puppy love

And so it has begun...this week I was driving with both boys in the car and Grant said, "Mommy, I want a puppy."  We are doomed.  He's always LOVED dogs and of course his all-time #1 is his dog-dog but he's never actually asked for a real dog before.  Now he's been asking about every other day for a puppy!  Someday little buddy, someday...maybe when you can scoop poop and be responsible for a few of the other doggie duties!

biblical virtue #2

31 BIBLICAL VIRTUES to pray for your kids

2. Growth in grace. "I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18).

Rossi has arrived!!

Grant has been waiting and waiting and waiting for his bud Rossi to arrive and finally on Sunday his wish came true!  Already, the first night, all three boys had to end their day together in the bathtub, they had a blast!

Two weeks ago the boys and I had a wonderful week spent at Kid's Camp (vacation bible school) held at our church.  I taught a preschool class and Grant and Parker played in their own kid's care/classrooms, next year Grant will get to participate at the age of 4.  It was a long week (early mornings) for us all and both boys ended up feeling a little under the weather but all in all we had a grand time teaching and learning the love of Jesus! 

Last week we enjoyed many days outdoors, a lot of playdates with friends and Parker caught up on some much needed sleep and was feeling much better than the week prior. 

A few notables:

1/ Grant still says, "skuumsee," instead of excuse me
2/ Grant insists on kissing Parker's head before naps and bedtime
3/  Parker will follow us around the room if we get him started and balanced well before letting go!
4/  Parker's sign language is getting pretty good, he signs for more and all-done, waves goodbye and claps frequently
5/ Parker had his first real crash over the weekend, he got a bad start when walking between Frank and I and bonked his forehead on the side of the coffee table which quickly turned into a purple shiner
6/ When we picked Grant up on the last day of Kid's Camp the teachers said, "Wow, he sure does love music!"  It's also worth mentioning he sleeps with one or all three of his drumsticks for at least one year now.
7/ Parker had his second haircut and still really, really does NOT like it!
8/ Parker scoots around but still no solid crawling.  Last week Parker let go of my hands two different times, while visiting at a friend's house, to walk over to their toys
9/ Grant has begun to really like watching The Talking Letter Factory and can make nearly every sound of each letter of the alphabet, it is so fun to listen to him
10/ Parker seems to have a love of music just like his older brother, when we sing songs or when music is playing he starts to wiggle and bounce uncontrollably!

Grant says some of the funniest things and I find myself laughing at/with him frequently.  "Mommy, I want Grandpa to plant us popcorn next year in our garden!"  "Okey dokey artichokey."  "Look everybody, the sun is shining!!" (He knows how much I love it when the sun is shining!)  He also sings many, many songs throughout the day.

purposeful prayer

I often feel as though I've fallen into a trap when it comes to praying.  I feel convicted that I pray the same prayers, the same words, over and over again.  I, like many of you, want to pray powerful and effective prayers, particularly for my children.  I want them to grow-up knowing that their Mom prayed for them daily and with purpose.  I strongly believe in prayer, the strength of it to me is awesome. 

I have come to realize, in these few short years of being a parent, that I cannot and will not be ever-present and available for them as their Creator is.  Praying is one of the most powerful things I can do for our boys and with that I would like to be accountable to praying through the 31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your kids, yet again.  I hope you'll join me! 

1. Salvation.  "Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory"  (Is. 45:8, 2 Tim. 2:10).

the yard

On Sunday Grandpa and Grandma R (thank you!!) came down to assist in our yard trenching.  Much progress was made and even as I type we are close to having everything completed!

 Every good work crew needs a good supervisor, right?!  Grant wore his work shirt and "dirty shoes", like Grandpa R, he told me!

My little bud, likes to make faces at me when I'm taking his picture these days...grrrr!

campers

HOORAY, we survived!

We had a wonderful time camping, these faces say it all!  Parker was a trooper despite having a fever by the time we left on Sunday, it was from his shots at his one year appointment, poor little guy.  Thankfully he recovered quickly and was back to his normal happy little self on Tuesday!

These flowers were from Grant, he picked them each individually and would bring them to me, "Here Mommy, this flower is for you."  My heart melted each time and I was also sure to show them to his Daddy...hint, hint Frank, Mommy likes flowers!

I love this shot, Juliet was also picking flowers for the rock castles that were being built around the firepit.  Isn't she adorable?

Parker is a dog lover, no doubt about it!  He squeals anytime he sees a dog, even when it barks he is not detered!  Oreo was our camp mascot and here Parker was paying a friendly visit with Marlo and Abby.

Grant associated the firepit as camping.  The first night we went back to our cabin to put on jammies and get ready for bed Grant asked to go camping again.  Frank and I said we would see how this trip went first and then decide if we would go camping again.  Of course, Grant kept asking to go camping over and over again and then finally pointed over to where the firepit was and said, "Over there, I want to go camping again!"  Ha!  He thought camping was only our time around the firepit!

This is what Parker would choose to do 100% of his time if he could find someone willing to participate!  Walk, walk, walk!  He has dropped one hand since and will walk with only one of our fingers, his balance is getting better and better each day....it won't be long and he'll be on his own!

And then there were these three little monkeys, Grant, Kellen and Landon, what is more fun for little boys than a water pump?

Of course one activity had to be jumping off a stump taller than they were?!  Grant was more daring than we thought and soared off this stump countless times!

Our home away from home, cabin #2...we were really roughing it, huh?! :)

I anticipate more camping in our future, we had a wonderful time with so many friends joining us and the boys had an absolute ball.  Fresh air, sunshine and plenty of laughter is hard to beat! 

this week

First,and most importantly, Grant figured out how to pump his legs on Wednesday after being on the swing for only a few minutes and the rest is history!  I was soooo excited for him and he was beaming, absolutely beaming, and he can swing very, very high (one superman fall so far!) and all on his own, he can even get himself going from scratch!  I will admit to waking up Thursday morning realizing he no longer needs me to push him, I instantly felt a bit sad but Frank quickly helped me realize he is growing-up...still only 3 years old but growing-up none-the-less.

Also, this week, our backyard neighbors and Frank trenched our backyard in hopes of some relief this winter from the swamp that ensues each year, we are hoping this does the trick.

Andrea, Jack, Grant, Parker & Jacob (on his belly) all watching the fun trencher at work!  All the boys were in heaven with the enormous amounts of dirt!

Frank thought I needed a reminder for years down the road of just how much Parker LOVES the water and splashes uncontrollably his entire bathtime!

Lastly, Grant started his PeeWee Hoops class this week.  It was comical to watch and the coach uses a whistle which made a lasting impression on Grant because that's pretty much all he told his Daddy about that night, ha!!

And this is what Parker does during Grant's classes...as well as eat a lot of Goldfish crackers to help pass the time!

We've had a very fun and eventful week and our next endeavor includes camping...we are leaving in a few hours, Lord help us!!