Babysitter Lessons

After coming home from our date we were getting the report from our babysitter on the boy's behavior. I was asking details about the bed time routine and she said "yeah, after I read a couple of books to them that they wanted me to read the "Book of Mormon" to them I didn't really know what to do and then they wanted to pray so I knelt down by them. After that they wanted hugs and I gave them hugs. LOL"
I was so proud of my little ones. I'm so glad that even though we weren't here they wanted to read scriptures and pray. I didn't think to tell the babysitter about scripture and paryer part because I really didnt' think that the boys would do it unprompted. It is just a testimony to me that consistency will turn into good habits for our little ones later on. Also I wonder if that was the first experience that our sitter has had with pray in a long time.
I went in to check on Adam and he was still awake and told me about what happened. He told me that she didn't give him a squawg so I got to give him one. Just so you know a squawg is: a combination of a hug and a squeeze and as you are giving one you have to say "Squawg!" in a loud way. This is a little ritual that Adam made up and has become one of his favorite wrestling moves.

It must be summer

I didn't take too many pictures this week (like none) but I should have. We went with our friends the Nells to one of the beaches at Sandy Hook. I must have looked like a pack mule walking out to the ocean side. I had the unbrella, picnic, chair, toys, and bags all straped to my body and my kids not far behind me. We set up our site and before I knew it Adam was in the water having a blast. Zachary didn't go too far from our blankets because all he needed was right there; sand and toys. I hurried and got sunblock on the best i could by myself. My bathing suit was a little lower than I remember it being and I didn't ask our friends to help since they were in the water with Adam so i just did my best to spray and thought that I would be ok.......Wrong! It is obviously the beginning of summer because I thought I would be burnt and I would stay in the shade of my umbrella. I'll just say I have the weirdest tan lines ever! Oh well, Josh is the only one that will see that anyway.
Adam was in heaven playing in the ocean. That makes me so happy to see my kid having a good time doing somthing a little dangerous. There were times that I was out in the water with him and a wave would come up and wash over him. I could see this big eyes and face under the water and I thhought that "ugh-oh, this is it Adam is going to be scared and want to leave." But every time I was wrong. He would come up and shake it off and we would celebrate how cool that was.
Zachary on the other hand was more than content to not touch the water. I tried to get him to at least touch his toe to the water and he wanted nothing to do with it. Being the stubbern mom that I am I held him on my lap and touched his toes to the wet sand where the water had just receided and that got him really upset. It is funny to me how kids come from the same parents, have the same of a lot of things but they are as oppisite as can be. I know that God makes each one of us and we are all special to Him. Because it was so hot that day I would fill a bucket up and get Zachary wet to cool him off and he didn't mind it. But just don't try to get him into a body of water.
We went swimming at a friends house on friday. It was an inground pool and had different levels of depth. He was fine with the shallow end but he would have nothing to do with me holding him and going into deeper waters. I worrie about our trip to the lake and him having a good time. I know that I'm going to have a hard time with him not being adventerous and fearful. I just don't understand that kind of thing. I need to be patient with this and that is not my forte. I pray that he'll have a good time.
Summer really is the greatest time of the year for any age. I love being a mom during this time. It is so much fun. I really feel like I get to soak up my kids. I even don't mind if we stay home and just relax. Between playing in the yard, looking at bugs, playing with toys, picnicing at our fort, jumping on the tramp, picking the day's harvest from the garden, and reading library books we are occupied. LOVE the summer.

Birthday Weekend!

We kicked off this weekend with Adam's b-day party. He wanted a big party and after last year's rain out I decided to go for the do nothing your self (except invite your friends) route. I really got to enjoy Adam having the time of his life. During this past school year Adam went to the Teens & Tots program at the high school. He got to be really close to one of the Sr. boys named Jacob and naturally we invited him to Adam's b-day party. He came with an invited friend (Dan) and these two were the life of the party. They were like the biggest kids there. They went through thte tubes, played int he balls, wresteled in the jumpie and most of all made Adam feel like he was #1. I credit Jacob for helping Adam get over a few of his obsticals this year and really mature.

After coming home from the party the McCains came. Adam was thrilled to see his cousin Jacob and they had a great time being bunk mates.

Saturday morning the party continued. We took the McCains to see the Statue of Liberity. It couldn't have been a better day. The weather was perfect, there wasn't any wait, and our kids had a blast. We even got a bonus because there was an Air show getting ready to start and we saw a ton of helicopters, coast guard & NYPD boats and for Zachary that is a thrill. At Liberity island we had a bite to eat and walked around. Adam and Jaconb had a great time, eating together, playing games, playing chase at the base of the satue. Those two are like french fries and ketsup. I really got a kick out of watching them enjoy each other. The best part for me was that Kristin was there with her camera and she took family photos of us. There is nothing I want more that a good family photo (which I seem to never get, my kids hate taking pictures and so does Josh). The other part that I really like is walking passed the super long line of people waiting to get on the boat for NYC and us walking right on aboard the boat bound for New Jersey. Yes, that was pleasurable.

