Progress

What a difference a year can make.  This is my oldest, completely submerged after jumping in the pool today.

I offered to set up the water slide for Sam today but he said he'd rather go to Meme and Robin's pool and swim.  I wasn't expecting much since last year he refused to wear wings, screamed if his face went under the slightest bit and spent every trip to the pool wrapped around my neck.  By the end of last summer, he was doing quite well when Allyson would take him swimming with Cade and Cannon.  I never saw this since when Mama is around it is always a license to whine and be dramatic.  So when we headed to the pool this afternoon, I fully expected a short trip and even thought we may come home dry.  But my little man surprised me.  A lot.  He was amazing.  Jumping in and going under, over and over again.  He swam around on his own and when I told him I used to teach kids to swim and I could teach him, he politely pushed me away and said, "That's okay.  I can teach myself to swim, Mommy."
Today left me excited over how wonderful our summer is going to be.  Long days with little else to do than swim ourselves silly.  I can't wait to take him to the big pool and watch him splash and play with other kids his age.  We have so many fun days ahead.
After swimming, Sam had to cuddle with Finley, Bec and Chris' new puppy.  Both my boys are crazy over this dog.  They chase him, pick him up way too much and call his name hundreds of times.  I fully anticipate Finley will soon begin running in the opposite direction when he sees them coming.
And as for this monkey, he was having no part of any fun in the pool.  He screamed and cried for the two seconds I brought him into the water with me.  So out he went to hang out with G-Ma in a her water free back yard.  Yes, he much prefers getting wet at his own leisure with the old reliable garden hose.
That and drinking a little left over water off the concrete.  Completely nude, of course.

Up Close and Personal

One of the greatest benefits of living where we do is the opportunity for our boys to experience farm life and have daily encounters with different animals.  And by encounters I mean close encounters.  Really, really close.

Jody's cows are quite accustomed to us driving by on the gator and they often run to meet us, hoping we have brought a little food along with us.  Occasionally Jody will throw feed it the back of the gator and cause a mini stampede as the cows chase behind hoping for a bite.  The boys love it when their Daddy does this and squeal with delight as they are surrounded by all their cows.  We even fool the cows every now and then and they come running to us, only to be disappointed that we come empty handed.  But Sam and Jack sure are happy and can even reach out and rub the cows before they give up on finding food in the back and run away.  God sure knew what He was doing when He blessed us with these two animal loving farm boys.  

Bye Bye...

baby swing...

Hello, monkey rings!

Sam was excited to hang out on his new monkey bar/rings.  It seemed like a good time to spice up the swing set with a new toy since we don't currently need the baby swing.  And in case anyone is wondering, I am holding out hope that we will need to rehang it one day.  One day.  Or buy a new one.  I saw at Target that baby swings now come in a great shade of pink.  You know, just in case.

So Lucky

I never imagined that the highlight of my day would be hanging out at a local park, chasing excited toddlers, pushing little ones over and over and over again and holding my breath countless times when my boys tumble to the ground.  But  it is.  The weather is wonderful and when we get a little bored at our house we head out for a change of scenery at a local park.  And we always have a wonderful time...swinging as high as Mommy can push, sliding hundreds of times and climbing like monkeys up and down, up and down.  I am so thankful for every swing and every slide that I get to share with these two boys.  I know I am so very blessed and fortunate to be home with them each and every day.  Fortunate to be their constant caregiver, boo-boo kisser, nap time rocker, endless hug and kiss giving Mama. Fortunate to be the one who spends my every day with them, watching them swing and slide themselves silly.  I am so blessed.  And thankful for moments like these...

A First

Maybe waking up at 6:30 this morning did it...or maybe the long weekend is to blame...or maybe we played outside a little too long this morning...or maybe someone read him my blog entries about what a wonderful sleeper Landry is and he felt the need to prove a little point.

Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining over this first.  The first time ever, and I do mean ever, my little one got still enough in something other than his bed or car seat and actually fell asleep.

I was quite amused to say the least.  And because I don't want to ruin the happiness over this first, I won't go in to detail about what happened when I tried to move the little monkey to his crib.  Let's just say my amusement was short lived.

