BBQ

BBQ at East Lake:

 

Shish ka-bobs,

(chicken and ribs)

almost 70 of them! This was the last of them. 

The others were prettier with red and green peppers, 

onions, and mushrooms.)

 

and ladder golf,

 

some singing,

 

some swinging,

 and s'mores,

 and some marshmallow games

The Line

"Don't cross the line."
That's what we've always taught our Childs.
It's the "line" almost at the end of the driveway.
We live on a busy street.  
Therefore, we have to teach them not to cross 
the line when they are riding bikes, pushing babies
in strollers, riding scooters, or
pulling a wagon.  
It's not safe to cross the line. 

There it is.  The horizontal line in front of Jada.
A few more feet and you're in the street.

Trey is quick on his feet, so when he's pushing the walker I have to make sure I know where he's at, at all times.  I wanted a picture of him racing toward the line, but I can't guarantee I'd turn him around in time.  

Here he is yelling.

I like to imagine he's learned the safety rule about "the line" 

and is yelling at his sisters to not go passed it.

Kind of doubt it though. 

He's naughty.

hitting

He's a stinker.
And he hits.
It's his favorite thing.
We know this because he smiles after we tell him no.
And it's not like we say, "Oh, Trey, no, no.  Don't hit."
We really get in his face sometimes.
Not like: Call-SRS-in-his-face. 
Just stern.
Serious.
But, he laughs at it all.
Until tonight.
His first time-out.
He's 13 months.  
Is that too young?

He think he's pretty cool because he's figured out if he pushes buttons on this thing the tv turns on.  Notice it's facing the wrong way.  But, look at how smart this turkey is.  
What does our future hold?
Ok... laugh.  Laugh all you want!  
Just know we'll be dropping him off someday 
so you can babysit him and see the truth!

confessions

I've seen other friends blog about confessions.  
I decided it was my turn.
So, here are 11 confessions.  
It was originally 10, but no. 11 is really important.

1.  Every morning I eat oatmeal with chocolate chips in it.  And somehow I convince myself every morning that I've just eaten a healthy breakfast.

2.  I (heart) staying in my pj's all day.  But, I love teaching kids more, which is why it's the perfect job for me. 

3.  I am a game junkie.  Before kids Chad and I managed to play games with friends almost every night for about a year.  Awesome.  (I also, secretly, love playing games with my cousins- even though I'm not very good.  I love seeing them interact with each other and be brothers.) 

4.  I don't understand the big hype about Sonic.  I honestly think it would be better if it served Pepsi.

5.  I hate it when people talk during movies, but I don't hate it when Amy and I talk during movies.  I love it.

6.  I secretly LOVE game shows like Wheel of Fortune, and Family Feud.

7.  I talk about Chad and how incredibly smart and passionate he is, to other people.

8.  I'm afraid to put our house on the market because I don't want them to judge my home.

9.  When I'm in the car I watch for deer or other wild animals in the country because, for some reason, it makes me feel closer to my dad.

10.  My mom comes to clean my house, and I love it.  Some people would maybe think it's silly that she comes, but it makes me feel like I'm being taken care of.  
 
11.  I am an awesome singer.. in the car... by myself.

the last 24 hours

It's 1:00 p.m.  I should be taking a nap because of how dizzy I am today.  But, my mind keeps racing (and I'm not even on those crazy pills anymore.)  I keep thinking about all the events of the last 24 hours, and how blessed I am.  Starting 24 hours ago...

1 p.m. (yesterday)- a crafty friend stops by just as we're getting ready to go to Wichita.  She has her favorite flowers in a jar that she's decorated with ribbon- so cute.  Like I said, crafty.  Wish I had one decorating bone in my body.  But, this is about HER.  She knew just how to make my day.  I'll miss not seeing this lady next year picking her kids up from school...

7 p.m.- after playing outside in the beautiful weather we bathed all three kids, put on pj's, put the youngest to bed and I got to cuddle with the oldest Childs.  She doesn't do that often, but I love it and it reminds me that she was a baby ages ago and she's growing up too fast. 

8 p.m.- I hear the middle Childs crying to her daddy that she's afraid of the possible storm coming and he tucks her in, climbs into bed, and reads just one last story to her.  Precious.  

