Lessons From Little Ones

I pray that I teach my kids half as much as they teach me. They give me such a deeper understanding of how God loves me and how I should respond to Him.

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— Psalm 103:1-2

Coleman reminds me that I should not be quick to forget all the blessings God has poured out on my family. It's been 16 months since Brian started his job and Coleman thanks God every night "that Daddy found a job." What a sweet, sweet thing. I pray that he always remembers how God blesses us.

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17

Spence helps me remember that this world is just my temporary home. His prayers are usually very short, but quite to the point: Dear God, Thank you that we love You, and that we're going to see You in Heaven.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

Allie is a little ball of energy, but sometimes I find her sitting on the floor saying, in a sing-song voice, "God made me. God made me. God made me." And I think, "And what a wonderful job He did." He made each of us for a purpose, and my kids remind me daily that I need to be looking for Him in everything, even the small things.

"P" Is Not For Piks

The "p" in this story does not stand for our last name. It stands for... well, pee. I was telling Brian some of the daily happenings and he said they were quite blog worthy. Sometimes funny things happen, but I think you probably would have to be here to think it was funny. So maybe it's funny, or maybe it's just funny to us. But at the least, something Brian and I will think back on and laugh about when our kids are fully house broken!

A few nights ago Spence was getting dressed for bed and thought it would be fun to see how many pairs of underwear he could put on. My first thought was to make him stop at ONE, but I figured it wasn't hurting anything so why stifle his creativity? I didn't do an official count, but I think he got about 6 pairs of underwear on. I really thought he would be uncomfortable and take 4 or 5 pairs off, but he didn't! He put his pajama shorts on over them and went to bed! The next morning while I was helping him make up his bed I realized that he had had an accident. So not only did he have wet sheets and blankets, but 6 wet pairs of underwear. Everything went into the dirty clothes and all was fine. Until about 2 nights later when he's getting ready for bed and realizes he has no clean underwear! I told him he could get the ones he'd worn that day out of the dirty clothes or wear a pair of Coleman's. He seemed quite traumatized, but ended up choosing to wear Coleman's. He survived. And I think he learned a valuable lesson: Don't wear more underwear than you need to, especially if you might wet the bed and your lazy mom decides not to wash clothes for a few days! I love letting reality be the teacher!

Since Allie's been in school, she's come home every day in the same pull-up that I sent her in. It's usually wet because she's just woken up from a nap, but I knew she wasn't going in it before nap. Her teachers and I decided she would wear underwear and they would put her in a pull-up for naptime. Today was the first day and she made it without an accident! She's doing so much better! I've decided that I'm just not the 3 day potty training method kind of momma. I'm so glad that works for some people, but it's not my style. She's doing well, but she has quite a stubborn streak. One day she was squatting on the dining room chair, pulled her pull-up over to the side, and peed all over the seat. That just screams, "You try and make me go to the potty. I'll go wherever I want. But I don't feel like being wet right now, so watch me pull my pants out of the way. How do ya like that?" I totally wouldn't be surprised if she said that.

So those are my pee stories. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some more baseball pictures!

Laughter

Thank You Lord for laughter, without which I would have gone insane long ago. The kids always give me lots to laugh about!

Coleman: What do you call a car that's sour?
Me: I don't know. What?
Coleman: A lemonsine!!!

Coleman was asking about homophones and I was trying to remember the difference between homophones and homonyms, when Spence said, "What about M&Ms?"

The boys were also trying to come up with rhyming words:
Coleman: What rhymes with cat?
Spence: Hat!
Coleman: What rhymes with go?
Spence: So!
Coleman: What rhymes with road sign?
Spence: (paused to think) Soad sign!

And one day while sitting in the pick up line at Coleman's school, Spence wanted to get unbuckled to get something, but I told him no because we were already starting to move. A little later Allie told Spence, "Pencey! Don't unbuckle! Hear me?" She is totally a little boss!

Coleman wanted to share one last joke with you that he just made up:

What didn't the car run?
Because it didn't have any legs!

Choose Your Favorite

Here is my list of excuses as to why I have not been blogging lately. You can choose your favorite!

1. Baseball has been taking up almost all of our time! Four days a week... Yikes!
2. I had to have a week-long session with Dr. Leman. Seems my kids' attitudes and behaviors needed some serious adjustments. Thanks Dr. Leman! (If you have kids you need to read Have a New Kid By Friday. I had read it a while back but needed a refresher.)
3. Our computer has been having problems.
4. Fall has arrived, but it's still stinkin' hot. So I'm busy sulking.

