Thank Goodness It Wasn't An Injury!

With these two little boys running around,

Scrapes, Falls, Skinned Knees, Bruises, Etc.,

Are pretty common!

We do our best to avoid high risk activities,

But bumps just happen.

Thankfully, though this might look like an injury,

Jonah doesn't really have a black eye!

Our dear mentor and friend, Allison, was over at our home.

Before she left,

She touched up her make-up ...

And allowed Jonah to participate!

You can see the lovely end result!

And Jonah's equally lovely pose!

Monday, Monday ... So Good to Me!

Mondays have always held a ritual for me.

My Dad being a pastor, he always had Mondays off.

Finish the Sunday services and meetings ... day at home.

The day to shop.

My Dad has always done the grocery shopping in our family.

No one can exactly explain this phenomenon ...

it just is.

So I joined in!

As far back as I can remember,

I shopped on Mondays with Dad.

Sometimes another sibling came along,

but I ALWAYS went along.

It was our special time ... our 'thing', if you will!

I helped him go through the list, check it twice, bag the groceries,

and of course, usually get a treat at the check out lane!

Eventually I stopped going ... college ... marriage ... work ...

But I always told Dad I was waiting until I had my babies and could go along again.

And when Jonah was born,

I was ready!

We joined Opa on his weekly shopping.

I made a weekly list - in line with the weekly budget for food,

and off we went!

And for the last three and one half years,

Our tradition continues.

Many years in the making.

Reuben and Jonah know that every week we go shopping with Opa.

Opa indulges them and they get a treat.

But little do they know how much Mommy loves shopping with Opa!

Two adults means Mommy isn't outnumbered!

AND, she gets to catch up with her Dad,

just like old times ...

And on weather-permitting days,
the boys play in the trucks after the 2nd store ...

Reuben learning from Opa ...

Opa making sure Jonah hasn't done anything
too strange while "driving"!!!

I can't wait for many, many more Mondays with my Dad!

Thanks Aunt Hannah!

We love it when Aunt Hannah comes to visit!

She lives in Lenexa, so none of us get to see her quite as often as we would like.

But we keep her picture on our fridge to keep her fresh in the boys' minds, and frequently talk about her.

Jonah has learned that Aunt Hannah also likes to spoil him a bit

by bringing him little toys when she comes.

He usually first asks if she has a sucker in her purse for him (and yes, she always does),

and sometimes she has some other treat tucked away that she got for us! Among many other things, Aunt Hannah has struck it 'big time' with some of these gifts:

-Jonah's teddy that must ALWAYS be with him at bedtime;

-Jonah's stuffed squid that he loved when he was a baby;

-Sheets of stickers to make pictures with;

-Superhero tattoos;

-Singing Dora and Elmo books for both boys;

-DVDs;

-A glitter wand for Reuben;

-And, most recently, this little rubber bands that are in the shapes of animals. Meant to wear. Apparently, Jonah is now cooler than he realizes! Since Aunt Hannah teaches middle school, she keeps up on the trendy stuff out there. And kids all over are wearing, trading, you name it, with this rubber bands. Some schools out there have even banned them because they were "interfering with the learning environment!". So, he now has rubber band bracelets (affectionately known as "wrists") to wear around. And someone out there is making a ridiculous amount of money selling a package of 12 rubber bands for $3.50. Yeah. Seriously.

Anyway, Aunt Hannah is special to us. Not because she has brought cool toys

(although to a 3 year old, that does up her "awesome" factor),

but because she is my sister and the boys' aunt. And we love her!

And we love that we get to see her

more often in the summer and she plays at our house.

Dear Jesus ...

Tonight I was putting Jonah to bed,

and asked him to say his prayer before I did.

He asked me to help him through it.

So I guided him through thanking Jesus for our day,

our family, and asking for His presence to be with us.

Then I prayed over him.

And then he asked me if he could pray again.

Of course!

And this is how it went (as best as I can recreate) ...

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for my day,
I had fun today.
I love my mommy.
Keep Daddy safe.
Mommy and Reuben and Jonah together.
Make Oma's back all better.
Please don't let the sun go away and die.
And don't let the flowers die.
Or Tundra die.
Help Teddy to relax.
(looooooong sigh)
Um hm.
And .............
I love you, Jesus.
Amen.

Take a Dive!

I am so proud of Jonah.

Monday we went to an apartment pool with

my sister, brother-in-law, his mother and her kiddos plus her grandkids.

I wasn't sure how it was all going to go.

No shallow end.

No zero-depth entry.

No fountains to splash in.

All the above are readily available at the wading pool we frequent,

and the public pool we occasionally visit.

I brought Jonah's life jacket (never been worn),

inner tubes, floaties, etc.

At first he was content to sit on the steps

or jump off into the variousa adults' waiting arms.

But persistent Aunt Adi was going to have her way!

She got him to put on his life jacket,

and kept working on him to float on his own.

I got rather caught up in entertaining Reuben

(who only tolerates being outside and in water),

but before I knew it, I was being summoned to

"WATCH MOMMY!!!!!!!!"

Jonah was jumping in on his own!

He was floating in his jacket without fear,

and even kicking with all his might to travel a few feet to Aunt Adi.

I was a pretty proud mama!

Two days later, we found ourselves at my uncle's pool.

Similar in size to the apartment pool.

I hoped that Jonah's previous experience would transfer.

It took about a half hour for his bravery to return, but it did.

The little guy has some guts!

We had lots of fun (Daddy came with us this time) splashing,

throwing balls, floating on rafts, and having snacks.

And Reuben even warmed up a bit more this time and

allowed himself to get wet and sit with Mommy on rafts

or have Uncle Micah toss him around.

I'm excited to have more fun times in the 'deep water' pools!