Midnight- after listening to the baby Childs cry for a loong time I walk into his room to see him crying through the teething pain on daddy's lap in his dark room.  Not only did daddy give him a bottle and rock him back to sleep in the middle of the night, but he slept on baby Childs' floor until 3 a.m.

9 a.m. (today)- I saw the BEST status on one of my current students mom's facebook.  (got all of that?)  Only short people can appreciate this one: "If I stand on my tiptoes.... I can see the weekend from here!  Whoohooo!"   Love it.

9:30 a.m.- I heard about how to be the best mom on t.v.  We just talked with one of the girls last night about not believing everything you hear/see on t.v.  But, this was good.  The lady said the way to be the best mom to your kids is to parent each of them differently.  They have different tastes, personalities, senses of humor, etc.... So, you have to treat each one different.  Let one kid stay up later to read if that helps them go to sleep, and let one kid have a snack after going to bed if that comforts him/her.  You're not being unequal, you're zoning in on their uniqueness.  Great advice, and it takes pressure off of how I sometimes think I need to equal everything out for all three Childs.

Noon- after getting out of bed from reading a fantastic book for over two hours, I made mac-n-chz.  Now, you might not realize this, but making mac-n-chz perfectly is like creating art.  You have to have the right amount of all ingredients in order to make it taste the best.  However, you also have to watch the noodles as they boil or else you get soggy ones.  Which is what I did today.  Gross.  And then, I ate my overcooked soggy noodles in my mac-n-chz: over half the bowl I might add, uck.  And then felt sick and had to sit down for a while.  (This isn't one of the "blessed" parts I was talking about earlier.)

Now- I sit in my bed, dizzy for whatever reason (maybe from surgery still two weeks ago), and ready for a nap.  I'm blessed to have a job that allows me to have a surgery I needed, and allows me to stay home for four weeks to recover.  There's no way I could be at school teaching children effectively right now.  Time to go sleep before the rest of this Childs family gets home!  :)

  (These are two of the 8 arrangements I've received in the last two weeks.  I've loved them all, but these two have the biggest, most colorful flowers in them.  You have to admit- these flowers are gorgeous!)

Guess Who?

Guess who got a hair cut tonight from his daddy...

Guess who needed 9 bandaids for what she calls "chiggers" all over her legs...

 Guess who played so nicely together this evening...

Guess who thought he was pretty cool playing outside- after his haircut, after the bath, and in pj's...

Guess who is the best husband in the world and made our lawn look great!

Interview with a Bear

Let me introduce you to BunnyBear.
She has been in our family for 4 years now.
BunnyBear was a gift to Jada and she's never
let BunnyBear be "just a bear" ever since.

Of course there are a few characteristics that
don't make it surprising that Jada loves her 
so much.  The first one being BunnyBear's color-
light pink.  "Light pink" happens to be Jada's
most favorite color in the world.  Also, BunnyBear
is a girl, and that's Jada's favorite gender.
And then, there's the fact that BunnyBear can be 
a bear, OR she can dress up as a bunny.  
Guess which holiday Jada got her as a present!  
JADA'S FAVORITE HOLIDAY- EASTER!  (She talks
about Easter all throughout the year.  "Next Easter,
can I ..."  It's super cute.)

I decided to interview BunnyBear (with the help of
Jada- since I sometimes can't hear what she says.)
You might notice that some of the answers BunnyBear
gave are quite similar to what Jada would answer for 
herself.  


Me:  "BunnyBear, what is your favorite thing to do with Jada?"
BB: "read books to Jada and read books to myself"


Me:  "What is your favorite color?"
BB:  "blue"  (surprising!)


Me:  "What do you like to do at home?"
BB:  "Snuggle with Jada."  (and get a drink of water)


Me:  "What's the silliest thing you've ever done?"
BB:  "For Halloween I dressed up as a chicken."

Me:  "Who do you love the most?"

BB:  "My Jada."

I love it that Jada wants/needs/loves this soft

cuddly stuffed animal.  She's always been so 

motherly, and loving to the things she gets

really attached to.  She's going to make a 

great mom someday!