listening ears

I wonder sometimes how much my children actually listen to me. Not just listen but really get what I am saying. On Saturday I was trying really hard to get some cleaning done around the house. This rarely happens anymore. I am usually trying to entertain Madeline while keeping Jacob happy and trying to get just the daily tasks complete. Saturdays are all I have and sometimes those are shot by all the activities!
It was early afternoon and I really really wanted to mop the kitchen. You know those dots of junk that appear on the tile after something gets spilled then dirt just adheres to it? Well, my floor was starting to look like one great big dot of yuckiness. The girls, bless their hearts, had done a really good job of entertaining themselves all morning. They had made a mess with the coloring books and markers, etc., on the kitchen table. I finally said, "okay, out of here for two hours! let me finish mopping and you can come back in." Well, I thought this would just be a rough estimate. No, it doesn't take two hours to mop my kitchen it really isn't that big, I was just multi-tasking.. trying to make rolls for a Christmas party too. Anyway. I was in the living room and I heard Emma say, "Rachael, only two more minutes and then we can go back in the kitchen." I thought I would die laughing. Had she taken me so literal. YES. In a big way. Later the next day I found a note that said..

"4:32 we can go done sters and color."

I would've scanned it in, but our printer is not hooked up correctly right now. Hilarious! Emma cracks me up.

Another Emma example. It always kills me when I hear myself out of my kids mouths! Again, on Saturday, I had made a scrumptious lunch of frozen nuggets.. that's it. Emma sat at the table and ate her four nuggets I had given her then cleared her plate. I was kind of shocked since she can usually put down 6+ of those things. I said to her "there are more nuggets if you want some"... to which she replied, "it's a little late for that don't you think." Hmmm.... I guess another plate and more ketchup is out of the question for this six-year-old intellect!

4th Picture tag

Sorry Elaine that I am just now getting to this... I am so slow at reading other blogs... yikes.. anyway... here is the closest picture to the 4th file folder, in the pictures folder, 4th picture... The only reason it isn't the one, is because there wasn't a picture in the fourth folder, only one video.. same with the next folder... I guess I could've just posted the video..
This picture was taken at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Dallas, Mariano's. It was taken June of 2007. I tag anyone who hasn't already done this.

Handsome dude...

Jacob has grown so much in four months. He now weighs 16 pounds, is 24.75 inches long, and has a huge head... He is so adorable. We couldn't resist snapping some photos of him yesterday before church.. what a cutie! You will have to excuse the snotty nose, and you have to love the slobber on the sweater. Nice touch!

O Christmas tree

It's Christmas time already! Decorations galore! YEAH! We went and bought a tree on Saturday at Lowe's. It took us very little time to pick one out. It isn't the most perfect tree, but is there such a thing. It did take us forever to get it looking straight. Whether it is or not is still up for debate. Take a look at this picture and tell me what is wrong with it...



Yes, you are right. IT, the tree, is outside! Well, after all of this.....

Jacob asleep at Lowe's

The girls with hats they found waiting for dad to pay for the tree...

Getting the tree off the van..

Hanging the lights with care...

Hanging ornaments...




We came home from church on Sunday and found this...



Yes, I know there is no tree in the picture. I didn't think to take a picture until we had moved it outside. It was just one of those Sundays. The kids were driving Bryan crazy, we decorated the tree before church, had choir practice after church, got home around 5 (keep in mind we are fasting), cleaned up the tree for an hour, and had cereal for dinner. Hmmm.. We still haven't decided if we are going to just go buy a bigger stand and move it back inside, or just lite it up every night and open the blinds. Have we started a new trend or what people. Who said the tree had to come inside. After all, who wants that wonderful smell of pine filling up their homes.

I DO!!!

Argh...

Thankful

I think I sometimes forget how many things I have to be thankful for, even the little things that are actually huge blessings. Here are a few I have on my list right now... some of them aren't terribly recent, but in an attempt to play blog catch-up (one handed) here we go...

1. I am so grateful for Emma and Rachael's teachers in school. They are so wonderful. I have the opportunity to visit their classrooms and help out where I can. I am so thankful for the love they show to my children. I have only had children in school for two years and it is obvious there are some teachers who show more affection than others. I would never say that they don't love their students, but... you know what I mean.

I love to be in their classrooms and see what my kids are learning every day. I enjoy so much watching them interact with their peers and with their teachers. I honestly could not do their job!!!! I went out and watched Kindergarten recess. That was a treat. It's too bad that kids are already "not playing with" each other for whatever reason. There was a little girl in Rachael's class who didn't know how to skip. Something Rach has known how to do for two plus years now. I tried to teach her in a short lesson and in the process inspired one of the teachers to get up and show her. Happy to report, she can now skip... the power of teachers!!! Thanks to all the teachers out there who do a thankless job, wonderfully, everyday!

Emma's class

Rachael's class

2. I am grateful for the mercy of a policeman. Until this particular sunny day a few weeks ago, I could happily say I had never been pulled over... well, that is no longer true. In my hurry to get to the store, after a school visit, I sort of ran a stop sign in front of a motor-cop. He was turning left in front of me, and I just took off behind the big van in front of me... oops... I knew he was going to pull me over the second I noticed him. He was very nice and allowed me a by. I just kept apologizing. He asked me if I needed a ticket.. like I'm going to say yes... right! Anyway. My record is technically still clean, but I have officially been pulled over.

3. Sleep.. Sleep... Sleep.... My little big guy likes to wake up at night still and eat... then cry about an hour after falling asleep. (Last night was bad.) I do have to be grateful for the few nights lately that I have actually gotten to sleep all night long with no interruptions. Ahhh... precious sleep. If I just start him in his car seat it works wonders... why am I just now figuring that out?

Sleeping on the floor

4. Cousins! Aren't they the best. In a perfect world we would be able to live close to all the cousins. As it is, that isn't possible. We are fortunate to live about 500 feet from Bryan's brother Eric and his wife Tori and kids. Madeline absolutely loves Emily! A while back (remember I'm playing blog catch-up) Emily was over and they wanted to go outside and play. Lucky for them we had just bought some hats and scarves for our trip to Idaho at Christmas. It was a cold and windy day. Madeline refuses to look at a camera, let alone smile at one. She is such a turkey. She was trying to avoid me during this photo shoot... but I managed to win, I think.

I found this cute photo of the girls on Halloween. Too bad I didn't turn Jacob around in his car seat. He was a cute bumblebee.