Jacobisms

When we're playing hide and seek with his momo and I hide it under my shirt
J: Momo's in your body!

When I'm putting him in time out for getting out of bed during naptime
M: I'm sorry but you broke the rule
J (frantically):  I fix it! I fix it mom!

After his prayers (he names everyone in the family for his prayer)
J: I say everything! That's a good prayer.

Teachers in the south

I never thought much about how a southern education would be different than anywhere else..except maybe the kids learning to say yes ma'am and no ma'am...cute enough. 
I never realized that my son might mistake "centers" which they do everyday as "sinners" and there's no convincing him otherwise... when I correct his pronunciation he insists "No, mom we did sinners like when somebody steals something!"

Monday of Firsts

On the way to school...the camera stalled for a while so the kids lost interest

Today was Teancum's first day of Pre-K...the first time I dropped him off at a school for class.  The first time it mattered to him what he peers thought about Mom kissing him goodbye.  I cried when I got to the van because my little boy isn't little.  He loved every minute of school and was bouncing on the way home.  He said he made a new friend E... His friend is the only one the got in trouble in class today and tonight was the first time I heard him pray so his friend wouldn't get in trouble tomorrow.

Teancum with his embarassed smile...I love him

Today we celebrated Keith's first birthday...he turns one on Thursday, but it's a busy week for us.  It was his first time opening presents and eating his own cupcake. His First time recieving a large toy that was his own...and he loved every minute of it.

 Eating his cupcake.  it was a moment of hesitation and then he barely took it away from his mouth until it was gone.

Opening presents

Playing with his gifts

July in pictures

The Boys Getting Ready for the 4th of July Parade

Baby's Costume

Teancum and Jacob's

Ryan had his Birthday

 

My Bother got married at the San Diego Temple, Yes it was covered in scaffolding

Grandma Maxwell took care of the Boys so we could go to CA without kids

THANK YOU Dannette and Shae

nearly perfect day

Today was the best Saterday all summer, and we've had some fun ones
It all started with some yummy french toast and then a trip to A&J Farms to go blueberry picking.  The kids LOVED picking (and eating) as many berries as they wanted and we brought home two gallons (picked in under an hour).  As soon as we got home we spread the berries out to dry (wet morning) and then left for the Primary swim party.  They kids spent the whole time in the pool and were even able to jump off the diving board.  Once Jacob got going jumping off the board he wouldn't stop except to eat.  Then home for naps and the only down part of the day U.S.A. loosing to Ghana in the world cup.  After the dissapointment and dinner Ryan took the big boys on a Daddy date to Monkey Joes while mom spent some quality time with Baby Keith....and finally bedtime; wow what a day.

Too bad we missed taking pictures (darn those dead batteries).  I promise some in the next post.

6/20/2010

This lst week was lots of fun!

So monday started out a little crazy as I switched some pictures around and cleaned house but we had a successful family night, Ryan taught a lesson of following the prophets and when I quized Jacob the next day he remembered who some of the prophets were! Thanks babe!

Tuesday Ryan got off early from work because of the late night he had (he had to go back in at midnight and didn't come home till 3am) so we had some fun family time.  We moved Keith's crib into the Big boys room, went bowling and out for icecream then tried getting the boys in bed.  The older ones went to sleep great, Keith rebelled at being put to bed in the playpen in our room (1.5 hours of crying and staying up) and we finally relented and tried putting him down in the crib; he was all grins then and went right to sleep.

(one of the times he was up out of bed)...isn't he cute!

Wednesday we had a fun story time at the library and played on the trampoline in the afternoon. The boys had fun with some furry catepillars they found on the trampoline and picking veggies in the garden for Dinner.  After Dinner it was "Homework" time with lots of coloring and fun. Ryan was out of town for his Training but came home just in time for Bedtime...it was fun to see how excited the boys got at his return.

Bedtime was crazy because we put all three boys down in the same room at the same time (7:30).  Teancum eventually got tired and fell asleep.  Jacob and Keith played and laughed at each other until 9:00 when we sent Jacob to time out (again) and Keith fell asleep before he came back.

