Word choice

At dinner, we always try to get the kids to share their feelings about the day - good, bad, disappointing, frustrating, exciting, etc. We also try to get them to share some details and highights. Last night, when I asked Isaac to share more about his day at preschool he said, "Well, there was a little bit of a misunderstanding."
I prodded to get more information, since that was such an ambiguous answer.
He said, "Well, Jaiden and I had a misunderstanding. We almost broke-up."

Okay, at this point, I'm thinking to myself, "This is my 5 year old...where does he come up with this?!" But, I kept prodding and he continued.

"Jaiden doesn't want me to play with Max and she said we wouldn't be friends anymore if I play with Max, so I promised her I wouldn't play with Max for a whole week. So it's okay now."

The language he chose and the content of the conversation were a bit surreal for me, the mother of this five year old, but once he was done explaining we had a good discussion about playing together with all of his friends, rather than leaving someone out.

His same friend, Jaiden, called my cell phone today and asked for Isaac! They talked on the phone for about 10 minutes, to wish one another fun skiing this weekend and to make sure they both were bringing their "texting machine" along. (One of their friends celebrated her birthday at preschool last week and gave everyone little solar powered calculators. Jaiden and Isaac have been "texting, emailing, and calling" each other on it ever since.) Definitely a different pretend use of a calculator than when I was a kid! By the way, some of you might be wondering - Isaac says "calculator far better than Auntie Lisa!

A lesson in sharing and Lent

Well, yesterday, before we headed out to run some errands, I got the kids one of their more favorite snacks - "A mix" - a modgpodge of whatever cereals are in the cupboard, some craisins, and if they're really lucky some chocolate chips. Yesterday, they were really lucky!

"Be careful not to spill your snacks in Mommy's car."
I don't even think I had finished saying that when I noticed ACE had spilled a small portion of his baggy. (I've learned to expect it...) So, in helping him clean it up, I ate a few bites of cereal.

ACE is our sharer. He'll always let you play with his toy, give you a bite of his brownie, and if he's ever offered something from somone (like a sticker from his preschool teacher), he always asks politely if he can have one for his "brudder." It's just who he is.

So, he was happy to share, but was a bit concerned I might have had some of his treasured chocolate. He asked, "What did you eat, mom? Did you eat a chocolate?"

"No, I told you, I don't eat chocolate right now," I responded.

"Why not? Are you 'wergic' [translation: allergic]?"

"No, I'm not eating chocolate so I will think about God more and what He did for me."

"Oh, does He not eat chocolate, either?"

Melting my Heart

Elyse is at such a fabulous stage. In some ways I don't even think it's a stage, I think it's just her personality. Below is a video that captures some of her personality - some singing, some disractions, some eating (yes, I actually feed her...she doesn't have to lick the bowl), and some great smiles and laughs.

The Vanity of a three year old

After showering after my spin class Friday morning, I decided to quickly crawl back into bed with Kurt, to sneak in a few more minutes of snuggle time. As Kurt and I lay in bed, barely past 7, the boys were already bouncing off the walls. Austin came into our room and apparently grabbed my brush and started grooming himself for his day. Without our really knowing he was still in the room, he popped his head up over our bed and said, with utter seriousness and pride, "You guys are not going to believe how handsome my hair is!"

To his credit, it did look pretty nice - actually lying down! And that was just after waking up! (If you've seen Austin in the morning, you'll know that this is unheard of!)

What a cute little personality he has!! I just love the honest, humorous, and constant commentary that fills our house from 7 - 7 everyday (even if it does get loud sometimes...)!

Dueling Vacuums

My little Helper!

She doesn't look very happy in this, but the "look" was toward her brother and the camera - she wanted to get back to her super fun vacuuming, rather than "posing!"

Laughable Landscaping

Nearly five years ago, when we originally moved into this house, our backyard was literally one big, steep hill of dirt. Nothing more. Nothing less. It's come a long way since then, thanks in part to hired hands and in part to our own sweat and tears. Even with all the work we've put into it, there's still a lot of hill and a lot of dirt back there. Many times I've wished we could have leveled more of the yard for the kids to play in. But, that hill brings more laughter (not to mention dirt) into my house than most things, so I'm thankful for it.

