Friday Favorites

Dustin went back to work on Monday, so our week was back to normal.  Which for us just means busy.  School, homework, swimming lessons, gymnastics, ballet, tap, and today after school, the girls have horseback riding lessons, and then I'm giving Eden another piano lesson.  We've also started planning James's 1st birthday party, and yesterday I ordered the invitations.  Like, how are we there already???

those blue eyes!

 Yesterday, I practiced Ila's colors and shapes with her using play-doh...

...she was so proud of it that she asked to use my phone to take pictures of it.

 Eden started bringing home "readers" from school shortly after Christmas break, but she flew through them in about a minute.  Last week, they tested her reading level, and she's about mid-1st grade right now.  So here she is with her new, 1st grade "reader". 

 I put James in his door jumper this morning so I could get ready, and he jumped himself to sleep!

This Year's Bluebonnet Photos

It's springtime in Texas, which means... BLUEBONNETS!

A few weekends ago, I took the kids down the road to take some pictures of them in a big field.  I got so many good ones of them each separately!  But when I tried to take pictures of them all together... not so much!  haha!

Also, James kept SMELLING them.  It was the CUTEST thing.  I've never seen him try to smell anything before!  But I set him on the ground, and with him being a baby and all, they were nose level to him.  He just kept leaning over and putting his nose on them.  It was precious!

 see!  smelling them!

 fail #1

 fail #2

and fail #3... haha!

Friday Favorites

Okay.  So I'm going to do this new thing where every Friday, I post about my favorite moments from the week.  I'm going to TRY to keep it up!  Here's the first post!

This has actually been a weird week.  Dustin was in Matagorda last weekend, and while cooking, he slipped in some oil or water or something (I wasn't there, the details are fuzzy), and he fell and landed in/on a fire pit!!  His neck, ear, and patch on his stomach are all burned a little bit.  But his arm, which landed against the hot metal is AWFUL!  Supposedly everybody was trying to get him to go to the hospital after it happened, but he refused.  He called to tell me he burned himself, but he downplayed it SO MUCH!  When he walked in the house on Sunday, I WAS SHOCKED when I saw his arm.  About fifty percent of his arm is burned, and I can barely stand to look at it!  Like, I actually start gagging.  It's so bad!  He was also feeling really crummy because of a sinus infection, so on Monday, I took him to the doctor.  He got antibiotics for his sinus infection and arm, and some cream for his arm.  He has to keep the cream on and his arm wrapped 24/7.  Between his sinuses and his burns, he's been pretty grumpy, but it's also been really nice having him home!  I've enjoyed just laying on the couch watching TV with him in the afternoons while Eden is at school and Ila and James are napping.  It's not very often these days that we get time to do that in the middle of the afternoon!  I'm going to be sad when he goes back to work on Monday!

some photos from the week:

 my happy little man

 Before Dustin got home on Sunday, I gave Eden and Ila a Spa Day!  They soaked their feet in warm water with essential oils.  I made them face masks out of yogurt, banana, and honey.  I gave them foot massages and rubbed lotion all over their legs.  I painted their fingernails and toenails.  It was really fun!

 I love how Ila always chooses her boots to wear to ballet and tap class!

I gave Eden her first ever piano lesson after school today!  All three of my kiddos will be forced to take piano lessons from me.  I figure... hey, this is actually something I can teach them and don't have to pay anybody else for!

With Dustin still recovering, we have ZERO plans this weekend.  I told Eden and Ila that we can blow up the air mattress, make a huge pallet in the living room, and watch lots of movies! :)

James - 8, 9, & 10 Months

 8 

 9

10

I am SO BAD at these monthly updates with this third child!  I'M SO SORRY, JAMES!!!!!

But man, DO I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!

He really is sooooo different from his sisters!  I mean, just playing with toys for instance...  The girls played with their toys oh so gently.  James just likes to bang his toys on the floor or the table or the wall or other toys as hard as he can and make really loud noises!

Speaking of his sisters, he sure is crazy about them.  He thinks they're hilarious and crawls after them around the house.  They like to pretend he's a dog.  They throw one of his toys and say, "Fetch, James!", and sure enough - he crawls and gets the toy and brings it back to them!  Eden and Ila keep him entertained and vice versa!

He is a TOTAL mama's boy.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that he wants ME and only ME and he freaks out if I'm not in his sight.  He usually starts crying the second somebody takes him from me and it doesn't stop until he's back in my arms.  Other people try to hold him, they try to distract him, they try to make him happy.  But he just keeps turning his little head looking for me with tears rolling down his cheeks until they give up and bring him back.  I really don't mind.  It's exhausting, sure!  But I know him wanting me and only me isn't going to last for too long, and I intend to soak it up while I can.

His favorite food is bananas.

He loves to take baths.

He's been crawling and pulling up to standing since 8 months.

He's happy most of the time, but THE BOY HAS A TEMPER!  Like, for real!  When he's mad, he wants the world to know it!

He sleeps with me and Dustin at night.  Like, right smack dab in the middle of our bed.  It started when he outgrew his bassinet and we didn't have a crib yet.  We were gonna get a crib eventually... really... but then I was all, "well, he's my last baby, and he's so happy here in our bed, so..."  So I still never bought a crib and I'm perfectly fine with him in our bed.

He smiles when he first wakes up and sees me in the mornings, and he cuddles up to me to fall asleep at night, and life is good.

An Amazing Easter Weekend

I know that my Redeemer lives.
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever-living Head.
He lives to bless me with his love.
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed.
He lives to bless in time of need.

I am still recovering from an amazing, incredible, yet exhausting Easter weekend!  We crammed a lot into a few short days!

Let's see... I dyed Easter eggs with the girls.  We baked three desserts.  We went to the community Easter egg hunt.  Dustin put together four lasagnas from scratch on Saturday for us to eat at my grandma's on Sunday evening.  We had friends over on Saturday night for an outdoor movie followed by a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt.  We went to church.  We had Dustin's parents, my mom and Mark, my Grandma Jan, my Aunt Kristi and Uncle James over on Sunday afternoon and served ham, brussel sprouts, potatoes, and cornbread.  Then we headed over to Pops and Granny's house that evening to see my dad and Susie, my brother and Audrey, my Uncle Harold and Aunt Robin, and all of our cousins to eat the lasagnas and have another Easter egg hunt for the kids.

What a wonderful weekend full of family and Jesus.  I love these holidays even more now as Eden understands what they mean.  She memorized John 3:16 last week at school, and I had her recite it for everybody on Sunday, and when it was time to eat, she prayed before the meal.  A simple prayer:

Dear Jesus, Thank you for dying on the cross so that I can go to Heaven one day.  Amen.

Short, sweet, and completely to the point!  And hearing her little voice praying those words and understanding why we celebrate Easter brings tears to my eyes.

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES!

I didn't take near as many pictures as I wish I would've.  But that just means that I was enjoying myself and my loved ones too much to bother with my camera!  Here are some that I did take though:

 dressed and ready for Good Friday church

 I love having these pictures of all their gifts laid out... 

it so represents who they are and what they love right now!  

 For instance... Ila is all registered to start preschool this fall.  She is SO thrilled and has been telling me she needs a backpack!  She is also completely obsessed with the TV show, Goldie and Bear.

 ready to hunt some eggs at the Community Easter Egg Hunt

 sweet friends enjoying bunny bait popcorn and the movie, Hop

 I got this Easter present for James, but Eden and Ila love it too!

 sweet cousins lined up in age order before hunting more eggs

"There would be no Christmas if there was no Easter."