Determination

pop-pa-roo-zer (pop' uh roo' zer) n. an air-filled bubble used in packaging materials that makes a popping sound when collapsed.

I think that is my favorite made up word. And I know this is my favorite popparoozer popper! She has quite the determination and perseverance!

The Classic Stomp

The Classic Stomp taken up a notch

The Two-Footed Stomp

The Mighty Jump and Stomp

The Smack It Good

The I'm Down on One Knee Begging You to Pop

The Face Smash (I've never seen this move work)

And to be used only as a last resort - The Bite and Rip

Aftermath of The Bite and Rip - plastic in your teeth

I think I got 'em all Mama!

This Is Love!

For some reason I've decided that store-bought cards just won't do for Spence and Allie's Valentine class parties. And I used to be creative, but now I just steal all my ideas from the internet! Well, steal is such a nasty word. I use the internet to get some creative juices flowing, then I tweak other people's ideas. There! That sounds better! Here are some Valentines I just love (click the link in the caption to see where I found the Valentine):

Love this elephant!

Adorable butterfly!

Perfect for boys?

And my favorite, once I pretty it up a little...

So I'll be on the look out for heart-shaped pans! In fact, I think they're so cute that I might even attach some to Coleman's Star Wars Valentines I bought at... the store (gasp!).

That's One Way to Say It

Here's something light and fun for your Monday!

What Coleman calls it: Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid

What Spence calls them: Vanilla Wifers

What Allie calls them: Sloop Loops

What Spence yells: I lifted up the seat!!!!!!!

Of course there's a story behind that last one. Spence got into the habit of trying to go potty without lifting up the seat or removing the toddler potty seat. This created quite the mess. So I fussed, fussed, and fussed some more. Then I began charging him a quarter when he forgot to lift the seat. I think that's when he started remembering! Anyway, now every time he goes potty, he yells at the top of his lungs, "I lifted up the seat!!!!!!!" Doesn't matter if he's downstairs or upstairs or at someone else's house or if Allie is napping or anything else. He says it every time. Every time. Sad thing is, he still doesn't get it all in the toilet. But at least Allie and I don't have to sit in it when we go potty! I promise there's a story coming...

This morning we were at our Monday morning prayer group, Moms in Touch, where we pray for our school-aged children and their school. (This is an awesome thing to be involved in if you have kids in school!) Spence, Allie, and another little boy were upstairs playing, but during the middle of prayer time Spence came downstairs. The moms were divided up into two groups, and Spence headed over to the group I wasn't in. (I had my eyes opened since I heard him coming downstairs.) He walked over to a lady with dark hair, tapped her on the shoulder, and told her he had just lifted up the seat. He's looking straight at this lady, this Asian lady, thinking he's telling me that he lifted up the seat. The other moms were cracking up! Finally he realized she wasn't me and looked confused. But he quickly found me and informed me that he had lifted up the seat. Oh how that little boy makes me laugh!

Upward Action Shots... and More!

Saturday was Coleman's 4th basketball game. He's doing great and we're all loving it! I cannot recommend Upward sports highly enough. I've been so pleased with the experience. Here are a few shots from the game:

They begin with a prayer



Shoot, Coleman!

I'm really hoping that Coleman develops a love of basketball. That was mine and Brian's sport, so I'd love watching my kids play all through school!

And give it up for my younger two. It's hard work attaining this level of cuteness!




Today Brian took Coleman to a birthday party at the skating rink. The birthday boy plays hockey, but I hear hockey skates aren't for everyone! Apparently Coleman and the other little boys had to go trade in their hockey skates for figure skates. Coleman thinks skating is for 8 year olds! But Brian said he kept at it and got better.

Hugging the wall for dear life!

Looks like he had fun!

How We Measure Love Around Here

Spence is one of the most lovey kids I know. He loves to give me hugs and kisses, even in public, for now! He likes to tell Brian and me how much he loves us. It's always something different such as to the moon, or to a google. Then he reminds us, "But I love God more." My sweet boy...

So this morning I was telling Spence that he was going to learn about planets and stars at school. He said, "I love you to a black hole! To Jupiter!" He wasn't sure which was farther. Then Allie said, "I love you to $18!" I'm thinking that's a lot for her!

Monster Jam!

Thank you Daddy for taking us to the Monster Jam!!!

Where Were We?

Last week Brian found out that a couple he knew when he was a youth minister in The Netherlands was going to be close enough to visit over the weekend. We were going to just meet them for dinner, but decided to make a weekend out of it! It was really a fun family vacation! Can you guess where we were?

Buc-cee's was on the way!

Allie wanted to buy one of everything!

Our hotel

It was really nice!

And then there was the pool... 23 floors up on top of the building!

The kids loved it!

The pool was heated, but the hot tub felt better! You might see a landmark in the background... Tower of the Americas

But you definitely know this landmark... Remember the Alamo!

