Family Friday

I have many wonderful pictures to post for FPF but it's too late and I'm really tired. However I know if I do not post something thing tonight this day too will get shuffled into the rest.

We had a wonderful day today. James took the day off and we went to Silver Dollar City with some friends. Our family received season passes as a gift. For a cool rainy day it was pleasant and fun. We hope to be able to use them a lot this summer.

I will post more soon but for now I must try to get some sleep. Prayers are needed in this department. Still not sleeping well after Thailand. I hate to keep blaming it on that but I have been so messed up since we returned home. My days and nights are still messed up no matter how hard I try to fix it. I am only sleeping 3 1/2 to 4 hours a night. I have been known to nap and not to nap during the day. It doesn't seem to matter. I have had about 8 hrs sleep in the past 48 hours and still having trouble sleeping.

Fun pictures and more stories to come.

Little boys and pets.

Last night I was cooking "burger cheese" on the grill. Noah was outside playing while I was running in and out. The yard is fenced and he knows that the grill is hot while I'm cooking. I felt that it would be pretty safe to let him play while I was in and out. We have a lot of windows and I can keep a pretty good eye on him. Dad thinks that he is old enough to do this, mom is still a little cautious. I kept a very watchful eye on him but was not watching him every second. So at one point I had gone to the kitchen and then came right back out. As soon as I came out the door I noticed that the dogs water had been knocked over and was all over the back porch. I looked at Noah who was not on the porch but not very far away and said "please do not play in Abby's water that is for her to drink". Noah's response to that was "the kitty cat spilled it". First where did he get the word spilled and isn't he kinda young to blame the cat. He was so cute about it. He has never called our cat Callie kitty cat. It was like he was trying to nark on her with out making her look bad. I also must mention that the cat was no where in sight. He was so cute and grown up about it-plus it was his word against the never innocent looking cat so they both got off this time. However if something happens in the house and he blames it on the out side cat...then we will know for sure.

I told you that dad keeps telling me that it is time for Noah to be able to play outside in the back yard while I am in the kitchen. I can see him but it is a big yard and he does not stay in one place. I'm not sure but dad may have a new opinion after last night. Not only was our little man busy blaming the cat he was also helping the dog escape from the yard. That's right. He opened the gate for Abby and let her go and then shut the gate back. James and Kayla spent the next 20 minuets running after Abby. I do believe that Noah plus pets equals mischief.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

Today I had asked the kids what they wanted for lunch. Actually I was asking Kayla since Noah usually doesn't have an opinion other than chicken or "burger cheese". Kayla decided that she wanted a PBJ sandwich. So then Noah piped up and said he wanted a "p budder sanwich too". Then Kayla changed her mind and said that she would really like to have a grilled ham and cheese. So I decided to just make everyone a grilled cheese. She said that she would make Noah his PBJ but I said that he would probably rather have grilled cheese. So then sissy asked him if he wanted turkey. I really wanted to pick something simple that we could all eat. I was not sure why she kept giving him different food choices. At this point I began to wander who's side she was on. She was kind of complicating the process. He would just say yes to what ever she asked him. As I was making lunch Kayla restated for me that Noah really wanted turkey for lunch (remember he just really wanted a PBJ). I told Kayla that I was making grilled cheese for every one and that he would be okay with that. I said "Noah doesn't even know what turkey is". Well little man was standing right behind me and said "mom, turkey gobble gobble gobble". So... mom stands corrected and Noah had a new phrase for the day.

Yea! I'm A Big Boy.

Noah with his potty training chart.
Noah's new big boy bed

He really likes his bed- mom is still a little sad, but admits it was time.

I have been meaning to update the blog with the big announcement that our little guy is a big boy now. It feels like it happened over night. Here's what happened since the original potty training post.

I had prepared myself for "the long haul". If you have ever experienced potty training it can be long and drawn out. Kayla was trained through the day at 18 months and through the night at 2. With her the problem came with frequency. We spent more time in the bathroom than any other place. So when Noah decided it was time I dreaded the potty stops that lay ahead. I also figured since he was a boy we would make progress gradually. I was okay with that. What I did not expect was that he would be potty trained in a week. He had a few accidents while James and I were away on our anniversary trip. He has never had an accident at home. The only accident that he has had in public was at Walmart and he did tell me. I figured that I had time to finish up because he is really good at holding it. Not this time. He made a huge puddle and then even went when I took him to the bathroom. We did a potty chart for a month so that we could see the progress. He wears big boy underwear except nap time and bed time. He usually wakes up dry at nap but bed time is still hit and miss. I am just in awe that this was so easy. Dad has already taught him to go to the potty by himself. The only time we have to help is if he goes poop. So...Noah was officially potty trained at 27 months. Way to go Noah! We are so proud of you.

I also included a couple of pictures of his new "big boy" bed. I will post more on that in another entry.

If Only....

If only....
We all had knee pads.

If only...
We had a few extra persons so that we could rotate in.

If only..
we were ten years younger.

If only...
Half of us had not had the stomach flu this week

If only...
We had practice in between games each week.

If only...
We didn't use all our energy to win the first set.

Okay that is a lot of excuses but some how it makes us feel better. We are having so much fun playing volleyball every week. We really are playing well considering the fact that we do not practice between games and that most of us really did have the stomach flu this week. We won the first set- we lost the second set 22/20, and then lost the third set. The third one really got us. We are so tired by the third set.