As for baseball, Coleman has been having fun. At last night's game, he got another hit! He made it to first base, then with the next few hits he was able to make it home. You should have seen the look on his face! He was super excited! You also should have seen the look on Brian's face! He was super excited! Nana and Poppa were also there cheering him on. Allie and Spence have already lost interest in the games. But they are enjoying climbing all over the bleachers and getting snow cone syrup everywhere!

Coleman had a game today also, but no hits. He and Brian had batting practice this afternoon, and tomorrow they are going to a teammate's house that HAS A BATTING CAGE WITH A PITCHING MACHINE IN HIS BACKYARD. Just so you caught that. Brian was going to take Coleman to the batting cages, but why when your teammate has his own! Cool!

Maybe we'll get some nice fall weather here soon and I can scratch excuse #4 off my list and get back to blogging more!

Base Hit!

After two weeks of practice, tonight was Coleman's first baseball game! He was cool, calm, and collected, but I was nervous! The coach lets them try out different positions, so tonight he played center field and pitcher (who doesn't pitch since there's a pitching machine). He got up to bat 3 times and the first time he got a hit, but was thrown out at first. The second time he got a base hit! The third time he struck out. I loved watching him play! I was so proud of him.

Coleman is a Bee!

Putting his gear in the dugout

First up to bat

Coleman's personal cheerleader

This one was just excited about the snow cones!

Swing!

Hit!

On first base!

Playing pitcher

He might just make a baseball fan of me yet!

Welcome Back Fall!

Today was the first day of Mother's Day Out for Spence and Allie! They had a great time, and so did I! I love this time of year - getting back into school and routines and cooler weather. And we actually have had cooler weather the past few days! It's been crazy because we went from having more than 40 days of temperatures over 100 to being chilly at the pool yesterday. This morning Spence thought he needed a jacket. It's been so long since we haven't sweated I think we all forgot what it feels like! Here are some first day pictures:

Welcome back to school!

Spence walked right in to his Pre-K room!

After dinner Allie was begging to feed the baby ducks. This is her favorite activity, and now that the evenings are nice it's pretty fun. Spence joined us, but Coleman and Daddy stayed home to practice baseball.

Walking Maestro while wearing Spence's socks and shoes

Look! Baby ducks!

These are the babies that are half-grown now. We call them the teenagers, so every time Allie sees them she yells, "Hi teenagers!!!"

Good night ducks!

You can see that Allie has inherited Spence's love for eccentric footwear. Love it! And that little sweetheart has been doing pretty well with potty training. There are still plenty of accidents, but we've had several occasions to celebrate. Overall I think it's going well.

Please pray for all those dealing with wild fires in Texas. There aren't any close to us, but there are some north of Houston, and many around my hometown in north east Texas. I pray we'll get rain soon, and for safety for all the fire fighters and volunteers.

Welcome To the Exciting World of Little League

We're into our second week of First Grade and loving it! Yesterday was Coleman's first day of Little League. He's loving it. Me? I'm not so sure. He has three practices this week! This is going to be quite time consuming! And when it's over 100 degrees, a little unbearable to be at the ball fields. But I'm so proud of Coleman. He walked on that field for the first time yesterday with a team full of 2nd and 3rd graders who have been playing together for several years. He didn't get upset or discouraged. He just did what the coach told him to and had fun! I'll never forget 2 years ago in soccer when it was the 3rd game before we saw any action out of him! He's growing up.

Coleman (3rd in line) waiting to practice running through first base

Since this is our first time in Little League, I was unsure of all the gear Coleman would need. But I wanted him to be prepared for the first practice. He had a glove, and I was planning on getting him baseball cleats. So I asked the coach what else he would need. The reply: a protective cup. I'm not sure why I was so embarrassed to have to buy this, but it was a little strange for me. Yesterday after school the kids and I headed to Academy to purchase cleats, shorts, and a cup. I figured I should prepare Coleman for having to wear this. Spence was very interested in all things cup-related. He wanted to know how you pee with it on, if you glue it on, and what happens if somebody drinks out of it! Then at the store once I finally figured out which cup Coleman needed (ladies, there are lots of options), Spence wanted to carry it around! I was glad because I surely didn't want to carry it around! Well, I did survive the experience, just barely.

And now we have one practice under our belts. I just have to figure out how to keep Spence and Allie entertained for 2 hours and we'll be all set! Can't wait for the first game!

Allie hugging Spence and telling him she was sorry after she punched him today!

Astros Game

Last week Brian took a day off and he and the boys went to an Astros game. It was a great way to say goodbye to summer and spend some guy time together before school started! Here are some fun pictures:

Bring On First Grade!

Welcome back to school!

Today is Coleman's first day of First Grade! Where did the summer go? He was not excited about going to school, but there was no complaining either. I've realized that I cannot make these events into big deals for him. There was not much talk of going back to school or school shopping. The only new clothes we bought is the Star Wars shirt he's wearing today!

