What did he just say?

I think we've reached the point where Jason and I need to be more selective about the music we listen to. Ok, maybe we're beyond that point.

Let me just say that I don't often listen closely to the radio. It's generally only on when I'm driving, and I don't often know more than a few words to the song. Forget knowing the artist or the song name. That's just too much...shall I say "unnecessary" information to store in my brain. Over the last few months I did branch out a bit to include more than one genre of music. I think part of it came from trying to not just listen to "kids" music all the time. I figured out that there are some good songs on the country station. Yes, I did really mean to type country. I never thought it would be me, but as long as the songs don't have too much "twang" in it, I enjoyed it! So did Ethan.

I thought it was cute when Ethan started singing some of the songs on the radio. He would sing little phrases here and there. The first main song that he walked around singing was "Fly Away" by Tim McGraw. He liked that there were kids singing at the end of the song, so he would sing "One, two, three like a bird I sing, cause you've given me the most beautiful set of wings". Not a bad little phrase when you think about it. So I didn't mind that he sang it. A lot.

Then, the other day he declared at my parents house that "everything gets hotter when the sun goes down". I about fell off my chair (mainly because I was laughing). I don't remember the name of the song or the artist (again, unnecessary info for me to store), but I'm thinking it's time to change the station. I tried to explain that it's cooler when the sun goes down because the moon is out. Ethan informed me that "no, mom, the song says..." and then he sang "everything gets hotter when the sun goes down" in the exact tune. Kids music it is.

"My faithfulness and enduring love"

Eight years ago today I married my best friend.

"I pledge you my faithfulness and enduring love." Thank you, Lord, for faithfulness and enduring love.

"I promise to love and care for you in sickness and in health." Thank you, Lord, for what we've learned through sickness and health.

"I promise to share times of laughter and tears." Thank you, Lord, for how our marriage has grown through laughter and tears.

"Above all, I promise to build with you a home where God is the foundation." Thank you, Lord, that we can work each day to do this.

Wow, eight years. It seems so long, but at the same time not long at all! I think about the words we spoke in our vows and how I really had no idea how the words would apply in our married life. Eight years of learning, and I pray for so many more. I love you, Jason.

Water Fun

This week was filled with warm temperatures, so the boys had some days where they enjoyed playing in the little pool and the sprinkler. Micah was not a fan of the cold water in the pool, but he still enjoyed playing and splashing. Ethan seems to have a high tolerance for cold water and loved jumping in the pool.



The sprinkler seemed like a great idea to me. Ethan was excited about it and Micah played in the water for a little while.



However, the fun in the sprinkler lasted for only a short time. They quickly figured out that the water was forming a little mud puddle in the yard, and that was the only place they wanted to play.



They had a great time splashing in the puddle, and they both had a bath afterward! The bathtub looked like we brought the mud puddle inside!

Amazing creations

I've been watching the peony plants in my backyard with high hopes this year. I received some cuttings from my mom's plants two years ago and have not seen more than one flower from my three plants.

The first year I think the plants were "mad" about being moved (yes, I talk like my plants have feelings!). The second year (last year) the three bushes were still adjusting, but I saw a few buds and was excited about them flowering. However, I was really disappointed when only one of the buds grew to the flower I was anticipating. The other buds simply did nothing.

This year I was happy to see buds forming again and was also happy that there were ants crawling all over the buds. I remember the flowers at my mom and dad's always had ants on them, so I figured things were looking good for this year!

The boys and I were playing outside this afternoon and I was "inspecting" the buds again. I was so excited that some of the buds were opening up that I took a few pictures. I took this picture at about 4:00 p.m.



We haven't had much rain lately, so when I turned the sprinkler on for the boys to play in, I put it near my flowerbed so the flowers would benefit from the water. Later on in the day, Jason and I went outside with the boys again and I was suprised to see the changes in one of the buds that I had taken a picture of earlier.

This picture was taken at 7:45 p.m.



Isn't that amazing! God's creations are so incredible. I can't wait to watch the rest of the flowers bloom!

Zoo Day

This past Friday we went to the zoo with my mom, my sister, and my sister's kids. The kids all had a great time looking at the animals. Thankfully it was not too hot out, so the adults had a fun time too! The monkeys were a big hit, as they always seem to be, and we spent a lot of time looking at all the snakes and reptiles. This is Rachel, Ethan, and Evan looking at the Komodo Dragon. We had fun telling them the names of the animals and then listening to them try to say it!



