Back to School! (Umm, 2 weeks ago)

The back to school post that is 2 weeks late. Shows you that we've been busy little bees around here. Even though it still felt like the middle of summer when we started on August 15, the kids were excited to see their friends and start the year with awesome teachers. We are excited to see what 3rd grade, 1st grade and kindergarten brings for our little monkeys.

Of course, Tate had to get in on the "in front of the fireplace picture-taking session" that happens every first day of school. Don't you love his "I love Mom" jammies! :) Helped me dry my tears as my babies got on the bus.
And Mr. Charlie giving us a number 1 for 1st grade! He is going to be one amazing first-grader. His reading skills already blow me away. WOW!

And the little Miss showing us how she feels about kindergarten! She got the best teacher in the history of kindergarten teachers, the fabulous Mrs. S. We are so blessed to have had her for all 3 of our kids--we know Zoe is going to have a wonderful year!

And the cool-cat 3rd grader. Funny thing--at their back-to-school checkups, Max is now 4 ft 11 3/4 inches tall, and weighs over 100 pounds. So my "big guy" seriously is my "big guy!" Our nurse practitioner laughingly told me that he will be 5 feet tall by the end of the month. His feet are already bigger than mine!! In THIRD GRADE!! He is bound and determined to bypass my height this year--which he will if he grows the same 6 inches that he did this past year. Me oh my!!

Oh how this picture makes me smile. While I would love to keep them home with me and play, play, play all the day long, I am grateful to be sending them out into the world to "let their lights shine"--to be examples of God's love to their friends and teachers and to learn how to be good citizens of our world. Here's to another great school year!

Easter in August!

So it is August 18 and we are coloring Easter eggs. Why you ask? WHY NOT??!! :)

Happy Thursday, Friends!

Birthday Boy!

I cannot believe that my oldest is 9! It's amazing how well we moms remember every single detail of the day our children came into our lives. All throughout Max's special day, Buck and I would look at each other and say "remember where we were 9 years ago?" It was a gorgeous August Wednesday morning when Max decided to make his arrival. And this August Sunday was no different--a beautiful day celebrating an awesome kid!! Love this guy...

Max with his new friend, Mr. Moola! He won him at the State Fair by making one pretty amazing basketball shot. It was SOOO fun to watch him win! :) And now he has a buddy who takes up the entire other spot in his double bed.

Max opening his long-awaited iPod touch. He has waited and saved for months and months for this thing--and it was a gift from both us and his grandparents. It was a great lesson for Max in patience and saving! And it has been worth the wait!! He has been very responsible with his fancy new toy. Here's hoping it continues!

Sweet Charlie-Man couldn't let his brother get ALL the pictures!

The birthday boy with his requested red velvet cupcakes. Happy 9th Birthday, John Maxwell! You are a blessing and it is such an honor and joy to be your parents. We can't wait to continue to see what God has in store for your life. Big things, I have no doubt!!

Done!

Thank you so much for your prayers friends. God is faithful and good--all the time! Zoe is doing really well and just manipulted her dad into her second chocolate shake of the day ("with the cherry on top?" oh so sweetly... :) ). I can't quite believe it but they were running early at the surgery center and we were home before 10! Dr. S says the surgery went "perfectly" and "beautifully". Music to my ears!!! Thank you, Lord! It was a little rough right when she woke up and soon after getting home...but as you can guess from the ice cream requests, she is doing much better now. It will have to be a quiet couple of weeks as she heals--hard to keep our girl down, but we will do it! Thank you again for your prayers. We all appreciate it so much. Much love to each of you.

Our princess...

Is having surgery Monday morning to correct her eye problems (for my medical friends...her amblyopia and strabismus. :) ). This girl has been through more medical "stuff" in her 5 years than I have in my whole life. She is a trooper through and through, but any mom hates putting their child in someone else's hands to take care of them. Please pray for the amazing Dr. S and the anesthesiologist who will be caring for Zoe and pray for our girl to come through with flying colors! Will post tomorrow after it's all done...for now, we are enjoying some late night ice cream and water as she has to stop eating and drinking after midnight. Surgery scheduled for 8:40...praying it goes quickly! Thank you, friends.

Vacation, Take 1!