Memorable Memorial

We have had a wonderful, long weekend.  A weekend that included a cook out, fun with our favorite cousins and lots of special time with Daddy.  Both the boys have hung close to Jody the past few days helping to move and work the cows, check fences and move hay.  This morning Jody let me sleep in (after a tough night with my sweet little Jack) while he and Jack worked outside.  Sam and I slept until 10:30, which was wonderful.  We didn't venture out to the pool for opening weekend.  We are waiting for the water to warm up as it gets a little warmer outside.  The boys happily enjoyed the inflatable water slide at our house and we will surely be using it a lot this summer.  Great fun and a sign of things to come...a wonderful summer ahead.

Be Honest

Does this bike make my butt look big?  

Interested?

I would like to extend an invitation to anyone who is interested to join me and others for a couples bible study.  My wonderful Dad started a small bible study a while back with Jody, Corey and Chris.  Their group has grown and has even branched off into many small groups.  I guess Daddy felt a little sorry for his daughters that didn't have a chance to attend, especially the two at home watching the kids so their husbands could go. So he has offered to start a couples study and arrange to provide child care.  I believe, as does he, that there is a real need for a study that allows moms to attend knowing her kids are happy and well taken care of.  The group will likely meet twice a month and will certainly be a blessing for those that attend.  So please join us as we learn more about God's word.  If you are interested, please let me know.  I hope to see you there.

Getting Ready

Someone in our house is very excited that pool season is here.  And to make sure he is in top swimming shape, he has been doing a little practicing in the tub.  And since you can't really practice without the right gear, he proudly wears an over sized pair of blue goggles. A little bit of practicing and a whole lot of laughing makes for a great workout and a very entertaining bath.  

Fun...and a Little Jealousy

Today I watched Cannon and Landry along with my two over at Ally's house. Four kids for roughly four hours.  Exhausting. Exhausting but fun.  Because they are in fact the sweetest, coolest kids on the planet, if I do say so myself.  When I got there, Rebecca had Landry's hair pulled up in the cutest pony tail.  It's the first time I've seen her hair back and she sported it well.  Oh, the fun of having a girl...

We spent the day outside, which meant lots of "pee-pee" breaks.  Cannon and Sam are very accustomed to dropping their pants outside, handling their business and getting back in the action without missing a beat.  Little Lulu saw the older boys peeing and before I could stop her, she had her pants and diaper off and was trying her best to pee too.
Sam and Cannon play so well together.  One of the benefits of only being 18 days apart.  They use their imagination, create games and take turns being the leader.  One of the games they placed today was "Daddy and baby," which consisted of Cannon, the daddy, leading a crawling Sam, the baby, through the yard.
They hung out on the swing set for a while before deciding to be mean animals and swing and slide like animals.  They were bears, tigers, dogs, cats, etc.  Landry was napping at the time and I stepped inside to check on her while they were pretending to be animals. When I returned, Sam and Cannon both were completely naked.  "Why did ya'll take your clothes off?" I asked.  And in a very matter-of-fact way, Sam told me, "Because Mommy.  Animals don't wear clothes."  What was I thinking by even asking?
My youngest, my sweet, adorable Jack must have grown tired of hearing me comment about how precious his older brother is as I brag about him picking me flowers everyday.  Well, not to be outdone, Jack picked me the world's largest artificial flower. I was honored.  And I'll be heading out to find another flower spinner to put by the play area this weekend.  My little heavy handed son broke the "stem" in half while trying to please me.  And by the way, I was very, very pleased.  Pure Jack.
I also must brag on little Landry. She kept the "boss lady" under wraps today and only got in one small scuffle with Jack over the battery operated F-150.  It seems this girl has a thing for pick up trucks.  After playing a while, she sweetly crawled up in my lap and cuddled.  "Landry," I said, "are you ready to go to bed?"  She nodded that she was and off we went to her room.  I placed her in her crib, handed her her milk and blanket and said, "Okay sweet girl.  Night Night."  In return, she looked up to me and gave me the warmest smile.  I turned to walk out thinking to myself that there is absolutely no way putting one down to sleep is that easy.  I closed the door behind me, pausing for the long scream that I knew would come.  It didn't.  I heard her talking sweetly, saying "Mama, Mama" and "Cade" and "Dada."  But not one single whimper.  And boy was I jealous.  For all of you that are blessed with this easiness at nap or bedtime, good for you.  You see, my youngest, the one a mere 16 days older than Landry, still screams like someone is cutting off one of his limbs when I put him in his bed awake.  Every single time.  And my oldest, well, we all know where he still sleeps.  No comments, please.  So on the heels of a night that consisted of me hanging on for dear life on the edge of our suddenly too small king size bed as my two children popped me in the face with their hands and feet, I was amazed by little Lulu.  Amazed and jealous.  And now completely convinced that I need a little girl in my testosterone filled, sleep deprived house.