This is the best picture I could get of him before we left home. He did not want to smile!

Have a great first day Coleman!

Things That Are Snot Supposed to Happen

Brian and I feel like we may have broken some sort of record. We were parents for over 6 1/2 years before one of our children cut their own hair! Spence put an end to that last week. He had been working on some little projects with paper, scissors, and glue so nicely all week. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I shouldn't walk out of the room and leave him alone with scissors, but obviously I ignored it. For the amount of hair I found on the floor, it doesn't look too bad!



Allie has been really snotty lately. This picture was taken one day after she woke up from her nap. She was not in the best of moods.

I can't always look beautiful...

It Doesn't Take Much

One Friday night Brian and Coleman were playing a video game together, and Spence and Allie wanted to do something fun. So Spence put on his goggles and Allie grabbed her inner tube and I filled the tub up! They had a blast!

Spence lost his goggles earlier this summer and has been wearing my pink ones!

Allie looks like she's living the life!

Taking Time

Bedtime can be a draining experience. Sometimes I wonder why it takes at least an hour to take baths, brush teeth, get pjs on, read books, say prayers, and get tucked in. I have to remind myself that this can be a fun time to spend with the kids and not get irritated when they're being pokey. I guess it was when they started sharing a room that the boys would ask Brian to lay on their floor after story time. Allie was a tiny baby so I was always taking care of her. It was a great chance for Brian to talk to the boys and find out about their day. It has become part of the nightly ritual now. Sometimes when Brian would go to the gym or have to work late, they would ask me to lay on the floor. I would say, "That's a Daddy thing." But then I started feeling guilty, so I decided my back could handle 5 or 10 minutes on the floor.

Their "thing" right now is wanting to hear a funny story about Mommy or Daddy when we were little. Or a funny story about them when they were younger. They love the one about Spence smearing diaper cream all over himself, or the one where Coleman was bribed to eat two pieces of corn, puked it up on the floor, then said, "Can I have my cookie now?" (If I weren't too lazy I might link back to those posts. They are classics. Check back later.)

Since Brian was having to work late tonight, I laid on the floor after story time. I told them a story from my childhood where we were driving back from Florida and I had a stomach bug and didn't quite make it to a bathroom in time. I was really surprised that they said that wasn't too silly. They're a tough crowd. Then I told them about the time Coleman's stuffed animal named Chicken saved the day. I had forgotten to put up the gate on the stairs and Spence tumbled down, only to land safely on chicken. They laughed and laughed! I really thought the poop story would win in their books. Then the conversation turned all philosophical. Spence was asking if we'd sleep in heaven, and I said I didn't think we would need to. Then they started asking about food. I told them that I imagined the food would be really good, and nothing would be bad for us. Spence hopes there are grapes in heaven. And Coleman hopes that they add sugar to food, but it's not bad for us!

Sometimes it can be hard not to rush through the day and try to fill every moment with some activity to keep us all busy. It's nice just to lay on the floor, talk about whatever, laugh, and enjoy each other. Good night everyone!

Summer Happenings

We're in the final weeks of summer! And as you can tell from the lack of recent posts, it has been a busy one! I've been having a wonderful time working with Children's Church and Wednesday night Kids' Bible Club this summer. I've also been doing some planning for our upcoming MOPS year (Mothers of Preschoolers). Another lady and I are planning the Bible story and craft for the kids.

I'm pretty sure the kids will enjoy being back in the routine of the school year. Coleman and Spence start getting on each others' nerves when they spend too much time together. Coleman will start 1st grade on August 22. Then Spence and Allie will start Mother's Day Out after Labor Day.

Allie is still working on potty training. If I had my act together, she'd be trained by now, but I am just lazy. She's doing well though! Hopefully it won't take too long. Also, Allie still refuses to wear any kind of pony tail or clip in her hair to keep it out of her face, so I had to take her for a haircut today. I couldn't get a picture of her in the chair getting the few strands cut because she would only sit there in my lap! But I did get a before and after picture. And no, I did not comb her hair after. I wanted it to look like her!

Miss Messy Hair

Still messy, but she can see now!
She's eating Skittles and putting a sticker on her potty chart.

And just so I remember all about Allie's first haircut:
Date: August 8, 2011
Location: Great Clips
Stylist: Shentelle
Style: Trimmed bangs so her hair wouldn't be in her eyes
Cost: $5 (plus a $2 tip)
Behavior: She kept saying, "I get haircut!" But when we got there she didn't want to sit in the chair. She sat perfectly still on my lap, with a sucker of course, for the 3 minutes it took to cut her bangs!

