preschool

Jada is officially done with PRESCHOOL!
There are only a few pictures of her last day.
Two of her eating a cookie- something she could not wait to do after the preschool program.  She would have just sat there and taken tiny bite after tiny bite, savoring each one, if we would have let her.  Unfortunately, her parents still work after 3:00, so we had to rush her out of her goodbye party and back to meetings for mommy and daddy.  

But, we did get a cute picture of her and Ms. Mari.  
Ms. Mari- we didn't know what kind of student Jada would be.  But, she had LOTS of practice being a good student from her big sister-teacher.  She learned lots, and LOVES school because of you!  
Thank you for such a great school year!
She just had her Kindergarten shots, and she didn't care that they were SHOTS because now she gets to go to Mommy's school and be a BIG KID! 

What I've Learned From My Mom

There are few things better than having a mom.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the kind

of mom I want to be to my children.

Which, of course, made me think of the kind of

mother my own mom was/is.

Here is a list I came up with:

A Mother is...

*someone who wants you to fold the laundry the 

first time she asks, and not just right before she gets 

home because you were SO busy with your own 

teenage life that you forgot until you saw her 

coming in the driveway.  

*someone who doesn't want you to scowl 

at the supper that was made.

*someone who wants you to try new things

(see above)

*someone who talks about your hurts to her 

sister on the phone, while you quietly listen, 

and she has no idea how important that makes you feel.

*someone who tells you about how her co-workers think you're so cute and love it when you visit the office.

*someone who takes you to work on the weekends and loves you so much that she makes sure you have something to watch on a teeny, tiny tv screen in her boss's office!

*someone who doesn't want you to ask if your outfit looks good, and then when she says, "Yes!", you change.

*someone who doesn't want to buy you the designer jeans that she knows you'll only wear once and then hate.

*someone who consistently shows she's there for you and your own children, and is there for you at the drop of a hat.

*someone who WANTS to spend time with you.

*someone who you can drive with in a car for

8 hours straight and talk the entire time.

*someone who encourages you in your struggle with weight loss, and not giving into temptation.

Thanks, Mom.

You're such a great role model to me.

I only hope I can be half the mom you are!

(wish I had a picture to insert here of you.)

 

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day my wonderful family gave me a night away.  They sent me away, with Amy, for the evening and through the night to a looong girls-night-out.  

We visited Target (twice).
We ate at On the Border.
We saw a super cute movie.
We got gossip magazines that we don't usually buy.
We sat up in bed reading them.
We got into our pj's, and talked til late.
We slept in til 9:30.  (I know, right?)
We went shopping some more,
and headed home.

Thank you Chad for setting this up.  You always seem to know just what I need.

swing!

Trey likes to swing.
And he likes the girls to push.
They give him underdoggies- you know, where you push three times and then yell, "Underdoggy!" and run under the swing.
Trey likes to participate in this yelling.
Gracie or Jada will run under him and he'll yell,
"UNDER MINE DOGGY!"


Love this "mine" stage.

mudpies

When I was little, LeAyre and I would make mud pies at her farm.  We would pretend that we were McDonald's and we made a drive through with the playhouse she had, so we each could go through and order a mud pie.  I was probably 7 or 8 years old.

Today, my girls, along with some neighbor friends, made mud pies for the first time.  They asked if they could- and the first thing I thought was, "Where did you hear about mud pies?"  
However, isn't making mud pies something we all, as kids, are supposed to do? 

Mud.
Water.
A plastic knife.
Shovels.
And apparently, an apron.

 It was so fun to watch my girls get messy and be ok with it.  (besides the apron...)

 And while they mixed water with mud, I pulled this little man in the wagon back and forth in front of and around the side of our house.  I'm telling you right now, if this is what summer is going to be about, I may just FINALLY get skinny!  "Again, Mommy.  In da deet!"  He loves any reason to go in the street  da deet.

anything goes

I used to be careful about what

my children wore.

Actually, that was mainly when

Gracie was a little girl.  

Everything had to match.

Lately, however, anything goes.

Exhibit A:  Trey with a barrette taped 

to his head- the girls called him Tracie.

Exhibit B:  Jada's outfit to go to 

the library today. It's the polka-dots-

meets-plaid-with-stripes look.

Some battles are not worth it.

Obviously.

What are you reading?

At CCIRA, in Colorado, a few months ago already, 

I heard a speaker say that you can tell a lot

about a person by the books he/she reads

throughout the year.

Well, here are a few I've read already this school year-

plus, a few I'm eager to get in to.  I'm not

sure what they "say" about me- 

but hopefully it's good.

The Help took me a long time to get

through, but it was probably my 

favorite out of all of these.  I'm so interested

in history, and reading realistic fiction.

