The faces behind the stories!

The faces behind the stories!
My little Loves.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Howchee Parcher


Matthew is walking around the house with his cowboy hat on over his sombrero hat, with his "Puffy Kitty" in hand and his Star Wars laser gun. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's saying, "Howdy Partner" when he says, "Howchee Parcher!"  So CUTE!

Joe's Homework about Pop

"Was" and "Her" are sight words for Joe in his class... This page practiced them and then he needed to write a sentence with one or both of those words in it. This is what he came up with. Pop is in the grocery store. The red round things are cherries on a stand, and cucumbers and the yellow he said was the lights in the store. =) I thought it was pretty cute. Joe likes green apples, so that's what's on the right and Pop has one in his hand!

Something that makes me relax...

When I see these Uggs (which were both a gift from my Mother in Law), it just makes me think of relaxing and I can't wait for Aaron to get home and enjoy them with me! Each night, after the kids go to bed, we enjoy time on the couch together and I LOVE IT when it's cold enough to snuggle in my Ugg's! Just had to share my relaxation picture! ;)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Gentleman and a Proud Mama...

I had a proud Mama moment this morning. I stayed in my car and watched Joe walk through a gate to get into his class. As he got to the gate, there was a lady with a huge stroller who couldn't fit. With out me there to nudge him, he stopped and pushed with all his might to make sure it was open enough for her. My heart was melted in an instant. My boy is a gentleman and I couldn't be more proud. I sat there and thanked the Lord that He gave me that moment to see our little creation growing into his destiny as a man of character.

Something came to my mind: Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it...I hadn't thought about that in this respect before. I always thought about it as, "Teach him about the Lord and he'll stay with the Lord." To "train him up" means so much more than that.

A glimpse of the man he's to be and a proud moment for a mom. Small victories get me through the big behavioral battles! I am blessed.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

His poor fat lip...

We were JUST about to walk out the door for a friend's birthday party when "SMACK"...and the gasping for air enough to cry. Matthew walked into the room, after smacking his face flat on the tile floor while playing with Joe. I had some panic when I saw blood all over his face, not sure where the blood was coming from. SO nervous he had broken teeth, I checked those first...They are OK! His nose was bleeding, his lip was bleeding and his forehead got a bruise... My poor handsome little guy. The drive to my friend's house was about 20 minutes and it took almost the whole way there for the special "after cry breathing" to stop... you know the kind where they suck in air every once in a while. ;) He's a trooper and although a bit more emotional for the day, still partied with his newly 2yr old friend Brayden!

The Bikers

The Rat Pack. lol I just thought this was adorable. Joe and Matthew got to ride bikes with their friend Jackson (Anderson was off riding his scooter too!)

The Park Bully...

Today we had an awful experience at the park. I was so proud of myself for stopping at the park on the way home from church. I knew the boys had a ton of energy and they would just get in trouble if we came straight home. I did not WANT to go to the park, but I knew it was best for them... so, we went.

While we were there, the boys were displaying some great boy behavior... yelling, running, and calling each other potty names. GRRR. Matthew started saying, "Undies." Matthew had no idea what "Undies" was, but he thought it was a funny word he had heard.

There were these two girls who were about 10 years old playing at the park. They were... mean. When the boys wanted to down the slide they pulled out the, "We've been sliding down this slide a lot longer than you little boys, it's ours." I sat quietly and watched (all involved children had no idea I was paying attention)... Joe proceeded to explain to her that she was being rude and all children get a turn on the slide. ha ha ha I heard, "Whatever Little boy," as they walked away.

The girls proceeded to be rude, my boys proceeded to be hyper boys enjoying their park... Then, Matthew had enough. He looked at one of the girls and said, "You're Undies." LOLOL I have to laugh, because he still had no idea what Undies were, but the girl was mortified and kept pulling up her pants in fear that her undies were showing. (I DID NOT laugh in that moment)... Right when he said it, I called him to me and he sat in a time out for calling names. I explained to him what "Undies" were and his face showed me he was embarrassed. So cute.  His time out came to an end and he went to apologize for calling her a name.

They all continued to play... the mean girls were blocking the slides, again... My boys stood their ground and said they needed to share. The girl looked at Matthew and told him, "You are so about to get beat up."

I WAS DONE.

