random stuff...

Yes, the first week of summer has already passed. We are enjoying not having to rush anywhere early in the morning and just having less of a schedule to keep. I am enjoying the fact that the boys are old enough now to understand to stay in their beds until 7am, even if they wake up earlier.

Thursday night I worked part of a night shift and came home and slept 2.5 hours before my kids woke up. My dear friend Becky showed up at my house at 7:30am, scooped up V and left with my kids and told me to "sleep all day." Becky has been one of my closest friends over the last 12 years or so. She has repeatedly done things like this for me. She is amazingly thoughtful and capable of taking care of 6 kids (yes, she has 3 of her own) for 6 hours. Thank you B!!!

Last night J and I went out and enjoyed dinner and a play at the HB playhouse. I love plays!!! It was Annie and I had to stifle my own songs - as I love the Annie songs.

I would invite you to go to www.henryofourhearts.blogspot.com to order a shirt supporting a family adopting from Ethiopia. They are awesome shirts that Kristen (my WA BFF) designed. Its her husband's sister's family. I can't wait to place my own order!

I have a stack of 5 books I'm going to read...I'll let you know what I think of them. Right now I'm reading One Million Arrows.

Lastly, we have labored over a hard decision and finally decided to move again when our lease is up in Oct. We have gone back and forth many times...but the final decision is made. I'm sad because I LOVE this house, but I trust that God will have the perfect (smaller) place for us. We plan to stay in the same little area, but downsize so our rent is a little cheaper.

That's it...the random post is through...adorable pictures in the next post - I promise.
PS - MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 17 DAYS.

Prize in hand

Funny that my last post was frustration (and humor) on my pooping princess and then tonight she decided to do it for REAL. The honest truth is that she was standing in the boys room with no diaper on and actually started to poop in there (ok, she left a log on the floor...) BUT then ran into the bathroom and sat down on the toilet and finished the job. How could I deny her the SPECIAL DOLL on a technicality??? Yeah Violet!

Warning...bathroom talk ahead...

I am sure you remember over Easter break I started to potty-train V, but she clearly wasn't ready. Well, a few weeks ago, she asked me if I could take off her diaper so she could go potty in the toilet. I was planning on waiting until summer, but she wanted those undies on and was ready to do it! She has done great in her undies with the occasional accident (who doesn't!) here and there.

(WARNING: GRAPHIC MATERIAL AHEAD)

My problem happens to be poop. Actually, V's problem is poop. The first few days she pooped in the toilet a few times. Then, she started telling me it was scary. I have tried MANY things but the fact remains:

Violet poops in her underwear EVERY day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was telling everyone how EASY it was - I wasn't even really potty-training her - she did it herself. But the poop thing. Its a BIG speed bump.

Today I was sort of...mad at her! Sweet, princess Violet - STOP POOPING IN YOUR UNDERWEAR!!! I told her its nasty. She laughed. I gave her my sternest face and said "I'm tired of cleaning up poop from your underwear!!" She said "ok poo poo face." She clearly isn't sensing my frustration!

I've tried candy bribes, threats of putting her back in diapers, compromising (tell me when you have to poop and I'll put a diaper on you!), a BIG gift bribe (doll)...NOTHING.

The fact remains. When Violet is ready, she'll poop in the toilet. Until then, I will keep my stain spray, bleach, and patient attitude on hand.

Last day of School

Today was Gavin's last day in kindergarten! Wow has the year flown by. Earlier this morning, the kids and I watched G's class perform 3 songs. After the first song, Violet got up and joined in. She was following the teacher's hand motions and singing. It was HILARIOUS. I was crying I was laughing so hard. I almost removed her because she was taking the focus off the actual class! Bummer part - I didn't have my camera! My friend took pics and video, so I'll share it when I get it. We are excited its SUMMER...but will miss MISS KIM!

We prayed for a perfect teacher for Gavin and Miss Kim was it!

Gavin's friend Christian, and his brother Ryan

G and Alex

Ezekiel's last day of school was last week but we had a picnic on Saturday for him and all his classmates.

Miss Tina has been the teacher of this preschool for 30 years and is retiring after this year...she was very sweet with Ezekiel and was great with him. Next year he will be starting "D-K" which is Developmental Kindergarten. It is pretty much "pre-K" and will be at the same school as Gavin. He thought he started next week, so is a little disappointed to be starting in a few months :)

Now on to our SUMMER ADVENTURES!!!

