Ava and Her Most Recent Funnies

Today Ava was so frustrated with the dress code.  She said, "mom, I have NOTHING in my closet to wear."  I told her that she did in fact have quite a few things and she said, "well, I have a lot that I can't wear this year cause of that stupid dress code thing, but I will wear it next year. . . wait, when does this dress code end?"  I had to was inform her, as she was getting more frustrated, that in fact she would have this dress code throughout her school career. :(  Then she went on and said she would wear a dress today.  After trying on her third dress, she says, "mom, as I was looking in the mirror, I look like I am wearing a MOM dress."  (ummm, what is a mom dress?)  SO I asked why and she said because it was too long and she was too skinny for it.  I admit it is a bit baggy on her, and so I knew what she meant.  Then we spent the next few minutes looking for a sash or belt she could wear with the dress.  Once we put it on, she again stood in front of the mirror and she exclaims. . ."wow!!! That changed my whole outfit!"  hahahaha.  She is becoming so grown up.  Then she put a head band with a huge matching flower on and waltzed out to see what her daddy thought. :) Even as a grown up girl she cares what her daddy thinks, that makes me smile.

We also recently, about two months ago, had two little baby girls come to stay with us for awhile.  They are very sweet and cute and the 17 month old adores her big sister "AYA".  However, between the two girls, their is someone always loudly screaming in our home.  Finally, about a week ago, I was changing one of the girls diapers as she screamed at me and the other one was out in the living room screaming.  Ava looks at me and says, "mom can we send them back and get Johnny back, he was much quieter."  This made her daddy and I both laugh since he was NOT any quieter.  He made as much noise as these two combined.  Her and her Johnny.  He was her heart!

Ava had a little boy picking on her on the bus everyday, so we finally asked the bus driver to move him or her.  He said he wasn't surprised because he had already had to move the kid numerous times this year.  So, now Ava feels one of the girls that sits with her on the bus is too bossy, so she asked to be moved or have her moved.  We had to sit her down and talk to her about how she can't keep doing that or she will make the bus driver frustrated.  :)  She is funny though.  She really wants to be moved to seat 7 because there is a certain little boy on that seat that has a major crush on her and he always tells her he likes or sometimes even that he loves her. :)  She admitted she has a little crush on him too, but she is not going to tell him.  GOOD GIRL!

Kataira's One Month Old

Kataira is one month old today!  She weighs 8 lbs and 15.7 oz and she hasn't had a good day with the weening. :(  This however was the first day Ava got to meet her baby sister. :)  I brought Ava and My dad along with me and we booked it up to the NICU to see if we could get some good time in with the baby. Ava has been praying for her so i thought I would see if they would let her vista with Kataira.  They were more than willing and Ava was so excited.  We were able to take her into the family room so we could hang out with her in a more private way.  Ava was so excited to hold this itty bitty baby.  Ava had the chance to feed her her bottle and to sing to her.  We sang the song that my mom (Nana) had put words to for Away in the Manger song.  We only stayed long enough to feed her and talk to her and then we had to go cause she had been awake a lot that day so when she finally fell asleep we were supposed to  let her be.

The words my mom wrote to the tune Away In The Manger

You're our precious angels sent down from above
God sent you to our home for us to love
We'll always protect you and keep you from harm
And hold you so tightly right here in our arms

May God send his angles to watch over you
May you love Jesus and serve Him too
May God richly bless you in all that you do
and Always remember that Jesus Love you!!!!!

My Brain is Growing

Christian has so many funny words he uses in place of the words we usually say in phrases.  Like the other day, for example, he was sitting on the pot for awhile.  When he got up, he started whining and fussing around. . .saying, "my toe is tired!"   I was actually irritated cause the boy, though I love him, has very little pain tolerance. I was frustrated that he now was crying over a TIRED TOE. . .then it hit me.  His foot must have fallen asleep and he got his words mixed up so instead of saying his foot was asleep, which would actually hurt, he said his toe was tired.  Close enough. :)  I felt bad for being frustrated!  :)

So the other day, while he was sick, he told me that his brain wasn't working right. Then he asked if I could tell his brain to go away so he could get a new on that works this time.  I am sure he was feeling congested like all people do when they are sick with colds and probably felt his brain was groggy.  He cracks me up. 


