the week. This week it was Mrs. U, so they all got to bring their umbrella's to school and sit out on the lawn and eat their lunches. It is so much fun for the kids. We actually didn't have an umbrella for Sam, so Max & I headed over to payless and bought him the cutest Buzz Lightyear one. He loved it, as did Max which caused a few issues. The biggest being Max found any excuse to need to open it: "I want to see if it still opens, I am hot and need the shade..." We love Sam's school and his teacher, Ms. Julie! He has learned so much and is such a good boy at school. We are very thankful!






all of the a.m. pre-school kids out on the lawn enjoying their lunches under their umbrella's

John's Track Meet

For the past 6 weeks John has been involved with track at his school. He was so excited this year as he really wanted to participate last year, but was too young. Today was the big meet! All the schools met at WAMS (our middle school) and I must say I was quite surprised with how many kids were in it. John did the 400 meter relay race, shot put and long jump. The relay race was up first. This is the event where 4 kids from his school run and they pass that baton off each other. I was a little nervous about this one because it is a team effort and even though John has those long legs, he doesn't run as fast as he could! So as the race started I, as well as John, had butterfly's my stomach. John was the last kid in his group to get the baton passed to him and he was the one who had to run to cross the finish line. As the baton got passed to him, his face changed and a look of determination came over him. He ran so hard, better than I have ever seen him run! He crossed the finish line just behind the kid who came in first. It was so close...I couldn't believe it. His group received a nice medal for that one!

Getting warmed up with his team


Getting ready to start the race


A close finish!

Next was shot put. I knew He would do well with this one because he is pretty strong. He got three tries. He did as I expected. Most kids were not even making it into the sand pit. John made it to the first line in the sand pit, improving each time. This big boy behind him was amazing and beat him every time. John took 4th place out of I'd say 15-18 kids.



He threw it to the first white line!


Last up was long jump. They really didn't practice this much at school so I didn't expect him to do very good. He did as I expected. He was jumping up too high and not out enough. Maybe next year high jump will be good for him! He didn't place in this division.


Track was such a good experience for him and we are so proud and had so much fun watching him!

Dentist Appointment

I took the kids to the dentist yesterday. Nobody had cavities, which was great! I think they will be blessed with good teeth genes (if there is even such a thing) because John and I both have needed very few fillings in our lifetime. Max was darn pretty cute. It was his very first time ever visiting the dentist and I really didn't know what to expect from him. He can be a loose cannon! He was chatting up the dentist like they were old friend who hadn't seen each other for a long time. He was telling her all about his dream about the aliens, his truck he is to recieve from papa when he is 16 and he even counted to 10 for her..."1,3,7,9..."!

We've got the Fever!!

The Bieber fever that is!!! Well, not really because we don't have any screaming, love sick little girls in this house but we do have a boy who wants a Justin Bieber hairstyle. Little John has been growing his hair out for awhile now. He has needed two haircuts since and looks super cute and awesomely cool! It was time for another trim the other day, so I took him in before practice. He sat down in the chair and told the lady, "a Bieber haircut please"! He looked like a new kid when he was done! I am the type of mother who likes to use clippers on the boy's hair so they look neat and proper. The growing out stage is really driving me crazy. Everytime i try to brush his hair back, he pushes it forward. Now he is asking for a tie to wear to school! This kid cracks me up!!

Before...Sloppy!!!



After....Awwwww!

Student of the Month

So today was a fun day. John was chosen as the "Student of the Month" in his class for this month. His school has a different character trait they celebrate every month and this month it was for trust. His wonderful teacher, Miss. Hirstein gave a nice speech about how she can trust John to bring in his homework and finish classwork on time and how she can trust that he will tell her the truth. It was also "Read Across America" day. This is where they have as many parent or community volunteers come into the classroom and read a book to the kids. They are also celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday and they get to wear these big striped hats. This was the first year I was able to volunteer because Max is finally big enough to sit quietly and listen to the story without being disruptive. He was sitting so quietly until he noticed that he wasn't pushed into the desk like all the other kids. This was a bit of a problem for him. He needed my attention right away so I could fix this problem, so he started whispering "mom...mom". Miss. Hirstein said, "ssshhh" and that was the end of that. I chose a great book by the Christian author Max Lucado named, You are Special. If you haven't read this book you must. Anyway, we are so proud of John for getting this award! Good job Buddy!


Silly Hat!


Look how tall he is- even taller than his teacher!

Sports

This year will probably be the busiest year of my life. Not only do we have the business that is starting to grow now that the weather is warming up and people are looking at their lawns, but my sweet little John thinks that he needs to try every spring time sport possible. Not only was he enrolled in basketball, and now baseball, but he has added track on top of that along with bible study on Monday's and after school tutorial on Tuesdays. We are running from one after school activity to the next Monday-Thursday's. Thank God for Friday's!
He also got drafted up in baseball which is a pretty big deal. Apparently because he is so big for his age and has a rocket arm, they thought it would work. We were very sad at first because his coach from last year was fabulous, but after getting to know his new coach we couldn't say no. Although John is the youngest kid on his team by a few years, he will be with this coach permenatly for the next 3 years. And you couldn't ask for a better way to run a team. He starts each practice asking every kid how their day was and tries to help or give advice if they had a rotten one. He prays before and after practice lifting up any child who had a bad day. His warm-ups are very disciplined. If any kid is not on beat with the others they stop and do it again until every one is together. While practicing he never puts any one down for mistakes but tells ways to fix what ever problem they are having. He tells them he believes in them and even if they are going to make a mistake, do it all the way with the most confidence they can muster. We have been so lucky with coaches so far. I am very thankful that John is part of a team who's leader is a Christian man who loves the game and the kids as well.

Oh the things kids say...

Just so all of you know out there, Sam would now like to go by the name "Jimmy Z".

And Little John will be taking his first date out to Red Lobster, or Applebee's. Her choice!

Thought you might like a little bit of random-ness on this fine Thursday!