Friday, March 30, 2012

Luke Reads to Owen

I remember the first time Beau read to Anna, and when Anna read to Luke. Beau and Anna have already read to Owen, but this was the first book Luke read to him. Owen loves to read and once you sit down with him and a book it will be at least half an hour before you get up, and you'll have read the same book five times. I got him two books at the library today, I have already read them to him and Anna has read them to him. Luke is becoming a very good reader, and the books I checked out for Owen were really books I got for Luke to read without help. Luke's favorite books are Nate the Great, but he still needs those read to him. (Although I think he could read them to himself, he just refuses to try...my goal over spring break is to have him read one to me a little at a time.) Nothing better than watching your big kids read to your little ones.





The Fire Truck (Fruck)

This truck is almost ten years old,
but it is Owen's favorite.
Memere bought it for Beau's first birthday,
but Owen loves it.
He rides it for hours
all over the yard.
Yesterday I had to go get him from the way back corner
and carry him kicking and screaming to the car
to get the kids to martial arts on time.
His face turns red, his tongue sticks out
and his little legs go go go until he gets stuck
then he gets off and pushes it so he can ride again.


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Friday, March 23, 2012

New Challenges

Ben has always wanted to get the kids involved in martial arts, unfortunately we have never found a program near our home. Last week Ben found just what he was looking for five miles away. We signed Ben and the boys up for aikijujitsu and I signed up for kickboxing, Anna thought maybe she wanted to be signed up for gymnastics somewhere. After the first class, and a little (or a lot) of prompting from daddy, Anna signed up for martial arts too. Anna was rewarded, her first two classes involved hand stands, cartwheels and frog rolls (somersaults). They are all really enjoying the new challenge. Ben was unfortunately out of town all week so we are all a little bit ahead of him in number of trips to the dojo. I have been to kickboxing five times and every muscle has let me know, but I love it. I am fortunate enough that they allow me to bring Owen with me and he is allowed to run around while we work out. He hasn't figured it all out yet and still cries for a portion of it, but he's getting used to watching me workout while he plays with trucks or balls. Sometimes he'll kick the bag or try to imitate what we are doing but mostly he just rounds around entertaining us when we get to stop to catch our breath. I can't wait to see where this challenge takes us. I think the kids are going to learn so much and I know I am getting in better shape and I feel so much better about myself.

Luke doing a handstand.


Beau doing a handstand.


Anna's handstand.


Anna giving it her all to hold herself up a little longer.


Anna checking to make sure I'm paying attention.

Beau checking to make sure I'm paying attention.


Luke waiting in line, if Luke could catch my eye he would wave at me like crazy,
so I tried to not look at him directly.

I forgot to put in the pictures of Owen.
He loves to yell through the glass, and fall on the floor like they do.
This is an outfit Auntie Christine made for him for his first birthday.
He is learning his colors from it.


One more new challenge I have taken on is that I have become a Thirty-One independent consultant. I hadn't really planned on going into another venture like this but the start up cost was very low and after much prayer and thought I felt like it was the right thing and the right time. Every time we move I get everyone else settled, they make friends go to school or work and I take care of setting up the house. I start to feel lost, I have no friends and few outlets, thankfully here there was family, but I still needed to create my place. Thirty-One is named after Proverbs 31 in the Bible and after I signed up to be a consultant I felt like I really need to read and meditate on that chapter. Upon reading it multiple times Proverbs 31:16 kept jumping out at me "She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard." I feel like I need to make connections I need to own my place in life. This is my beginning to doing just that. Once I committed to Thirty-One and held my first party where only three lovely family members attended I was motivated, life became all about positive energy. I ran 6 miles in one weekend, I cleaned the house, I was happier in my daily tasks. Now I've signed up for kickboxing and I keep moving forward. I plant seeds of Thirty-One here and there and I believe in my heart it will grow slowly but steadily, it will allow for me to be me. It will also allow for Ben to have the kids and spend time with them without me. He's a fantastic dad but I've always done the day to day stuff because he was gone so much and although he has stepped up and does a lot it is great for all of us for times when he has to do it all because I'm not here. The kids learn to rely on him more and know he can do it just as well as mom even though he does it differently.
New challenges in life are wonderful, they keep us moving forward and finding something to motivate us. I'm thankful for everything we have planted in our life here in Georgia.

A Snack with Owen


Just five minutes of life with Owen.






Monday, March 12, 2012

Anna Having Fun Her Way

Anna does her own thing outside,
while boys hammer she rides.
Or jump ropes or blow bubbles,
she did pick up a hammer for a short time too.




Obliging her baby brother, like she always does.
She is the best big sister.
Did you see that mom, that was so fun.

Boys, Dirt, Clovers, and Hammers





(The above picture does not accurately display what was occurring. The boys were far enough apart and no one was even close to danger at anytime. I was very close by making sure of such things.)





The lure of tools and dirt never gets old for boys.
All three of them spent a good amount of time with daddy's hammers yesterday.
Ben wasn't thrilled with them using the hammers in the dirt,
but sometimes you just let boys be boys.
The clover was made into pulp.
The dirt was pulverized.
No one was injured in the melee and there really was no melee just three boys hard at work in their imagination.
The hammers were safely returned to the garage at the end of the day.