Overheard:

I can't tell you for sure what I did today, but it may not have been cleaning house.

What I told Paul after he woke up this afternoon (working nights) and the house was literally a pile from one end to the other.  (Okay, so three rooms.  But still.  Literally.  Pile.)  Between toys, laundry, our child-sized table and chairs, and a huge pile of blankets the boys made for kitten snuggling, it was one huge booby trap.
(Oh, and I was taking a nap when he discovered it.)

Overheard:

Mommy, I like your big hair.


Which he immediately redeemed himself by saying,

It's like on Jacob's movie. [Rapunzel on Tangled, which Jacob got for his birthday.]

Some of My Favorite Recent Pictures

I've been bad at getting updates lately.  Between teaching Nathan's violin and preschool daily, I haven't had much free time.

So in lieu of a detailed update, I thought I'd just share some of my favorite pictures from the last couple months.... The pictures are more interesting than my ramblings anyways.  Most of these are pictures I intended to use for a blog, but just never got around to it.  (Typical.)

This was on Mother's Day (so it's a few more months than just "the last few").  I love them, and I think they're so cute when they are dressed matchy-matchy.  My handsome guys!

 Why colored bubbles only sound like an awesome idea.

He's quite fond of torturing the cat (in love).  And the cat just takes it, so it's his own dumb fault.

 Nathan found a tiny baby snail (on top of a "normal" size snail shell, which is about the size of a nickel).  I thought the photos with him in the background were hilarious.

 We have some old, old Bugs Bunny cartoons - the ones from World War II, with jingles about war bonds and saving tin.  One on there is the national anthem.  He always stands up when that one is on.  (So proud of this.)

Multi-tasking.

My rock stars.  (I may have posted it before.)  I did tell Nathan to do the "peace" sign.

We expanded our play set.  It now has two platforms.  The next step will be a playhouse built on the area where Nathan's bike is parked..... Someday.  The new platform will lead to a loft above the playhouse.

Jacob is a picky eater at mealtimes.  But when he wants to eat something, he'll eat anything.  These pics:  a whole boiled egg - in the shell, and a stick of butter.  He also ate half a decorative gourd - straight through like an apple, chalk, crayons, and markers (which he has to try at least once a week).

The boys watching the final Space Shuttle launch.

It has been DRY.  This is our feet after a very short walk down the grass at the side of our gravel road.  It's October, and it's still no better.

 Nathan is coming along on his violin.  Jacob is now very interested as well, but it's very obvious he does not have the patience to even bother trying to teach him yet.  It's like, "I want to hold the violin.  Okay.  I'm done."

 The lighting was just perfect the evening I took these.  My boys just look like they're glowing (which they always do to me :) ).

The favorite pastime this summer was removing all of my landscaping bricks from the edge of my front flower bed, hauling them in their Tonka trucks, and then lining them up or stacking them on the sidewalk.  I just finally reclaimed them two weeks ago, and so far they haven't been destroyed again (yet).

More "I don't see the point of these flowers."  We took this large planter down off the deck rail after Jacob pulled it off on himself.  They proceeded to pull the flowers, because they were on some prime dirt for farming. 

 As a "last hurrah" of summer, about the beginning of September when it started to cool down, I filled up the dog's water pool (it's very dry, so he needs a place to drink and splash).  The boys proceeded to strip down and go skinny dipping in the COLD water.  They loved it.  (Incidentally, they have not asked to swim since. :P )

 I love any picture of our house and yard.  It just makes me feel so peaceful.  Home must really be where your heart is.

We had one of those crazy spiny squooshy balls, and it popped.  (I didn't know it was possible.)  It makes for an awesome silly hat, though!

Nathan turned 4!  I made him a worm cake, which looks PATHETIC compared to the one in the magazine I got the idea from, but he loved it.

My parents got Nathan and Mackenzie (my niece; her 5th birthday was the same week, so we had a double party) globes.  It is perfect timing for school, learning about the world God created, and showing them where their Aunt Sissy is.  (Carlsie, my youngest sister, is in Zambia for 2 years with the Peace Corps.)  

Here, they're showing us where Zambia is.

This face.  It makes my heart melt every time.  What is it?  Is it the puppy dog eyes?

 And his smile just lights up a room.  Seriously.  Heart bursting.

Of course, this guy is getting pretty darn handsome.  His smile can just say T-U-R-D sometimes. :)

And the Real Reason for No Posting......

A couple more pictures.........

(Sleep is pretty much my priority right now.)