Baby Leah!!

A few Fridays ago, we were excited to learn that Angela was in labor!! Late that night, Leah Lynn was born. She is adorable and looks a LOT like her older sister, Grace. On Saturday, the boys and I headed to the hospital to say hi to our newest sweet bundle! They were so looking forward to holding her (especially Ezekiel!).

After both boys had held her, Angela was going to feed Leah and Ezekiel asked if we could stay and wait until she was done so he could hold Leah again. He LOVES babies!

We love you Leah!!

unrest

I think of myself as a fairly confident person. I think I usually know what I want, and aim to get it. What is difficult for me in life is when I'm not sure what I want. Or more precisely, I'm not sure what God wants. I find myself in the midst of decisions and there is a churning in my core. I lean one way and feel uncomfortable. I lean the other way and am second-guessing. I am in the midst of this now. I wish there would be a text message on my phone from God when I wake up in the morning telling me what I should do.

I remember when I was pregnant with Gavin, wishing there was a window into my belly that I could occasionally peek at, just to make sure my growing baby was ok. I had suffered a miscarriage before him and was so anxious about experiencing that again. I had to trust God in those moments. Those anxious moments where thoughts went racing through my mind, tempting me to displace my trust. Tempting me to believe that God was not loving, gracious, merciful, and good.

I'm thankful for the moments that force me to lean more on Jesus. To be reminded that I cannot do this on my own. My life is NOT my own. I am in Jesus's story...not the other way around.

Memorial Day Triathlon

Memorial Day morning, Jason and I were awoken at 5am by 2 little boys over-enthusiastically asking : "Is it time for our race??" NO! Go bad to bed! The boys did not go back to sleep and were back at 5:30 asking if it was time to get up yet. They were beyond excited. I can relate. After all, it was Race Day for them. I rarely sleep well before a race and they didn't either. We started the morning cheering Jason in his sprint tri.

Jason's ready to go!

Ready to cheer on Dad

Jason had fun and did great - especially in the bike!

Our little cheerleader kept asking if it was her race. She yelled LOUD for everyone :)

In line to check in for their races

Gavin on his finish - he did great!

The racers

He was SO proud of himself!

Finisher's medals

Gavin finished well and was a little tired :) It was a really fun day for all of us - even me - even though I didn't do any racing. It was a joy to watch all of my boys have fun and race. I love that the boys want to do races. We look forward to next year...maybe one of these years we'll do the "Family" division :)

The OC register put a article about the race and pictures of Jason and his team and our boys. If you search for the fountain valley triathlon on memorial day, you can probably find it...the link I have says it is unavailable now. There is a picture of Jason and some MSM buddies and a picture of Gavin and Ezekiel.

We are thrilled to have my parents home! I didn't get many pics, but Sunday was a fun day of just hanging out and spending time together after a LONG (3 months for my mom, 2 weeks for Dad) separation. She brought gifts for everyone - the pics are of the shoes she brought Violet and Grace. SO cute...heels! She LOVES them!!!

Cute sandals - Grace's foot to the left and V's feet

The heels!

Posing! Every time a camera is on - even if she is not being photographed...posing!

Excited

My parents returned from the Phillipines Saturday night and we got to spend the day with them Sunday...as you can see above, we were EXCITED! (jason too...he was just at work during our "excited" pictures)

Dland

Friday was FUN! Jason woke up "craving an apple pancake!" so we got up, headed to the Pancake House for breakfast, then went to Disneyland. It was busy, but we still had fun.

Whenever there is WATER...Ezekiel is IN it. He got soaked...but didn't mind.

After many months of working on it, Violet finally got the "thumbs up" right.

Surprisingly, Ezekiel is a little cautious with the rides...didn't want to go on one of the rides, so we hung out and waited...

Silly faces

Same smile

On our way home...it was a good day.

*On a side note...Violet seems to be potty-training herself! The last few days she has told me she has to go potty, has taken off her diaper and gone in the toilet. Yesterday she said she had to go to the bathroom and pooped in her toilet unprompted! All on her own! Today she is in undies. I was going to wait until summer, but looks like Miss V has her own time line.

Open House

On Thursday night, we walked to G's school and he took us on a tour of his Kindergarten class. He showed us many of his projects and writings. He has done GREAT this year!

Miss Kim! GREAT teacher!
We then walked through the "d-k" class...a pre-K that Ezekiel will do next year. On our way out we also walked through a few 1st grade rooms to show Gavin what he had to look forward to. We are so proud of Gavin's hard work in school!

