Good-Bye March

JONAH ON HIS LONG-AWAITED "BIG BOY BIKE ...

March seems like it has gone by fast ... I was thinking "what on earth filled this month up?" and then I started cleaning pictures off my camera and re-lived some fun March-Moments!

CHEERING ON THE JAYHAWKS THRU MARCH MADNESS ...

A FOURTH BIRTHDAY FILLED WITH LIGHT SABERS,

FRIENDS, JEDI CAPES, AND A DEATH STAR PINATA!

A SECOND BIRTHDAY (yikes! I don't like to think that my baby's next one will be his third)

SOME PLAYDOUGH COOKIN' WITH A FAVORITE COUSIN ...

AND BEST OF ALL?

TIME WITH FAMILY -

AND LOTS OF SILLY TIME WITH DADDY ...

Yup. It was a fun month.

And now? Well, we're hopin' these last few days of cold that are hanging on

will finally fade away (funny - they ALWAYS do at some point!)

and we'll spend hours outside.

How? Basketball, planting flowers, bike rides, walks,

hunting for bugs, looking at birds,

and whatever those little hearts' find fun!

Happy 4th Birthday, Jonah!!!

Happy 4th Birthday to our Jonah.

Yes, a day late ... we were out of town the last three days - so a day late posting!

Can't believe that four years ago he was born and made me a "mommy".

I remember his birth story so clearly ...

the surprise doctor appointment where they said I needed to be induced ...

the challenges that came along with being induced!

And then, the arrival of my tiny guy ...

Jonah has been such a fun kid!

Of course, many challenges along the way,

but his personality is hilarious - he loves to joke and tease and laugh with us.

And then he is so inquisitive!

He loves to learn and asks so many questions about things so that he can amass more information!

The past year has been exciting to see him figure things out.

I continue to pray that as he grows,

his heart will yearn for a true and lasting relationship with Jesus

as he asks so many questions

and learns about right and wrong, lies vs. truth.

And - that he will have lot fun during his 4th year, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Our home has turned into Star Warsville … truly.

Not sure how it happened (okay, we do – thanks, Eli), but Jonah loves Star Wars. Not that he has ever watched the actual movies … no way! But, he loves them just the same. He came by it honestly. Eli has three storage tubs full of Star Wars action figures – most still in their original packaging. We have opened a few for Jonah to play with, and it just took off from there. He now is planning a Star Wars birthday party, talks about Star Wars all the time, wears Darth Vader helmets around the house, at any given time is spouting off random Star Wars facts, and constantly reminds me that he “can change into any Star Wars guy”. He completely schools me in Star Wars knowledge, and has already spent hours with his nose in a Star Wars sticker/fact book that he got last Saturday for his birthday. Oh my.

And Reuben is just following along behind him …

How do I know it’s past just a “normal” thing? Well, you know your kid(s) are beyond that point when:

1) Your two-year old now walks around saying “Boba Fett”

2) Both boys love to put on the Darth Vader helmet and say “you don’t know the power of the dark side” and laugh hysterically at each other

3) Jonah knows probably near one hundred different Star Wars characters

4) Jonah refers to his mother as “Princess Leia”

5) Reuben holds up action figures and eagerly pronounces some to be “ba dye” (bad guy) and some to be “doo dye” (good guy)

6) Jonah walked into Eli’s office Wednesday night – first thing he noticed? The birthday party invitations Tatyana had made for him that were Star Wars. “MOMMY! WHAT ARE THOSE STAR WARS THINGS?”

7) Light Saber fights are now a daily ritual

8) You have had to have several discussions on why Anakein Skywalker chose to follow the dark side … and yes, that was a bad decision

9) Due to playing the LEGO Star Wars video game, Jonah now refers to his own energy level in bars: i.e., “Mommy, I am pretty tired. I only have one energy left …”

10) He longs for the day when he is allowed to watch the “real” movies. Yikes. I remember being FREAKED out by those when I was little!!!! Not ready for that day to come …

I know that phases come and go … but I’m interested to see how long this one sticks around.

Getting into his Star Wars book at birthday time ...

First time in the full-out Darth Vadar costume. Do these buttons really work?

That Sibling Bond

There are many, many, M.A.N.Y. times that it seems no matter what I say, how I intervene, how I don't intervene ... the boys don't get along. Squabbles, arguments, envy, "mine!" ... you name it! And for those of us that have siblings, or multiple children - well, we get it. Little children, selfish and self-focused, cannot see from another's perspective, and so chaos often ensues.

BUT.

There are also those many times in which I see that sibling bond shine through. The other night, these two boys that so often quarrel about ridiculous things, were each other's best friend. They played together, they helped each other out, etc. And at one point, Jonah was laying his head in Reuben's lap, and they were just giggling and smiling and enjoying each other's silliness.

I wouldn't trade my siblings for the world. Sure, I can look back and remembers times that didn't feel so "lovey dovey", but I cannot imagine my life without the other four ... and now my two sisters are my dearest friends. I pray the same for Jonah and Reuben - boys so close together - that they become pillars of strength for each other during life's tough times.

Goliath

Eli wanted me to "write" this down so that we could remember,
Well, that means put it on the blog, because there is no "where" that we write these kinds of things down!

Jonah and I were driving to the gym yesterday morning, as usual for Mondays.
We drove by the Armory, and a soldier was standing outside in his uniform
(he was smoking, but thank goodness Jonah didn't catch that part).
We started talking about tanks, armies, soldiers, etc.

And then Jonah asked me why the soldiers were there today.
I told him that they were probably meeting to practice "army stuff"
and talk about protecting people and fighting.

Silence.
"But why do they need to practice?"
So that they are ready if they need to fight.
"But they don't need to fight ... there aren't any bad guys here."
Well ...

"Mommy, bad guys like Darth Vader aren't real. They are just pretend.
So the army guys don't have to fight."
(can you hear the echo of what we have been telling him when he gets scared at night? Yeah.)
Well, Jonah, there are some bad guys other places. People that want to do bad things and hurt other people. And the soldiers in the army are prepared to fight and protect us if they need to.

Silence.

And then very seriously and as caringly as this could sound: "I sure hope that they don't have to go and fight Goliath. THAT WOULD BE REALLY BAD FOR THEM."

Me too, Jonah, me too.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Reuben!

It's hard to believe that two years ago, today, little Reuben James was born.

Our second son.

He went from being such a tiny little guy,

to my big boy who thinks he can do anything!

Especially when that "anything" is "something" that his big brother is doing!

Since Eli started his new job in November,

We have seen such a wonderful change in Reuben.

Not that he wasn't always sweet and fun,

But since Eli has been home more,

Reuben's attitude has improved so much and he just laughs and smiles MORE!

We are having such a wonderful time seeing this part of him come out!

And, as always, this boy has some kind of beat going on in his head ...
So it was fitting to get him a guitar for his birthday.


Happy Birthday to our boy!