Order

This morning, Bo kept trying to give Ella instructions at the breakfast table. He was frustrated that she wasn't obeying him, so I gently reminded him that Ella doesn't have to obey him. Then, I asked him the question I remember my mom frequently asking me,

"Bo, who are you in charge of?"
"Mommy?"
"No."
"Daddy?"
"No."
"God?"
"No Bo, you're in charge of Bo and your own behavior, and Ella is in charge of Ella and her behavior. Do you know who's in charge of Mommy and Daddy?"
"Grandaddy?" [J's dad]

It was certainly a good guess!

Breakin' up is hard to do!

She's gone.

I think J's a little sad about it actually! He spent a long time cleaning everything out on Saturday and taking some pictures to post on craigslist. I think we were both a little humbled when the mechanics at Carmax told us they would pay us $50 for the car, so craigslist seemed like a better option. Thankfully, we were able to get just enough from the taurus to pay the [unexpected] taxes that were due on the new truck.

I hope the new owners enjoy her just as much as we did. It's wild to think that she's made two cross country moves with us. There are lots of memories in those red velvet seats!

Little Hands

Ella "rearranged" the bottom shelf of the bookcase for me...

Treasure

This morning the kids were talking about treasure in their Sunday school class, and they made some construction paper treasure chests. They spent some time cutting pictures out of magazines to put inside.

I was certainly surprised to see a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich as Ella's treasure. Bo proudly announced that he put a picture of yogos in his chest.

What?

I think they may have missed the point!

Lizards, and Lemurs, and Foxes, oh my!

Our MOPS group had an extreme animals presentation yesterday afternoon, and the kids were so excited to spend an hour at the playground and see some cool animals.

I was worried Bo may have a little bit of a meltdown because he was very seriously anticipating seeing an elephant. I told him numerous times that there would not be an elephant, but he was insistent, desperate for an elephant ride. Instead, we settled for a few animals of a slightly smaller variety.

The first thing we checked out was the lizard. Bo got to pet him later, but we enjoyed checking him out through the glass initially.

Miss Princess, the lemur, enjoyed a feast of raisins out of the kids hands. I could NOT believe Ella sat there and let the lemur eat out of her hand. Very cool!

Bo was absolutely enthralled with the tail. Thankfully, he was very gentle and didn't pull on it. It was certainly tempting to give those stripes a good tug though!

Next, the kids got a hunk of banana for the coatamundi.

It was all fun and games at first...

but the fun quickly turned to fear!

Ella was finished with the animals at that point, but Bo did stick around so that he could pet the fox. It was cute, but a little on the skittish side. Fortunately, there was a big pile of dirt at the playground, so once the appeal of the animals wore off, they had lots of fun digging in the dirt. There was sand all over the tub last night after their bath, but they sure had a blast!

Busted

I just busted Bo playing with the one toy he can reach from the couch where he is supposed to be resting.

Bo, this is rest time, you need to lay down on the couch and be still and quiet.

But mom, it is so hard!

Introducing

The newest member of our clan: Rufus!

We have a tradition of naming our cars...silly, I know. I'm currently hanging out in Aunt Minnie [the minivan] and J's long relationship with National Velvet is coming to an end. National Velvet has been a member of our family since shortly after we were married, but we inherited it from my parents who had owned it for several years before that. It's been a great car, but the compressor is now officially gone. It was either $1000 repair before the weather got cold enough to use the defrost, or time to buy a new car.

J started casually looking at some options, and was excited to find this truck...

The kids were really excited to jump in J's truck when he brought it home today. Bo has already started asking what we're going to do with the red sports car.


Anyone interested in a 93 Ford Taurus with a broken compressor and 200K miles?

Sitting Fun!

He's not super steady, but we're working on strengthening those core muscles...

He was on the way down on this one, but I loved the look on his face!

Jambo and asante sana

Jambo actually means hello, but my mom is now officially back from Africa! Her flight landed a little while ago, and I am dying to hear about the trip! I have these [older] pictures of the kids in their African t-shirts that Aunt Hannah bought for them when she went to Tanzania last year.

They still love to wear these shirts, and Bo is so proud that his actually says his name!

I can hardly believe how much Ella has changed in one short year. The shirt fits a little better now, and I love the back side of the zebra on the back side of the shirt!

Asante sana...thank you very much!

Whew!

I just spent 45 minutes of actual "instruction" with Bo after the little kids were down for their naps. Wow, that is a real lesson in patience. He was SO excited to get out his special supplies and workbooks; it was really fun.

I love seeing him learn and listen, and I think it was good for him to sit still and follow instructions for a period of time. I have not done a great job of structuring instruction time with him. Don't get me wrong, instruction is happening all the time around here, but with three small ones it's typically just when and where I can squeeze it in. I really enjoyed having a little bit more of an "agenda" with him.