Finally, to my main story.  Last night, as we were coming in from errands, he says to me.  "Mom, feel my brain!"  I said, "Christian, sweaty, I can't feel your brain because it is in your head."  Then he said, "well my brain is growing and growing. . .It is growing because I am thoughting and thoughting and thoughting with lots of thoughts. . .. ugh."  He is so funny. His teacher says he said this to her the other day after she had finished working with him in reading workshop. :) 

Mental Pictures - Memories Forever

I am a picture person. . .I document everything by photos and I love doing it.   I love to capture everything so I can look back and remember and see all that we have done and all the good times.  People pick on me (in a loving way) about how many pictures I actually take, but with today's access to digital photos, who could blame me?  It is so easy.  However, there are moments I feel as though I miss out on because I am so worried about capturing video and photographs of the event. I feel as though I sometimes miss the emotion or just the moment all together.  I want to document all my children experience so they can look back and see how stinking cute and adorable they were, but sometimes I sadly miss the moment myself.  So, I am trying to focus a little more on living in the moment.  Don't get me wrong, I still take 100s of photos, but I am just mentally trying to carry my camera around a little less.  This is a hard transition for me and I actually feel guilty sometimes, because I see a moment and think, "oh shoot, where is my camera?"  :)  I guess habit.

Okay, so now for what this blog entry is about.  Today I lived in the moment. I watched my children and the neighbor girl get on that big yellow bus and no camera in hand, I just focused on them.  I know we are now the third day into school, so they are kind of in a routine now, but it was very freeing to be there watching and hands free to wave and mind free to think and focus on them.  The picture I have in my mind today, is my handsome little boy blowing me a kiss and waving out the window at me!  He had the biggest smile on his face and he was in the greatest mood and it literally brought tears to my eyes as I watched that BIG Yellow Bus driving away with him.  I know more now than I ever have, how quickly they grow up.  I was watching his perfectly handsome and sweet little face peeping up over that window and my heart jumped with gratefulness and glee.  He is amazing and he is one of the greatest gifts ever bestowed upon me.  I didn't even know to ask for him and God gave him to me.  He has blessed me, my hubby and our family more than we ever imagined.  He has a hear to gold and he is his own little person.  He constantly thinks of sweet things like picking a flower and bringing it to me almost every time he is outside.  He loves to take flowers to his teacher, on his own accord, not my prompting and he always tells me how pretty I am.  He mentions everyday as  he enters that he will miss me and he mentions everyday when he departs from the bus, how he missed me that day.  The emotions that rushed though my heart today as I "lived in the moment" with him, as I watched him driving away and took a mental picture, will be in my heart forever.  I am so grateful and blessed to be his mom!  Love that little man!

Interview 1st Day of School

Ava Enters 2nd Grade / Christian Enters 1st Grade

This was the morning of the first day of school.  We had some extra time before the bus came so I interviewed them to see what they liked, disliked and just to jot a few things down.  Ava is Purple and Christian is Blue. :)

What are you excited about for your first day of school?

                Getting on the bus

                Meeting my new teacher

What do you want to be when you grow up?

                A pirate of a boat

                I want to be a mom

What is your favorite color?

                Blue and pink

                Blue and Green

What do you love most about school?

                Getting off the bus

                Recess

Who is your teacher?

                Mrs. Brubaker

                Mr. Rumble

Who are you going  to marry?

                Maddison  ( he hasn't seen her in years, but still only has eyes and heart for her. )

                I don’t know

How many kids do you want to have?

                Seven

                Eighty-seven

What was your favorite thing about your summer?

                Goed to the water park

                Swimming at Grandma’s and Amy’s pool

What are you nervous about at school this year?

                :)  (No Comment)

                Knowing how my teacher helps me

Who is your best friend?

                Anna

                Mckenzie and Sammy

What is your favorite school lunch?

                packing

                Chicken nuggets

What is your favorite thing to play?

                At home Recess (riding bikes)

                Little people and Barbies, listening to Odyssey

What is your favorite thing about yourself?

                I don’t know

                I’m nice

Favorite Movie

                Planes and MegaMind

                8 Below  and Narnia

                The kids were very sweet and anxious and excited about the interview and the fact that school was starting that day.  Below is a picture of the kiddos before they headed to the bus.  :)  Love these two SOOOO much!!!

               

 

Camp Joy-el Day Camp

Pappy Sweetheart decided to send Ava and Christian to Day camp this year as a surprise treat.  He ended up taking them to Jubilee on his own one day, so they would be prepared and know what to expect and so they would have anticipation for the big week.  It worked!  All anxiety was gone and they were super duper excited, as they counted down the weeks until they got to go to DAY CAMP!  Ryan and I told them tales of when we went to day camp and what sort of things we remembered and loved about it.  They couldn't wait and we scheduled Nana's trip to happen right before the camp so they would be distracted and hopefully make missing her that first few days a little easier.  They would get sad that their week with her was coming to an end but then they would get really excited that it meant their week of Camp was happening soon. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1 - We had to meet at the K-mart Parking lot in Chambersburg and so I swung over to pick up Reece and Nana, because Nana had spent the night with Reece that previous night.  We were driving to K-mart and the kids were getting so excited.  They were chattering and talking the entire time.  As we pulled up and had about 5 minutes until the bus arrived, Reece decided he had to poop and he had to poop right then.  Mom ran him up and had him poop and get back on the bus in plenty of time. :)  As they were pulling out, they were both waving and so excited to be heading on their adventure.  Ava had packed her bag the night before with her swimming gear, a bag for her wet stuff, money for canteen, her Bible and a journal to write notes in during chapel.  She as ready! Above is Ava ready to conquer the day! When they got home they both had LOTS of stuff to talk about and share on their big days.  They couldn't wait to go back.

