Summer, I love you...

I love the sun, it just cheers me up. I don't even care that it is humid outside and I get sweaty just running errands. It gives me life and energy. If I could, I'd live in molten hot weather all my life, preferably near a beach somewhere, but I'm realistic, so I'll take Texas sumemrs.

I love the excuse to wear less clothes instead of bundling up in thousands of layers to stay warm. I love summer clothes: t-shirts, shorts and flip flops.

I love working out in the heat, and the challenge it presents in extra conditioning.

I love the smells of freshly cut grass, and grilled food wafting through the warm breeze.

I love summer food: fruit, like watermelon and strawberries that are SO good this time of year, and grilled foods: hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, etc.

I love to get a tan on my skin, and that I get to wear less makeup because of it.

I love outdoor water activities, going to the lake, and trips to Hurricane Harbor. I love to watch my kids laughing in the sprinkler. I love the excuse to play in my swimsuit all day.

I love the inherent laziness and lethary of summer, and yet, the flurry of fun activities that we get to do because we have so much time off.

I love outdoor projects and landscaping and time to do home improvements.

I love camping and hiking and all things outside, even if I get sweaty. I don't care, I like to sweat!!

I'm so excited for my summer break to begin! 8 more days!!

Missionary Conversation

Lately I have been really impressed with Jackson's mental abilities. He is remembering, recalling and understanding so much these days. He randomly tells me and/or Ben the activities of his day, things he liked/didn't like, when kids got in trouble, and what for, and things he learned. He is really turning into a little boy! I love it!

This evening when I put Jackson to bed, we went through our normal bedtime routine of bath, teeth brushing, book reading, and prayer. Tonight, as I tucked him in, I asked him if he wanted to sing a song before bed. He had been singing The Happy Family Primary Song lately and I didn't teach it to him, so I suggested we sing it, but he said, no, he wanted to sing, "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission."

So we sang that instead, and afterward I seized a teachable moment and said, "Do you know what a missionary is?"
"No, " he said.
"Missionaries are teachers, just like I am a teacher, but I teach kids about ABCs and counting, and when you are a missionary, you get to teach people about Heavenly Father and Jesus. Do you want to do that?"
"Yeah!" he said.
"You want to be a missionary?" I asked.
"Yeah, I want to be a missionary and teach my friends."
Very excited and a little proud, I said, "You do? That will make me and Heavenly Father so happy."
Still thinking, he said, "Yeah, I want to be a missionary...and I want to be Frosty the Snowman."

Hmmmph...maybe he doesn't quite understand as much as I thought. :)

Guns, Toddlers, and the Rangers!!

No one ever told me that when you have boys, anything and everything is turned into a gun. Literally. Wrapping paper in our cart at Wal-Mart turned into a lethal weapon and Wal-mart patrons were enemies. A peanut butter sandwich strategically bitten looks similar to a gun and coupled with my favorite *read sarcasm* shooting sound, it's like WWIII in our kitchen. My list goes on and on...play tools = guns, sticks = guns, Tinkertoys = guns, blocks put together juuuust right = guns, sometimes even things that couldn't possibly look at all like a gun, surprisingly will work just fine. I am NOT a fan of this gun phase. Anyone else have experience with this or should I be worried?

I have outlawed gun-play in the preschool with strict consequences, which may seem silly, but public schools are strict on this issue, too, I know, so I am trying to be consistent with what they do. He really didn't get into guns until a new kid started coming to our school who likes to make shooting sounds. Even Sam has started making the popular sound. Should I just throw up my hands and hope the phase passes, or should I continue with the anti-gun-play rule?

Sam is going to be one next week, and he does so much for himself now. He is an excellent walker, almost never falling (unless Jackson pushes him down, which sadly, is frequent), and I even watched him just this week master bending at the waist to pick up a toy and standing back up all without the aid of a nearby table or chair. He says Mama, Dada, claps hooray, and occasionally waves bye-bye, but doesn't say it yet. He can point to the basic parts of my face on a good day, but always knows nose. Lately we have been working on animal names and sounds, but the only one he says upon request is duck, and it comes out "Da" which is just Dada, with only one Da. He loves to play chase and laughs heartily when he is chasing Jack or me or when Daddy is chasing him to tickle him. He also has entered the love for Elmo stage. This is convenient since Jackson loved Elmo, too, and we already have a ton of Elmo gear. He will eat completely on his own, but he is such a picky eater! Jackson woudl anything and everything, so I have struggled with this. His least favorite thing to eat is any kind of meat. I try to hide it in small bites mixed in with applesauce or baby food, but he finds it in his mouth, uses his tongue to hold onto it, swallows the other food, and then spits out the meat. Little stinker!!

This is Sam trying to steal food off of Jackson's tray...so he won't eat his own food, but he'll steal his brothers'!

We have been to two Texas Rangers baseball games this month and took Jackson to both (we got a sitter for Sam). He was really good, especailly considering he was up past bedtime. The second game had fireworks, which, of course, he got super-excited about. Now he walks aroudn the house randomly shouting, "Let's go Rangers...(clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)" or "Let's go, C. JAYYY! (pitcher)" or "GOOOOOO Rangers!!!" I'm glad he is getting excited about sports and I can't wait to watch him play his first game of t-ball. For an almost 3 year old, he is fairly coordinated and athletic. He is a good dribbler, too, so I hope he might find some interest in soccer, but I won't push it.

This is an awesome blog!

If you don't already know about it, check out "Or so she says..." It is the 1/2 owned blog of one of my adolescent friends, Mariel. I just found some really cool DIY mother's day gift ideas on here. If you are looking for something like that, you have got to check it out!

Here is the site: