Reading out loud

All year, Owen fought me hard if I asked him to read out loud to us...this was most days as it was part of his school work. He reads to himself ALL DAY LONG, but I also need him to read out loud so that I can be sure he is actually reading and not just skimming or flipping pages....or at least to be sure of what level he is reading and such. So, school ended the Friday before Memorial Day, and since then, we have started doing something I am calling "fun work" some mornings for about an hour. This will give us a chance to have some structure to our mornings home this summer and keep him from falling completely out of the school routine. So far, they love it. We are actually doing things that we did all year during school, but calling it "fun work" has them asking when we get to do it. Also, Owen has been asking me if he can read out loud to us. Today he read about 5 books out loud. He also wants to read one chapter of his Magic Tree House books out loud each time we do fun work. He even put a stack of them in his work boxes to be ready. Each time he asks me if he can read to us, I jump at the chance! It's like your child saying "Mommy, can I please put away all of the laundry for you today?!" One thing this teaches me about Owen (I don't know how it will translate to my other two kids) is that I need to give him a little space and wait until he is ready to try new things. In some ways I baulk at this because I am the mom, he is the son, he should listen to me...right?! But I, as the mom, need to follow some of the cues he is giving. When he was potty training, he would scream if we suggested the potty...until he was 3 1/2(old for potty training!) and then he just sat on it and has had about one accident since then! With riding a bike, he has hated it until this past week when he finally felt confident enough to ride (with training wheels) at a birthday party and the park. Then again with reading out loud. I think it's reminding me to give him a little space and a little grace while still trying to push him in appropriate ways to not live by fear, but to trust God to give him strength and courage and such. Hard balance to find! Here he is with a captive (well, slightly captive) audience this afternoon reading "Poppleton in Winter" by Cynthia Rylant. A great read if you haven't seen it before!

Lucy's First Hair Cut

I have been wanting to cut the back of Lucy's hair for a while now - it was developing into a discreet mullet. Then it started getting really hot here. The top is too short to pull it all back and up off of her neck. We decided it was time to give Lucy a little trim - mostly to get rid of the very back that was super long, and to provide some relief in the heat while the front grows a little longer. I am mostly happy with it. She did have some super sweet curl in the long parts that is slightly gone, but I think it's worth it. Here are before and after shots...

Baseball Cards

These pictures of Owen are a result of Matt bringing down his boxes of baseball cards from the attic recently. Owen said that they are his poses for what his baseball cards would look like if he had one.

We decided to make use of the surplus of cards around and make new placemats for the boys. They love them! We just used a bunch (18 each) of baseball cards, some card stock and clear contact paper.

10 Years Later

Matt and I celebrated our TEN year wedding anniversary on May 11. TEN YEARS?! How is that even possible?! We were able to spend a night "away" at a hotel here in Richmond and enjoy dinner, a movie, sleeping in (8:20!!), and going for a run on the Buttermilk Trail down by the James River. It was a joy to spend time with each other, though we really missed our kids a lot! Thank you to Grams and Grampop (Matt's parents) for watching the kids so we could do this. Can't wait for our 20 year! Owen will be 16, Baxter 14 and Lucy 11. YIKES. This is a great song about marriage that speaks a lot to the joy of marriage and yet the ups and downs that come with it, and the goodness and grace of God that carries us through and allows us to remain true to each other and hang in their when they days are tough! Take a minute to watch it, it's by our favorite musician right now, Andrew Peterson. Two pictures of our wedding day.

My housemates made these fun shirts for a girls night the night before our wedding, thus May 10, 2002. I found it last week when I was cleaning out my closet and wore it to sleep the night before our anniversary, as I had 10 years prior. They also brought me breakfast in bed on my wedding day - Mr.J's bagels, YUM. So in honor of that, Matt brought us to our favorite bagel shop here in Richmond. Thanks Son House ladies - miss you guys!

This is on our run on the Buttermilk Trail - the James River is so cool!

Then and Now...

Baxter had his last day of preschool yesterday. There was a little celebration picnic after school. It was a real sweet time. We are thankful for the love and care he had at preschool, but we are really glad to have him home with us this summer! We are on the fence about sending him to preschool in the fall or just do preschool at home. We're already going to be doing 1st grade at home, so it makes sense to have him with us. We'll see. God will make it clear! Baxter's first day of school this year, September 2011.

Baxter's last day of school this year, May 2012.

Just watching a show...

I sat across the room from my three kids the other day while they were watching a show, and I was just struck with how precious they are. The last few months have been exhausting and hard with them. Lots of attitude issues. Lots of fights. Lots of them exasperating me and me exasperating them. Lots of chances to repent and forgive and restore. It was a treat to just see them as precious - in the midst of the hard days I can lose sight of that. I hate to admit that, but it's true. When they are fighting non-stop or when they listen to ZERO of my words (or at least it feels like that), it's hard to remember what a gift they are from God. So thankful for this moment. So thankful for these precious kids.

Boy-Sized Clock

A little end of the year fun - making a boy sized clock. I had him change the "hands" on the clock to various times (ex. When do we eat lunch? 12:00, What time is it now? 10:40, What time is dinner, 5:30.) He loved it! I was thankful that my silly idea worked. Always glad when that happens!

What a sweet little helper!

Baxter was helping me swiffer the kitchen and hallway tonight. Lucy happened upon it when she finished eating dinner and went to town! Give this little girl a few more years and I expect she is going to be super helpful around the house! For now, it will just occupy her for a while and be a great occasion for taking pictures :) Notice how I sais this "little girl" and not this "baby girl"...she looks so grown up to me in these pictures!

The Lord is Risen...even two weeks later!

Thankful that our Lord has indeed risen, and that we can celebrate that and live in light of that every day, not just Easter Sunday! As we focused on the story of Easter the week leading up to Easter, and especially the Saturday of the weekend, I realized that I often live as though Jesus did NOT rise from the dead, but rather that he is still dead in the tomb. I live like my weakness or my sin or the sin of others are the final say - that they are in charge. But NO! He has indeed risen from the grave, and has defeated the power of sin, so I don't need to live under it anymore! Hallelujah!!

Here are a few pics I took of our kiddos on Easter Sunday - when did the boys get so big?! Matt had already gone to church, so I was trying a solo impromptu photo shoot...I got a few good ones, but in the process Lucy got grass stain on her white tights. Oh well!

Sweet Lucy

It is very apparent that Lucy is the baby sister of two older brothers! This is apparent in many ways, one of which is her vocabulary. Here are a few of the words she can say - what a mix!

-momma
-dadda
-owah (Owen)
-bahbah (Baxter)
-bufwy (butterfly)
-dahdahdahdah (belly button)
-vroom vroom (car)
-chuchu (train)
-sshhoouuuu (airplane...don't really know how to spell what she says for it)
-aa da (all done)
-bye bye

This morning she had both a baby doll and a Rescue Hero in her stroller that she was pushing around. I asked her to give Baxter the Rescue Hero. She reached into the stroller, picked up the Rescue Hero and brought it to Baxter. What a sweet girl!

Owen vs Lucy one on one basketball game

There was a sweet moment of our day where Owen was playing basketball and Lucy wanted to join him. The pictures make it look like 1) the actually played a game together and 2) Lucy has some moves. Mostly it was just a sweet time of Owen and Lucy enjoying each other! Glad to have caught it on camera. Moments like these I'm thankful that he's home with us for school. This is not all there is to it, but it's a plus for sure.