Planting Time

Jonah helped me haul and dump some potting soil into our tubs. He loves dirt and so I had the perfect helper for this job! I think they turned out nice, I approve. I want to add maybe a few more flowers, but a good afternoon project, done!

Monkey Business

We were reading a Curious George book tonight and Sam loves Curious George. He makes monkey noises when he sees him. Sam said "Monkey" tonight. It was so cute! I asked him if he was a "good little monkey" (since the man in the yellow hat always says, "be a good little monkey") Sam said "NO". Yeah, that's about right!

Baby Bird

The kids found a baby bird in our yard. I don't know exactly what happened, but I guess it fell from a nest. The bird was coughing up blood and obviously hurt badly. I told the kids it was about to die and it did. We watched it. I'm glad it went fast and didn't suffer too long. I think it was a robin. It was still warm in my hand and the feathers were so soft.

Check Out Alan's Blog

Alan has posted a bunch of pictures today, check it out!

A Trip to the Park

The kids have been really into pirate things lately. Bekah remembered this treasure chest that we had and wanted me to bury it in the park so she and Jonah could search for it. I put two sticks over the spot where I had buried it so they could find it. Jonah didn't care about looking for the X, but he wanted to help dig it up once Bekah found where the treasure was. There are actually some plastic "crystal" rocks in the chest. The kids thought they were pretty cool! Sam has been playing with them all afternoon, taking the rocks out, putting the rocks back over and over.
Sam did not really understand the treasure hunting game. He played for a while, ran around, went down the slides, tried to jump in a huge puddle and then wanted to sit down and have a Twizzler.

Our Lovely Van

We are beginning to hate our 1995 Windstar van. It has been to the shop 4 times within the last 2 weeks! The check engine light kept coming on as soon as we'd drive away from the mechanic. We almost had him baffled. Thank you Deb for recommending this guy. He has always been nice and even come to pick me up (twice) with all three kids in tow. He would not give up on finding the problem and hopefully it is fixed now for a while. While it is tempting to just get a new van (or something) I really want this one to last at least one more year. Hip, Hip Horray for a good, honest mechanic!

American Idol

We are watching American Idol tonight. It is the last show and Bekah is really into it. We have never watched it before this season. Bekah has really liked Jordin all the way through and now that Melinda is out I want Jordin to win too. Gotta get back to the show!

Random Moments

Sam discovered his belly button today. He kept pulling up his shirt and pushing on his belly button.
We were outside playing and I was trying to snap some pictures of the kids. Sam would not let me take his picture because he just wanted to be on the "screen" side of the camera. So this was taken with me holding my arm way out in front of us, kind of goofy.
This is Jonah at the end of today. He has gotten up crying at 6 a.m. the last two days. By some miracle he did not wake Sam up either time. I had him go to the bathroom and then come in and rest in my bed. He fell asleep this morning, but said he was watching shadows yesterday. At least he was quiet so I could rest some more. I'm hoping this trend does not last long, two days is enough!

Today we...

Had corn on the cob with supper.
Relaxed with some good books.
Made sugar cube castles. Two kids very interested in building, one kid very interested in eating sugar cubes!

Chillin'

Jonah needed to chill out for a while, the cutest he's been all day. We were all short on sleep and a little bit grumpy today. I let Bekah sleep in my bed last night and she kept kicking me all night. I'd have to wake her and tell her to move over. No more sleepovers in my bed! Jonah went to bed just a little bit late and he was in rare form today! So we tried to relax this afternoon in the yard. The kids are big into playing hide and seek so I tried to wear them out with that. Jonah is so entusiastic about hide and seek. He always hides behind the shed and always peeks through his fingers when he is counting. And he counts really fast like this 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,14,19,15,17,12...READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!!!

I just noticed that I have blogged every day this week (or pretty close). I want Alan to know what is going on here and this is the easist way to do it.

