Bridget Mary-EMT

After watching an ambulance zoom past us today, Bridget announced her intention to be one of those people who drive around in the ambulance helping people.  She followed that up with, "What do you call those people, anyway?"  :)  

I explained that if she were an EMT or a paramedic she would be able to ride around in an ambulance and help people in emergency situations.  

She thought about it a few minutes before coming to a decision..."Okay, that is what I will do.  But would I still be able to be a surgeon too?  Because I think I'd be really good at that." 

Jonah for President!

Jonah realized this year that ANYONE could become president, that they don't have to be born into a certain family or live in a specific area.  His logical conclusion was, of course, that HE could be president one day.  Here's his platform:  "I don't believe in ghosts or monsters.  I believe in people.  I believe in God.  I do believe in satan but I don't believe anything he says."

He's got my vote.  :)

Jonah in the Kitchen

(Jonah in the apron that his Grammy made him for his birthday this year.)
One of Jonah's favorite places to be is in the kitchen, helping with whatever I happen to be working on at the time. I love this of course, because it's also one of my favorite places to be. :)

This afternoon, Jonah was mixing up pizza crust in the kitchen while I supervised and cleaned out some cupboards.

I pulled out a punch bowl that hasn't seen the light of day in about four years and set it on the counter. Jonah asked why and I told him I was putting it into our upcoming garage sale.

"Say what?" Jonah was incredulous. "Why in the world would you get rid of THAT? It's so pretty!"

I explained that it was something I previously found useful but don't use much anymore and now it just takes up space.

Jonah's reply? "Well I would think you could just keep it and give it to my wife when I get married. I think she would like it."

Goofy Girl

After lunch today, Bridget and I were talking. Out of the blue she asked me this very important question: "Hey Mom, is Dad at work, or in Colorado, or at a friend's house?"

I stifled a giggle but told her that he is at work.

"Okay," she said, "I just needed to know."

Ranger Plane!

My Grandma recently stayed a while in Texas with one of my Uncles. This was a great opportunity for me, since I haven't seen my Grandma in years (right after Jonah was born, so 6). She lives in Washington. I haven't seen my uncle in more years than I can count. I was quite young the last time I saw him.

Even though we live about 30 minutes from my Uncle, we hadn't found a chance to get together since we've lived in Texas. I think it was a mixture of he is really busy, and we don't really 'know' each other any more, and he works in Dallas. So I was thrilled at the chance to get to see him and my Grandma at the same time!

My Uncle Bill runs an airplane inspection company at the airport, so we met them there at his hangar. It was pretty cool to go through the security entrance, and drive out onto the tarmac to park near his hangar.

Once inside, my Uncle let the kids look at all of the airplanes currently in the hangar. The one below is his personal plane that he is restoring and fixing up. My mom with her brother Bill...

My Grandma doesn't really like having her picture taken, but I was able to sneak in a quick shot of her with my mom:

Sam and I thought the best part was checking out the Texas Rangers (think baseball!) team plane. It is really nice inside...they travel well, by my standards. :)

The Ranger plane was probably a highlight for the kids too...they thought the seating was so cool. There are chairs that face each other with a table in between, and they also really loved the phones. ;) There was a helicopter parked at the hangar that evening too, and the kids all really liked seeing that.

So grateful for a chance to see my Grandma and Uncle Bill and Aunt Chris! Family is so important to me, and I was amazed to see some distinctive character traits that so obviously run in my mom's family. My brother is so like my Uncle Bill in his mannerisms and speech that you'd think they grew up together. My Grandma is planning a trip back down here in the Spring, and I am looking forward to seeing her again soon! :)

Raisin the Flag

Yesterday I took Jonah and Bridget to the park to ride bikes.

On the way there, Jonah told me that his friend Blake had a cub scout activity that afternoon. There were going to raise the flag, and Jo Jo wanted to know what that meant.

I explained that they would be placing a flag up on a flag pole somewhere. I was a little confused why he would ask...I had heard Blake tell him that they were raising the flag today, and the term seems a little self-explanatory to me.

Of course, sometimes I forget that this is Jonah I'm dealing with. He proceeded to explain to me that he thought 'raisin' the flag meant to decorate a flag with raisins, and he was mostly wondering if they used glue or how they got the raisins onto the flag.

Wordless Wednesday

(Guess she was tired!)

Henry the Hunter

When we were expecting Henry we briefly considered the name "Hunter" for him. We just really liked it, but as Sam is an avid hunter we finally decided not to go that route.

Last year Henry really got into hunting with his Dad. He really hasn't stopped talking about it since...camoflauge brings it to mind, guns, bows, magazines...just about anything can spark hunting talk around here. But even that love for all things hunting does not explain why, when my son colors a picture of a moose, he feels the need to draw in the 'kill spot' and a tongue sticking out. He made sure to point out to me that the eyes are red because he's dead.

