First Day of Fall!!!

Today is the first day of Fall and right on time, we have our first cool-front of the year!!! Gosh...WHAT a welcome relief!!

It's about 70 degrees for the high, with lows in the high 50's. The boys and I opened the windows and aired-out the house. It feels SO nice to have some fresh air.

The boys were so happy to have the windows open that they pulled up their little stools right in front of the windows and just stood there for a couple of hours this afternoon. Noah was fascinated watching the tree in our neighbor's yard.

I had to snap a couple of pics of them enjoying the cooler weather. Let's hope it sticks around and summer is gone for the year!

Luke's One Man Band

Luke is so stinkin' funny and creative. He's always pretending and using his imagination. Today, he wanted to be a one-man-band like he saw "Twist" doing from The Fresh Beat Band. He kept coming out with different instruments in his hands, tucked under his arms and in his mouth. He'd get to playing and stomping his feet. It made me laugh out loud!

Ming Ming Cupcakes

For those of you who aren't familiar, there is a show on Nick Jr. that all the kids love called "The Wonder Pets." Lenny the hamster, Tuck the turtle and Ming Ming the chick are all characters that live in a class room at school where the kids and teachers take care of them. When the kids go home, the "Wonder Pet" save various animals throughout the world. I have to admit that it's a cute show and one of the few I can tolerate to watch over and over every day.

From time-to-time the commercials on that station will show arts and crafts type projects you can do with your kids. Well, recently there has been this commercial for Ming Ming cupcakes. Yellow frosting, a molded Starburst beak, rolled out tootsie-rolls for the hat, etc. Luke has been begging me to make them with him for weeks now. I finally gave in.

I should have realized what I was getting myself in to when the directions clearly stated that "this is a project for parents to do primarily with out the kid!' What the heck! Does Nick Jr. really think that we parents want to be doing this stuff ourselves?

Not to be discouraged, I was going to do this project with Luke and make a happy memory for him!! I'll tell you, after molding 14 Starburst beaks, I decided 14 Ming Ming cup cakes were just going to have to be enough.

When Luke got home I had everything ready so that all we had to do was decorate...the fun part, right? I actually do think he had fun. Although I ended up frosting them, he had fun putting the chocolate chip eyes on and rolling out the tootsie rolls for Ming Ming's pilot hat. And, of course, he enjoyed eating the first cup cake we completed!!

The pictures show how proud he is and it's a good thing they turned out well, because when I asked him if he had fun he said it was kind of boring! LOL! Oh well, I'm making sure a copy of these pictures get put in his baby book so that he never forgets all the fun stuff I did for him!! I suppose this is just what mother's do for their kids. (And I did have a little fun in the process myself.)

Sharing Popsicles

I recently purchased some of the old-fashion Tupperware popsicle mold for Luke and boy have we had some fun. I love that I can make apple-juice pops and he thinks he's getting a treat.

Today I made some with Countrytime Lemonade and you would have thought I was mom-of-the-year from the way Luke reacted. I haven't heard so many, "Yes ma'am Mommy's" in a long time!

What was even nicer was when Luke shared his popsicles with Noah. He was so sweet and thoughtful, which are virtues we've been working on a LOT lately. Ah...I love full circle moments like this where I get to see the result of what we've been teaching!! It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it makes my day!

Taekwondo Tuesdays

I enrolled Luke in Taekwondo again this week. He took Taekwondo last year, but didn't always want to participate, so we waited a few months before trying it again. His uniform has been hanging in his room and would ask about it from time-to-time. So when the sessions started back up this month I asked him if he thought he was really read to participate. He enthusiastically assured me he was!

I love Taekwondo for so many reasons. It's great reinforcement for all the lessons and virtues we're trying to teach him at home. Each week they earn "clips" on their belts for being respectful, cleaning their room, treating others the way they want to be treated and, of course, practicing is Taekwondo.

We have a chart on the fridge that we fill out each day showing that he mastered the skill or not. It's great motivation for Luke to make right choices and be rewarded at the end of the week.

Check him out in his uniform! He had a great time learning a back-hand punch and practicing balance and coordination as he jumped over the pads on the floor.

Batman!

Luke is really growing up and changing in to a little boy. One way he shows me this everyday is with the new toys that interest him. Move over baby toys, hello action figures.

Right now, he is obsessed with Batman...with Spiderman running a close second. He got a Batman 12 inch action figure for his birthday with wings that pop out and ever since then he's wanted to be Batman. We've tied blankies around his neck and clipped towels to his shoulders...anything to replicate that Batman cape and make him feel like a super-hero!

Recently the little boy who lives next to us started wearing these Batman pajamas with a cape that velcros to the back. Luke thought they were SO cool! Well, leave it to Ms. Sherry to drive all over town until she found some in Luke's size!! (Actually, they are almost too small, but Luke doesn't care one bit!)

Check him out in the pics. He has not taken them off except for me to wash them. He says they are not only pajamas, but also "morning clothes" that he can wear all day. And, you I don't really mind if he wears PJ's all day...he's my little super-hero!!

The Fruit of our Labor

We're growing tomatoes!! I would not have believed it if I wasn't staring at them right now. I have a terrible black thumb! This 100+ Texas heat doesn't help me either. Despite this, I love the idea of fresh veggies, so we bought an Earth Box and topsey turvey plant hanger. These claim to be fool proof on the commercials and they must be right because boy do we ever have tomatoes!!! Luke must have eaten about 10 a day for the past week. It's impressive, if I do say so myself!