All Dressed Up

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, I forgot about posting them. We have been trying to get a good shot of Sam for Alan's mom. She has 7 grandkids and has a picture of each of them dressed up at about a year to eighteen months old, framed and up on her living room wall. Sam has been difficult to get a good picture of! I hope this one is the one. It might be a little bright, but Alan can mess with it in photoshop. I think it captures his personality, a little mischievious but full of energy and fun. The suit coat on Jonah I bought at a garage sale about a month ago for 50 cents. He was excited about wearing it, which suprised me just a little.

Garage Sale Day

I don't know about you, but Saturday is garage sale day at our house. I wasn't sure about going today, but Bekah wanted to go. I wanted to go, just not alone with all three kids. We did need to get out though and it turned out to be really fun! We called it a treasure hunt and we were pirates (Bekah made this up to entertain Jonah). The kids pointed out signs and were excited when we found some "treasure". And did we ever find treasure! (for the kids anyway) We found these blocks in the picture and the toy house (that I remember playing with when I was a kid) it was in perfect condition too. I wasn't in the mood to look through clothes, but we got some toys that will keep kids busy for a while. Here's a list of what we got:

1. two pairs of jeans for Bekah (even though I wasn't looking for clothes, these were right on top and she always needs jeans)
2. two belts for Bekah
3. two bob the builder toys
4. bucket of bricks
5. toy house
6. several books (free! Including two touch and feel books. Bekah and I wanted to do an altered book craft project with two of the books also)
7. storage bins (for me)
8. jesse and woody doll
9. toy keyboard (for Sam)

I spent about 8 dollars all together, pretty good. When we got home we had lunch. Then I got to mow the lawn while Sam slept and Bekah and Jonah watched a movie.

Getting Me Through The Day

I'm telling you, this cherry limeade was the only thing getting me through this day. Someone was crying or whining all day. I love a good cherry limeade from Sonic! Ahhhh..that feels better!

Spring Concerts

Bekah had a cello concert on May 10th. There are 3 girls playing cello and lots playing the violin. They did a great job. The band also played that night.
Here are all the fourth graders playing the recorder. Now this takes me back. I totally remember doing this in the fourth grade. There were about 10 songs the kids could learn, each one getting progressively harder. As a motivation to learn the songs they earned a "belt" (a piece of yarn tied to the end of the recorder) for each song they completed. Bekah was really excited every time she earned a "belt". I thought that was a cute way to help the kids and make it fun. All the kids still had their yarn belts tied to their recorders for the concert.

Entertaining a Friend

Jonah was reading to Michaela. She was just chilling out and having a snack. That little couch is a recent garage sale find. My kids have been playing with it non-stop. It folds out into a bed so they get their blankets and pillows and pretend to be going to bed.
I told them to smile for a picture and Jonah tried to hug Michaela, but she was having none of that. I think he hugged her because I always have him hug Sam when I take their picture together. They did have a good time and Jonah was sad to say goodbye.

The Last 24 Hours

Sweet and sour chicken, YUM! This is Kori's recipe from the pigout cookbook from church. It was easy and soooo good! I really couldn't stop eating the chicken and ate the leftovers off of the kid's plates. Alan does not like sweet and sour anything so I haven't made it lately.
Bekah reading Sam a bedtime story last night. He's just a little bit tired don't ya think?
Jonah's favorite hobby, taking goofy pictures of himself. Nothing makes him laugh harder than a funny picture or video of himself.
Jonah was pretending to be swallowed up by a whale (the blanket is the whale, in case you couldn't tell). We have several books about the story of Jonah (go figure!) and one is written as a poem. He was reciting some of the lines and going into the blanket like he was being swallowed.
Sam after his bath tonight having a good tickle session with Bekah.

India

To celebrate Alan's trip to India we tried to cook up some Indian food. We had mulligatawny soup, curried chicken on rice and a flatbread (with cheese and onions in it). Alan has been reading about India and told us a few facts about India and showed Bekah on an internet map just how far away it was. I was amazed at how big Calcutta is, population 13.2 million! He is also going to Nepal. He showed us on the map where Mt Everest is and how close he will be to it. They may be able to take a helicopter ride over some of the mountain there. He is going to see the Taj Mahal, that will be a short visit but well worth the 3 hour bus ride. I am excited for him. Alan started a blog to send updates along the way.

