Happy Haloween!

He loved to show off his muscles!!!!!

Jacob was NOT in a very good mood and Noah's face cracks me up. Although it doesn't look like it, we had a great time trick or treating on Saturday night!!!
Poor Pirate!!!!

Noah-isms....

This four year old has been cracking us up lately! First of all, he gets up every morning SO excited for school. Not so excited about the getting up part, in fact this past week I had gotten him up and he was in the living room telling me, "Mommy, I need to lay back down and go to sleep, I didn't get all my sleep in, I have to, I have to lay down momma!", but when I say it's time to get in the car, he has his "pak pack" on and has to double check to see that I put his spiderman lunch box in there. (One day I got him hot lunch and he about flipped a lid! he had the whole class looking for spiderman and was so upset that I had not packed his lunch that day, although we talked about it that morning). Anyway, the kid thinks that he is NOAH. THE Noah, like in the Bible Noah...... Jacob came home from Sunday school and Noah said, "Oh look Jacob! You colored my ark!!!!!! AND my rainbow! Good Job Jacob!!!!!" This cracked Josh and I up. We didn't say anything. Just listened and snickered....

Last week, were were coming home from Chik-fil-a school night (any excuse to eat Chikfila right?) and he was in the back of the car singing..
"With a rat-tat-tat
and a thump thump thump
I built the Great Big Ark"

He sang it a couple times, but honestly I wasn't listening. He sang it about 5 times before I realized what he was singing! Oh boy! So, we sat down and had the talk that has the same name as Noah who built the ark, but that wasn't him that everybody was talking about or singing about.

Today we were trying on clothes to see if they fit (which seems like we do this every month!) I was putting shirts on Noah and saying something like, "Oh Perfect!" or "Too small". I put him in this one shirt and before I could say anything Noah says, "this shirt is too small as a mouse, can I give it to a mouse momma?" Not sure why but I got tickled by that!

Okay and I had to come back and add this one he said tonight. We were in the jeep getting gas and Noah said, "Momma, can I pick my nose outside? or Inside?"

So funny! Just thought I would share! :-)

Just Two Little Boys...

Wonders Never Cease
by Jacqueline M. Sinkes

There are tiny little fingers pressed against my cheek,

and the palm of the hand that holds all my dreams.

There is a careful little grimace directed right at me,

and the expression of innocence that grabs me every time.

There is a pair of big brown eyes that light up in the dark,

and the window to a soul that knows only truth.

There are clumsy little legs dancing to a tune,

And a chubby little bottom to break their every fall.

There is a babble and some laughter coming from my room,

and the sounds of heaven right here in my home.

There is chaos in the kitchen, and toys all down the hall,

a reminder to us all that time is so precious.

There are cookie crumbs on the table, and milk spilled on the carpet,

but an image of simplicity and joy came with the mess.

There are car keys in the toilet

and the unmistakable sense my life is full.

There are two boys fast asleep, just in the other room,

and a mother who's convinced that wonders never cease.

Happy Birthday Josh!!!!

This past Wednesday my husband turned 33. YES, I said 33!!!!! Every year it seems like when his birthday comes I am way more excited about it then he is! I let everybody know it is his birthday and always call and leave birthday messages. Noah left him the sweetest voicemail. He sang him Happy Birthday and then when he was finished told him, this is Noah. We celebrated on Tuesday night because he had an away game on Wednesday. Love you babe!!

Oh, and as always, pictures of my favorite little boys in the whole wide world!!!!!!!

Ponder...

This post could be long. So, you've been warned. I have just had alot of things on my mind lately. Things that I stop and thank God for, things I need to continually work on, circumstances I don't necessarily love in my life, but are trying to see the good and work through them. A couple of things like how lucky we are to have people around us to help us be better parents. I am so thankful that God has surrounded us with friends who we can "bounce" parenting ideas off of, take advice from others who are not in that "season" of life but have amazing insight and ideas to help, people who constructively criticize to help you become better, and the amazing resources we have to go and help us find the answers. I also thank the Lord for giving me a "learner's spirit" (most times :-)) when I do hear things that I don't like about something I am doing or not doing. Also thankful for the proud Mommy moments when your child says, "Please, or Thankyou, or Excuse Me" without being prompted. Hard to be thankful for the moments in the grocery store when your two year old is laying on the ground screaming because he wants Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets, NOT the normal (ON SALE) Chicken Nuggets. Oh the joys of being a mom! Yes, I am the mother you will see at the grocery store with my two monkeys getting groceries. I have one who for the most part is pretty good IF I let him ride on the cart, and another one who will sit in the front of the cart (after a long loud battle, I always win) and say Hi to EVERYBODY we pass. I don't have a choice. It's what we do.

