I just forgot...

Henry's current favorite book is called, "I Just Forgot." It's a cute little book with short sentences and big pictures that Henry has almost memorized so he can "read" it to me. The book is about a little boy who forgets things (like turning of the water in the bathtub, putting away his toys, etc...).

I think that this explains the entrance of that phrase into our daily lives. Just now, for example...Henry came rushing inside to use the bathroom and then went running back outside. After he shut the door behind him, I realized that I could hear water running. When I looked in the bathroom, I noticed he had forgotten to turn off the water after washing his hands! And of course when I asked him what happened he said, "Oh, Mom. I just forgot." That is just like in this book....he remembered to wash his hands, but forgot to turn off the water!

I'm always impressed by my little three year old. He does forget things (who doesn't?) but he so often remembers the important things.

As Promised....

Well, I said I would post one of the chainsaw pictures, so here it is!

This last week Sam decided to clean up the broken and dead branches off of the two big trees up by our house in the back yard. He didn't tell me he was going to be doing this. He actually waited until I was out on a walk! As I got closer to home, I could hear the chainsaw running-I didn't doubt that it was coming from our house. I went into the backyard to see Sam at the top of his extension ladder, chainsaw in hand!

In answer to my worried question (What in the world are you doing???), Sam replied, "What? Did I miss something up there?"

Sometimes I think it's better when I don't know what he's working on! :)

That's my Sam!

All right, Sam. You asked for it! :)

We were finishing up our back yard this week. With the slope of our yard, we had found it impossible for seed to grow in certain areas. As soon as it rains (even just a little), we get quite a river running through the back. So we've been doing sod, little by little. This week was the end.

Since the sprinkler system is already established, we can't drive a truck over to where we wanted the sod. So Sam would park on the side of the house with the pallet of sod, and we would fill the wheelbarrow up and move it that way. It's quite a process. My studly husband thought it would be a great photo-op to stack the sod twice as high as we had been stacking it and have me take a picture with him pushing it across the yard. He laughed, while saying, "Maybe you could put it on your blog!" Ha ha.

I want to say two things about this.

#1. Sod is really heavy, and it's tough to push a full wheelbarrow of the stuff.
#2. Taking the picture was not my idea!



Sam made it almost to where he was going before the wheelbarrow overcame him and tipped over. Half the sod to one side and half to the other.

All he said when he turned around to the sound of my laughter was, "Did you get the picture?"

Don't worry, honey. I got it. :)

Check back later this week for more fun pictures of Sam--involving a chainsaw and a tall ladder!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday. We had most of the Hasz side of the family over for dinner and cake (a beautiful cake--thank you Kelly! You are so talented!) . The house was full (just like I like it!) and it was so fun. The kids had a ball having their cousins over and they were exhausted by the time bedtime came around.

My mom sent me a very sweet email and it made me really reflect on things. Especially my own children. Being a mom really changes the way I look at birthdays, but it has also really changed the way I look at my mom! Being a parent is such a challenging thing to do, and to do it alone must be next to impossible! So mom, I want to honor you in this (semi-public) setting and say thank you. I am so grateful for the things I learned from you--you genuinely taught me how to be a better person and mother. I love you and am so glad for the relationship that we share. Thanks for being you! :)

Swimming Lessons

We finally made it back to the teen mania pool today! We've been avoiding it (due to the murky greenish color of the water!), but Sam claimed it was better. He was right...it was definitely better! The boys were both so glad to be able to swim.

Henry actually had his best day of swimming yet! The last few times we've been swimming, he will say that he doesn't even want to get in the water if I'm going to make him have a swim lesson. He just wants to play. So today I was shocked when I had barely stepped into the water and Henry is saying, "Mom, can I swim to you? Wait, go out farther..." And the whole time, all he wanted to do was swim. Back and forth, over and over.

I worked with him on jumping in and turning around and swimming back to the edge. He did great and it was so fun! He is really getting good, and he is holding his breath for such a long time! I would make him take breaks and rest so I could work with Jonah. Jonah is making progress, but slowly. He has lost so much fear of the water (maybe not such a good thing!) that he even thinks he can climb in on the sides of the pool, where it's pretty deep. And he sort of likes floating on his back. Babies are so funny in the water....they really float so well! Anyway....Joey's really doing better with holding his breath, and that is all I'm looking for this summer.

We ended our trip to the pool with five or six runs down the slides. The boys were exhausted and we left happy. What a fun day!

Shelves

My husband (who never takes a break!) built me some incredible shelving over the last few days. He hasn't exactly had free time, but in his spare moments he threw some things together....they came out looking like something you would buy in a store.