More to come...

Give a giggle!

Jack was laughing so hard at dinner the other night that he gave himself the hiccups. We were all laughing!

Oh, and I got all cocky and thought I could actually feed him without a bib. Not so much!

Huh?

This morning, Bo sang this little gem for me:

Potato chips, potato chips, crunchy, crunchy,
I love Jesus a bunchy, bunchy.

No idea where that one came from!

Splishin' and Splashin'

Jack LOVES the bath. The other night he was having so much fun splashing around that it was almost hard for him to catch his breath! It is fun to see him work so hard and great for him to tucker his little self out before bedtime!

We've had three water lovers around here. Even though Ella looks a little unsure of herself in this one, she really did love the bath. Oh, and this picture was take in October...she was TWO months old. How about that hair?

Bo loved the bath too. He was working the same combover look as Jack is!

On a completely unrelated note, Jack slept in this morning, so we're attempting only three meals today! I can't believe how fast he's changed from a wiggly newborn into a strong and wiggly baby! I've really been enjoying these past few days with him. We're moving into such a fun time with him where he's occupied with toys and content to play with the bigger kids [only under direct supervision, of course!].

It's just such a sweet time!

Krispy Kreme

We had such a fun morning! The kids got to take a tour of our local Krispy Kreme with some friends from our MOPS group. In case you haven't heard, this is a wonderful [FREE] activity to do with a group. We were a little bit early, so I managed to get the kids to pose for a shot before things got too crazy.

Can you tell it was super fun watching the donuts come down the line?

We all had to wear hats, so the kids enjoyed playing with theirs. Even Jack went along with the hat wearing!

Our guide, Mr. Tom, spent a little bit of time telling us about the history of Krispy Kreme...

Bo and Ella had so much fun looking at all the machines and holding hands. It was definitely a success because they kept their hands to themselves the ENTIRE time...awesome!

They were anxiously awaiting their custom donut with chocolate and sprinkles. They both carried it out to the eating area with utmost caution and care.

Bo waited patiently for the other kids to finish the tour and join him with their donuts.

Ella was pretty excited about her sprinkles as well...

When we got home, we headed out in the back yard so the kids could run off all the extra sugar energy! They are crashed out now, and I'm enjoying the silence. Thank you Krispy Kreme!

Makes you wanna jump!

Jack loves his johnny jump up!

Bo and Ella like to jump along with him...I couldn't resist the video.

According to J

box of rubber gloves: $5

not having to touch poo when cleaning out the kiddie toilet: priceless

Africa

Wow, my mom is in Africa!

She landed there a few hours ago, and I cannot even imagine what she is experiencing right now. I just can't stop thinking about her and praying for her. I am hoping that they will post information to the travel blog while they are there. I keep checking it to find out what is going on. Here's the link if you're interested in her journey as well...
http://tanzania-journal.blogspot.com/

Listen to the sound...

of silence!

All the babies are sleeping.
I just took a long shower, and now I get to go dry my hair and put on makeup for our date night tonight!

Ahhh...bliss!

Mini-Vacation

We had a great time on our short little adventure. The indoor waterpark was a huge hit! I loved the fact that we didn't have to mess with sunscreen or worry about the fact that it rained most of the time we were there! The kiddie area was great fun as well, so the kids were fully occupied and entertained.

I fed the kids an early dinner while we got checked in to the hotel and settled into the room, and then we hit the water park.

The wave pool was big fun, but Bo kept talking about how it was different from the beach. He knew the waves were similar, but he also knew we were most certainly in a different place!

The kiddie area had lots of water guns and fun climbing toys. There were a few kid sized water slides too, so everyone enjoyed those. Well, Jason enjoyed the kiddie slides until one of the lifeguards asked him not to use the slides because they were designed for kids under 48 inches. Ooops!

Ella loved trying to squirt daddy!

Jason had a great time with the kids, and after several long months of studying it was fun to see the kids really enjoy him and it was good to see him have some fun.

I spent most of our time at the waterpark like this...

Jack was happy to be snuggled up next to me, and thankfully I had my hands free to grab the kids if I needed to!

After a couple of hours in the water, we were ready to head back up to our rooms for bed. Can you tell Ella was tuckered out?

After a quick bath, we let the kids have a little snack because they had worked so hard in the water.

Then, it was off to bed. They were SOOOOOO excited about their special bunk beds...
It made me realize how grown up Ella really is to see her in a "big girl" bed. She was so tired, she didn't even attempt to get out!
Here they are the next morning all geared up for another couple hours of water fun.
All in all, it was a most successful trip. I loved getting out of town [even though it was just for a night] and enjoying some serious playtime with the kids. Oh, and they were champs in the car! The only crazy moment we had was when the car wouldn't start at a sketchy gas station in the middle of nowhere...fun times!

Thankfully we made it there and back in one piece!