Anyway, on a little bit different note, I have also been thinking about how we as Christians sometimes think that we need to be perfect. Perfect children, perfect house, perfect job, perfect attitudes, perfect devotions, perfect, perfect, perfect..... seems very, I don't know....robotic to me. So what happens when you achieve this perfection? Is this what I want to teach my kids? My life's goal is suppose to be continually growing in Christ. I will never "arrive" and hope that I will continue to grow closer to Christ each day. At the age of 28 or 98...it's a continuous thing! But, how do we teach our kids that? I have been reading this Amazing book lately called Instructing a Child's Heart. It talks about the differences between discipline and instruction. "Discipline should be applied only when behavior need to be corrected. If the only time we instruct is when our children need discipline, our children will not listen to our instruction for fear of the discipline...." Wow! That is very hard to do with two young boys, but with consistency, prayer, right motives and strength from above, it is acheivable. In their previous book theTripps talk about getting to the childs heart. My prayer is that I can INSTRUCT my kids in a way that they will not make decisions because they know that is what Josh and I want for them (people pleasers), but they will have discerning hearts. Every opportunity to correct our children is an opportunity to confront them with the need of forgiveness and grace....wow.... Easier said than done, that's for sure! The sad part is that I know many adults who haven't learned this "discernment" factor. What a tough world we live in. Makes me even more excited to think of what is to come! That is my prayer... that our kids can find the truth and hang on to it in an understanding discerning way...I could probably go on and on....but on to other things.

Noah has started K4 this year and now gets up everyday to go to "momma's school". He's done pretty well the past couple weeks, gets up when I need him to (6:45), gets dressed quickly, and out to the van with his bookbag packed and on his back! He has been having a little problem at school listening and obeying which has lead to his stick being moved to yellow several times and red a few times. Uh oh... guess I need to be reading the above paragraph everyday! We are working on him obeying the "first time he is told" (yes, we sing the song frequently) so hopefully things will get better. He LOVES school and his teachers and loves all the extra attention from the "bigger" kids when I walk up and down the halls with him. Jacob started at a church daycare about a month ago. He enjoys it and has many "friends" in his class. They all give him a hug when I pick him up (it really is too cute). Jacob is also learning many things as a not-so-terrible but still-not-obedient two year old. He has been trying to play the baby card alot lately (cries if he wants something Noah has, or just plain....cries) but we are trying to "nip it" quick, so things are getting a little better (slowly). Wow! Learning is going around alot around here!!! Josh's season started about 3 weeks ago as well and we have played 10 matches. We are 7-3 as of last night and play again this afternoon in Pensecola. Josh is feeling much better and I would say he is at about 90%. His hands give him problems occasionally but other than that he is starting to get his strength back and is well on his way to 100%. thanks for your prayers for him by the way. It's hard on us sometimes when he is away at matches or recruiting, but thankfully we stay pretty busy playing outside, reading, swimming, picnics at the park, etc. It helps keep my mind off of the fact that he isn't here. It's been hard being in a place without family. Not having that "option"of calling one of our parents and asking if we can drop the kids off so we can go on a date, or even when one of us gets sick. It's an adjustment, but we are making the best out of it (most times :-) We are getting into the "heat" of the season next week when we start playing conference matches. As for me, I am doing well. This is my 2nd year as a fulltime piano teacher and I have 47 students. I still love what I do and thank the Lord everyday for the opportunity to do it!

That's about it from this neck of the woods. I told you it would be quite long and if you stuck it out this far I am amazed! Thanks for reading about us and love to all! Until next time!

Okay, I guess I will throw in some pictures :-)

SUMMER!!!!!

We have had one exciting summer so far! It started with a trip up to Chicago to visit my family. While up north, we drove to Mid Michigan to visit some family, and then headed up to Northern Michigan to visit my grandparents! The day we left was on Noah's birthday, so we were able to celebrate it a couple times while on vacation. We were gone for about 10 days and had a wonderful time! We returned home and enjoyed some time with Daddy. We went to the beach, Sea World, played in the pool, and had picnic dinners at the park. Our friends the Callans came from Indiana for a week and we had an absolute blast! I am pretty sure it has taken us all about a week to recover from that fun week! This week has been a definate "hang out" week. We haven't been doing to much, and it's been wonderful! Thanks to the free movies every week, we have been to the theater alot this summer, which has been a special treat for the boys.