We had the BEST week at the Lake. We had perfect weather, kids getting along (glory be!), good little sleepers at night, donuts every single morning and fun fun fun! We are home for this week and then we head back out again for another week--our summers are pretty rough. ;)

Daddy had just flown them outside the wake. WOO HOO!
My 5 most favorite people in the whole world

Daddy was the only person who could get our little blond Goldilocks jump in the still-chilly lake. Daddy and his boating buddy!!

There was some serious fishing as well. Look at this 24-incher Max reeled in. (He looks like he's in pain, but trust me, he's having the time of his life! I think he was squinting into the sun! )

And look at this 27-incher that Zoe got! Seriously!! It was a BIG ONE! And our fearless girl wanted to hold it, throw it back, look at its teeth...goodness gracious!

Our kayaking champ! We got so much use out of the kayaks (thank you, Shannon!)--Charlie is a natural and paddles like a pro. It was fun to see him get so much confidence on the water.

It was another great week making so many precious memories. We are so blessed that my grandparents open their home to us and give us these opportunities to have the perfect family vacations each year. It just gets more and more fun! Can't wait to go back--T-minus 4 days! Happy Wednesday, friends.

Potty training prodigy

So much of my day the last couple of weeks has been spent here:

Fun times, right? And NOT because I had a problem ;) but because this little wonderboy has been a potty-training genius!

Is there ANYTHING in the world cuter than a little boy in baby briefs?

I wanted to potty-train Tate during the summer months because I think it is easier to get them out of shorts and swimsuits (or run around in their birthday suits) than it is to get them out of jeans or other heavy clothes. This being said, I potty-trained Zoe in the dead of winter. :) So it's not fool-proof. But I was noticing that my "window" for training Tate was slowly opening and wanted to seize the moment. I was prepared for weeks-long accidents and staying close to home but I kid you not--Tate has been the easiest of all 4 to potty train and that's saying a lot because Zoe was pretty darn easy too.

For anyone who doesn't want more details on our potty training, feel free to end your reading now. :) For anyone else who may benefit from my fairly limited experience, I wanted to share a few things that worked for us...I read several other blog posts before I started training Tate that were helpful for me (it has been 3 1/2 years since I've potty trained anyone!) so wanted to pass along other helpful hints as well.

I do think it helps to have older siblings to watch and learn from. But that's not to say a first child won't be easy as well! My number 1 piece of advice would be to be ready when the child is ready. That may be months after you the parent are ready (hello, Max!) or months before you the parent are ready (hello, Zoe!). Zoe was DONE potty-training by the time she was 2...I was fully planning to wait until she was at least 2 to even start. Max on the other had...we gave it a shot (did not last long) when he was a little over 2, and he was right at his 3rd birthday (literally days before he could start preschool) before he even showed an interest. So I figured Tate is 2 1/2, let's see what happens.

We did start out on the little-boy potty, something I had actually never done with any of the other three, but Tate seemed to be really afraid of the regular toilet at first. So for 2 days we used the little potty but let me tell you, that got old really fast. So we tried having him sit on the "big potty" like his brothers and sister and they were the BEST cheerleaders ever. We had a huge celebration with each little accomplishment. And a lot of it was just cheering and hugs...although I am not above bribery. It works. For the first time we got a #1 on the "big potty" Tate got to pick out a toy at Target (fun little motorcycle) and for the first time we got a #2 on the big potty Tate got...get this...a skateboard. Big brother Charlie had just gotten one for his birthday and Tate was obsessed. It was perfect timing because boy oh boy did Tate want a skateboard. So he did the deed and look at this happy guy!

There's his little Cars-themed skateboard and helmet. And if you think it wouldn't last with such pathetic maneuvers, it did!! He now hasn't had an accident in over a week and is staying dry through naptime. I seriously take very little credit for this--Charlie was actually much the same way. It was like we said "OK, you have to go on the potty now," and Charlie (and Tate for that matter) said "OK, I will." And that was that. So...maybe this has helped someone a little, maybe not. But be encouraged, not filled with dread about potty-training. It can be a fun time to learn more about your child, spend uninterrupted time with them (lots and lots of uninterrupted time!) and is another reminder of how they develop and learn. And keep in mind, too, that EVERY child is unique, and you have to find what will trip their trigger. For mine--shameless bribery. :) That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Happy Friday, friends.