Even Silence Has an End also took me a while

to get through- but I'm also crazy about

real life stories- this one is set in the jungle.

My friend, Amy, has loaned me four of 

Nicholas Spark's books in the last year.

The Choice isn't in this mix, but it's the most

recent one that I've read from him.

I heard the same person say that you should always know what you're going to read next.  I have a list.

I went to a conference about what's new in literature,

and it's peeked my interest in a LOT of books out there.

I might be coming to you next to borrow a book.

We could swap for one of mine if you want...

Baby steps

Sometimes we have to start small...
(notice how small the water height is.)

 ...so we can get our feet wet...

 And pretty soon, we're off and running!
Face in the water, smile from ear to ear!

By the way- there's nothing more fun to do with a sprinkler than to sit on it and let the water spray your bum!  It produces the biggest laughs from my children!

This 100 degree heat is ja-makin' us all crazy...

 

labeled

Imagine a 120 pound high school female crying out to God because he made her fat.


Imagine a 5ft 1in blonde woman feeling insignificant around a crowd of tall 7th and 8th graders.


Imagine a mother of three walking around Wal-Mart seeing faces that look like they're saying, "Wow, you've got your hands full."


Imagine someone who, because she was trying to fit in, gossiped about people at work.


Imagine a mom needing a place for her daughter to go for a few hours, and the babysitter saying, "Sure, ____ is their dad.  I'll watch her!" 


All of these people are me, at some point in my life.
Labeled.
Mother of three.
Wife to Chad.
Mennonite.
2nd grade teacher.
Short.
Fat.
Not getting good enough grades.
Having a boyfriend to feel wanted.


sad, huh?
Mark 5, in the Bible, has a story about a woman who was labeled.  
Unclean.
gross.
outcast.


She had to live by herself for 12 years because she was bleeding non-stop.  Can you imagine?  Not only "bleeding" for 12 years, but not being able to be around anyone.  secluded.


But, Jesus came to her village and she needed to touch him- just in case he could heal her, since nothing else she tried had worked.  He instantly knew, when she touched him, that he had healed someone.  This was the plan.  


She didn't need to be labeled anymore.  
But, we don't either.
We're all daughters/sons of God. 
HE doesn't label us- why do we?  

It's a challenge to get past thinking of myself as not pretty enough.  Not having enough money.  Not being good enough at my job.  
But, that's not who I am.  None of those things defines me.  


I am who God made me to be.
No one else.
Nothing else.


Go read Mark 5.
It's a good story.

family night

Got my bike tire fixed.
Which, of course, meant we needed a bike ride.
I love when Chad goes with us.
He pulls the two littlest Childs.

Tonight was Gracie's first time riding on a big bike alongside Chad and I.  Actually we were a Childs Circus Train.
Chad pulling the bike cart.
Then Gracie.
Then Me pulling in the rear.
Appropriate, huh?


Our family bike rides usually consists of riding somewhere that sells ice cream.  We rode to the Twisted Cow, and back- which meant we rode 3 miles.  Pretty good stretch of road for Gracie's little pedals to go at least twice as fast as mine were! 


We were SO proud of Gracie for keeping up.
For having such a good attitude.
And it makes me excited for summer.  
The four of us can go on a bike ride, and actually go places without driving there.  It will make for some serious exercise this summer!  

Then we all picked up the seeds in our yard and threw them at each other until dark.  This is the kind of evening where I feel rejuvenated.  

a future career

Jada took a few pictures with my camera on our way home from Omaha, Easter weekend.  What do you think?  Does she have a future career in photography?

 I just think this last picture defines Jada.  
We don't go very many places without these three.
Do you think her Kindergarten teacher will let Bunnybear, Ducky, and Little Ducky sit with her each day at school?  

eggs, eggs, and more eggs

What do you do with more than 100 eggs filled with candy?

You take the candy out- so the adults... ahem... I mean, kids can eat it.  And then, you hide the plastic eggs, and find them.  Hide them, and find them.  Roy and Kara, I hope you're happy that we came home with those eggs!  (Actually, we might have exhausted the exciting feeling of finding eggs at your house.  They haven't asked to play that game once since we've been back!)

 He looks like he's doing something else besides finding eggs...

 The Easter bunny came while we were in the backyard!

another birthday party

We went to Omaha for Easter weekend.  
While we were there, we celebrated Amanda's and Trey's birthdays.  
Our little guy got three birthday parties this year!  That's a lot of cake, cookies, and ice cream!

 Happy Birthday Amanda and Trey!
Amanda, you are such a beautiful role model to my girls.  You and Hannah are two people I hope my daughters watch closely to model their life after.  It's so weird I met you when you were 9, and now you're 23!  And more mature in many ways, than I was at 23.  Love you!