BOYS! :)

Sweet Henry

I was talking with my wonderful new neighbor yesterday and the kids came crashing through the living room where we were sitting. I don't remember the exact context of the conversation, but I started teasing Henry about something. He was loving the attention, so I said "And he's really humble too, can't you tell?"

He answered, "No, mom. I'm not humble. I'm not humble at all. Just sweaty."

I love my sweet sweaty little boy! :)

Summer Fun

Summer is barely here yet (actually it's not 'officially' here yet, is it?) and we are already busy having fun in the sun. I haven't quite closed out our homeschool year but we've already taken an extended break. All our friends are out of public school, the weather is perfect and I've decided we ought to enjoy it! We'll be doing some school throughout the summer, in order to retain what has been learned this past year, but it will definitely be a lighter load than the actual school year.

In the past week alone we:

. . . were invited to swim at a church member's house with friends . . .

. . . went blueberry picking at the farm up the road . . .

. . . chased each other around the yard with the hose . . .

. . . pulled out the slip-n-slide for some backyard cooling off . . .

. . . went to a Lowe's kids event, then met up with family for a trip to a local museum . . .

. . . and those are just the events I photographed! We also joined a Bible study at church (the kids enjoy time with their friends while we meet), made it to the local library story/craft time and had our weekly meeting with the group of camp counselors we mentor. And Jonah had his end-of-season t-ball party and we went swimming at the lake yesterday afternoon, before having dinner with Sam's folks.

Whew.

No wonder I'm tired. Summer hasn't even truly started and we're running fast, determined to wring some serious fun out of this year!

I've found a new freedom with our kids at the ages they are...Henry is 7, Jonah is 5 and Bridget is 2 (almost 3). For some time we've been limited by young ones who were nursing or not quite walking or needing long afternoon naps. There are still necessary naps, but we can be much more flexible with them. The kids all are able to handle staying up later and they all love being on the go most of the time.

Sum-mer, sum-mer, summer-time...Summertime! Time to sit back and unwind.

Time to have some fun in the sun! :)

A little game

Just for fun....

What do you think these four items have in common?

I know the picture is a bit fuzzy, so I'll help you out. Included are:

1 piece of a shingle (from a roof)

1 smashed piece of an A&W rootbeer can

1 stick

1 label from a pair of gloves

Take a guess before you click on the comments. I'll put the answer in there. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Well, almost wordless. :)

Aren't they cute? Eight big chicks (to raise and eat), eight little hens (who will lay eggs), two guineas (because they're noisy and cute) and one turkey (named 'Dinner' by the boys).

Wordless Wednesday

How Many Kings

This is a song by the band downhere. I'm loving it! My local station has been playing it quite a bit in their rotation as a Christmas song (and I can see why they would), but I like it as kind of an anytime song. GREAT LYRICS. :)

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger
Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child Is this who we’ve waited for?
Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
(It’s who we’ve waited for)
How many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me All for me All for you All for me All for you

Book Giveaway

There is a great book being given away over at my friend Beth's blog....all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on her post. Stop by and visit, you'll be glad you did! :)

Middle of the Summer

It's been a busy summer so far. And that's the way we like it! :)

Here are just a few highlights....

Many days the kids look like this:

before we even make it back home in the afternoon.

Henry, ever the fashon-conscience one in the family, has finally given up his "wrangling" jeans (otherwise known as Wranglers) in favor of shorts. Don't think he did that willingly, though. It took a lot of convincing that cowboys really do wear shorts in the summer. Shhh...don't tell!. :) Henry has such a fun personality. Check out the attitude in this picture!
Wild clowns showed up in my front yard one evening. I was able to snap a quick shot of this one as he ran by in the 90 degree night, sweat dripping down his face. Jonah is enjoying a lot of dress-up time these days....four is such a fun age!
Bridget is a natural animal lover. She ADORES our dogs and cats and often slips out of the house to chase them around the yard. They enjoy her attention most of time and the smaller ones let her carry them around. Elmer lets her sit on his back and hug on him like this:

(And Bridget is obviously into dress-up these days too. It's been fun to add girly dress-up clothes to our closet full of super hero costumes!)


We've had quite a few tea parties this summer too. I surprised the kids one day and made scones and fruit and sweet berry tea for lunch and served at their tea-table. Usually our parties are pretend, so they were pretty excited to actually eat in the playroom! :)

We've been swimming quite a bit, tending the garden, taking care of our farm animals, having picnics and tea parties, going to parks and the science museum, and playing with friends.

Summer is so fun!

Next week we're going to family camp in Arkansas with our church. Can't wait! (Thanks again, Ingrid for taking care of our farm while we're away! :) We sure appreciate you!)

This boy cracks me up...

