Problem solving

jonah and sydney LOVE watching the olympics.  we tivo our favorite events and the requests to watch diving, ’swimming races’, and gymastics have far out weighed the requests for the usual ‘magic schoolbus’ or ’signing times.’  i love it!  i’m not gonna lie.  i have sat in front of my tv and imagined what i would do if my jonah bear became the next michael phelps… do i sing during the national anthem or just stare at the flag thoughtfully.  you know, there are always close up shots of the parents.  i know you have had the same thoughts.  anyway…

i laughed last night when jonah bear walked into the bathroom holding 2 items.  he said, “momma, can me and sister wear goggles in the bathtub tonight so we can be swimmers?”  i said sure.  the following picture show the goggles he was holding (thank you lowe’s kid projects).  i don’t think they would be the most aerodynamic in the water, but the super cool suits they would wear i am sure would make up for it! 

i love my kids!

He’s 1!

i am not sure i believe it even as i type the words, but our baby ian has turned 1 year old!  it just doesn’t seem possible.  i vividly remember the day he was born.  he was the smallest (and earliest) of all of our babies.   ken and i would take shifts sitting up and holding him against our chest as he slept.  he was just so small and precious.  

this past year has gone by so quickly!  it has been a whirlwind of craziness,a few (well, 9 mos to be more precise) sleepless nights, lots of smiles, laughter and exhaustion! we have loved every moment!

momma and daddy love you, baby smiles.  you add so much to our family.  you are a gift and we can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for you this next year!

Our sweet Ian

Princesses & Pancakes

my very good friend, robin, is super creative.  i am a bit jealous, actually, of her creatvity.  i must admit though, i love it that she is because there are huge advantages in it for me.  selfish, i know.  for instances, she is a really really thoughtful gift giver.  she really puts lots of thought into the gifts she gives.  she also thinks of the FUNNEST things to do with the kids (yep, use of that ‘word’ was intentional.  it was for emphasis.  settle down, all ye english majors… get it ‘all ye’… i am clever).  anyway, her most recent fun activity was called princesses and pancakes party.  her boy is out of town with grandparents and she wanted to think of something really special for her little girl.  so, we all dressed up like princesses (i prayed that i would find one that still fit, post 3 babies)… bridesmaid dresses, prom dresses, princess dress-up clothes.  it was fabulous.  we also all donned tiaras.  sooo fun.  sydney and robin’s sweet girl were the 2 little princesses and the rest of us were there to support them (strictly to support them!).  it was a blast.  matt, robin’s hubby served as our peasant boy cook.  the meal included pink pancakes with whipped cream, bacon, yummy fruit, chocolate milk, juice, and coffee. 

i would encourage any girl reading this (or boy i suppose) to have a princesses and pancakes party of her (or his) own!  you will love it!  enjoy the pictures!

my sweet little princess

all of the princesses!

"more whipped cream please!"

yummy pink pancakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Syd, princesses ALWAYS keep their panties on. I think these are yours."

Hi! Remember me?

so, yep, i am back.  please keep those expectations low… it might take me awhile to get back into the swing of things in good ole blog world!  i know i have been a slacker.  sorry about that.  see, there were these pictures in which i was really excited about blogging (check out that gramatically correct sentence, gretch & rob.  aren’t you proud?).  it took me forever to get them off my camera and then i got busy and then i forgot which pics they were and i just become frustrated.  don’t worry though, the tantrum is over, i have let the pictures go, and i am back on the blog train again… hopefully for good.  here goes…

let’s see… what has happened since may?

big kids having summer fun at the ‘gassiot pool’

my big boy is playing t-ball!

   

we attended a wedding of some great friends of ours

baby boy tasted his first popsicle!

had some fun with steven, ‘ra-ra’ & ‘baby cayden’

hiked at palo duro canyon & saw the fabulous show ‘Texas!’

                                      spent 4th of July with ken’s family in Houston.

          had lots of fun!

                                                 

Family Time

for the past week or so, the fam and i have been at the beach.  it was spectacular.  that really doesn’t even begin to describe how great it was. 

my family, my sister’s family, my little bro and my awesome sis-in-law, and my nana (my mom’s mom) all stayed in a super-fancy beach house on myrtle beach.  it was just so good.  my sister and i had our babies each very close together, so they each have a buddy their same age.  they had a blast playing together!   my sister and i got to have those moments where you just kinda’ sit around and talk about nothing, but there is nothing we would rather be doing (ok, so the ’sitting around’ part didn’t really happen too often with 6 kiddos 4yrs and under running/crawling around). 

it was a great time.  i worried that it would be a really sad time.  we haven’t been to the beach as a family since mom died (we vacationed at the beach most every summer growing up).  i felt that it would just be a reminder that she wasn’t here anymore.  it was sad at times.  i think it was really hard on my sweet nana.  i can’t imagine.  we just loved on her. 

mom loved the ocean.  i mean, she really loved it.  she also loved us kids and was crazy about her grandkids.   she would have loved being there with us.   she would have laughed a lot with ken.  she would have held baby ian while we all ran around getting ready for whatever was next.  she would have made us the yummy sandwiches she was always so good at making (the lettuce was always so cold and crispy).  she would have read to  the grandkids and walked with them on the beach holding their hands.  she would have held my hand as we walked.  she would have had to wipe her tears as she watched her son-in-law preach from the Word in such a powerful and move-ya’-into-action kind of way.  she would have said over and over, “i just love the ocean.”  she would have kissed on my ‘little’  (really i should use the word younger.  he is in the marine corp and is more cut than i have ever seen him) brother and called him ‘john-boy.’   she would have made my sweet sister-in-law feel super comfortable by just ‘being.’ she would have kissed us each good night. 

she would have made a really really great trip… perfect.

i am ready to not miss her this much.  

there have to be beaches in heaven.  i am convinced of it.