We wanted the boys to want to visit the Alamo, so the night before we left Brian showed them some fighting scenes from the John Wayne movie. They couldn't wait to visit the Alamo!

They were excited when we got to the Alamo, but we had to remind them that many people gave their lives there and we needed to show respect. They did really well, then we let them have their battle scenes outside.

Brian bought Spence this Davy Crockett hat, and as we were walking along the River Walk, one of the tour boat guides said to his passengers, "If you look over there you'll see a young Davy Crockett!" So funny!


We had a great family vacation in San Antonio this past weekend!

Happy Birthday Coleman!

We have a 7 year old! No, we have the best 7 year old in the world! Love you Coleman!

Star Wars lego set from Daddy and Mommy

Star Wars toy from Grandma and Grandpa

Star Wars blanket from Nana and Poppa

Can you guess what Coleman is into at the moment? Ha! We're planning to celebrate his birthday after basketball season is over by taking him and a few friends to a cave. I'm looking forward to that!

Rainy Day

It has rained and rained and rained today! Once it slowed down a little, I took Spence and Allie out to play in it. Gotta put those rain boots to good use!

It looked like so much fun that I was wishing I had a pair of rain boots!

Showin' Off His Skills

Saturday was Coleman's first basketball game. I loved it!!! I couldn't believe this was a team of 6 and 7 year olds that have had 3 practices. Amazing! They dribbled, moved, played defense, shot, and rebounded. Coleman took 5 shots and made 2! Here are the videos of his first and second baskets!

You Make Me Smile

How could you not smile when you look at this face? And this ensemble? I got a kick out of the snowman top and ice cream bottoms!

Are these two not the sweetest thing? I found them like this watching cartoons one afternoon.

Today at MOPS we played a game where everyone grabbed a handful of M&Ms. Then we were told that for each blue M&M we had to tell something that made us sad, for each red M&M we had to share something that made us mad, green was lucky, yellow happy, and so on with the other colors. The game was really fun, except for the blue M&Ms! I think most of the girls at our table ended up crying! But the yellow M&Ms were fun! I had three yellows, so these are the three things I shared:

• Listening over the monitor to Spence and Allie playing together in Allie's room
• Watching Coleman realize that Allie is upset and going over and rubbing her back
• Spence asking me every night for a thousand google snugs (hugs and kisses)

Of course there are so many things that make me happy I can't even begin to count, like my wonderful husband that loves us and does so much for us, but I think since I was at a table full of moms with little kids, our children were on our minds. And lately I've been getting a little frustrated with my kiddos, so it was nice to think about the positive things. I was refreshed and ready to spend the afternoon with them outside. Yes, January 5th here in the lovely South was perfect park weather!

Gotta Have This

I'm trying to be a little more crafty this year. I've already made quite a few new things to hang around the house, and this is definitely on my project list:

Isn't it adorable? And functional! When we moved into our house, my closet already had hooks in the wall to hang jewelry from, but it's not very practical. Some are so high that I can't reach them, and they aren't very pretty to look at! I could spend $30 and buy this here, but how fun will it be to hunt down the perfect knobs at a good price and make it myself! I wanted to share it here for you to ooh and ahh over, but also so I don't forget...

I posted my family rules print, so here are a few other things I've made:

I found this on pinterest and the lady had lots of free printables, so I didn't make this, just printed it out and framed it.

I also printed out this bird and used the fun scrapbook paper as a mat.

I don't think this one is finished. It was also a printable but I didn't like the colors, so I made my own and scanned it. I need to make it darker, and possibly turn it. I love it in the dining room!

All the frames were ones we had either hidden in a closet or hanging in our house with pictures I wanted to replace. So I didn't spend much at all for these! Olive You is hanging in our kitchen by the big window, the bird is in the hall by the guest bath, and Give us this day is in the dining room over the antique ice box (there's a bird print that I never really loved in that frame). I'm having fun doing a little redecorating for the new year!

Clean Slate, Begin Again

Welcome 2012! I love a new year simply for the fact that I feel like I get a fresh start. I'm going to wipe the slate clean, forgive myself for putting on those extra pounds, not remembering to send out all the birthday cards, or letting my closet get piled up with junk. That all happened last year! Old news! Here are my goals for this year:

• Make healthy choices and get fit (this seems to be a recurring one; maybe this year I'll get it right)
• Find a place for everything and keep everything in its place (and not go ballistic when it's not in its place)
• Love Jesus and others more than I did last year
• Be more organized (and actually remember to look at my calendar each day)

I'm sure I could go on and on, but I think this is a good start. I've even got my weight goal for January set. I'll update you at the beginning of February. And when I meet that goal, I'm rewarding myself with a new pair of sunglasses! That's what I was thinking about when I dumped the leftover chocolate muffins in the trash this morning instead of eating them. Small victory - yay!

Here's something new I made (after I saw it on Pinterest!) to help remind our family how to act:

Anyone have any awesome resolutions to share?

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be your brightest year yet!