They loved these creepy crawlies on the trampoline

Every time I tried to get a shot these boys would hide behind their produce...funny kids

Jacob-in do it himself mode...check out the shorts, I love this boy

Thursday-errand day and fun at a park playing "soccor."  The highlight however came in the afternoon when I took the boys back to the Library for the Magic Show.  Jacob was mesmerized and slowly walked up to the front of the crowd, Teancum seized the opportunity to follow him and they ended up with front row seats to see the magician make balls appear, change colors, make magic snow and tissue float and watch his plant bloom.  They loved it and I was pretty impressed with some of the tricks myself.  Bedtime was crazy again.  I lay Keith down in his crib because he was almost asleep anyways and I didn't want to deal with the crying from tuesday night.  An hour later Jacob and Keith were still up and laughing so we removed Keith to the playpen where he slept until we went to bed

The boys collected as much "magic snow" as they could to show Dad

 

Friday-Playgroup and movie night! We got Snow White for the boys 'cause they had never seen it and the rest of the night Teancum was "feeding me poisoned apples" and then kissing my cheek to break the spell. Too cute! Keith fell asleep in the playpen and they boys were so tired from the previous nights that they all were out peacfully within minutes! :)

Saturday- We pulled a trashcan of weeds and took the boys to the neighbors house for some bike riding.

Keith was in heaven

Jacob wouldn't let go of the box of crackers. He even did the lap pushed by dad on the bike with a craker sticking out of his mouth, funny boy.

Teancum had the most fun and logged several laps, being chased by the Daddy monster helped increase the fun, i'm sure.

Last week

One of my friends is awesome at blogging and uses it as a weekly journal (sometimes daily)  I've wanted this to be a familyi journal and have found myself lacking on entries so my new resolution is to do better.  Here is an entry for Last week. 

Monday: at FHE we introduced our summer scripture goal of memorizing an AOF each week and played Don't Eat Pete...the kids loved the game and kept getting it out and playing it with fruit loops all week long

Tuesday: Worked on the AOF with the boys a little, returned movies at the library, went grocery shopping, finished making dinner and took some to a friend, succumbed to depression and had my prayers answered at the RS activity, met a new friend. Jacob had a good potty training day

Wednesday-Thursday: umm cleaned up the house did a lot of laundry went to the library and park, played with the kids, got my lesson ready for Primary.  I am amazed at Keith's progress in mobility.  He suddenly is crawling on the hardwood (would only crawl on the bed before) and is pulling himself up to standing position, almost creeping.  Jacob and Teancum are cute in they way they encourage him and take care of him. 

Friday: Went to playgroup, and got the house ready for Girls night out.  Ryan came home early and played with the boys: Hide and Seek, Ring around the Rosie, Bull Rides ect, while I finished getting food ready then setup while I showered, put the boys to bed, make some last minute snacks and wait..wait...wait.  Nobody shows. Ryan cheers me up with While you Were Sleeping and lets me do hand a foot massage/scrubs with him.  Teancum comes out of his room and I do his feet, get rid of my callouses on my nasty feet and make them feel pretty again.  Stay up talking with Ryan and realize once again that I am truly blessed to have a wonderful husbund who loves me and truly wants my happiness.

Saturday: Ryan gets up early with the boys and does pancakes with them.  I get up at 7:00, get ready, watch cartoons with the boys and have breakfast, pick up do some outside chores, Ryan comes home, I finish getting things ready for Sunday.  We hit the pool and have tons of fun. Sign up Teancum for Swim Lessons. 

Sunday: Church, missionaries and Haircuts. 

Summer Haircuts

With temperatures nearing 100 (with the humidity) this past week we decided to give the boys their cooler, summer haircuts. Teancum was our first victim and excited.

Getting it buzzed

All three with their new haircuts

Daddy got carried away with the razor

Mom wouldn't be left out (j/k)

Heroes

I think there is a part of each of us that secretly wants to be a superhero, or wishes that superheroes were real.  The truth is there are heros amoung us, they are the people who recognize the needs of others and respond.  I met one today, her name was Wendy and she took the time to talk to me when I was down, I met two in Colorado; the RS president and my VT.  I can't wait to get to know Wonderful Wendy more, she's someone I can definitly call a friend. 
Heros are the people that remind us that God hears our prayers and answers them.