Mother's Day Tea

I had the pleasure of having tea with sweet Ezekiel at his preschool for Mother's Day. He made me a necklace and had helped make the brownies. I loved being able to spend time with him alone, since that tends to be rare.

The kids were all inside the room and the mommies waited with the doors closed. The doors then opened and the kids came running out, their eyes wide in anticipation. Searching. The children of the late mommies had slight panic. Sadness. Where's my Mom? My Ezekiel saw me and his face lit up. He ran over to me and handed me his present. He showed me the pattern of the necklace and asked if I was going to put it on. OF COURSE! Ezekiel lights up when he sees me and I LOVE that. I cherish it. He will not always be so excited to see me.

Sick Kids

Sick kids are hard. They demand more than normal. How can they demand any more of me? But they do. They need more. They need more holding. More touching. More gentle stroking and kind words. They need more assurance and love. They need more.
Today I've had a sick kid. My Ezekiel has had a fever most of the day and just felt yucky. He wanted to be held. A lot. And he's 4. When he was on the couch he wanted to be laying on top of me. Not just next to me. On top of me. He wanted to be held close. And comforted.
And today. Today I enjoyed it. I did NOT enjoy that my sweet boy was sick. I enjoyed being a mom today. I loved that I was able to joyfully stroke his back, hold is feverish body and comfort him when he was uncomfortable. I'm his MOM. Thats my job. And I did it well today. I enjoyed it. I was here for him when he needed me. I met his needs. This will not always be the case. But today it was. And I'm thankful. SO thankful I could be Ezekiel's mommy today and everyday.

Whats new?

I'm excited because:

*Ezekiel started riding without training wheels about 2 weeks ago and is tearing it up!!! He LOVES riding his bike and has no fear! He rode 2x with me for 6+ miles while I ran. He's awesome!

*Gavin only has 20-something days of school left - then - SUMMER! I'm excited! Its going to be FUN! We have several fun vacations planned and I look forward to those.

*We are getting a new niece/nephew in the next couple weeks from my brother, Jason and his wife Angela - I'm excited!!!

*My mom comes home next weekend! Its been over 3 months since I've seen her and I'm super excited for her to come home!!! My dad comes home too...but he's only been gone 2 weeks. :) Will be happy to see you too Dad.

*Jason's 1 month vacation is coming up in July...YES!

I think that's enough.
(how many times can I say "excited" in one post??)

Visits!

A couple weekends ago, my dad and I loaded up the kids and drove to AZ to visit my grandparents. It took us 9 hours on the way there and I was shocked the kids did so well in the car. We only stopped 2x! They were amazing. We had the full day Saturday with my grandparents, then left at 5:30am on Sunday and got home just in time for me to work a 12 hour shift...not ideal timing, but we did it. It was great to see my grandparents and a fun little adventure with the kids. Next time, I might not work a semi-night shift after lack of sleep for 4 nights in a row, but hey - we made it happen.

About a month ago - early April we got to see my BFF-who-ditched-me-for-an-amazing-husband, Kristen, who resides in WA. She visited for several days with a few friends and we loved having her at our house. Ezekiel LOVES babies and loved having Owen around.

Classic Ezekiel

Sadly, there are very few pics from the visit on my camera, but K has some and I'm hoping for some of those someday :)

a look back...FUN run and Easter pics

What an awesome picture of my dad and I. Hmmm...no, not really. Just proof that we ran the 10K together, really. I am about to grab Violet and run with her to the finish line :)

The biggest fan

Could those boys be cuter? G was a little nervous for the run and as I sent them off, he panicked (a bunch of parents were running with them, then Jason met them at the end...I couldn't run with them because my race started shortly after) and started crying. Sweet guy gets so nervous...he wasn't sure where to go, etc (umm...just follow the hundreds of kids... :)) I ran with him for half a block and he was good to go. Ezekiel took off in a sprint on his own!

Family Easter picture. I'm not kidding. We really got no good family pic and that's ok. I love it.

Of course we are missing Mom and Daniel and Bethany here, but here's the Easter crew.

The boys made out on the candy hunt

Have I already posted this one of the kids? not sure. But I love it. They are normal kids. They argue, get on each other's nerves and push each other's buttons...but they LOVE each other. I have seen each of them defend the other, protect the other and care for the other. I'm proud to be their MOM.