Even though we were tired the real problem is that the third set we stopped communicating and we were not working together as a team. Ironically we can learn a valuable life lesson just from playing a game of volleyball. Some things are a given...Life is going to be hard and we are going to get tired. When this happens it is critical that we continue communicating with one other and that we never stop working together as a team. It is when we have strong communication, team work, and covering each other's back that we make it through the difficult seasons of life. We must not become agitated by one another but must encourage each other, remembering that we are all bringing different skill levels to the game of life. When everyone is contributing to the game, when we are focused on improving ourself and not the other person, and when we are encouraging each other on that is when we become true winners in the game of life. If we can do that then who cares if we loose a few volleyball games.

My Handsome Little Man

It is rare that I am able to capture my little man sitting still long enough to get a posed picture. We had photos of his big sister taken every few months. With Noah it is just too much to expect so we have only had professional pictures done twice. Usually I just snap pictures until we get a good one. We capture more of his personality when he is moving not sitting still. However there is the rare occasion like today where he was willing to sit for a short time and give me a smile. Hence the photo above and some fun with photo shop. He is just so handsome to me. I think that I can say that with out sounding too vain since I am his mommy. I Just love being his mommy. Even through the many sleepless nights and crazy energy that never stops- I love being his mommy. Thank you Jesus for making my dreams come true.

We may be old, but we are no lossers.

We had our second Volley Ball game tonight. We anticipated that they would wipe the floor with us. Everyone on our team is in their thirties or early to middle forties. The team we played was the young married so they were in their twenties. To our surprise we won the first match with a pretty big lead. The second match went to them due to a power server. They also took the third match but we gave them a run for their money. The third match was 21/16. So for a bunch of old folks that do not have extra time at the gym were not so bad. I think it's chasing our toddlers and trying to keep up with our teens that give us the edge. The best part is that we had a great time and that we are learning one more way to work as a team. Who knows maybe next year we'll sign up with the city league. Wait we already did that and we really were old. One of our guys even had to have major surgery. It's good to have you M. Your a terrific asset to the team. To all those that will have to crawl out of bed in the morning-GREAT JOB!

"I Still So Sick!"

This afternoon I took my medicine and gave Noah his. I have been taking my temp every day because I am still running a fever. I have been running a fever for two weeks now and have finished two rounds of antibiotics. We are still not sure what the problem is but I have run fever consistently for almost 6 months now. Any way that is not the reason for this post. While I was taking my temp (with the one that you roll across the forehead) Noah was standing there and asked me to take his temp. I rolled it across his little head and turned it around to look at it. Before I could say anything he sadly stated "oh man I still so sick!" He actually was right on at 98.6 so I said no you are all better. He was very happy to hear that and gave his usual response "I did it." Our little guy really is very witty.

It's Three O'Clock!

Noah really loves books. We have to limit what we read to him or we would never get anything done. We try to read two or three several times a day. He has access to them all day and we will discuss them but most of the time I really try to encourage him to play. Otherwise we end up with a boy who has too much energy built up.

At night Noah knows that we read two books before bedtime. We remind him before we start to read that we only read two and then it is bed time. After a potty break and pj's he picks two books and then some one reads to him. Then we ask him what time is it and he says night night time. We give hugs kisses then off to bed. Tonight it was mom's turn to read. We read the first book then I reminded him one more and then it was bed time. We read the second book and when I was done I asked him what time is it? To my surprise he said 3:00. Needless to say we all started laughing and wondering where he heard three o'clock. I guess he thought that he might be able to get out of going to bed if he changed the time. It didn't work. After a really good laugh we told him it was bed time and off he went to get his good night hugs/kisses.

We are so in trouble!

All By Myself!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Noah decided it was time to get dressed. He came out of his room with this outfit on. It was really cute. His pants were on back wards and his shoes were on the wrong feet. He proudly exclaimed "I did it!"

I'M GOING TO SNEEZE!

I had to share this...it was really cute!

Tonight James was reading Noah his bedtime story. Noah has a fascination with elephants so James decided to read "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, I'm Going To Sneeze!" The book is really cute-it is one that he read over and over to Kayla. They had the book memorized they read it so often. As you can see in the pictures Noah was just chilling listening to every word. The funny part is that at the end of the book just as James read the very last word Noah felt the need to sneeze, and sure enough he let out the biggest sneeze we've ever heard from the little guy. Now every time we read him that book he ends up sneezing. Talk about subliminal messaging.

Sigh!

What a week. I have written three post but have not posted them. I'm not sure any of them make sense and all of them seem a little grumpy. It has been a long and difficult week and I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday. I'm not sure why though...the weekend looks pretty busy.

I will try to catch up soon. I really should let the week go and leave it at that but there were some highlights that I want recorded for the kids later. For now sleep and quiet time with the Lord are my best chance for sanity. Until then here's a glimpse... sick mom, sick boy, very busy boy, fussy boy, sirens, speeding tickets, van trouble, grumpy hormonal preteen, grumpy hormonal mom, big decisions, little decisions (doesn't matter the size decisions they are all stressing me out), on the go but need to stay home, why am I teaching 6th grade math, how many more appointments can one schedule in a week. Wait... an appointment was canceled because he got the flu ( so sorry to hear but now maybe laundry). A quick shower while Noah naps then fix dinner before the volley ball game...except he is awake and had diarrhea so instead more laundry and a quick shower for the little guy. Whew and that was only a highlight. This is why I have not posted it "all" this week. Not sure where to go from here other than good night.