Jenna recently started copying the look I give her when I don't approve of what just happened but don't know how I want to respond yet...wet panties, taking some decorative flowers from their place to play with, etc., etc. We now call it her funny face, and she likes to stare people down with her look until they laugh. Sometimes she includes a "Mommy" in a gruff voice in an attempt to make me crack--it works every time!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Loved
Lately I've been really overwhelmed by several people in our lives who take a really big interest in our family, especially our kids. Here's some recent pictures of a few of them and a couple stories.
Amy talked to me at church last Spring and asked if she could be our nanny for the summer. I told her I'd love having her around my house but hadn't been budgeting for a nanny. First she offered to do it as her ministry (wow!) then her mom said she'd pay her daughter to work for me (wow again!). She came two or three times a week for about three hours and gave me time to clean, run errands, or spend one-on-one time with one of the kids. She showed so much initiative and became great at knowing the little things she could do around the house to really lighten my load. Amy has now started her freshman year of high school, so we don't get to see her nearly as much. We enjoy catching some volleyball games and seeing her at church.
Julie and I have been meeting for mentoring/discipleship since she was in eighth grade. Over the years, she has begun to feel more like a part of our family (like a niece) than a student/babysitter/girl I meet with. Julie's now a senior and super busy but still making time to be with us. She's so mature, thoughtful, generous...a precious friend to me! We're doing Beth Moore's "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place" together this year, and I'm looking forward to all that I'll learn from her! I think this picture of Julie with our kids may show up in her senior slide show, which shows you what a big part of her life she considers our kids to be!
This is Caleb and Leslie. Caleb's the guy we named Drew after. They were both MCA students that AJ really connected with, and now they're dating! Leslie's parents moved away, but she came back to visit and we got to have her stay with us. It was a big treat to have so much time with them, and they are a definite example of people who think the smallest things our kids do are impressive. Caleb says "That's awesome!" every time Drew stands up, the girls sing their ABCs...don't know if I've ever seen a college guy be so enamored by little kids before.
We're truly loved and feel so grateful and humbled.
Amy talked to me at church last Spring and asked if she could be our nanny for the summer. I told her I'd love having her around my house but hadn't been budgeting for a nanny. First she offered to do it as her ministry (wow!) then her mom said she'd pay her daughter to work for me (wow again!). She came two or three times a week for about three hours and gave me time to clean, run errands, or spend one-on-one time with one of the kids. She showed so much initiative and became great at knowing the little things she could do around the house to really lighten my load. Amy has now started her freshman year of high school, so we don't get to see her nearly as much. We enjoy catching some volleyball games and seeing her at church.
Julie and I have been meeting for mentoring/discipleship since she was in eighth grade. Over the years, she has begun to feel more like a part of our family (like a niece) than a student/babysitter/girl I meet with. Julie's now a senior and super busy but still making time to be with us. She's so mature, thoughtful, generous...a precious friend to me! We're doing Beth Moore's "A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place" together this year, and I'm looking forward to all that I'll learn from her! I think this picture of Julie with our kids may show up in her senior slide show, which shows you what a big part of her life she considers our kids to be!
This is Caleb and Leslie. Caleb's the guy we named Drew after. They were both MCA students that AJ really connected with, and now they're dating! Leslie's parents moved away, but she came back to visit and we got to have her stay with us. It was a big treat to have so much time with them, and they are a definite example of people who think the smallest things our kids do are impressive. Caleb says "That's awesome!" every time Drew stands up, the girls sing their ABCs...don't know if I've ever seen a college guy be so enamored by little kids before.
We're truly loved and feel so grateful and humbled.
Monday, August 24, 2009
It's the first day of school
...and for the first time since AJ and I were 5, it doesn't affect our lives.
It's kinda sad for me, but AJ's just focused on what he's doing at Chick-fil-A. I'm just so thankful for the privilege of being home with my kids instead of heading out the door to a classroom full of kids. I try to thank AJ at least once a day for going to work and providing a way for me to stay home. Of course, it's plenty of work, but it's the work I really want to be spending my time on!
Drew started waving a bit today, so here's a video of his new fun tricks.
Lydia has had her glasses for almost a week now. She's doing a great job of keeping them on, and Jenna has had no problem accepting that she doesn't have glasses like her sister. The doctor says her vision is fine, but this should relax her focusing to help her eyes quit crossing. For now, I just think she's a cutie in her little pink glasses!
We had a super fun weekend. We went to a minor league baseball game with lots of church friends, and a sweet lady at church painted lots of the kids' faces. She's so good!
Jenna the Princess and Lydia the Kitty
Hey--I don't have to label the girls anymore! You can tell them apart!
