A few of the Joys of being THIS mom

It has been a whole semester since I last blogged. We've had a good, but busy fall - a move, home renovation, visits from different sets of family, and well -life. So, with everything going on, blogging has fallen thru the cracks, and unfortunately, I haven't written down some of the "most memorables" from the past several months. And, since birthing three children, even if something makes the "most memorable" list, if it isn't written down, I rarely remember!

In an effort to record a small fraction of the wonderfully real and innocent conversations I am blessed with day in and day out, I thought I'd write down the two most recent...before they leave my memory like all the others...

Yesterday, Ace's preschool class hosted a birthday party for Jesus. We had been talking about it for a few weeks and Elyse knew that she was going to the party too. She kept mentioning it in "small talk" with friends and perfect strangers. We purchased a gift for Jesus (diapers for the local pregnancy center), baked cookies, and Ace prepared some songs. It was clear, although Austin was excited, Elyse's enthusiasm took the cake.

Yesterday, as Elyse and I prepared to get in the car to head to school, she ran upstairs to get one last thing. As I put her in her car seat she said, "Mom, I got my camera so I can take a picture of baby Jesus at His birthday party!"

Several thoughts ran thru my head and we discussed how Jesus wasn't actually going to be there, because he's in heaven with God (to which she said she'd get a picture of Jesus and God), but after I chuckled a bit and tried to clear things up so I didn't have a completely disappointed 2-year-old and the coinciding tantrum, I smiled and realized she is definitely focused on Jesus' birthday more than Santa and all the presents she would like!

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Tonight as I was brushing Austin's teeth, I said to him, "It's almost Jesus' birthday! But, who's birthday comes before Jesus'?"

Instead of the expected response, "Daddy," (I should know by now not to have any expectations for Austin's responses...), Austin shouted and spat some toothpaste all over me, "John the Baptist!"

Ha! He's right, I guess...funny kid!

My little Princess

A post I found in my "drafts" from a few months ago...

It's happened. I finally understand it. The reality that others have talked about has finally become mine! My friends, we have entered the terrible twos!!

Don't get me wrong, the boys had their moments and phases, but they didn't seem this, well, bad or long!

Clearly God knew that I need some humility in my life. I just didn't know that I needed this much humility!

Elementary-bound

Isaac's first day of Kindergarten was Thursday morning, August 19th. They start the kindergartners slowly. The parents stay with their kids and the class lasted a whopping 50 minutes. Albeit short, Isaac enjoyed seeing his classroom, re-meeting his teacher, seeing, yes seeing (I'm convinced young children don't actually meet one another for several weeks, after playing side by side) his classmates, and most importantly endulging in a donut and juice box

He enjoyed his first full week, but has sorely missed play time and time outside. The first day I asked him how recess was and he replied, "It was SOOO short."
"I know, it's 10 minutes," I said.

"Ten minutes?! 10 seconds!"

Needless to say, I think he and I are both very pleased he's only doing a half-day.

Free Day at the Denver Botanic Gardens

Early on in the summer I marked my calendar with all of the upcoming "Free Days" for Colorado activities and sites. However, with all the fun we've had at the pool this summer and with two weeks of VBS, there hasn't been a lot of time for our typical summer field trips.

We finally enjoyed a free day on July 22nd. The kids and I drove up to Denver to go to the Botanic Gardens. Even though our planned picnic lunch in the gardens turned into a picnic lunch at Whole Foods, watching the storm roll in, and parking was nearly impossible, we really had a great time. The kids always enjoy seeing something new.

Capturing all three of them in one shot is a lot harder than one might think...

This is one of my new favorite photos of my boys!

Their favorite part was rolling down this hill over and over and over again!

What happens...

If you leave three crazy kids in the hands of MiMi and PopPop for dinner, fun, and bedtime?

This...

This...

This...

This...

AND...This...

A great hike up the incline, a jog down Barr Trail, and a Margarita to top it off for Mom and Dad!

At the base, with the incline straight up behind us.

The view from the top

A Simple prayer...

After a myriad of thankful prayers tonight, Austin had just one simple request..

"And please make StarWars real..."

Where Did These Kids Come From?

Today we took the kids to the Airplane Restaurant for a special treat. This is a restaurant that literally has a retired cargo plane as part of the restaurant. Let's see: a restaurant, kids menus, model airplanes and photos of airplanes everywhere, AND a cockpit to play in...that's how you spell Heaven to a particular 4 and 6-year-old boy. I guess I should mention Elyse was pretty darn excited too!

In the past, we've eaten in the airplane, but today it was a 45 minute wait to be in the actual airplane, so we just ate under the wing. It took some convincing for ACE, but eventually his enthusiasm about being there came back. All three kids were so extremely excited that they were louder than usual...hard to believe! In between our plentiful pleas to get them to be excited QUIETLY, I said to Kurt, "where did these kids come from?" thinking it so strange that all three of our kids are incredibly outgoing, loud, and almost boisterous, especially considering both their parents are the quiet ones in their respective families.

Although it was intended to be rhetorical, Austin quickly responded to my question with a slight roll of the eyes, some gesturing in my direction and a "Mommmmm, you know where we came from! We came from your belly!"