We also have a cucumber plant growing with lots of baby cucumbers on it. Our original plant was pulled out by a rabbit, so this is our second plant and it got a late start. I'm not sure if we'll actually have cucumbers to eat this year, but it sure has been fun watching them grow!!

The best part is watching how excited Luke gets everyday when he goes outside to pick his tomatoes. He can hardly wait to see how many are ready each day!!

Shhhh....quiet time

It's rare around here, but once a day we do try to settle down for some quiet time.

Luke, gave up his nap long ago, but thanks to some favorite videos I can usually get him to lay down on his sleeping bag in the play room. Right now, his favorite is Curious George. (Thank you Ms. Sherry!)

I have no idea what I was thinking sneaking in to Noah's room while he was a sleep just to take his picture. True to his good-nature, when the camera flashed, the only sound he made was a gentle sigh.

Ahhh...quiet time.

Best Friends

Big Luke, Lil' Luke (who isn't so little anymore) and Noah boy.

The "Luke's" have been best friends since they were babies. This is when I realized that working from home while taking care of Luke wasn't easy and I needed someone to help watch him for part of the day.

I seriously praise God for my neighbor introducing me to Christy! She lives one neighborhood over and has always been there for us...whether that be watching the kids or driving us to the hospital....she loves my boys like they are her family...and we love her that way too!

We even have the same taste in clothing... as you can see from the pictures we LOVE Carter's!! The boys actually have several of the same outfits, so when they wore the same thing today we couldn't resist the opportunity to snap a few pics! Best lookin' boys in Texas if I do say so myself!!!

Let the birthdays begin

Post dated 7/8/09

I'm writing today's blog with a post date from July 8th, which was Luke's 4th birthday. -Since it was just last week, I couldn't not go back and recap my "honey-bunny's" special day.

This year, Luke's birthday fell on a Wednesday. Leo and I had to work, so I knew Luke would be spending the morning with Ms. Christy. Early that morning though, when he first woke up, we snuggled on the couch together and looked at pictures of the day he was born. We started with a picture of my big belly. We talked about how he was still in my tummy then, but that later in the day the doctors took him out so daddy and I could meet him for the very first time. We continued with the first pictures of him after he was born and talked about how he screamed and cried when they first handed him to me...he thought that was extremely funny!

Our morning time ticked by quickly, so I got Luke dressed in his 'birthday boy' shirt and ready for the day. Luke knew we were having a big party (in combination with Noah and Seth's birthdays at the end of the month) but we planned a small family celebration for him that evening, so he was excited. What he didn't know what how special his day was going to be at Ms. Christy's house.

First thing that morning she helped them bake birthday cupcakes for Luke. Both Big Luke and Lil Luke added the ingredients, stirred the batter and carefully spooned it into the cup cake liners. Around lunch time, they had a special birthday lunch that included dino-bites chicken nuggets, Spiderman mac-n-cheese and strawberries. After lunch all the neighborhood kids came over to sing happy birthday to Luke and share the cupcakes the boys had baked.

I think Luke's favorite part of his birthday at Ms. Christy's was when she gave him his very own Batman mask and hand sewn cape! It's a long story, but Lil' Luke has one and Big Luke wears it from the time he gets there until I pick him up...every single day! Luke was so thrilled to get his own...he even asked if he could sleep in it! LOL!!

I picked up the boys after lunch and we came home to put the baby down for a nap. About that time, Ms. Sherry called and asked if she could take Luke birthday shopping. Oh boy, did they have fun. She took him several places, but I think the highlight of the trip was a stop at the candy store!! This is a forbidden store when he's with mommy, so he was DELIGHTED that he not only got to go in the store, but also that he got to pick out several pieces of candy including a Spongebob and Patrick marshmallow treat, cotton candy and a blue and white striped candy cane stick. Ummm...can you say sugar-high!!!

Thankfully, Ms. Sherry also got him a present that mommy liked too: a responsibility chart. Each day Luke is so excited to put a smiley-face magnet next to the chores or virtues he's mastered that day. He is expected to do everything from make his bed, brush his teeth, load the dishwasher, stop whining, share with others and be respectful. I LOVE this chart...and more importantly, so does Luke!

By the time Luke and Ms. Sherry got back from the store, it was time to start dinner. Luke requested cheese pizza, so Leo and Mr. Don went to Papa Murphy's (our favorite pizza place) to pick up dinner. While they were gone, I let Luke put the sprinkles and candle on his cake, which made him very happy. (If you know Luke, you know he has a "thing" for sprinkles!)

After dinner, Luke got to open his presents from mommy and daddy. He got a batman action figure whose wings pop out with the push of a button. He also got an incredible hulk mask with glowing eyes...and the coolest incredible hulk fists that fit on like gloves and make crashing and banging noises when they hit something. Luke thought his gifts were SO cool and I felt good about what we had picked out. (Being in Toys R Us, with all the millions of toys, can be very overwhelming!)

By this time we were headed to the tubby for a bath and some snuggle time. Luke and I lay in the bed in my room every night together and watch Scooby-doo, discussing the day and the things we're thankful for. When the lights went out this night, I could hardly get him to stop telling "Fadder God" about all the things he had done that day. It's not often that I try to stop Luke from praying, but this night I had to ask him to wrap things up so we could finally get to sleep!

And when things finally did quiet down, I couldn't help think about the past four years. My life has changed so much since becoming a mom. Next to my salvation, there has been NO greater gift in my life than my children. They make me live to a higher standard and want to be a better person. For this experience, I am forever grateful!