As far as the boys go, Noah has been going to school 2 half days a week which has been given me some extra one on one time with Jacob. During that time, Jacob has been learning how to use the potty. We aren't quite there yet, but he is doing well.....somedays. Noah loves seeing all his friends at school, and Jacob loves to have all the attention on him when Noah is gone. Josh has been busy with Volleyball Camps. He had Southern's camp for 2 weeks (while we were up north), and has been doing small satelite camps at high schools. At the beginning of the summer he was having problems with numbness in his feet, which later extended up his legs, then his fingers, hands, arms, and then small amounts of numbness in his mouth. After many tests, doctors, MRI's, bloodwork, he was diagnosed with Gullian Barre syndrome. Thankfully he had a mild case of it and while he is starting to receive feeling back, he is nowhere near full recovery. Fine motor skills are hard for him, as well as throwing a ball, running, pretty much anything but walking is hard for him. The doctor said that he will only get better but it could take up to a year for him to feel normal again. He is strong and while it really bothers him to be under this kind of restraint, he is doing his best and knows that the Lord is in control. Thank you for your prayers for him. I will try to update on his progress. I have really been enjoying my kids this summer. This is the only summer I will have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. They sure are alot of fun and the best of friends (well, most days). School is right around the corner, but we are going to hang on to our summer as long as we can!

Hope your summer has been terrific!

Noah's Freckles

Checking out the waves

Jacob

Elk Rapids, MI (yes, it was cold)

Jacob, Landon, and Noah

Papa playing horsey

Hanging out at the Great Wolf Lodge

Uncle Adam and the boys

Grandma W. made Noah a caterpillar cake for his 4th birthday!

Landon

Jacob, Noah, and Harrison Callan

The Mommies

Super fun times!

The boys and one of their favorite meals.....CORNDOGS!

Sea World

Aunt Caroline with the boys

Don't Give Up on Us!!!!

As I sit here on the couch with the radio rambling on, boys in bed, my feet are up and I am contemplating editing some pics of the weddings I've recently done, or update the blog! Well, you got it, the blog won! Things have been wonderfully crazy lately. We all finished school and with all the hustle and bustle of life and tieing up all of our loose ends there, the blog has been neglected.. Oh, well. it happens..

Anyway, let's talk about the boys, b/c let's face it, that's why people check this thing right? Jacob is now a TWO year old! Wow, that just sunk in. TWO!!! We threw him a little party with some of our friends here at the house. He loved it. He loves to watch his "shows" as he calls them and when he is tired he asks for his "baby" (his superman blanket) and usually has his thumb in his mouth. He loves to turn on and off the lights (I cannot believe he is that tall now) and pretty much follows his big brother around and does whatever he does. He's still as tough as ever, and loooooooooooves to get dirty. We've been pottytraining him for about 2 months now. He goes everytime we take him, but still goes in his diaper. Honestly I have not been consistent at all with him. In fact, after vacation (Chicago), we are going to buckle down and just do it. He has to be pottytrained in order to go to the school we want him to be in. So, that means Mommy needs to get on the ball. He is such a sweet little boy and quite the flirt! At his 2 year doctor appt. his lead results came back high. It was a 5 out of 10 which made the Dr. concerned. Thankfully we got him retested about 2 weeks later and his results came back normal. It was a scary two weeks there for a while, but thankfully he is fine. His hair is coming in a lot better which was another concern of mine. Jacob is a fun crazy little monkey as I like to call him. He is still Momma's boy and loves to crawl on the couch with me and snuggle.

Noah is still 3 but will be 4 in 5 days. He goes to school in the summertime 2 halfdays a week. His teacher told me today that she couldn't believe how smart he was. (Don't we always love to hear other people tell us about how wonderful our kids are???) He is in a new class this summer to help him get used to the new concepts. In the fall he will be going to school with me and starting K4, which we are both VERY excited about. He talks nonstop. Always asking questions and learning. It's funny because Noah was a VERY slow talker. In fact, last year at this time I don't remember him talking much at all. Now, he talks nonstop!!! Our movie theater shows free movies in the summer, so we went yesterday and Noah talked the ENTIRE time! I kept putting my finger over my mouth hoping he would get the "hint". "What are they doing mommy?" "Oh, he is soooo silly!" "Monkey's jump up and down." "Look out, (SCREAM)" Constant. He has learned to swim!!!! This has been huge! He can swim almost the whole way across the pool. Now if we could just get Jacob to even get in the water!

Both of them are growing like weeds and we are having a blast being their mommy and daddy. I love to watch them laugh and play together. They are always playing games with each other and chasing each other. Sometimes it's not always the best time (like in the middle of Walmart or at church) but I am thankful they have such a close relationship!

Josh and I are enjoying the summer. Josh has FLSO volleyball camp starting on Sunday and the boys and I will be going up north for about 10 days. July is going to be great times together, before things start to pick up in the fall.

Well, there you have it. Sorry it's so long, but I needed to update!!! Here's some pics of our activities!!!

One of our few date nights

Jacob having fun in the tub!
Noah and his hair -BEFORE

The Big Boy - After

They really do love each other!!!

DEAR time

Drop Everything And Read.

When is the last time you read a good book?