Playing Library

Where do they come up with this stuff?  Playing library means unpacking the bookshelves into piles on the carpet and then restacking them...all with a whisper voice!  Cracked me up!  :)

Caleb

 "Take my picture Mom!"

When the kids and I went to the zoo recently, it was a Monday that the kids didn't have school.  It wasn't AWFUL (well, there were some behavior issues...), but it was definitely more crowded because schools were out.  I can't tell you how much i LOVE going during the week with my little ones when it's practically empty!!  We stood on the giraffe deck and fed the giraffes for probably 15 minutes!  This little guy loves it, and I must say, I do too!  It's so great to be able to get outside for a few hours, say YES to anything he wants to do, and enjoy watching him grin like this!!!  :)  

Just a regular Saturday afternoon

 Doesn't everybody teach their 4th grader high school math?  And have a 4th grader who LOVES it and actually GETS it?  Crazy, I know.

 And THIS one loves pickles...

And THIS one is just adorable.

Our crazy bunch.  Love them!

Lunch with Jacob

It has been a tough week for this one.  I think it started from last weekend.  I saw the wheels coming off on Monday when we were at the zoo.  Probably should have stayed home and had him take a nap.  Lack of sleep affects him the most.  He made a bad decision at school and got in trouble for the first time - which GREATLY upset him (as it should).  I was glad to see his heart respond the way that it did, but it's still tough to see your child go through tough stuff like that.  

He has had a hard time over the last couple of months.  He and Josiah have always been inseparable.  Best of friends.  Always together.  Would never want it any other way.  But as Josiah is getting older and starting to go through the "tween" stuff, he is wanting a little bit of space.  He is not always as kind to Jacob as he should be.  And it is breaking Jacob's heart.  We are working on it with Josiah for sure.  We continue to tell them that they are best friends and that they will ALWAYS be there for each other.  But we are also trying to be respectful of Josiah growing up and wanting to have a little bit of space from his 2nd grade brother.  

All of this has left Jacob feeling a little lost, I think.  He doesn't understand why Josiah wants that "space" and we are navigating carefully through these waters.  Wanting to still encourage and cultivate their relationship and also encourage them to have their own space and own friends as well.  

After a couple of hard days and some tears with Jacob, I was glad to get to spend some happy time with my boy.  I took advantage of David being home today and went to have lunch with him.  His lunch period falls during Judah's nap, so its harder for me to get up to have lunch with him than the other two.  I left the two little ones with david and went by Pizza Hut to pick up a personal pizza for him that he had earned from his reading program (BOOK IT - love that they still do this program!).  He was SO excited to see me and SO excited about his pizza (he's never had a personal pizza before - this was the first coupon we redeemed for it!).  I was thrilled to see his face light up and spend some sweet time with him.  

My two little boys

My mornings are so sweet with these two little guys.  I am loving this time with Caleb.  He is hilarious.  LOVES to do just about anything.  Is a great helper for me when we are running errands.  Happy to stay home and play "guys" (action figures) too.  And is NEVER very far away from his little brother!

Long Weekends are the BEST!

The kids had Friday AND today off from school - hooray for a NICE long weekend! 

 Callie and Caleb enjoyed wearing the crowns that David & Josiah brought back from Medieval Times :).

 Our friend Joey spent the night after children's choir last night, so he was excited to come along with us today to the zoo!  He and Josiah attempted climbing the coconut trees first.

 The Galapagos turtles were out and all stretched out! Three of the babies that were born last fall were finally out in the grass too - they've been inside the reptile house/aquarium on display, but now they are big enough to be out with their momma! So cute!  (You can see them in the picture - just beyond the momma, you see three little shells in the grass).

 I had a few tired children after leaving the zoo.  I knew that before we left though since we had a few on their way to meltdown city...

Trampoline fun!!

Callie and Sage - enjoying our trampoline one afternoon!  :)

BIG day for TWO boys!

First up, the easy one.  Judah finally gets to add vegetables to his menu!  First up - Sweet Potatoes!

Not his most favorite thing ever.  Bet he'll like it better with butter and brown sugar!  :)

Second - BIG weekend ahead for Josiah!  They have a long weekend from school and so he and David are going away for THE talk this weekend.  Sigh.  What happened to my baby boy?  I'm thankful to have had a sister and several friends already go through this first so they could point us in the right direction!  :)  After much prayer and discussion, we decided to use the Passport 2 Purity resources from FamilyLife - it is AWESOME!!  Josiah was so excited about going away with David - he didn't know much about what to expect, but when he came home from school today (they had a half day), he saw these bags out on the kitchen table and said "woa. This weekend is a big deal, isn't it?" So cute.  These bags were their projects that they had to complete along with each listening session.  

 This was going to be his gift that David would present to him at the end of their weekend.  A leather-bound, teen guy bible :). No more kiddie bible!

Off they go!  I'm super excited for them.  A wee bit nervous, and a LOT relieved that we had boys first so David gets to do this first!  I have a few years to prepare myself for Callie!  :)

Crazy Hair Night at AWANA!

The whole ride to church, Josiah kept saying "Are you SURE it's TONIGHT, Mom?  I would be SO embarrassed if you were wrong...".  Good thing I was right!  :)

After I sent Callie to her room...

...this is what I found!  I guess it helps to explain the disobedience that got her sent up to her room in the first place!  :)

She's been indoctrinated!

Callie brought this down from her room after rest time yesterday.  She made it all by herself and I thought it was adorable!  First - that she knew how to do the USC logo. Second - that she knew how to spell Gamecocks all by herself!  And Third - that she spelled "Caalina" the way MOST South Carolinians actually pronounce it with their southern accents!  :) 

THIS is why I LOVE living in South Carolina!

January in South Carolina - LOVE it!  Shorts, tshirts, soccer and basketball, outside with no jackets - YES PLEASE!!!

Cheeks!!!

Yep. Can't get enough of this kid!

Almost 5 months old...

And couldn't be happier!  :) 

(Hair is definitely starting to get out of control though...)

The Treehouse

David has always dreamed of building a tree house.  A REAL one. Up in a tree.  It all makes me very nervous!  But he's been excited about it forever, and we finally have the house (and the YARD!) for it!  Things are really starting to happen around here!  The boys are getting super excited about it as it comes together!

 Judah and David checking out Josiah's Kindle!  :) 

Good Decision, Josiah!

Josiah has been saving his money for a LONG time.  We don't do allowance in our family.  But he does earn a little bit of money every week from teaching his karate lesson as a junior instruction in his dojo.  So he has been saving it for almost a year saying that he wanted an iPod Touch.  Mostly because that's what his friend has.  As his amount grew, we started talking more seriously about why he wanted that and what he was going to use it for.  After MUCH discussion, and MANY emails/texts/phone calls back and forth with my dad who is a technology whiz, he decided on the Kindle Fire.  It arrived Wednesday night, David got it all set up (Parental Controls!!) and when Josiah woke up this morning, he was SO excited to see it (he didn't think it was going to ship until tonight!)! The kids - who have been told very firmly that they aren't allowed to TOUCH it without permission - were happy just to observe!  :)

Trying out his cup for the first time...

He loved it!!! :)

Jacob's Snowglobe

I think I never got a picture of Jacob's snowglobe that he made at his class party...so before it goes in the trash, here it is!!  So cute, isn't it?  Good thing my other room mom is into Pinterest!  :)

Starting the New Year off right!!

Writing thank you notes!  We have MUCH to be thankful for!  :)