And nothing to do with the haircut, but here's a funny picture from last week:

Why I have to put the sunscreen up... way up!

So that's what is going on with Allie. The boys are having a fun week also! They are attending a sports camp at our gym. Today they learned about basketball and tomorrow is football.


The boys (and Allie) are also enjoying a new toy they helped Daddy build. It's a ramp like one that Brian's dad built for him and his brother when they were little.


Hope you're having an awesome summer too!

Chicken, Airplane, Soldier

Swim lessons are here! The boys are having fun and Allie and I are enjoying playing in the pool while they learn. Well, Spence learns when he decides to keep his head above water! Coleman is a great swimmer, so he's learning some new strokes now.

That's a band-aid between her eyes! She fell out of her chair today and thought she needed a band-aid to make it better. I don't think it made it better, but it sure did make it funnier!

Spence practicing his "chicken, airplane, soldier" (which is what his teacher calls the moves for the breaststroke)

Coleman working on his breaststroke leg moves

Little boy in the pink goggles!

Jump!!!

Pretty Sunday Dress

My sweet smile

My cheesy smile

My giggly smile

Hope you had a smiley day too!

Hesitantly Hopeful

I've been doing something nonstop for the last 6 1/2 years: changing diapers! And while I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to change all those diapers, I'm hopeful that this stage is coming to an end. Allie seems ready to potty train. I'm just hoping that her high intellect wins out over her strong will! The other day, as she was standing there naked, I asked her where big girls go potty. She pointed to the carpet and said, "There." When I said no, she walked over to the tile and pointed down and said, "There." Better, but still no good.

She's been going on the potty off and on for the past 3 months or so. But I really think it's time to buckle down and get her trained. So tonight we went to Wal-Mart and let her pick out some new panties. I picked up some cleaning wipes, stickers, candy treats, a bottle of insanity-be-gone, and a jumbo size box of patience. We're all set! I was thinking about trying a 3 day potty method, but we don't have 3 days in a row that we're home all day! Tomorrow I'm going to set the timer and lead her to one of the 6 strategically placed potties around our house. (We have 3 toilets and 3 potty chairs.) We'll see how that goes!

And just in case you've forgotten or you're new here, I. Hate. Potty. Training. Did you hear that Allie? Go easy on Mommy. Your brothers sure didn't!

It's Always a Great Day...

...when this gang's together!

Paul David and Judson, we had a wonderful time at your house! Can't wait to see you again!

Colorado Vacation Slideshow

Pictures from Cadillac Ranch, the cabin, Breckenridge, Royal Gorge, and Pike's Peak.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home Sweet Home

We had an awesome family vacation in Colorado, but it's nice to be home! On the way to Colorado Springs, we stopped for the night in Childress, Texas. The next day we visited Cadillac Ranch, where an eccentric man with lots of money has half buried 10 Cadillacs in the ground and people spray paint all over them. There was no gift shop or anything, and the only souvenir we got was some spray paint on Coleman's shorts! It was really a pretty neat place!




We arrived in Colorado Springs Friday evening and visited with Uncle Brent and Aunt Dre for a while. The next day we left for a cabin outside of Breckenridge where we met Grandpa and Grandma. The cabin was actually more like a lodge. The paddle boats and pool table provided lots of entertainment.





On July 3rd we went into a town to see fireworks, but because of the dry conditions, they were cancelled. That was OK though, because on July 4th we got to play in snow! That was a first for me and my Texas kids! We drove into Breckenridge and took the gondola up the mountain. Gale, Brian, Brent, and Coleman rode tubes down the snowy mountain. Then we all played a little in the snow.





We stayed another night at the cabin then stopped by the Royal Gorge on Tuesday. I thought you just walked across a bridge and that was all. I was wrong! We walked across the bridge, ate lunch, bought souvenirs, watched a magic show, hiked through an old west town, took a cable tram across the gorge, rode an incline train down to the bottom of the gorge, and rode a merry go round. There was so much to do there that we ended up spending most of the day.




Wednesday, the five of us and Gale and Rita went to Pike's Peak. I was pretty nervous since the last time I was there I got pretty nauseated at the top. It's a little higher than Southeast Texas there. Like 14, 110 feet! We took the train up and all did well. On the way back home we drove through The Garden of the Gods. It was rainy so Brian and I hopped out of the car for a quick picture, but we didn't let anyone else get out!


We left Thursday morning and drove to West Texas and stayed with my uncle and aunt. I hadn't seen them in years, so we had a nice visit. We arrived back home Friday night around 8:3o, not a moment too soon! It was a long long drive, but we had a great time. After I recover for about a year I'll be ready for another vacation!