(Good thing we recently replaced the fence with a super sturdy, steel-post fence!)

A Name Tag from Birth

Last night, snuggled up as a family in front of our cozy fire watching the SuperBowl, I had a moment of nostalgia and asked Isaac if he knew why we named him "Isaac." I know we've told him why in the past, but he seemed to have forgotten.

Austin, however, knew right away...
"That's what was on the name tag God put on his back when he came out of your tummy!"

Praise the Lord we are all named by our Heavenly Father, as CHILD, and that He knew each one of us before He created us in our mother's womb. What an amazing gift that the God of the universe has our names (each one of them) written on the palm of his hand!! He knows us better than anyone else and loves us more than we could ever fathom.

Kids say the darndest

I haven't been posting enough of our everyday commentary lately, so I thought I'd take a second, as I procrastinate on my bookkeeping and write a few of the latest down.

A compliment, I think.
While trying on one of several new dresses I ordered online to choose from for our romantic get-away, Isaac in a very excited and surprised voice said, "Wow mommy, I like it! It makes you look like a whole better person!"
I'll take that as a compliment!
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A lesson in politics
Early in January, as I was working on end-of-month and end-of-year paperwork for Candela, at breakfast one morning, Isaac said, "Mommy, can we be the parents today and you and daddy be the kids?" Playing along with it, I said, "sure, but I have a lot to do today...I have to clean up the kitchen after breakfast."
Excitedly both boys said, "yeah, we can do that."
"I have to make all the beds..."
Again, another very enthusiastic, "okay, we can do that!"
"I have to do lots of laundry."
Yet another positive response, as if I was telling them we could go to the zoo today.
And then I said, "oh, and I have to get all the taxes done for the business."
There was a short pause. Then Austin, a bit concerned, said, "I don't know how to do that!"
Isaac piped up quickly and said, "Oh, I do. We just send all the money to the president!"

Whoa! Where that came from, I don't know, but by George, I think he's got it!

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An Assertive Little Girl
Elyse says so many funny things these days. She talks non-stop! I know Joey can attest to that, after 9+9. (Okay, all of my kids talk pretty much non-stop!) Apparently Kurt's and my introverted-tendencies did not get passed along in the genes...

My favorite funny thing that Elyse is doing currently is putting her brothers or the dog in their place. In a very firm and assertive voice, my sweet little angel will say/shout, "Soward SIT," or "Soward, NO!" What's best is, "Boys, stop that now!" or "Ace, sit down!" It really is quite funny coming from the mouth of a 21 month old!

That's all for now. Once my memory kicks in again, hopefully I'll jot some more down.

A Dream Come True

Kurt and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage on September 9, 2010. BUT, we just celebrated our 10-year anniversary of our engagement on December 30th, 2009! SO, we decided it was time to celebrate - Hawaii style! Actually, we were starting to plan a special trip for September, when our good friend, and best man from our wedding, announced that he'd be getting married on Kauai in January. Immediately we decided we were going to do everything we could to make it happen. With the kids, that's a little easier said than done, but thanks to my INCREDIBLE, super, selfless (insert any and all possitively amazing adjectives here) Aunt JoAnn and a little help from Hannah, Wes, and even Hayley, the kids were in extremely loving hands, had a blast, and we got to enjoy Kurtie and Erin time for the first time since having all three!! It was amazing. Truly, a dream trip. We are so blessed! I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and that I get to wake up next to my best friend each and every day!! What a blessing! Some one at Nathan's wedding said, "I wish for you two, what I have." (referring to his marriage.) I completely agree. I don't think there's anything else you could hope for more than a great marriage! And I have it! Praise God!

We took over 600 photos and so far have only weeded them down to 500. To start, however, I put together a short little slideshow of some of the shots we got of the two of us - just enjoying being together!

We're now back to reality. Yes, it was hard to leave the beauty and relaxation of Kauai, but you know what, our reality - our kids, our business, our friends, family, and our life in beautiful Colorado - is really a dream come true, too!

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