Public School

The more I hear about what kids are learning in public school - from each other, not the teachers (although don't get me started on that aspect) - the more I'm sure we made the right decision to home-school.  Pornography, masturbation, and gay sex acts..... from 10 year olds.
Some may argue, "Well, you can't protect them forever."  You're right. I can't protect them forever, and I don't want to.  I just want to protect them until they're old enough and mature enough to know right from wrong, to know how to respond when they are confronted with wrong and evil.  To know that just because friends are talking about and doing something, there is another option - to walk away from the crowd.
I'd rather explain things myself than have them exposed to a picture of something that confuses and alarms them. (Homosexuality is talked about in the Bible. We read the Bible as a family.  It will come up.)  We recently were talking to a friend, and he told us of his 20-year struggle with pornography, after he was exposed to it by a "friend" in 5th grade.
Okay, so homeschooling doesn't necessarily control the content of their conversations with their friends.  But it helps control who they're talking to and where they're talking about it.
And, yes, I will be "one of those" parents.  Even though the boys are only 2 and 4, we already have rules about girls in their bedrooms, and they're not allowed to go into girls bedrooms.

Annoying

I woke up with this song in my head:

Rain makes corn
Corn makes whiskey
Whiskey makes my baby
A little frisky

GAAH!  I've only heard it once ever, so why do I wake up with it going over and over in my head?  And why can't I get it out?
Annoying.
(I have no idea of the title or artist, but it's a country song.  I heard it earlier this week on a YouTube farming video Paul was watching.  This is the only part I remember.)

Dear Son:

Nathan, as much as you would like to try to fight it, naptime around here isn't negotiable. It's a sacred time.

At least until you're old enough to clean the house or something while I take a nap myself.

Love,

Mommy

Pardon Me While I Brag on My Kids.....

Have I mentioned that I love having boys? I must admit, I am kind of (a lot) intimidated by the fact that we are raising future men and fathers. Will they be kind, polite, brave? Will they be hard workers? Will they be strong Christians, leaders?

But for now, they are boys. They love dirt, mud, animals, water, anything with wheels, climbing, building (and destroying) things.

It seems like they challenge my authority constantly at home, yet when we go out, they make me so proud. I don't worry about going to the store with them - they don't throw fits or beg for items. (But don't get me wrong - I'd still rather go shopping without them!) Taking them to a church potluck on my own (when Paul is working) is a breeze - they eat, they play, I get to socialize. I guess it goes to show that consistency with discipline does eventually pay off.

Jacob amazes me. Two months ago, he barely had 5 understandable words. Now we can understand almost everything he says (it's not perfect, but we can tell what it is). He even says, "I love you." (Ah Lahl Lou.) Talk about how to melt my heart! He is still 10x more snuggly than Nathan ever was, which sometimes is a pain (in the middle of the night, anyone?). But I guess I should enjoy it? He is starting to sing recognizable songs (Twinkle, Old McDonald, and B-I-B-L-E, mostly). He won't be 2 until later this month, and he's fully potty trained himself (my plan wasn't even to start until about now.) He's decided that boots and a hat are essential components of his wardrobe when he leaves the house, which thrills me, because it means he has identified with, and wants to be like his daddy.

Nathan has got a mind like a steel trap..... When he chooses to use it. He can sing songs word-for-word that he's only heard a couple times. Yet when it comes to the Alphabet, he claims he "doesn't know" on most of the letters. (Although it could be an audible vs. visual learning thing, I guess, because he can sing the whole song with no problem.) We started preschool with him, about an hour a day (depending on how many battles of wills we have), every day. He really seems to have it on numbers, but the letters are slow coming. He's writing his name now - every day it's a little faster and a little less coaching. His violin is coming along..... We're still not really pushing him. He's graduated to his real violin (he was learning posture on a toy), and is working on drawing the bow straight and crossing strings. I think he sometimes gets frustrated, wanting to play music, not realizing all this other stuff has to be perfected before you can make it sound like music.

When it comes down to it, I am very proud of my boys. Not because they're adorable (which they are), but because they're good boys. They're "all boy" boys. They are future men.

Didn't Get the Memo

Dear sons,

When you are out of bed 7 times between the two of you in one night, it is completely unacceptable to wake up before 7 AM.

And as usual, you do what you want to do with no thought to the fact that it may cause me to feel like my eyeballs are going to ooze out of my head. Naptime can't come soon enough.

Love,

Mommy

Overheard:

"Whitey's just under the porch; he's eating a grass-copter."

(Whitey is our white kitten. Boring name, but we had to get Nathan to call him something other than "Joyce" [the white cat on Milo and Otis] after we realized he was a boy.)

I can't wait until Jacob is talking more so I can get more of these great sayings from him. So funny!