On Being a Mother

A few things I love about being a mother:

• I love the way Sam brings me a book at bedtime and sits on my lap so I can read it to him. Then Jonah comes and wants to sit on my lap too. There is nothing like that cozy feeling of having them both on my lap and reading a book together.
• I love hearing Bekah play the piano and cello. I often hear her playing the piano and then notice she is playing without the music!
• I love how Jonah swings on our swing on his belly and pushes off with his feet. "I look like a bird!" he says.
• I love how Bekah asks me questions that I have no idea what the answer is. It keeps me learning too!
• I love how my kids look when they are sleeping, so peaceful and still.
• I love how Jonah holds onto the stroller when we take a walk. I never told him to do this, he has just always done it.
• I love how Sam always points to balls and puppies. Any dog is a puppy to him and he always says "puppies, ohhh", when he sees one.
• I love how Jonah is always singing or humming.
• I love that Bekah writes stories and then illustrates them. They are so creative and funny.
• I love how my kids teach me something new every day and I couldn't imagine a life without them!

Happy Mother's Day!

Milk Bath

Jonah loves to play in the dirt, both boys do. Digging, finding worms and bugs and now putting it in their hair. I just gave them both a bath after playing outside all afternoon. The bath water was filthy, brown, YUCK! Jonah had just gotten out when he turned and looked at the water. "Is that chocolate milk?" Jonah asked me. I guess he'd never seen the water that dirty either!

5 Things

I saw Audra's and Kori's list and had to do my own.

1. I Love animals. Learning about them and watching them. As a family we watch Nature on PBS every Sunday night. We have a turtle (Speedy) and a dog (But I'm fed up with the dog). We love to go to the zoo and have seen some awesome things there, like the feeding of the crocodiles and a stork that killed a ground squirrel and ate it. Jonah is really into sharks right now.
2. I love garage sales. I get excited when the weekend comes around for all the garage sales I might find. I look for craft supplies, kids clothes, toys (for Christmas), and books. It is the thrill of the hunt for me!
3. I have favorite movies that I watch over and over. My favorites are, Sense and Sensibility, the Count of Monte Christo, The Princess Bride, Star Wars, Titanic, Harry Potter, there are others that I can't recall. Bekah and I love Ella Enchanted and High School Musical, great music in both!
4. My goal this year is to read more books. I usually check them out at the library. I have read 12 books so far this year. I love historical fiction.
5. I'm a wanna be gardner. Someday I want to have a beautiful garden that I can enjoy. I always look at the plants and try to learn the names and where they can grow.

A New Neighbor

In the past few weeks we have noticed that a woodpecker has moved into our backyard. We can hear him pecking a lot, working hard on it's house. It is amazing how perfectly round the hole is! The kids love to see the bird poke it's head out.

Distractions

I walk/run on the treadmill every weekday morning. It is usually difficult to do this without a few interuptions from the boys, breaking up fights and changing Sam's inevitable poopy diaper. This morning, however has been too much! I knew I had a guy coming to check the air conditioner for the season between 8:30 and 10:30 (maybe it will be closer to 10:30, right?) so I thought I'd hop on the treadmill at 8 sharp and go at least a mile. Jonah wanted to watch Cuious George the movie so I put that in and thought I was good to go. I got on the treadmill and started walking. Then the DVD just stopped and wouldn't play. The thing just clicks at me (and it is a brand new player!). I turn on PBS kids. I got on again and smelled the poopy diaper, I decided to just go a mile quick and change him after. Then I ran for a while and Jonah had to go potty. Then I got back on and my book on tape was eaten my the tape player aghhhhh! Then I just decide to run out the mile and the phone rings, the air conditioner man is on his way and Jonah needs me to "WIPE A BOTTOM" (that's him yelling from the bathroom at me). Forget the treadmill. The thing is, I know if I don't do it in the morning it won't get done. Looks like it's not happening today!

Nebraska Boy

Sam had his first corn on the cob, now he is a true Nebraska boy!