It's about a minute and a half and totally worth watching if you need a laugh. :)

My Life as a Rock Star

This was in my MOPS magazine this month (Momsense) and it made me laugh...so I thought I would share it here!

My Life as a Rock Star
::Written By Melinda Coats

I live the life of a rock star. It's true! I have wild hair and make-up with frequent costume changes.

Everywhere I go I have an entourage. People are constantly yelling my name. I look out into the crowd and they're actually crying for me, reaching for me.

I have no privacy. I'm watched when I shower, when I'm cooking, even when I use the restroom . . . for my own protection, I'm sure.

When I go places I must do so quickly before my fans get out of control and start a riot. Every night a different guy wants to sleep with me. Each of them seems genuinely hurt when I turn him away.

Occasionally I get dirty undergarments whirled at me with a whoop and a smile. It's even hard sometimes to walk through my own home without someone spotting me and trying to grab my legs or my clothing.

Oh, and don't forget about the stalkers! You know those crazed fans that follow you everywhere? Why, I can't even talk on the phone in the pantry without an eye or two peeping in at me.

Yes it's true --- I live the life of a rock star. And this goes out to my three biggest fans --Henry*, Jonah* and Bridget* --- thanks for making my debut so special!

*Names were changed to reflect MY rockstar status. :)

Blueberry Picking!

One of the (many, many, many!) reasons I love summer is all the fresh fruit. Since moving to Texas, I have discovered that there isn't much better than a beautiful, plump, juicy bluebery picked right off the bush. The picking season isn't very long, so the kids and I try to go at least once a week to enjoy this glorious berry at it's finest.

Here's one week's bounty. The bowls are to eat fresh and the rest for the freezer.
With three kids I have lots of 'help' with me, but as you can see here:

Henry is the only one who actually picks berries.
Jonah is getting better at picking more than he eats. He picked these ones all by himself, which is by far the most he has ever gotten IN the bucket. :) He accidentally dumped his bucket a time or two and re-filled it right off the ground, so Jonah's berries were kept separate so they could be washed and sorted a little better. Jonah likes to pick the reddish colored ones too, since he thinks they are the prettiest. The problem is they're still sour. Bridget eats pretty much non-stop while we're at the farm. She doesn't discriminate either....white, pink, blue.....picked right off the bush or grabbed off the ground. They all go straight into her mouth. She doesn't mind the sour ones a bit.

We're out of fresh blueberries at the moment, but we do have plans to go picking later this week. And this morning we enjoyed one of my favorite breakfast treats--blueberry pancakes!

The Rose Garden

Henry, with his beloved Bella

A city near us has an amazing public rose garden that I love to visit. For a long while it was Henry's number one choice if he got to pick where we would go for a fun adventure. We have been so busy with other things that we haven't been to the rose garden in over a year!

The week after school got out, my friend Kim and I packed up a picnic lunch and loaded all the kids in the car for an afternoon at the rose garden. We arrived right around lunch time. The kids were getting giddy as I flipped the car around to park alongside the curb.

That's when it happened.

I ran right into the curb. It was a nice loud thump, so the kids all got quiet and asked what had happened. Sheepishly, I continued parking the van and hopped out to take a look. It is a tall curb, and I figured I had dented the fender near the front tire, as it sits pretty low.

No such luck. I had actually scraped the tire right along the curb, which put a nice long scratch/hole in the side of the tire.

No problem, I've changed tires before. In fact, I'm pretty good at it!

But I hadn't ever changed a tire on my van before. Do you think I knew where to find the spare tire....or the jack for that matter?

Nope.

So I called my husband at work. He answered right away, but said, "I'm on the other line. I'll call you back."

Hmmm....

Kim called her husband at his work (which was thankfully only a few blocks from where we were!). He came right over and found the tire AND the jack (which were in completely different areas of the car!) and changed the tire for me.

The boys enjoyed the show:

THANKS, CHRIS! YOU SAVED OUR DAY! :)

If it wasn't already embarrassing enough, I had just picked up some leftover garage sale items to drop off at Goodwill. They were in the way when we were looking for the spare, so they got put out on the curb....and then spread around by my really helpful daughter. There will not be a picture of that. ;)

The kids were actually quite patient throughout that whole ordeal, but they were quite hungry by the time it was finished! We went in and had a nice picnic, let the kids run around a bit, and then headed out to finish dealing with the tire.

What's that? You thought it was over? Um...no.

The spare was almost completely flat.

So I had to limp the car to the nearest service station and have air put in the tire.

And Sam had finally gotten back to me. He had somewhat recently bought tires for the van and wanted the replacement tire to match. He had bought them from a distributor further on into the city. A distributor which, by the way, does not install tires.

So we went and bought the new tire and then drove across town again to have it installed at the least expensive place.

The kids and I didn't get home until almost six that night.

Good thing Sam doesn't mind pizza for dinner! :)