Remodeling Kitchen

When we moved in to our house there was one room I didn't like, hated really...the kitchen.  Since then we have done some simple remodeling to it and viola check out the before and after pics

Ugly, stained and worn to the particle board coutertops

weird color choice for the walls: sunny yellow with cardboard brown (above) and puke gold (right), oh and our modge podge of appliances and furniture plus green tiles and cieling fan (not pictured) made this room feel disgusting. 24/7

spray paint for the furniture ($6) granite contact paper ($50) old paint from the landlord ($0) a kitchen I can live in (priceless).

Kids say the darndest things

T: Mom, get a grip!
M: (LOL) did you just tell me to get a grip?
T: Yeah, I don't like to be turned, I like to stay straight in the middle.
Guess, I took a turn faster than he likes...  :)

Before Too Long....

I will have forgotten all the fun things we've been up to during the cooler season here in Georgia.  There are way too many pics to post about so I've put together a slide show for your enjoyment... and some bullets of things I've wanted to post about, but never did.

• It snowed in georgia...though I dont' have pictures of it I did have a snowball fight with my boys and took them out the next day to make snow birds and nests (the snow had hardened by then so it was the bigest thing we could make)
• We put a hammock up in our back yard  (baby Keith especially likes it)
• We've had lots of fun with campfires and wood in the backyard
• We went on a preschool fieldtrip and saw lots of amazing butterflies
• We were able to get our Garden done in the backyard, It'll be the first time we might get to keep the same garden spot two years running.
• With General Conference starting later here (first session is at noon) we were able to start a new tradition..Picnics on the riverwalk.
• The trees and bushes are blooming and they are beatiful, despite the many allergies being manifested
• Keith will only eat solid foods he can hold in his hand...but it's so darn cute to watch I don't mind.

Hopefully there won't be such a gap between my next post but with wedding trips coming up I make no Promises.
ENJOY!

Tender Moments

This is for all the mom's that are having one of those WHY DON'T MY KIDS EVER LISTEN days...I know we have all had them, in fact this week we signed up to clean the chapel and I thought, what a good opportunity to teach the kiddos how important God's house is.  We went and Baby K cried...well, screamed the entire time, J man- colored on the chalkboards and ran amuck, Mr. T-helped a little then ran around and hid everywhere, or climbed on everything.  Finally, tired and exhausted I took the boys home and let Ryan finish up all the while thinking I was crazy for entertaining the idea that the boys were old enough to get something out of it.
Today Church went well considering daylight savings time threw off Baby's nap schedule; the kiddos were fairly well behaved during sacrament meeting and I actually was able to ponder during the sacrament and listen to two speakers, my primary class was the best behaved that I've ever seen with 9 kids today, and the best happened when Primary was all over, after I had found all my class to give them their take home I looked around for Mr. T and found him helping to stacking all the little chairs, then when all the chairs in the Primary room were done he picked some paper off the floor and threw it in the trash and walked over to the chalkboard to clean it...I guess even the little lessons can sink in.  Thanks Mr. T, I'm proud to be your mother.

The Good, The Sad, and the Plan

The Good:
My not so little brother Andrew proposed to his sweetheart last week and she said yes! Couple that with Ryan's brother getting engaged a few weeks ago and we've got two weddings complete with lots of family and temples.  First we'll head to Nauvoo in May for Trent and Natalie's wedding then we'll go to San Diego end of July for Andrew and Morgan's.

The Sad:
  My Grandpa Black passed away a few days ago, the second of my Dad's parent to leave us in the past year.  He will be sorely missed by many.  I remember that every time he came for a visit he would give me a huge bear hug lifting me off the ground, then we would go fishing visit thrift stores, and there were always stories about people he taught while on his missions (He and Sandy served as missionaries several times in south and central america). 

The Plan:  With the grief of losing yet another grandparent I am grateful to know that my Grandpa is surrounded by family and friends especially those he has taught and is busy doing one of the things he loved...teaching the gospel.  I am grateful for the Temples that dot the earth and the saving ordinances that are performed in them, that families can be sealed so that they do not dissolve at death but continue on into the eternities.  To sum it up, I am grateful for the Plan of Happiness.
*Friends/family who would like to learn more about our temples and the Plan of Happiness can learn more by visititing this website

Fun...Crazy Weekend

Some friends of ours were moving to a bigger house so we had the pleasure of watching their boys for the day.  We took them up to Callaway Gardens in the morning.  This trip was cut short after Jacob fell into one of their fountains (a complete accident, he fell in backwards while he was running around). At home it was lots of fun playing with toys and jumping in the backyard.  After dropping them off in the evening I asked Teancum what his favorite part of the day was....his response "Everything with Jago."  Here are some pics of the fun we had.