I realized when I looked at my pictures later that they are mostly of the kids' backs!

Micah really liked the camels; the baby camel was making the "spitting" noise that camels make and Micah was mesmerized by it! His expression changed every couple of seconds...here's one of the funny ones:



My mom, sister, and I also learned a lesson--don't schedule a zoo trip for a Friday in the last few weeks of school! I think there were at least 20 buses in the lot when we pulled in. There were A LOT of kids running around! Thankfully many of them left after we were there for a while. Overall, it was a fun afternoon!

Things I can't believe I've said

I've found over my four years of being a mom that I have said things that sound REALLY strange. Some of the statements sound especially strange if you don't know the context they were said in! I thought people would get a kick out of some of them--and I thought I would laugh about them again when I look back! So, here's a few things I've actually said to the boys...from the "don't lick" category...

Don't lick the oven!
Don't lick his head!
Don't lick the screen!
Don't lick the tires!
Don't lick the floor!
Don't lick the window!
Don't lick my face!

I'll try to add more as I remember them, or as I say them in the future! Do you have any of your own?

Why moms never eat lunch on time

Why moms never eat lunch on time, also known as the chaos at my house that prevented me from eating lunch when I wanted to. (Sometimes I wish I didn't try to multi-task) First I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:




Here's what was supposed to happen:
1. Pick flavor of yogurt
2. Notice spaghetti sauce that was in fridge too long
3. Take sauce from fridge and put in garbage disposal
4. Eat yogurt

Here's what actually happened:
1. Pick flavor of yogurt
2. Notice spaghetti sauce that was in fridge too long
3. Take sauce from fridge and have it slip out of hand and crash to the floor
4. Stand in the middle of the sauce bomb and try to figure out what just happened
5. Remove myself and Micah from the bombed area
6. Check both of us for sauce, one clean, one dirty
7. Strategically place baby gate so no children can enter affected area
8. Stand and look at the mess and decide to take pictures and do a blog post rather than stand and cry or yell
9. Wash the floor so I have a place to stand
10. Wash the front of refrigerator, microwave, oven, cabinets
11. Wash the wall
12. Take out tape measure because one splatter on the wall is so high it must be some kind of record for me...it was, 5 feet 6 1/2 inches from the ground
13. Change blue jeans, soak affected pair so I don't have sauce stains all over them
14. Remove baby gate so curious children can see what in the world mom is doing
15. Eat lunch while uploading pictures for my blog

While cleaning up my mess I thought about the reasons I could be thankful in the situation (in no particular order):
1. The sauce had not been in the fridge so long that it was moldy
2. The sauce only smelled like sauce
3. Micah did not need a bath
4. I have black appliances...since white might have had a red saucy residue left on it
5. My blue jeans were not recently laundered...they were closer to going back into the laundry, not freshly cleaned
6. I had an opportunity to clean the cobweb from the corner since there was sauce in it
7. I had an opportunity to clean out the vents for the oven and microwave since both had sauce in them. Way in them.
8. I could ponder what to write in my blog instead of thinking about the mess :)

Hope you enjoyed my fiasco!

Walking!

Micah started walking this past weekend! He walks with his arms up in the air (as most new walkers do!). He won't stand up on his own to walk, but his will go a long way if we stand him up. Enjoy the video!

Perspective

There's nothing like a four-year-old to help you stop and remember ALL of God's amazing creations. I generally look at our backyard and notice all of the dandelions. I've already received a number of dandelion bouquets this year, but I imagine those will decrease since the dandelions are changing into the white seeds. At our house, the dandelions in this stage are also known to Ethan as "blowing things". I am not too thrilled about the seeding of the dandelions since it means I'll have more dandelions. My perspective changed a bit this afternoon when Ethan and I were in the yard and this conversation took place:

Ethan: Mommy, why did God make all of these blowing things in my yard?

Me: I don't know why, buddy.

Ethan: He must know that I like them.

I think I need to spend some time enjoying the wonder of all the "blowing things" in our yard--and be thankful for all the new ones that show up and give my son such great joy.

Some is the winners...

"Some is the winners, and some is the losers dad. That's how it goes."

That's a direct quote from Ethan after I won in our Sorry game. Correction: I won and then Ethan won, because he has to keep playing until he's finished. That means that Jason lost. I guess Ethan felt the need to preach sportsmanship to him. Now where do you think he heard his explanation? Maybe me, with a little better grammar. After all, I is the mother.