 

Day 2 - This was saying goodbye to Nana day and though we knew it was coming, we also knew it would be hard.  Nana rode with Ava and I as we headed over to pick up Reece before heading to K-mart.  Reece was his joyful and excited self and Ava was very quiet on this particular car ride. I knew she was processing but didn't want to make it worse.  Finally the bus got there and they headed on and that is when she said she didn't want to go.  She said she didn't have any friends there and they separated the girls and boys so she didn't get to be with Reece.  (he is usually her confidence in these sorts of situations)  So, this time I basically forced her to go. She wanted to stay home with us and I told her all we were doing that day was driving to take Nana back to the airport, say goodbye and driving home.  I basically shoved her on the bus and as they were pulling away, she was crying pretty hard. I felt so bad and I asked Lois Ann to let me know how she was when she got there.  Needless to say, her sweet little eyes were puffy and red when she came home. . she had cried quite a bit during the day and it was pretty apparent. I think the real issue was that she was sad to say goodbye to Nana but she didn't want us to be sad that she was sad about that, so she just carried the anxiety into her not wanting to be at camp.  The sad part. .  . I was the same way.  She said she hates being away from me and I was the same way every time I went to camp too.  She decided to try it one more time the next day.

 

Day 3 - Seemed to go off without too much of a hitch.  She was ok, and seemed to be a little more ready to face the day.

Day 4 - this was a tough day.  It started out well and she was ready.  We picked up Reece and he was ready too.  She was fully anticipating getting on the bus and seemed to be fine with it all.  Then we got there and Reece had to poop again.  We were really going to miss the bus so we rushed to Wendy's but they were closed so we drove to k-mart and ran in real quick.  While we were there, someone was using the bathroom, which made us even later.  The ladies bathroom was closed for cleaning too. :(  So, as we were waiting, I had to call Brianna to tell her what was going on.  She left her house to beeline it to K-mart to ask the bus to hang on or wait a second.  All of this was in front of Ava and her anxiety started to rise.  I could see it happening but didn't know what to do.  The bus was running behind so we got back in time. . .but by then Ava had heard Brianna and I talking on the phone that if they missed the bus we would just drive them there.  Ava was much happier with that and so when we got back in time for the bus. . . she was disappointed.  So Reece went bouncing on and Ava stayed back.  Then Reece started crying because he didn't want to go if she didn't want to go but she didn't want to make him feel bad, however, she really didn't want to go.  Long story short, Brianna sort of forced him to go and he was looking out the window crying pretty hard. :(  Then Ava cried and cried and finally after an hour asked me to drive her down so Reece wouldn't feel all alone.  Awww, it was a frustrating day to say the least but mostly just disheartening to see their emotions all over the place like that. :( 

 

Day 5 - They both got on the bus heading to Camp without a hitch. I promised I was picking them up from Camp that day since I was going to see their closing program.  They seemed to both be happy about that idea.  Below is a picture of Ava's best friend she made at camp.  She became friends with her counselor and her name was Rachel.  She was really good with Ava and it was cute how Ava really looked up to her. I remember doing the same thing.  Also below is a picture of Ava's group as they went up to share their Bible verse.  She was behind two taller girls but I got the peeping of her little face. :)  Then there was Reece and his counselor too, who really seemed to hit it off too.  I think his name was Austin and he was really great with Reece's group of boys.  Joel was in Reece's group too.  Overall it was a good 'stretching experience' for Ava and I promised her that next year, if she goes back (she says she is not going back ever) that we will make sure to sign up another one of her girl friends so she can have someone to pal around with. :)  I will say this. . .watching that girl grow up and face her hardships and fear makes me so proud of her. I tear up every time!

 

 

Five Forks Craft Camp

Craft Camp at Five Forks Church was a blast.  The time and energy that these lovely ladies volunteer into this week is unbelievable and so much appreciated.  Our kiddos had so much fun and making crafts while learning about Jesus.  They were excited every day to go.  They made bell/ wind chimes, bracelets, sand art butterflies, stepping stones, and much much more.  The kids had so much to talk about and show me when they brought home all of their fun crafts at the end of the week.  What a true blessing for us and for them!  Ava and Lindsey Eberly really hit it off that week too! :)