Monday, May 31, 2010

Red Rock Canyon

While David was "gone fishing" this morning, I took the boys to Red Rock Canyon -- it's a series of trails of varying difficulty in a beautiful canyon of red rocks :). We had a good walk, and now I have a better feel for the layout of the trails. There are lots of easy trails, but even the medium-difficulty trails really aren't bad (I accidentally led us on one of those for a little while and even Peter did fine). I'm looking forward to getting out there again!













Saturday, May 29, 2010

Stroll Down Memory Lane - part 1



When Babies Attack

Friday, May 28, 2010

Who can bake a rainbow?















The Campbells can!
Joyce sent us a recipe for turning a regular white cake recipe into rainbow cupcakes, so we decided to try it out as a special treat for Pentecost. It was a hit! The boys helped to mix the colors and put the batter in the muffin tins, and they've *really* enjoyed them as treats this week.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Swim lessons











Today was the last day of swim lessons for Jack and Thomas. They started in the first week of May and had 2 lessons a week. I can't believe how fast the month has flown by!

I'm really proud of the boys for doing so well during swim lessons. Jack surprised me by being very eager and willing to learn how to swim from the get-go (usually he tends to the more cautious side). He listened very well to the swim teacher and really seemed to enjoy the lessons. Thomas was very nervous to begin with, but he rallied and ended up doing a great job listening to the teacher, getting his ears wet (he really hated this!), and trying new things. Thomas even began chatting to the swim teacher all the way through the lessons, which is a pretty good sign that he's comfortable :).
Jack and Thomas both seem to be much more comfortable in the water now, and it was a great start that we can build on over the summer. My goal by the end of the summer is for them to even more confident and able in the water.

I would probably continue them in the next set of swim lessons immediately, but T-Ball starts in a couple of weeks and I just can't do that many activities at one time. I'm sure there will be a time in our lives that the kids will be doing a few different activities at one time, but for now one at a time is enough :). T-Ball wraps up at the end of July, so I might put them in swim lessons again at the end of the summer.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

First Fishing Trip

Yesterday morning we took the boys to a kid-friendly fishing lake not too far from us. They had a great time! David caught the first fish, and then a little while later Jack caught an even bigger fish (he was so excited!). Thomas (with David's help) tried his best to snag one, but he didn't have any luck this time. Peter was mostly content to throw pebbles into the lake. It was a beautiful day, and the boys are eager for their next fishing trip.
















Friday, May 21, 2010

Adventures with Grammy

We had a couple of excellent field trips while Mom was out here visiting. We visited a nearby cave, and the boys did pretty well, considering how dim the cave was and how much they dislike dark places :). Thomas seemed amenable to coming back again for another visit, but Jack firmly said that his favorite part about the cave was the exit. I'm proud of them for being as brave as they were!





The looks on the boys' faces about sums up their feelings about the cave, but they were troopers!
We also visited a dinosaur museum, which was small but had some pretty cool dinosaur bone displays (T-Rex, giant sea dinosaurs, dinosaur eggs, etc.). The boys enjoyed looking at the exhibits, but their favorite part was probably picking out a souvenir from the gift shop and then going out to lunch at McDonald's afterward.























I'm so very grateful for the time we got to spend with Mom during her stay here!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

That Mom

If you happened to be in a certain Super Target in Colorado Springs this morning, I'm sure you would have recognized me as That Mom.

You know, That Mom with the wild-eyed 6-year-old who refuses to walk near the shopping cart or hold his mom's hand as their walking from the car to the store entrance. That Mom with 2 other little boys she's trying to wrangle while she deals with the wiley 6-year-old. That Mom who really, really just wants to get the grocery shopping done as quickly as possible, but who realizes that the 6-year-old needs some in-store disciplinary action. That Mom who has no idea where or how she's going to give a time-out inside of a grocery store, but she has to figure out some way because she's not going home (she needs groceries!) and she's not going to let the 6-year-old keep misbehaving. That Mom who spots the Starbucks inside the store and heads to an empty table to turn a chair around, facing the wall, so she can administer the time-out. That Mom whose 6-year-old *will not* sit in the chair and do a time-out. That Mom who must hold her 6-year-old in her lap in a bear hug so he has some semblance of a time out. That Mom whose 6-year-old hits her after his lap timeout is over. That Mom who decides to pull out the Big Guns and reward the other 2 kids with strawberry smoothies from Starbucks since they have been behaving very well. That Mom whose 6-year old now throws an even bigger tantrum because he lost out on his smoothie privilege for bad behavior. That Mom who is encouraged by an older Mom watching from the sidelines in Starbucks who has been there and done that (God bless her!).