Professional Hider

Proudly taking hide and seek to a new level...Cannon Lee.  No ice required.

Offended

The other day Jody sang to Sam:

"Sam-a-lama.  Sam-a-lama ding dong."

You know, that old classic from way back when.  Well, Sam stood there a little shocked.  And obviously offended.  And then he decided to sing a song to his Daddy.

"Daddy, Daddy.  Daddy am a do- do ball."

Yes, my little boy thought his Dad was calling him a ding dong.  And he found this very rude and decided to make up his own version for a little payback.

"Sam-a-lama.  Sam-a-lama ding dong" sounded to him like his Daddy was " Sam am a, Sam am a ding dong."  

And now he sings this song an awful lot.  Even after our attempts to explain what his Daddy was singing.  It's a great chance to say "do do ball" when ever he feels like it.  Lesson learned.  We'll stick to classic kids' songs in the future.

A Test

Last night we had a "test" camp out for the boys.  No tents, no sleeping bags.  Just a campfire perfect for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.  A practice run outdoors, around a fire, in preparation for a real camp out in the future.  We had a great time out in the pasture with our beach chairs pulled up by the fire. We ate hot dogs, made smores and told "scary" stories.  None of the kids liked the messy smores and found that it was much more fun to throw the ingredients into the fire.  Before we knew it, it was 10:00 and time to head inside.  We've promised the boys to do it again in the next few weeks and then have a big campfire and invite all their friends.  I'm looking forward to another evening under the stars with each of them, as I'm almost certain I had more fun than they did.

Jack puts away some chips before dark...

Sam tried a smore, thought it was nasty, and threw it in the fire...

The three musketeers gathered around the fire for some "scary" stories...

Cade spotted something scary in the sky...

Cannon listens intently to the stories...

Sam does his best scary ghost impression...

Saturday Surprise

Surprises.  I love them.  And I love that one of my boys is old enough now to love them too.  And today he got a pretty terrific surprise. Sam loves bears.  I mean really, really loves bears. Some may find his affection for these animals to be borderline obsession, but I, his loving Mama, prefer to call it passion.  He is passionate about bears, all bears.  Black, brown, polar, koala, panda...he doesn't discriminate. He is wild about all of them.  So imagine my excitement to learn that this was "bear week" at the science museum and we could watch a feeding session today at 2:00.  I knew this was going to be huge for Sam. Since falling in love with bears, he's seen plenty of movies and looked at lots of books about these creatures, but he hasn't seen the real deal.  So off we headed, only telling Sam that Daddy was taking us somewhere that he would probably really like and may even see a few surprises.  Bears never came up during the drive which guaranteed a truly unexpected surprise.

We were running about five minutes late and I was so worried he would be stuck behind a crowd and not be able to see.  Jody dropped us at the door and I rushed Sam inside to pay and find the exhibit.  "Straight out the doors and follow the path, you'll see the signs," were my instructions.  She forgot to mention it was about a half a mile a way.  I walked as fast as I could with a three year old that got distracted by every thing we passed.  Soon I threw him on my back and practically ran to the exhibit.  I walked up to find...no one. Except one lady.  I asked her if this was the spot for the bear program and she said, "Um, yeah, but it's already over."  Ten minutes late and we missed the whole thing (apparently all she did was throw oranges to them and tell facts about each of them).   I think the poor lady, who turned out to be the bear keeper, saw the disappointment in my face and she offered to hang around and talk to us.  I waited for Jody and Jack to catch up before we got close enough for Sam to spot his surprise.

I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face when he peered through the fence and saw those black bears.  It was a look of pure surprise and excitement.  I think he would have watched them play all day and he even asked if we could take them home with us. There really isn't anything like seeing your child that happy.  It's priceless.

As we walked to the exhibit, Sam spotted a sign with a bear on it and seemed a little puzzled.

Shocked and amazed, he couldn't quit smiling.

Smiling over this...

and this.

Jack was thrilled too and constantly tried climbing the fence to get closer.  

The bear keeper gave the boys a bear key chain.

Before we left the bears, I asked Sam how happy he was with his surprise.  "This happy, Mommy."  That face says it all doesn't it?