The Ice Cream Truck Came to Our Street

Remember the gumball eyes?

Too much TV?

The other night I asked Jake where he wanted to eat. Then wondering why I asked when I KNEW what he would say, and he did: "E-McDonald's." (He's called it this since he began talking - he mixed the restaurant up with Old MacDonald, the song. He used to say E-I-O Donald's.)

I told him no, that's like greasy fast food and we want to go to a restaurant.

He said, "Well, let's go to Wendy's. It's WAY better than fast food."

Oh my goodness, it's amazing how much advertising affects us! I didn't even know he had seen that one that much.

Also, for you moms who ever watch QUBO (channel 68.2 on our digital converter box - a big step up from the 5 channels we've gotten our whole married life ;)) it's a channel with only cartoons all day. I like some of the shows better than others. This is how we discovered 3-2-1 Penguins, a cute show made by Big Idea, the people who made VeggieTales. Jake loves it and so do I because it always has a biblically-based lesson in it. But Qubo also has shows like Miss BG, which I have banned because BG is a not very nice little girl. Anyway, all the commercials in between the cartoons are for random as-seen-on-TV products, like space bags, this under the bed shoe holder, the pancake puff maker, etc.

Today we were in the Walmart checkout line and on the shelf were Aqua Globes.

Jake was like, "Mom, we need these because they water your plants perfectly every time."

Oh my goodness...

I'm Here!

A HUGE thanks to my sis-in-law, Erin, for her (always) brilliant comment to make my pics smaller before uploading them. (duh.) It took me a while to figure it out, but MY GOODNESS it's so much faster now. So, here's some recent kid pics. No cohesive theme or anything funny...just our household over the last few weeks:

Max LOVES reading. Crazy - he'll be quite in his room for up to 15 minutes (!) just doing this. He likes to sit in this chair in his room or the recliner in the living room to "rock-rock" and read books.

We went to a park a couple weeks ago. He still LOVES balls...mostly "be-be-ball" (basketball).

Jake has been practicing writing his name at school. Funny - at home he doesn't want anything to do with writing or even coloring, but he comes home from school every day with papers from practicing the letter of the week. Glad Mrs. Parker (or maybe just watching the other kids) motivates him! So I was surprised when he wanted to do this on a magna doodle...

all by himself - I asked what letters it spelled. Thought that third letter was supposed to be an "a" but then he read out "J-K-Q-E." Ha. At least he knows what he wrote...

I'm learning to encourage practice without correcting too much. My instinct is to correct, but he gets discouraged so easily and hates making any mistakes. At this early stage of writing as his motivation and self-confidence are so small, I'm trying to praise any effort. We'll correct soon enough...

Kicking a ball with Daddy

We didn't catch the beginning of the soccer season this year, but we want to do Upward soccer next year...

Before church the other day...

Sweet boys...

Snap!

Jake was so cute tonight. He gets really chatty right after we turn off the light for bed. He always wants to "talk for a little while." He has been talking about snapping fingers the last few days - I think some kids at school have been doing it. I showed him how, he got it right away and was SOOO proud. He would do it and just wiggle with excitement. It was fun to watch. Both hands, then at the same time. He said, "See?! I knew I could do it!" As I kissed him goodnight he hugged me spontaneously and said, "Thanks for helping me."

Definitely worth staying up for.

Thanksgiving Feast

Jake had fun at our school's Thanksgiving Parade & Feast. His class dressed as Pilgrims. After the parade he told me that he was a "superhero pilgrim!" HA! Alright bud.

Hard to see here - he's in the orange shirt.

Walking in line. So cute with his hands in his pockets. (Although he thinks "cute" is for babies, "pretty" is to describe girls, and "cool" is to describe boys. When I tell him he's so cute, he likes it, but says, "no, I'm big!" :) )

His teacher, Mrs. Parker and his class

Their "feast" was a Dickey's turkey sandwich, macaroni and cheese and a turkey cookie. :)

Jake was so happy to see me in the middle of the school day and kept saying, "I love you Mom." He was so cuddly and sweet. I love you Buddy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lucys

The boys thought my Lucy wig was funny...

I thought it was funny to see it on their little heads.

I can hear my Ricky saying I have some splanin' to do for posting these...

Optimus Prime...doing his chores

This is one of Jake's chores (which he still thinks is fun - need more chore ideas and a good way to handle allowance, giving, etc.) - unloading the flatware from the dishwasher.

Drinking through the hole in the mask on the way to the Fall Festival. :)

Things Jake Says...

As I'm tucking him in bed:

"I don't think these are called bare feet...betause we're not bears."

He has a point...

So Literal

We were rushing out the door today to go to work/school. Jake was enthralled in Barney (the most painfully annoying show on earth, but I do like most of the lessons it teaches) and I asked him to turn it off and get in the car. He complied, following some groaning and whining. Our conversation in the car:

J: But, Mom, I wanted to watch Barney.

Me: You know what? I want to eat chocolate and play on the computer, but sometimes we don't get to do what we want to.

(Long silence...)

J: Do you know you can't climb on the computer desk, Mom?

Jake's Hot Wheels Party!

Whew! I am SO late in posting this...