There are times when you let your kids work their way through things and then there is a 10yr old girl threatening bodily harm to my 3yr old... I don't care if he DID call her Undies...that's NOT gonna happen! lol

I quickly spoke up and said, "He is NOT about to get beat up!" The girl froze and looked in my direction. As though a parent had never stood up to her bad attitude. Amazing. I explained to her that everyone needed to be kind and the slide is for sharing.  What I DID NOT know is that her mom was behind me! Ha ha ha... When a young girl is THAT mean, typically the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...but, the mom stood down.  She did not do anything actually, just sat there.

Here's the truth... I'm sad. I'm sad for the girl. My sons are fine, they are still hyper boys playing, screaming and actually NOT potty talking in our backyard right now. They are healthy, they are happy and they have hearts that love people at the core.  This girl, during the process of the park was so violent and rude... she was a bit on the chubby side and obviously self conscious. She said at one point that her life was horrible. I was very upset to hear my 3yr old threatened and enlightened to the level of protection I must have for him in this world... but sad for that little heart who will go home to the example that made her the way she is... and I pray the Lord touches her little life and shows her what having love at the core really feels like.

*sigh* Heavy moments for me.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Honesting

Lately, we've had a struggle with convenient lies... The type of little lies that get the liar out of trouble, and even "better" when the trouble is deflected on to someone else. We just had one of those moments.

The boys are playing in the backyard. There is one little dirt patch that they LOVE to dig in. While digging, they put rocks into the air conditioning system outside. They both got in trouble. About a half hour later, Matthew came in to me and said, "Mama, Joe put Rocks into your thing and I'm not lying."  (I should have known by the "and I'm not lying" but I forgot who I was dealing with for a minute!)... I got outside and walked up to Joe, with my "Mama Tool" (aka: spoon) in hand. I said, "Joe, honesty is one of the most important things in our home."  He cut me off and said, "I AM HONESTING, MATTHEW DID IT!"

I looked at Matthew, who quickly took a step away from my tool.  He had lied, and lied in a way that deflected the blame onto Joe. I AM thankful that Joe is coming to learn that it is better to tell the truth. Especially when I remind him of that as we start our conversation... he's starting to "give it up."

But, my reason for the blog was Joe saying, "I AM HONESTING!"  I thought that was SO cute! =)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A Devotion I read Today...

Proverbs 16:9 – a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. – Proverbs 16:9
What a mystery this proverbs presents to us: as much as we plan, it is ultimately the Lord who determines our steps. But what a brilliant mystery! We are responsible to choose our course, and yet the Lord takes those choices and uses them for His glory. This should sober us in choosing wisely today, yet relieve us that God is ultimately in control. The Scripture presents a picture of our responsibility AND God’s sovereignty. This is a work of wonder, which fills the heart with awe.

Today’s commentary by:
Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org
This devotion is very comforting to me... because I tend to be a control freak. =) When I was younger, I would date guys and "get rid of them" after a couple of months. My mom said they made it too easy for me to control them. She always told me, "You'll marry the first guy you can't control." Now that I'm married, and have been for a bit over 7 years... I'm happily unable to control this man that I love and it is both a pleasure to try to find ways and a complete annoyance all at the same time! HA HA HA That really isn't anything to do with the devotion today, but it is something that came to mind when I thought about my control freak ways!
 
God is good to comfort me. This month has been a pretty tight one financially and I had JUST gotten done asking him to forgive me for giving in to fears. I confessed to the Lord that it is difficult for me because I always feel like I'm on top of things and my whole life I have been in control of a great financial picture. I've lost "control" there, even though I never truly HAD it, He just allowed me to feel that way. It's comforting to know that no matter how much I plan, and even how much I learn how to save at this point in my life... He has ultimate control. It makes it easier to praise Him in the storm because I know 100% He has me here, there is a reason, and He knows when and where the end will come.
 
I'll end all of these thoughts with another verse I've been comforted by lately, and it's so true (of course):

1 Peter 1:3-9
Praise to God for a Living Hope

 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
 
Amen!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Pictures From Our Trip!

It is SO HARD to come up with just a handful of pictures from such a large file of great shots! I wanted to share some of the pictures from our trip though!
They've built a good lookin bunch eh?

Matthew, Joe, Noah and Jack! Loved seeing the Haserots!

We had a fun visit with Aunt Sherry on the way home!