 

 

 

 

automatic flushers

i used to really really enjoy bathrooms that had potties that flushed automatically.

not anymore.  now i have to search out restrooms that are not so fancy.

“why?” you might ask.

 

meet my 2 1/2 yr old.  she has a new phobia.  her fear is not of bugs (she ran up to me while we were outside last week and said excitedly, “look, momma!  ants!”  there were about 5 of them crawling across her grubby little hand.)  her fear is not of dancing in public (she gets that love from her daddy).  she is also not afraid of the reprucussions of hitting boys bigger than her (talk to her big brother about that).

she has a phobia of toilets with automatic flushers. 

i don’t know how she has learned the difference in appearances of potties with and without these, but she has.  she is terrified.  she cannot relax long enough to even begin to use such a potty. 

i am at a loss on how to help her through this.  she is not being defiant or a bad listener.  she is truly afraid. 

any suggestions?

can’t think of a clever title.

so, i am excited because this summer some girls and i are going to do a bible study.  it should be fun because it is going to be an eclectic mix of people.  i hope to do a book called don’t waste your life by john piper.  in preparation, my sweet friend katie let me borrow a dvd of a sermon piper did from his ‘don’t waste your life’ series.

it was amazing.

i have been thinking about it since it ended.  he was really sharing the fact that there are soooo many opportunities (especially in america) for us to waste our lives.  we look up one day and we are 70 years old and realize our life was wasted.  i guess it just struck me so hard because i have such tedencies toward materialism.  i like nice things and i fall in the trap of comparing my circumstances (really my things) to those around me.   instead of being so grateful for the hundreds of ways God has blessed me, i look at the things we don’t have the i think we need… you know, like a house with a playroom (even though i have an amazing backyard where the kids can play, thanks to kenny), a gmc acadia (even though all 3 car seats fit perfectly in the honda), a skinnier body (even though mine is cancer-free and gave birth to 3 sweet babies). 

i don’t know.  i just fall into the trap of accumulating stuff and feeling good by having stuff… i mean, it is just stuff.  it is not eternal.  i will not sit on my death bed and want to have my new car by me.  i would want my family and my friends.  i don’t want my kids to learn to love things from me, i want them to learn to love jesus and other people.  my sister taught me something the other day.  she was referring to their super-cool new place they just got.  i asked her what she thought about it.  she said (so wisely, as she usually is), “you know, we teach titus (their son) that we only love God and people, but i sure do really like this house.”  that’s great huh?  to teach our kids that we only love God and people.    i mean, it is just stuff.

i am going to be praying that the Lord will really give me eternal eyes.  i think i am going to ask myself from now on when i am about to make a purchase or go somewhere… ‘does this have eternal value?’  or ‘what does this teach my kids about where my heart lies?’

i just want to do things that matter.  i don’t want to waste my life.   i’ll let you know how the study goes.  in the mean time, if you have read piper’s book, let me know what you think.

thank you, Lord, for friends.

 

 

a few weeks ago we were able to spend some time with our dear friends that have left the great state for a short while.  we miss them deeply… and by ‘we’, i mean kiddos included, jonah especially.  we had a great time celebrating birthdays, riding the train, visiting the zoo, and just hanging out with really really close friends.   our time with them is never long enough.  we hope the lord allows us to get together again very soon.   it is so great to see our kids continue the love for one another that we, the ‘fellowship’ parents have. 

 

first teeth

baby boy’s first teeth!

i can’t believe it.  ian has his first teeth… where has the time gone?

it’s funny.  i don’t know if it is because i just feel more confident as a momma this time around or if it is ian’s sweet tempermant, but i am really just cherishing every moment with this baby (although i could probably do without so many ‘moments’ to cherish in the middle of the night… please sleep for daddy and momma!).  maybe it is because he might be our last.  i don’t know.  i just love to hold him.  i love to feed him baby food from the cute little jars.  i love that his face lights up when he sees me.  i think his 2 new little teeth are 2 of the cutest things i have ever seen.  i love that he seems to know his big brother and big sister.  i love that he is starting to utter his first babble sounds.  he is so fun to watch jump in his excersaucer.  i love the little clothes that he wears and that some of them… okay, let’s be real, MOST of them were his big brother’s.  he is just a sweet baby.  i know i am his momma, but he really is just sweet.

ps.  ian wanted me to add that he apologizes to his ‘aunt’ robin and ‘uncle’ pard for the  lack of sleep the other night.  he says he is not sure what was going on and that he will try his hardest to not let it happen again. 

it’s all in how you look at it…

the other night i attempted to make  a new dinner for the fam… coconut chicken.  it sounds delightful and from a person that really knows how to make it, i am sure it is.  however, mine was more ‘chicken dipped in coconut then soaked in canola oil.’  i am not good at frying things. 

the best part of the meal was the strawberry daiquiri jell-o i made.  it was a new item at wal-mart, so i thought we would try it.  well, it is as great and yummy as it sounds.  we all highly recommend it.   so here is the funny part.  

*DISCLAIMER*  please do not allow this next story to prevent you from ever eating at my house.  i promise this is the first time something like this has happened.  

jonah bear took a big bite into his jell-o and yelled out excitedly, ”daddy, i found something!  i think i found a treasure!”

ken looked at me and then investigated further with jonah.  it turns out that he had a small piece of plastic in his bite of jell-o.   it was a tip of one of the piping bags i cut off that we were using earlier.  i have no idea how it got into the jell-o.

jonah was so excited.  he set is ‘treasure’ next to his bowl of jell-o and proceeded to take another bite. 

“maybe i will find another treasure, daddy!  i will let you know.’ 

it’s all in how you look at it.