Giggles, roses and isms.

I love little kid giggles. Not just the little everyday giggles, but hearty, belly laugh giggles. We love summer at my house. Summer means so many things. Shorts. Tank tops. Swimsuits. Green grass. Growing things. AND farmer's market at the park! Yeah! We went this morning. It's just fun to walk around. Today Aidan picked out bok choy to try. I very proud of my kids. They really do eat vegetables--not everything, but most things. They also know they have to try whatever is on their plate, at every meal. I think it helps them try new things when they get to pick it out, so I let Aidan do the picking today. We're going to have it for dinner tonight (with Grandma & Grandpa, too), so I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. We also got some garlic scapes (?) to go with it. The garlic things just looked cool. They're kind of curly. It should be good. Anyway, back to the giggles. We picked out our bok choy. We walked around. We looked. We got our bee pollen (YEAH!). We went to the fountain. It's so funny how something so simple as squirting water can bring out the big giggles--and serious ones at that. It's so cute! Aidan has a completely different squirt style than Breanna. Aidan would climb in the fountain, if I let him. He sticks his whole hand in the water stream and deflects it all over himself. That boy LOVES to get wet. He also does the fast-as-flash-karate-chopping on the water, so as not to get wet (we pretend he doesn't get wet, anyway). Breanna, on the other hand, puts two fingers in the shooting stream, jumps back and runs away giggling as hard as she can, and then goes back for more. It is just so fun to watch them.

Both Breanna and Aidan like to help me with the growing things around our house. They like to help pull weeds and the occasional baby bell pepper plant, blow on dandelion fluffies (but only toward the neighbor's yard), and help me tend the rose bushes. I was so fortunate that last year my friend Cori's mom, Linda, was building a new house on their same property and had to uproot all the rose bushes or trample them. We dug up 3 different rose bushes and transplanted them to our house. I wasn't sure they would make it because I have never grown rose bushes before. We did get several pretty blooms last year, but THIS year was fabulous! Of course, Aidan claimed one rose bush for each of us (except Daddy, sorry honey). The climbing mini pink bush with the super pokers is mommy's. The almost red ones are Aidan's. The mini dark pink ones are Breanna's. Whenever they start to bloom we have to run out and check them everyday to see if there are more blooms. I was really proud of myself. I remembered to take pictures of the blooming bushes with the kids next to them. They are so proud of their roses! It is just so amazing to watch the kids be so interested in simple flowers in our yard, and they have to show anyone that comes over, too.

I just wanted to share some of my favorite Breanna-isms and Aidan-isms. I hate to correct little kids when they speak (unless, of course, it is just bad grammar--that darn english major in me won't let it slide). Here are some of the latest and the translations to "grown-up speak."

Breanna:
*Mommy, I have a booby. Translation: Mommy, I have a boo-boo. (I have tried to correct this one, but it is still really funny.)
*That's spices me. Translation: That burns. (As in, cleaning a boo-boo.)

Aidan:
*I yust... Translation: I just... He speaks so well and really has a great vocabulary for a 5 year old, but he just doesn't get the "j" sound on that one. It's okay, though. He'll get it soon enough.

I am so used to their isms now that I am having trouble recalling them off the top of my head. As I remember more of them, I will try to put them down. I really want to remember them forever. They are just so cute!

Something to chew on

I mentioned before that I am a child of God. THE GOD. NOT god, but God! So as a Christian, we attend church regularly to get fed, spiritually speaking, of course. This last couple weeks, the sermons have given me lots to chew on during the week. If you are interested in what I have been chewing on, check it our for yourself at www.efreechurch.org and click on the Sunday Morning Messages button. I am really excited that I figured out how to download them onto my new MP3 player, so now I can chew on them further--I know, enough already with the chewing thing. That's it for today. I know that some of you were there the first time, too, but repetition is definitely a good thing for me. Enjoy the messages!

Darn Taco Bell

So I'm new to this blogging thing, obviously. I hit one wrong button and erased my whole entry. Now, granted, it wasn't my most profound or fabulous entry, but still... Suffice it to say, I'm not going into the whole story again, but if I ever suggest eating at Taco Bell, just slap me up the side of the head. That's really the long and short of it. Well, now I'm out of time. I really need to go exercise for today and get ready to go paint. Enjoy your day!

OH! And thank you to my hubby for mowing the grass this morning. I was going to let it grow tall and go to seed to fill in the bare spots. AND thank you to my fabulous mother-in-law for riding to Denver with me on Saturday, so I didn't have to drive by myself. I know I am blessed with that one. I know a lot of people that can't say their mother-in-law is fabulous. Thank you, God!