He made me two shelves for our bedroom closet (which desperately needs organizing!), one for the boys closet, and one for our guest room (a.k.a. my craft room) closet. The last one is the one most in need. I had some metal cube shelving in that room and it was stacked FULL. Somehow, (the builder, perhaps? Yes, it was me.) it collapsed a while back and I have been too busy to even pick the things up out of the heap on the floor.

The one pictured here is for the boys' closet. I have a few miscellaneous things stacked on the floor or in baskets in their closet, so Sam thought it would be nice to have a couple of shelves. (By the way, their closet is HUGE!) The boys and I painted it, and we think it turned out pretty cute! I didn't get the top in the picture, but I painted their names and the year on the top.

Almost...

Silly Henry. I learned something this week. When Henry says, "I almost...." what he really means is, "I already..." For instance: "Mommy, I almost dropped my shorts in the toilet." "You almost did, huh?" "Yep, almost." And now it's time to find a dry pair of shorts. Or how about this one... "Mommy, I almost waked Joey up." Ummm, almost? I'm pretty sure I can hear Joey crying in his room. Speaking three-year-old is sometimes a different language!

Dressing Up

We had such a fun time at the Teen Mania graduation gala dinner on Friday night. We didn't know what to expect, and it was very nice. I liked the band so well that I bought a cd before we left!

Jonah thought it was such a treat to get dressed up. I had to switch which vest he was wearing at the last minute, and when I took off the first one he started stomping his feet in anger. He was only appeased when I put the other vest on him. Such a funny kid! Henry, on the other hand, didn't want to dress nicely. He thought that a football jersey would make a lot more sense. Luckily (and randomly!) Sam was wearing a blue dress shirt, so I was able to convince Henry that he was actually dressing just like his daddy! Don't those boys look handsome?

I have to admit that Sam and I enjoyed dressing up too. Probably more so me. I love to wear something pretty and fix my hair and feel like a princess! I'm not much of a girly-girl, but I do love special occasions like that! So that all contributed to the fun!

We went to the August intern's graduation on Saturday, which was also really fun. It was exciting to see all those kids (and yes, I say "kids" loosely) who are so determined and excited to serve God. Very inspiring. It reminded Sam and I of how blessed we are to be where we are right now and be a part of all of this.

Brothers

This picture tells so much. Look at Henry, smiling nicely for the camera. Sitting still and holding his hands still and looking right at the camera--these are difficult things for a three year old--takes a lot of discipline. Then look over to Jonah. Sitting still? Check. Looking at the camera? Nope. Can't take his eyes off of Henry. Just have to see what he is doing, in case it needs to be copied!

So many of our pictures are like this. An adoring gaze from the younger brother to the older one. It is such a sweet relationship that they share. Such a special bond, one that even their parents don't get to be a part of. They truly do love each other, and I thank God for that. The world has much to say about sibling rivalry, but often seems silent about brotherly love. It absolutely melts my heart when Henry searches the house to find Jonah, just so he can give him a great big hug and tell him, "I really love you, Joey!"

It makes me very thankful that I have such a great big brother! I'm sure there are pictures out there with me looking at him the same way Jonah looks up to Henry. It's so fun to have a brother!

Anonymous

I'm getting some really weird "anonymous" comments on some of my old postings. I'm not sure who they are coming from, so I am going to change the settings on this blog to not accept anonymous comments. If you want to leave comments (I LOVE to read the comments!) and you aren't already a member of blogspot, it takes only a minute to sign up. It doesn't cost anything, and they don't send you emails. And if you don't want to do that, then you can always email me comments! :)

Thanks everyone!

The Cable Company

On Tuesday afternoon I tried to get online to check my email, and I couldn't get on. I tried several different things, and finally called Sam in to fix it since I couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure it out either. We were still getting cable, just not the broadband connection.

On Wednesday afternoon, I finally called the company. I was on hold for 20 minutes before I got an actual person on the line. The lady on the other end of the phone proceeded to tell me that we didn't subscribe to their internet services and never had. I explained to her that her company had run the cable to our computer, and delivered a modem to us. Mentioned that I had been using the service for over two months. When I asked her how we had been getting internet service for the last two months, she suggested that the people who owned the house before us had probably just forgotten to disconnect their service. Right. Even though this is a new house, I asked? At this point she started detailing all of the packages that we could choose from to buy from her. After I asked for a supervisor and waited 24 minutes for the lady to come back on the line and tell me, "My supervisor is on another call, but it should just be another moment...." I asked her to have him call me. Then I called Sam (who, as usual, saved the day!) and told him what was going on. He made a phone call. A few minutes later, a salesman called me, apologized profusely, offered me a free month of service and told me that I should be re-connected momentarily.