Finally the day that Adam has been counting down on his count down calendar for 27 days has come. Adam's 5th birthday was today June 20th. He has been wanting Ben 10 alien toys for such a long time that it was a real pleasure to give him his presents. Ben 10 everything! He has been in heaven. Adam and Zachary have been pretending to change into different aliens all day and waring their watches. After we ate his special b-day cake we snuggeled on the couch and watched a ben 10 show. When it was time for bed he fought it (which he doen't normally) we went out side and cought lightning bugs. He expressed the desire to catch them and squish them but i expalined that you just catch them and make friends with them and the next night they will be there to greet you. Man, he really like the idea of making friends with the bugs and so that is waht he did. He was so excited to catch them. He would say "look now we are friends. Bye friends." Zachary didn't get the idea of catch and release. He caught and squished and with a big grin on his face would bring to you his "new friend" like a dog brings in the snake that it killed for you. Such a sweet heart. Our vegitarian neighbor/baby sitter Courtney didn't find it as funny as I did. Especialy because he gave to her his catch.

Busted!

Adam came home from church on Sunday with a couple of pictures. One that was titled "blessed are the peacemakers" and the picture that he had below was our family. The other hand out that he had was a frowny face that you could turn upside down and make a smile face. he showed me the face and sang the song "turn that frown upside down."

I asked him about his pictures and as he explained to me I thought this would make a great lesson. We found Matt 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." I marked the scripture with one of his bakugan cards.

We took our oppertunity to have Family Home Eevening. Adam had the floor to teach us about peacemakers. I handed him the scripture to read, he went to reach for the distracting bakugan card and I seezed it. That made him a little upset but he let it pass.

During the lesson I gave Adam and Zachary examples of peacemaker/not peacemaker. So I would say "is biting being a peacemaker?" Everyone would respond "Noooo". "Is sharing toys being a peacemaker?" "Yessss." Then Adam took a turn at this little game. Starting off with some easy ones he said "Mom, is biting, kicking, hitting, being a peacemaker? Mom, is taking bakugan card being a peacemaker?"

It took me a second to relized what he had just devised. I was impressed with his cleverness. Definatly his father's son. I was busted. I smiled and gave him back his card. What a smart boy.

Dandelion Sweethearts

I have got the sweetest boys. I can't tell you how many bouquets of flower weeds that I've recieved this Spring. I've never loved dandylions and clover flowers this much in my life. I am often spoted with a bright yellow flower tucked behing my ear and wearing it with pride. Whenever we are out, weather it be at a park or just walking to the car Adam and Zach (following his footsteps) will stop to pick me a flower. It is the sweetest thing.

Adam knows that I like flowers and will often state while we are in the car, "Mom, you love flowers. Don't you?" If he finds himself in a tense moment with me he'll go outside and pick me the biggest dandelion that he can find and bring it back to me with a wide grin. I'll recieve his token of affection always the same. I exclaim how much I love it and how beautiful it is, and how good it makes me feel. I love watching his little spirit sore as I dote over his gift.

It is not only Adam that doesn this now it is also Zachary. He has been following his big borther's example and will bring me little plucked blossoms. This past Friday as we were hurring into Adam's schooling screening Adam took the time to pick me a flower (which at this time irritated me a little bit because we were in a hurry). Then Zachary felt inclinded to join in on the show of love and pick me a flower. As he was trying to catch up he tripped and scrapped both knees. Oh, I felt so bad for my little guy. He is such a sensitive sweet heart and I love that I get to recieve such sacrifices.

This past Saturday Adam was "playing" in his soccer game. He actually kicked the ball this time. As he was running up the field I saw him slow his pase and start looking at the grass. He bent down and plucked up a clover flower. He took the next few moments trying to find a way to stick in his clothes so that he could give it to me at a later time. He found me in the crowd, walked off the frield, and presented me with his flower. Who needs a soccer star when they have a sweetheart.

We're a little crazy

This last wekend we adventured to Niagara Falls. Our plans were to leave on Saturday early morning, do the falls, spend the night, on the return stop in at Palmyra, NY and return home. However, as life goes with kids our plans changed because Adam and Zachary got violently sick. It seems like whenever we go on vacation one of our boys gets REALLY sick. Last year Zachary ended up in the Hospital twice during our two week vacation. Anyway, we knew that Adam wasn't geeling well but he sait that he really wanted to go and see the big waterfall. So we went along with the plan. We got 30min into our 7hr drive and Zachary threw up. I wanted to turn around and go home and just do this trip another time. That was not going to fly with Adam. He protested to us turning around and that got Josh to make the decision to press forward. We got there, rode on the boat ride "Maid of the Mist". This ride takes you right up to the falls. It was awesome! After we acomplished that Adam was spent. He asked to go back to our roomand we got there just in time for him to toss his cookies. He had such a good attitude. Better than mine and I wasn't the one that was feeling gross. Adam wanted to go back out and so we did. Adam was exhausted and fell asleep in the stroller on our walk. We went to a restuarant that over looks the falls. We ate dinner sa we over looked the falls. It was incredible. Best view I've ever had while eating.

I was areally impressed with Adam and his will to not let anything get in his way of having a good time and seeing the falls. If he gets an idea in his head there is lettle that can stop him. Trying to hone that strength had been challenging but Adam has strong desires to be good.