That Mom who walks wearily, but calmly, out of the Starbucks, with 2 very happy kids sucking contentedly on their smoothies, and one very tear-stained and loud 6-year-old, and gets every last thing on her shopping list (and then some). That Mom who finishes her shopping trip, with a now relatively calm 6-year-old and 2 other whipped-cream faced kids, only to hear her almost 2-year old ask "Cookie?" as she loads the groceries into the van. That Mom who searches the cart and car and realizes that his Cookie blanket has been lost somewhere in the vast jungle that is Super Target, and she really does need to go back in and find it or there will be heck to pay later. That Mom who reloads the kids back into the shopping cart, heads back into the store, and retraces her steps in the store .... and finds the lost blanket in the meat department -- hooray!

I know all Moms have their That Mom moments. Today was one of my toughest, but I think after 6 years of parenting, I'm finally getting the hang of the calm-and-tough-but-loving routine. No matter how much I wanted to cry or run away or just give up and go home, I managed to keep a cool exterior and do what needed to be done, despite the very public venue (I don't think I made eye contact with anyone in that Starbucks, though!). I actually feel like I handled it in the best possible way and it worked -- after Jack's meltdown, he managed to pull himself together and behave for the rest of the trip. Thank God for the graces to get through my That Mom moment today, and for all the many, many times when it's not my turn to be That Mom :).

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Where to begin?

The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity -- I have lots of photos to share, but it's hard to know where to begin!

Jack and Thomas had excellent 6th and 4th birthdays. I made a cake that they really enjoyed, even though the theme was a bit of a stretch (I was trying to incorporate plastic animals on the cake, plus a vehicle theme, and the only thing I could come up with was that the vehicles were coming to the rescue of the animals, who were in a zoo that was on fire!). It was a little crazy, but the boys enjoyed it. David had the good idea of having the boys help put out the fire when they blew out their birthday candles :).




















The boys received bicycles for their birthdays, and they've had lots of fun riding them. I can't believe how much bigger they look on their bikes!
























Jack and Thomas have also been in swimming lessons for the past few weeks. Jack loves it, and is very good about listening to the swim instructor and trying new things. I'm very proud of him! Thomas has been slow to warm up to it, but I think he's finally comfortable with going in the water with the swim instructor. I'm usually on the side of the pool with Peter (the YMCA had free child care, but unfortunately they're closed down for a few hours right during our lessons), so I haven't been able to be in the water with the boys as an extra helper except for the week that Mom was out. I think that week of having me help in the water really made Thomas more comfortable in the water, and so far this week he's been fine in the water without me! We have 3 lessons left, and then I'm looking forward to getting the boys some practice in our neighborhood pool later this spring and summer.

Mom's visit last week was wonderful, and we had some great field trips that I'll post about later today or tomorrow.
The weather here is still fickle -- but it seems like it may slowly be warming up a little, which we're all grateful for. Hopefully this weekend David will be able to take Jack and Thomas on their first fishing trip, and maybe we'll be able to visit a park or trail also. In the first week of June, the boys start T-ball, and they can't wait for that.
So, we're busy, but doing well. I find myself so grateful for the boys, their good health, and all the good things in our lives these days. I still catch myself feeling sad about the baby we lost, especially when I see pregnant women, newborns, etc., but I feel so much more aware of what gifts my 3 boys are. I realize that my "perfect" plan for our family (4 kids, 2 years between each of them) is just in my head, and as much as I may be attached to my plans (you know I am!), that doesn't mean I'm actually in control of any of this! I just need to do the best with what is given to me. I would love for Peter to have a little brother or sister close in age, and I felt sad when I realized that the next baby may be closer to 3 years apart rather than 2. But then I look at Peter and how he interacts with his brothers, and he's just fine -- he doesn't need a younger sibling to be complete. I realized that we'll all love each other and be close whether we have a new baby in 3 years, 6 years, or not at all. It will be whatever it will be, and we'll be grateful for it!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

A Big Thank You

To David, for taking such good care of me and our family, for taking off time from work when it was difficult to do so, and for being so calm, strong, and loving while I've been recovering from this miscarriage.

To Kim for hopping on a plane and then driving 1.5 hours with baby Matthew yesterday so she could make meals, help wrangle and play with the boys, and generally do everything in her power to make sure I got enough rest (and I'm not very good at sitting still, so she had her work cut out for her!). It meant so much to have her here!! It was also so great to watch the boys so thoroughly enjoy the time they got to spend with their Aunt Wheetah and Matthew.

To Michael Sr., Michael Jr. (who I know both dearly missed Kim and Mamoo!) and all the Barbers for caring for little Michael and making it possible for Kim to come out and be with us.

To everyone who has been keeping us in your prayers. I am recovering very well, and am so grateful to be healthy and feeling as good as I do.



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