The kids have been really sweet and loving with each other lately. Drew smiles a lot when the girls give him attention (with some occassional laughing and hair pulling). He's learning to give them kisses, and they just tend to be very sweet and thoughtful with him.
Drew likes to stand and play for a bit but only when we stand him up. No pulling up yet (thankfully!)
One funny story: When the girls aren't sharing or any of the many other issues in a typical day, I sometimes say, "That's not sweet." So the other day Jenna was getting into something and I told her no. She replied with a funny, disapproving look and said, "Mommy, that's not sweet. You no tell me no!"
Hmmm...looks like she has some learning to do about the way life goes. :)
I have some more fun pictures from the last couple weeks. Hopefully I'll post them soon!
It's kinda sad for me, but AJ's just focused on what he's doing at Chick-fil-A. I'm just so thankful for the privilege of being home with my kids instead of heading out the door to a classroom full of kids. I try to thank AJ at least once a day for going to work and providing a way for me to stay home. Of course, it's plenty of work, but it's the work I really want to be spending my time on!
Drew started waving a bit today, so here's a video of his new fun tricks.
Lydia has had her glasses for almost a week now. She's doing a great job of keeping them on, and Jenna has had no problem accepting that she doesn't have glasses like her sister. The doctor says her vision is fine, but this should relax her focusing to help her eyes quit crossing. For now, I just think she's a cutie in her little pink glasses!
We had a super fun weekend. We went to a minor league baseball game with lots of church friends, and a sweet lady at church painted lots of the kids' faces. She's so good!
Jenna the Princess and Lydia the Kitty
Hey--I don't have to label the girls anymore! You can tell them apart!
The kids have been really sweet and loving with each other lately. Drew smiles a lot when the girls give him attention (with some occassional laughing and hair pulling). He's learning to give them kisses, and they just tend to be very sweet and thoughtful with him.
Drew likes to stand and play for a bit but only when we stand him up. No pulling up yet (thankfully!)
One funny story: When the girls aren't sharing or any of the many other issues in a typical day, I sometimes say, "That's not sweet." So the other day Jenna was getting into something and I told her no. She replied with a funny, disapproving look and said, "Mommy, that's not sweet. You no tell me no!"
Hmmm...looks like she has some learning to do about the way life goes. :)
I have some more fun pictures from the last couple weeks. Hopefully I'll post them soon!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Update
Here's some updates from the last couple weeks.
Love my little boy! Lately, he's busy rolling around getting into things and also cut his first two bottom teeth last week. His toothy grin is precious!
He loves zucchini, peas, squash, peaches, avacado...everything but bananas so far. This is a picture after a bite of bananas. "Yuck, Mom!"
Swimming at AJ's new boss's house at a Chick-fil-A staff party.
If you can't tell, Drew's in a high chair and the girls are being the mommies. Obviously. :)
Lydia with Leila and Elena
We had a great time with Grandma Perea here! She stayed busy playing, helping around the house, and doing several projects for us. Oh, and taking pictures...how could I forget?
Lydia enjoys one of Poppie's famous foot rubs.
Poppie time. He also had very few moments when he was laying around. He helped AJ with some wiring projects, refinished a dresser, helped me with cleaning, and enjoyed the kids--especially his buddy Drew.
.
And here's our little Lydia whose eyes seem to be crossing more and more as the days go on. We have an appointment to see the eye doctor in a couple weeks. Yesterday she left them crossed for several hours in a row, but today they've only crossed for a few short moments. Maybe the difficulties in telling the girls apart will be over if Lydia needs glasses!
Love my little boy! Lately, he's busy rolling around getting into things and also cut his first two bottom teeth last week. His toothy grin is precious!
He loves zucchini, peas, squash, peaches, avacado...everything but bananas so far. This is a picture after a bite of bananas. "Yuck, Mom!"
Swimming at AJ's new boss's house at a Chick-fil-A staff party.
If you can't tell, Drew's in a high chair and the girls are being the mommies. Obviously. :)
Lydia with Leila and Elena
We had a great time with Grandma Perea here! She stayed busy playing, helping around the house, and doing several projects for us. Oh, and taking pictures...how could I forget?
Lydia enjoys one of Poppie's famous foot rubs.
Poppie time. He also had very few moments when he was laying around. He helped AJ with some wiring projects, refinished a dresser, helped me with cleaning, and enjoyed the kids--especially his buddy Drew.
.
And here's our little Lydia whose eyes seem to be crossing more and more as the days go on. We have an appointment to see the eye doctor in a couple weeks. Yesterday she left them crossed for several hours in a row, but today they've only crossed for a few short moments. Maybe the difficulties in telling the girls apart will be over if Lydia needs glasses!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
