Lesson Learned...

Josiah has had his glasses for a little more than a week now. The eye doctor had told him that he didn't need to wear them all the time unless he felt like he needed them - just when he was looking at the board, etc. So Josiah began the year by taking them off quite a bit...would leave them in his desk when he went to lunch, recess, related arts, etc.

Well, this particular Wednesday he came off the bus and said he had a headache....he fell asleep in the car on the way to AWANA and I kept him with me in the choir room instead of going to TNT. He put his glasses on to read a book and in about an hour, he said his headache was all gone. I told him that it was probably eye strain - he probably needed to wear his glasses more because without them, he was making his eyes strain to see things, creating the headache. Since then, he's been wearing his glasses more and have had no more headaches :).

Calling Tutu...

They would definitely fall under the "hang up your cell phone and drive!" category!

Kids' Choir Kickoff!!

Our OFFICIAL kickoff to M&Ms was LAST Sunday, but because I was leading the parents meeting, this was MY first week with my kids! I was SO excited to finally get my hands on those sweet little children - I could hardly wait!!!

I got to finally make the BIG reveal - the name of our Christmas musical - and share bits and pieces of the songs and drama for them to hear. They are so cute and always SO excited!

Part of the story line in the drama this year is that the kids are going caroling door to door to drum up support -the mayor has told them they can't do their pageant in time square because it's a re-election year and he doesn't want to make the voters mad. So they go caroling to several different houses and encounter some interesting perceptions and confusion about what Christmas is REALLY about it. So I had the kids decorate graham crackers with frosting and candies like "doors" - sort of a scaled down version of a gingerbread house - while we were listening to some of the songs.

It was a HUGE hit - and was so adorable to see how they did them differently. Some decorated them very specifically, some just wanted to pile on as much frosting and candy as they could! :)

The 1st & 2nd graders

The 3rd - 5th graders

The youngest choir - 4 years old - Kindergarten

I'm so excited for the semester to begin! We have some super special things in store!!!

Northside's Prayer Walk

While I was with Jacob at his karate rank test, David and the other kids headed up to Northside to pick up their doorhangars and head out on the Prayer Walk. The church scheduled three of these over the summer to distribute doorhangars in the neighborhoods surrounding our new church property. It was a way to not only invite our "new" neighbors to come join us at our grand opening worship service on 9/11, but also enabled us to pray over these neighborhoods and for these families.

David said the kids were surprisingly helpful :) and did a great job!

It was a HOT summer day, but they seemed to understand the purpose for being out there and did a great job with David!

Jacob's Rank Test - BLUE Belt!!!

On Saturday morning, David and 3 of the kids headed up to Northside for the last our 3 prayer walks that were scheduled over the summer. I hated to miss it, but Jacob had a rank test scheduled for the same time. So he and I headed to the dojo. He was a little nervous - he was testing for his blue belt, and as he advances in rank, the tests get a little harder. I think he was also nervous because it was the first test he was doing on his own. (Jacob & Josiah have always tested at the same time...but Josiah is already blue and it will take another several months before he advances now that he is at the intermediate level).

Sensei was giving them "the talk" - about doing their very best, about how they have learned everything they need to know and are prepared, etc. Part of what I love about Fortress is that he really does make them work hard - so that they feel as though they have really earned it and accomplished something! It's not an easy thing!

Before EVERY class/test - he always has the kids jump up, try to touch the ceiling, and say "I'll do my best!" Alright - time to head out for the run!

The first part of the physical test is to run a mile within 12 minutes.

Jacob led the pack and finished 2nd - even beating out a LOT of the older kids! And he had a HUGE smile on his face the whole time!

Proud of himself for finishing the run (he's always most nervous about that part!)

Doing his kata...

He did GREAT! It was not an easy test, but he passed and did very well. Goodbye orange belt!

Hello blue belt!!!

Giving the new blue belts a talk about how they have graduated to a new level in karate now, they will have more expected of them, more responsibility, etc. Such a good thing!

Jacob and I took advantage of it only being the two of us and went to have lunch together! He had a free kids meal coupon from the library reading program to use up, and I even let him order dessert. What a special morning celebrating my sweet Jacob. Way to go Jacob - SO proud of you!!

He's DEFINITELY my son!!!

See where I found my baby boy? Climbed himself all the way up onto the kitchen counter to get to the peanut m&ms....and he looks pretty proud of himself too, doesn't he? :)

Brace Yourself - I'm Back!!!

It's going to be a doozy....because this blog post is going to be dated 8/24/01 and yet it's ACTUALLY 10/8/11 - which means I am way behind...again. The last 6 weeks or so have been pretty much insanely crazy....and any spare second we had was spent collapsed in exhaustion for the most part. So here we go - anyone miss me??????

On Behalf of his Brother...

Remember how Jacob lost one of his front teeth last night? Well, this is what David found when he went to leave the $1...(you might have to click on the picture to be able to read it)...

We were dying laughing! We've never "done" the tooth fairy - they know we come and put the money under their pillow. But apparently they were going to try one last angle to get a little more money this time...other "tooth fairies" apparently leave alot more than $1 these days! I thought it was hysterical that Josiah was trying to aid his brother on this one! :)

Saturday night with Dad

On Saturday night, I took the younger two to a birthday party for one of Caleb's friends that just turned two. When I got home, I found out that David and the big boys went out to dinner! Cute picture right? Too bad all I can think about when I see it is that David took them to Ruby Tuesday...where I have about 20 coupons for at home...and yet paid full price because he didn't take a coupon. Sigh.

Another One Bites the Dust!

David pulled it out tonight. Jacob got off the bus today and it was hanging by a thread, but he wouldn't pull it. Then I was afraid it was going to get knocked out at karate. Gross. The boys wrotea note to the tooth fairy requesting a $100 bill. Not sure why they have lost their minds on that one!