We had fun in making the cake. We used the Wilton car cake pan:




but the whole VW bug thing wasn't quite "hot-wheelish" enough. So we took it to Andy's chop shop where he cut off the top and added a wedge underneath so that the back was higher than the front. We always get these grand ideas and think it'll be simple. But it was oh! so time-consuming. The night before the party as we were icing (I won't say what time it was) Andy vowed never to put ourselves through the crazy cake thing again...but I know we will. We have too much fun with it. (More than the kids really. Someday they'll join in the fun!)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thank you to all our sweet family and friends. We love you Jake!

Jake is 4!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Our sweet Jake is now 4 years old. Teary-eyed looking at these old photos. Can't wait to see the man God is making you to be, Jaker! (Actually I CAN wait! Quit growing! At his check-up, he weighs 45 pounds and is 45 inches tall - off the charts. My BIG little boy!) We love you SOOO much Buddy!

(Just added: I plugged Jake's size/age into one of those "how tall will your child be?" calculators...he's predicted to be 6' 4" at age 18. Ha!)

Hmmm...

Apparently Jake's understanding of Jesus is growing and developing. The other day he woke up from a nap kinda grumpy (like Tyler, Robin) and was huddled on his bedroom floor, cold. I came in the room and he said, "Mom, wait. I'm talking to Jesus." Then, looking up: "Jesus, will you turn my fan off?"

A few days before that, he had come out of the bathroom. I asked if he had washed his hands. He said, "But I asked Jesus to wipe them for me."

Hmmm... I love the earnest, comfortable talks he's having with the Lord. And he knows he can go to Him for help. I did try to explain that the Lord helps us through other people (mommies) and that He wants us to obey when mommies ask us to wash hands. Interesting...

with the birthday cake we made for Daddy (who just turned 33!)

Yesterday's Activity

Now that it's summer I've been feeling a bit guilty, like I don't do anything fun with the kids - just meals and naps and grocery shopping, etc. I see other moms who have planned fun activities or teaching activies or scripture memorization (ugh - major mommy guilt). Yesterday I was brainstorming and remembered this from teaching preschool:

I squirted it right on the table - Jake still in his spidey pj's.
He had such a blast, it made our kitchen smell manly :) AND it wiped right off with a wet rag! I actually remember that it takes crayon off of the preschool tables...
I like seeing the fun on his little face.

Not quite Bible memorization...

We'll get to that someday...

JESUS! Sassy Sauce!

Jake's preschool teacher, Ms. Kathryn, told me about Sassy Sauce. Several months ago I was having trouble with Jake talking back, telling me 'no', etc. She said that someone had told her about it, and she wasn't claiming that it was a good parenting tool, but that she had tried it with her little boy (right Kathryn?) and it worked. Sassy sauce is apple cider vinegar sprayed in the mouth or spoon-fed to the sasser. Eeewwww.

Lately we have had quite a problem with our little boy and defiance. He doesn't want to obey, he throws a fit over not getting what he wants or he tells us no. We had reminded him of sassy sauce. So Monday I was shaking rugs out in the backyard and he wanted to come outside, but was wearing only a t-shirt and underwear. I told him to go get shorts on, then he could come. In response, my angelic son pushed past me in the doorway huffing, "but I WANT to come outside."

Uh-oh. Sassy sauce.

I couldn't find apple cider vinegar, only white balsalmic vinegar. Eeewww. He whined and cried a lot but finally took a spoonful from Andy. He cried so hard. Then as Andy was trying to calm him down and talk to him, he cried out in panic, "Jesus help me with sassy sauce!"

In his agony he cried out to Jesus!

We gave him a drink, talked about the offense and hugged and forgave. I was glad to find a consequence that he REALLY dreaded and that he knew Who to cry to for help! And the last few days the defiance has gotten a lot better.

Any thoughts? Are we cruel and unusual parents? :)

"p-tending"

Jake and his imagination...

I remember before having kids I thought it was so cute when kids pretended and used their imagination. I realize now that I'm so used to Jake doing it, I don't even notice. He's always some character -- baby little foot (a dinosaur from the Land Before Time; he does this when he's sleepy or wants baby attention like his little brother gets), a "bad robot dy," a robot spider (picture the robot from the Incredibles movie), a frog (which he likes to do before bed and explains that frogs jump in their beds), and a few others I can't remember.

An animal in a "tage."
Army men and their house; they were all friends and invited each other inside their house. The army tank had its own garage. (We worked on this one together. :))
they're sleeping
This was just today - Max got a stuffed animal from his surgery. Jake took the tag off of it and wanted these taped to his fingers to make "bad robot pincher things." Random - I would have never come up with that.
Picking stuff up - serious robot face. :D

Lord, may I appreciate these sweet days rather than focusing on the little frustrations. I want to look back at these days and know that I made the most of them and LOVED my boys, showing them how loving You are.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

Thoughts from the Pot

Jake came running from the bathroom yesterday with his pants around his ankles yelling, "Mom! Pee starts with P!!!" :)

Remembering...

I have lots of new pictures I've been wanting to add, but I didn't have time to work on it today. So these are some old pictures of Jaker...fun to remember.

Jake at 7 months
1st haircut -- 9 1/2 months!
10 1/2 months - he was having so much fun that day with TWO balls!
look at that tan...daddy's complexion
12 1/2 months