Driving in the car...I love the goofy faces

Looking for butterflies...most of them were sleeping, but we did see a few

Here is a Blue Morpho eating...these were beautiful when they opened their wings

Eating a snack in the horticulture center

I loved the african daisies

After Jacob's little swim.  I had to strip him down completely and then since it was cold outside I bundled him in my jacket...at least the fountain was in the warmer greenhouse.

Teancum Says

Me: What movie did you watch at Annica's today?
T: One with sharks and fish
Me: Was it funny?
T:  NO....(begin maniacal laughter) but I laughed 'cause it was funny to me!

I seriously love that kid.

One of the things we like about Georgia

Friends to share a good meal with

 

Friends to play with

Friends that help out

Friends with shoulders to lean on

Need we say more?

The Anderson's are one of our favorite blessings here.

*Thank you to Jessi (and her camera) for the pictures on this post as well as our new Family pictures

discipline

We recently got preschool organized and rolling again thanks to some good friends.  When our planning meeting was over and we were getting ready to go our seperate ways the subject of discipline came up.  One of the mommies was very adament in her stand against spanking firmly declaring that she would not spank her children or anyone else's and that she didn't want anyone to spank her child.  I was momentarily stunned because the thought had never crossed my mind and it left me to ponder where she would get the notion that I would spank and this post came to mind.  So here is my disclaimer.

We love our children, we have tons of fun playing with them.  This play includes A LOT of wrestling, and sometimes gentle pats on the bum that we call paddling and spanking and even more often "eating" our children.  We do this kind of play way way WAY  more often then we do harsh discipline.

When Ryan and I first got married we were determined not to spank/paddle our children.  We have since failed in this resolve and go in spurts where we spank (for the more serious crimes, or the repeated ones).  I will often go to my room afterward and cry, this is because I know that I spank more when I am truly at wits end and upset.  I also will "tell on myself" to Ryan.  There have also been many times during our late night talks that we have decided not spank as much (and do for quite some time).  

This post is also a thank you to my friend and her obvious love for her children and for being consistent in her discipline methods.  Thank you for reminding me of our original ideals in discipline.  We had a family night this week and made No hitting/kicking/pushing/SPANKING one of our family rules complete with consequences for each family member if they break it...mine is revoked dishwasher privledges for a week.  The few times I've been tempted to paddle since were quickly squelched by the thought that I would have to wash ALL the dishes for a whole week by hand...a practice I have abandonded since moving to GA and DO NOT want to resume. 

Our home is now one filled with even more love...Oh, and naturally the kiddos are fighting less, Teancum has only hit his brother back ONCE this WEEK, we are especially proud of him for his efforts to keep the family rule.

Blessings

Just a quick post of gratitude for a loving God.  I was thinking about our week and the thought crossed my mind today, "How awesome it is that God gives us commandments so that he can bless us."  One thing that our prophets have commanded us in these days is to have a food storage and supply of water on hand.  Well this week a water pipe leading into our shed sprung a leak...so our landlords shut of the water and quickly fixed it...then our pipe to the spigot in the back yard froze...repeat the fixing process, then the shed pipe froze two more nights in a row.  So for this week we have had several days going without running water...Thank goodness we followed a commandment and so we were blessed to have fresh clean potable water on hand so we could flush the toilet, cook meals, have plenty to drink etc.

Oh, and he blessed us further today (it happened again when we got home from church) and we found an extra valve so we could shut off the water to the backyard without having to shut off the water to the house.  I love the Lord and his goodness and feel oh so blessed and loved today....Goodnight! :)

Backyard Fun

When we moved in there was a huge pile of wood gathered in the middle of our backyard, our landlords said we could build a firepit...thus

THIS BEGETS

THIS...every weekend :)

New Year, New Perspective

Hope we can keep things straight this year!  Happy New Year