life with M

Time is going way too fast! I am loving the stage the kids are in right now. I don't want to forget all the details of how these kids are learning, growing, and having fun! So, here is to remembering what M has been up to the last few months... 

M was our "stair shoveler" this last winter. He got pretty good at it! I know it was nice for Jake to get home from work and have the stairs shoveled.

Putting away Christmas decorations in his room. 

Warming up by the "fire" with little sister. 

The faces!!! He has a lot... 

 

He loved playing on his snow "slide." He was extremely entertained by his creation.

He wrestled for the first time this last winter. I'll write more on that later. Here he is in the middle of a match.

He LOVES being with cousins! Here is him, cousin E, cousin K, and papa watching a show. 

Grandpa B gave him some real tools and wood blocks for his birthday. He has loved building things with them out on the porch. 

Playing with our neighbor girl. 

Learning how to make a paper airplane from Dad. 

I cut out the hearts, and M made napkin holders with them for our Valentine's Day dinner. 

Pirate Day at preschool. 

We got two old boxes, and he transformed them into his "house." He played with these boxes for months! One night before I went to bed, I went to check on the kids. I found him asleep in his "house." 

He loves to serve his Nana and Papa  by making their bed. No joke, he did the bed all by himself in this picture. I love it...

He is a big help to let J help him unload the dishwasher, and teaching her where things go. 

Playing in the crawl space with cousin K. 

He made himself a "truck." He has a great imagination. He taped on the  box part at the back of the car and said, "Mom, I've got a truck!" 

Reading to little sister. 

He got an extra chore one day for one reason or another, and so I assigned him the chore of folding the towels. He did a really great job!

We love our little M!

M turns 5!

Back in January, Mr. M turned five!

Before he headed out for work, Jake ran to town to get some breakfast for M--donuts and chocolate milk. And a ring pop! It didn't disappoint. I'm not sure who liked it more, M or baby J!

 Opening gifts!

For his birthday dinner, he asked for Little Ceasears pizza. "Booyah," I thought. Done. For his birthday cake, he asked for a blueberry bundt cake. I found this very interesting, seeing as how I have never made a blueberry bundt cake. Thanks to pinterest, though, we found a recipe that turned out great.

A few days later, we went to eat dinner with grandparents and other family at Texas Roadhouse. I forgot my camera so didn't get any pictures, but it was a fun time. He is blessed to have good people in his life that love him.

Since he turned five, here are my top 5 favorite things I LOVE about M!

1- He likes to laugh!

2- He teaches me about patience

3- He loves to learn

4- He is crazy about dancing and singing to a song he likes

5- He is extremely thoughtful 

I am so thankful Heavenly Father would send M to our family. He has taught Jake and I so much. Lately I have been thinking that he was sent to me because there are things he needs to learn from me, but more importantly, there are things that I need to learn from him. He teaches me so much about being patient, and that it is okay and good to take a chill pill and have fun in life!

We love you, M!

Christmas 2015!

Christmas Eve

Jake's parents were able to join us for the evening. It was so nice to have them. The kids were super excited to have Grandma and Grandpa there! We had a yummy dinner and a nice Christmas program.  

The "star" in the night sky on Christ's birth. 

Christmas morning

Traditional Christmas breakfast- monkey bread, fruit, orange juice.

The kids slept in...we had to wake them up! J was still pretty sleepy...

She perked right up when she saw Santa had not eaten the last cookie we left out for him. She had no interest in seeing the gifts, just eating the cookie.

M didn't really ask for much for Christmas, but the one specific thing he asked for was the play ice cream set he saw at the store.

Christmas afternoon

My parents came to visit us Christmas afternoon. Here are the kids opening their gifts from them.

We had a wonderful Christmas. All four of us were pretty sick during the month of December. One of us would get it, pass it along, get better, then get sick again. We felt kind of bad because we had to miss out on some Christmas festivities, but it turned out okay. Where we were home so much, I feel like it allowed us to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas, and not so much the other stuff. 

Merry Christmas...in March!

sisters

The other morning my sisters showed up at my door. I had no clue they were coming. They came with cleaning supplies in hand. And flowers...two beautiful flowers. We talked, they helped me clean, and then we took the kids (my nephew had come with them) to the park.

I love my sisters. So much. We don't live terribly far from family, but we also aren't very close to just "run over" for a visit. I miss having them closer, and really savor the time we have when we are together. Their willingness to come and surprise me really brightened up my week.

After visiting with them, and being with them, I realized I was in a "funk." You know the kind...one of those mom funks. Throughout the day, as I looked at the flowers they brought me, my heart was filled with such gratitude and happiness. What a blessing my two sisters are to me. Unbeknownst to them, their visit has helped me to snap out of that funk over the last few days.

I love my sisters. Thank you for your visit!

for you, M--so we can laugh about it when you are older

Life is in the little moments. I wanted to write down this moment we had last night so we can all laugh about it with M when he gets older. 

Last night I was getting ready to bathe little J. I opened the shower door, only to find there was something all over the floor in there. After a few moments, I realized it was dried up pee. "M!" I thought to myself. I was not happy!

Calming myself down, I called him into the bathroom, and it didn't take long for him admit that, yes, he had peed in the shower. When asked why he did it, he responded, "So I wouldn't have to wash my hands." I can only imagine what was going through his mind when he did it, "If I don't touch the toilet, then I won't have to wash my hands... I'll go in the shower."

I thought, "You made the mess, and you're going to clean it."

Needless to say, we both spent the next while in the bathroom while I instructed M how to clean the floor of the shower.

Without him seeing me do it, I snapped a picture of him cleaning. I couldn't resist; he kept saying about my playtex cleaning gloves, "Oh wow, these 'nayclex' gloves really work well!"

"Yes, they do work well," I replied. I couldn't help but laugh in my head.

Here he is inspecting his work.

After it was clean, Jake and I had a little talk with him. Hopefully this is the first, and the last, time he does that!

(And, on a side note, he did a pretty good job. From now on, I think he will be my partner when I clean the shower!)