My Grandma and Grandpa, celebrating her 79th Birthday. I hope I look that good at 79!

What a special picture to have!

They each got to pick a treat from a special candy store in Monterey. We were smart enough to let them ENJOY those treats in the BATH at the hotel! ha ha ha

This will go down in history as one of my favorite pictures and favorites days. Aaron and I took the boys back to where we visited in Monterey for our Honeymoon. I really enjoyed that!

Lovin on Meme (Who had brought Joe his own whole CAKE to enjoy! ha ha ha)

Elephant Seals... we LOVED that surprise!

I took so many shots of the beach along our drive. I love the mist in this area.

This was Matthew's "Friend." He dragged that very long seaweed all around the beach we stopped to visit and wanted to bring it home! ha ha h I said, "How about a picture!?!"

Meet Oscar, Aunt Sherry's dog and Joe's new friend! He was in HEAVEN playing with Oscar!

I got a lot of shots of the kids, but this is one I really loved.

That's all she wrote for the blog pics. Good times!

1st Day Back At School...

Today is Joe's first day back at school, after his very first "Christmas Vacation" from school. He had 3 weeks off and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. We have had Christmas, a trip to Kingsburg and Sonoma, then a coastal drive back home with a stop in Monterey, and he just got done spending TWO nights at Nana and Papa's. His poor little emotional self cried on the way home because he knew the "good times" had come to an end. He said, "Mama, I want to stay at Nana and Papa's and NOT have school again." It's kind of funny when those life lessons hit and it kind of hurts my heart too. Reality has to kick in at such a young age!

I was fully expecting a ROUGH morning. The last few days of vacation, he had started to sleep in until about 8am. He has NEVER IN HIS LIFE slept that late, but of course he had to wait until THE END of vacation to do it (not that it would matter because Matthew has started getting up between 6-6:30). ANYWAY, I thought for sure I'd hear some complaints when the alarm in Joe's room went off at 6:30!

Matthew had woken me up at 6, so he and I were already downstairs. Joe came down about 6:32 and said, "My alarm went off when it was still THICK black outside." I loved the "thick." I am blessed this morning, though, because I told him it was a new day and he had to go back upstairs and get his clothes on so I could feed him the breakfast I was making... and HE DID IT. He's really been showing signs of growth in his behavior. He still has his typical Joe melt-downs because he's a huge ball of emotions in a little body that doesn't understand them... But he's showing signs of maturity and even slowing down a little bit...sometimes.

I'm thankful my boy is at school (even though I secretly wish vacation could just continue, because I don't care for the scheduling of school)... I am praying his teacher enjoys him today and gets to see those signs of growth I'm talking about. I fear for her though, because he'll be in a room full of hyper little people and I'm sure he'll join right in!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

You are my Robot, My Only Robot...

Hello 2011... It's already day 5 of the year and I have yet to post a blog. The reason for this is, I went off the grid! I went to visit my family Kingsburg, then in Sonoma, then some friends in Castro Valley, then off to Monterey! Aaron has travelled so much in the last year, he built up Marriott Rewards that were enough for us to have a free stay in Monterey!  We took the boys on the very same walk Aaron and I went on during our honeymoon stop in Monterey...I walked behind them for a while and just smiled at what the last 7 years have added into my life! Then, we drove down the coast on Hwy 1... we saw Elephant Seals, Spouting Whales, played on the beach, met one of Aaron's aunts for dinner... and so many other little adventures a long the way. I have pictures to follow, but today I'm just trying to clean up and get organized!  I had to jump on here to post one thing...

Joe just went into my room and turned on the fan (which he's not allowed to do, but that's beside the point of this story!)... I heard him from downstairs singing, "You are my Robot, my only Robot. You make me happy when skies are gray...." He sang right behind the fan so his voice got the robot sound, and Matthew started to walk around like a robot. That's just a little memory I think I will enjoy coming back on someday. ;)

I'll look forward to posting some pictures from our trip as soon as I get the 600+ off of my camera and decide the 5-10 for my blog! THAT is hard! =) The CA coast is SO beautiful and I was with the 3 most handsome guys in the world... how to pick, how to pick!?!?!

I pray your Christmas and New Years times have been with your family and have brought many amazing memories!! (Oh yeah, and Joe got a big blue Jawbreaker in Monterey...wait till you see his blue faced pics!)
-The Mama-