He Provides Again

The Lord is so amazing. While I am faithful to love the Lord, I am not the best about reading His word everyday. Yet He still provides for us--in huge ways. That's what He tells us He will do. When Brad didn't have a job earlier this year (for a couple months), we didn't starve. Friends and unknowns sent us gift cards and gift certificates. People gave us food. While it was a ginormous pain in the butt, our mortgage got all messed up and we didn't have to make a payment for several months. On that note, yesterday afternoon I received the new terms of our mortgage (we had to apply for a loan modification to get it all straightened out). The Lord provided again. He is so faithful! The terms were reasonable and pretty much what we were asking for. This is the second time we went through this process, and in the mean time, they were starting foreclosure on our home. Let me tell you, we are SO thankful for prayer. We are so thankful for our friends and family who have been so faithfully praying for our mortgage and for us. I cannot even begin to tell you how thankful I am for our small group. You all have been a sanity saver through your prayers for us and by just let us complain and talk about what was going on. THANK YOU!!! We love all of you!

An End of an Era

THIS is truly the day every mother dreads: the day there are no more naps. I have officially made the conscious decision to not put Breanna down for naps anymore. She just doesn't sleep well at night if she has a nap now. I guess I feel fortunate. Aidan stopped taking naps just after he turned 2. Ouch! So at least I got an extra year out of Breanna. However, quiet time is still REQUIRED--every day. My friend Debbie calls it "sanity hour" at her house. Mommy is just a nicer person when she has a little bit of quiet time each day. We have rules for quiet time at our house. No tv. No laundry. No house cleaning. We CAN read. We can lay down and stare at the ceiling or out a window. We can have one toy and play with it on our bed. (That rule is for the kids.) I actually try to not have any appliances running, too. Not too long ago, I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Not the best book, spiritually & theologically speaking, but a decent read none the less. One of the things she talks about in the book is taking time to be quiet, really quiet. Just sit there and be alone with your thoughts and God with no noise distractions. It's actually kind of difficult. Even living in a quiet, small town there is still noise everywhere. I think sometimes it's easy to let the noise of life distract us. I know it's kind of a cliche, but it really is true. Try it sometime. Turn off everything and just sit. Don't sleep. Just sit. I have an expression that I will *eventually* put on my wall that says "The memory of God comes to a quiet mind." So here is my challenge to myself (and anyone else that might happen to read this): quiet your mind; listen to God. He actually talks to us all the time. Now I just need to listen.

T-ball Wisdom

Last night was Aidan's first t-ball scrimmage. Oh my gosh, was is ever cute! As far as I could tell, they all ran the right direction around the bases--though, some with more gusto than others. My favorite was when there were 3 or 4 kids on one base, and they didn't want to leave. Then there was the sit down and chat Sam, which if you know Sam at all you would not be surprised by that one. He is a very social kid. Aidan is really into team work. He had hit the ball and was now on second. The next batter hit and it came right to Aidan. So what does my little team-player do? He bends over and picks it up and throws it to the "pitcher." THEN he continued his run to 3rd and home. lol! Seriously, though. What if in life, we all took the time to go out of our way and help someone? Wouldn't this be a nicer world? I guess that's one reason we live in a small town. People do help each other out, for the most part. For example, we have some friends that are having some serious marriage trouble. I know statistically speaking it was bound to happen to some of our friends sooner or later, but I just didn't realize how much I would hurt for them, personally. Anyway, Brad has been talking to the man about ways to help and what not. I've been trying to talk to the woman because she's my friend. I thought she was avoiding me. However, I ran into her at church and asked her why should would be doing that. She told me that her husband needed friends, too. I pointed out to her that we could be friends with both of them, though maybe not simultaneously. Silly girl. I love both my kids, don't I? Even when they are fighting with each other. My heart just aches for them both. I know that I can't fix everything and everyone--in my mind, I know that. I just have this tendancy to try. We have to try, right? Maybe not fix, but at least help. That's what being and having friends is for.

Growing

Why do babies have to grow up? I know, in my mind, they HAVE to, but I just don't feel ready sometimes--yet, at the same exact time, I am so excited for it. I'm sure this is the quandry of mothers since the beginning of time. Breanna has decided that she likes going to the "big kid" Sunday school class. I'm sure part of her excitement is that she gets to go with Bubba (aka Aidan), but she doesn't fuss and just runs on in. Yeah! Now can I have a tissue to blot my eyes? She's my BABY for crying out loud! I think we got this sleep thing figured out for the most part, too. Pretty soon, she's not going to want to nurse it all--even though I was convinced that she was on the 18 year nursing plan. So I am sure that part of this is my current guilt over not feeling like the best mother in the world (see Amanda's blog from yesterday--she completely nailed that one on the head, so no need for me to reiterate). I know I'm not perfect. I just feel like there have been more raised voices lately than needs to be. With the Lord's help, I'm working on that one. Honestly, I need to take my own advice. So okay, Jennille, here goes. Children are NOT little adults. They honestly don't understand everything you ask of them. Children are NOT little robots. They don't unquestioningly obey. Children ARE little computers--what goes in must come out. So I can't be surprised if they yell at each other if I yell at them what seems like all day long. Children do have a different and individual personality of their own, so as much as they may look like Daddy and have similar traits, they are different and unique. That's all for today's rant. It's time to go eat pancakes.