Now how does my husband do that? I spent over an hour talking to these people, getting nowhere, and he spent about 30 seconds and fixed the problem--and got us free stuff? I don't understand it! But I do think that maybe we could save time by having Sam make those kind of phone calls in the first place!

18 months!

Jonah is 18 months old now. Time goes so quickly! It certainly doesn't seem like it's been that long since he was born. On the other hand, so much has changed in our lives that it seems like forever-ago!

He had a well-baby check up this morning. Besides the observation that Texans just aren't in a hurry (after being called back and put in an exam room, we waited 30 minutes to see the doctor!), it wasn't very notable. Jonah is healthy and happy and didn't even mind getting a shot. He thought the doctor's office was pretty cool--they have a slide in the waiting area!--and he really liked the nurse.

For this visit I was able to leave Henry with his dad and take only Jonah. Usually I take both boys everywhere, so Jonah and I don't get to spend a lot of one-on-one time together. He is such a sweet kid, very simple and full of love and joy. I think people miss that about Jonah. Anyway, I think he really appreciated having the time with just mom.

By the way, have you ever crammed so many raisins in your mouth that you just can't close it? Squashed so many way up into your cheeks that you started to drool brown liquid down onto your chest? No? Hmmm....well, that's what Jonah was doing when I took this picture. :)

Working in the Shop

Today Sam is building workbenches in his shop. Not one to waste any time, is he? :) Henry was dying to "help" in his own unique way, so I went to my gift shelf and pulled out a little kids tool set that's been in there for a while. I thought that he would love to use his own real hammer in his daddy's shop. After dividing up the tools (Henry got the hammer and the flashlight, Jonah got the tape measure and the safety glasses), we headed out to the shop.

Unfortunately, before I even got Jonah through the door, Henry was retreating. Sam had started the saw, and Henry hates the noise. In the process of the retreat, he tripped and scraped up his knee. It didn't hurt until he saw the blood. Then it definitely needed a band-aid and maybe some lemonade to make him feel better. We were heading to the house to doctor him up, when Henry almost walked into a spider who was hanging from a web just outside the back door (it was just above his head). Trauma! We finally made it to the house, only to have the boys get confused over which tool belongs to whom. After trying to mediate, I made the decision that nobody needed to have tools in the house. Jonah didn't really care, he went and grabbed a book off the bookshelf. Henry, on the other hand, burst into tears. Absolutely inconsolable. I was starting to wonder if we were going to survive this day.

In the midst of all of this, my wonderful husband offered to take me out to dinner tonight. He didn't even know what was going on, but he always seems to know the right thing to do!

What a Mess!

Look closely at the picture of Henry over there....yes, that's dirt. Completely covering his face. Actually his entire head. Okay, his whole body. This is how he comes in from playing outside in our backyard! Jonah is pretty much the same. (Only his goal is usually to see how much dirt he can cram up underneath his fingernails and toenails. Are girls like this, I wonder?)

And still I wonder how my floors can always be dirty. I really do sweep. A lot. And I feel like I'm forever vacuuming. I have a really nice steam cleaner for the carpets. Nobody even wears shoes in my house! But after looking at this picture, I'm beginning to get a clearer picutre of what is really happening to my clean house....

On a different note--Sam killed the biggest black widow spider that I have ever seen today. He knocked it out of an umbrella that was on our back porch and then stepped on it. It left a splatter on the patio about the size of our kitten. I might be exaggerating, but what can I say? I'm a Hasz. :) Then about twenty minutes later as Sam was cleaning up the garage, what do you think he found? Another black widow! I know we have lots of spiders around here, but some things about Texas are going to take me a little while to get used to!

The First of August

Henry has started to read this week! He has a little book called, "Just Shopping With Mom" and he loves to read it to anyone who comes around. If nobody is around, then he will settle for reading it to Joey. Pretty smart kid, huh?

I suppose I should explain that he doesn't exactly know how to read. But he does turn the pages and tell a story. The funny part is that he uses some exact phrases from the book and mixes in his own too. (For example, he calls the book "About Shopping With Mommy.") It is very cute to watch, and it makes him feel so big!

Many who know Henry know that he loves to wear necklaces. Lately his word for them has changed, and it comes out as "neck-sweat." Sam and I have been having fun with that one! It's funny how influential a three year old can be. We notice that we start saying things the way that Henry does (sometimes to be funny, and sometimes sub-consciencely!). Actually, for those who don't know, that is how we started calling Jonah "Joe" or "Jo Jo" or "Joey." Those all came from Henry. And some of those will probably stick for a long time--Joey (aka Samuel Jonah) may have some explaining to do later in life!