Taste Testers, New Specs, and M&Ms!

After making 120+ cupcakes, I had 2 very willing taste testers!! And since Caleb's birthday is still very fresh in his memory, he wanted to blow out candles again. Okay - why not? :)
We got to pick up Josiah's new glasses on Friday after school - he picked them out totally himself and LOVES them. LOVES that he can see so clearly - he didn't realize how blurry everything was until he saw how CLEAR it could be! :) (This picture was right after I woke him up from a 3 HOUR nap on Saturday - school is exhausting!)

Sunday night was our big kickoff for children's choir for the fall! Our Sunday night programming is called M&Ms - for Music & Missions. Kids choir is the first choir, and then Missions programming is the 2nd hour. I found this costume when cleaning out a preschool office room at church last week. Jacob volunteered to be our mascot! :)

While getting my house back in order after all the back to school craziness and kids choir kickoff insanity, it got very quiet at one point in the day. This is why - Caleb had climbed up onto the kitchen counter and found the peanut m&ms. YUMMY! Doesn't he look proud of himself? :)

Love a Saturday afternoon!!!

* Made it through my run this morning! It's still quite hard and not very enjoyable yet, but I'm pushing through. November is looming! :)

* David got the yard work done - looks great. And he didn't pass out from the horrible humidity either, poor guy! Now I've REALLY got to get some weeding done - when the grass looks great, the weeds look even worse!

* 120 cupcakes ready to go for tomorrow night's kickoff for children's choir! Deep breath - still have to prepare for my parents' meeting and for the kids, but cupcakes are done! :)

* Callie, Caleb, and assorted dolls are having "storytime" right now. They both just got up from their naps and are sitting on the chair in the living room reading books. Totally love it.

* Josiah and Jacob are still asleep. School is exhausting! That or the waking up at 5 am every day out of sheer excitement. Perhaps a combination of both! :)

Some Randoms from our week...

They had a special "back to school" storytime on Thursday morning that we went to. It kind of struck me as funny because all the kids that were there were obviously NOT "back to school". Funny. But we enjoyed it - our regularly scheduled storytime doesn't start back until Tuesday, so it's been a LONG summer break and we have missed it! They even finished it up with a special craft - dipping apples in paint and "stamping" them on paper - always a huge hit! This statue is out front of the library and the kids love to go and see it E.V.E.R.Y. time. They both had to run back and give the teacher and kids hugs and kisses. Seriously. :)

I just downloaded these pictures from David's phone - sorry they are late! They are of Caleb opening his birthday presents from Dad! He got some VERY cool new squirt balls for the pool...

...And his very first remote control car! It's Lightning McQueen!

Does he look excited or what? :)

And some cool new swim trunks!

It's amazing to me how these kids just KNOW how things work!! He could do the RC car right away!!

And this is of our new church property that we are getting ready to relocate to in just a few short weeks...4 to be exact!!! It's nearing completion and the chaos of moving from our current property into the new property has definitely begun!! It's getting very exciting though! :)

It's been a good week. The boys are still totally loving school - Josiah especially. He is just incredibly exuberant every day about how much he loves it. Loves everything. Jacob says the same thing - but it is wearing him out! He's been SO tired each day. Took a nap this afternoon and still in bed early tonight. I'm so glad they have been excited...but I'm hoping they will stop waking up so EARLY in the morning because of it! :) Looking forward to a low-key day tomorrow to recover from our new school schedule!!

Praise Team Practice

I had to stay late at church on Wednesday night (after choir rehearsal) for praise team practice. Our kids just sort of play and run around while we rehearse. There are weeks where I feel like the band must hate us. And other weeks where the kids are very good and it's quite entertaining. This was one of those weeks. Most of the time Callie and Caleb just dance down in the audience and sing along. This week, Callie pulled up stools for the two of them...I suppose to lead worship!!

Maybe they'll be like the VonTrapp family singers! :)

(And yes, I felt horrible that I was keeping the kids out so late on the first day of school...this is where ministry is hard!!!)

Preparing for our brothers to come home!

These two are getting to be quite the tandem. They were adorable - I kept asking Caleb where the boys were and he would say "Um. I know (which means I don't know). At cool (school)?" It was adorable. We got to work right away on our brownies. I always make heart-shaped brownies from the kids to each when they get home from their first day. You know how I am with traditions!

Oh, and we were making a batch of finger jello too...

I love cookie batter. But brownie batter? Not a fan. These two loved it though!

The boys came off the bus with HUGE smiles and Josiah did not stop talking for a WHILE! So much so that I had to stop him to check in with Jacob! :) Josiah just was going on and on about EVERYTHING - all the new rules, new responsibilities, all the "weird" things about 3rd grade (translation: all the things that they do differently from last year). I love that he loves school so much. He's showing a lot of maturity too. He said something about the fact that he remembers last year on the first day of school he didn't know very many kids in his class, but by the end of the year he had so many friends. So that helped him not be as nervous this year, because he knows that after some time, he will have lots of friends again. He is a sweet boy.

Jacob had a great day as well - he was VERY excited about his class and the 100 books log that all the first graders work on. They try to have all the 1st graders read 100 books by the end of the year - and exceed that if they can. This boy has some competitive parents, so he's got some of that in his blood too, I'm afraid. We sat and read books that afternoon for EVER - and he was happy to show Mrs. Enright that he already had 27 books written on his log after only 1 day of 1st grade!!

You are SO loved boys. I missed you SO much while you were at school today. Callie, Caleb and I kept looking at the clock waiting for you to come back home to tell us all about it! I know God has super exciting things for both of you this year and I can't wait to see all that you will learn this year! Always remember to do your best and to be a blessing! I love you both!