Drew's Last Day of Preschool for 2013

Drew's last day of preschool for the year was on May 16th.  Since Clayton's last day was the 13th, we were excited for Drew's last day to be our official start of summer.  :)

I can't believe how much he has changed!  Precious boy...

After our little before school photo shoot, he asked me to take "just one more picture."  He did this crazy pose.  Ninja?  Hot dog dance?  Cheer?  Who knows...  ;)

They had a popsicle party on the playground to celebrate the last day.

Then we went back inside for the moment that all of the Mamas had been waiting for...  Me Books!  We get a bound book of all of their handprint art from the year and the scrapbooks that the teachers make.  The scrapbook is called their "Me Book."  They are always tear jerkers and precious keepsakes.  I know that the teachers spend hours and hours on these books, and I appreciate each and every minute.  They are so special to me...

Here are a few of my favorite pages...

 The My Family page may be my very favorite.  "I wish my Daddy worked at Great Wolf Lodge."  "The best thing about my home is we have a Lego table."  Ha!

 Love 3 year old people drawings.  So cute!

 His handwriting has improved and he has grown so much!

 One last bear hug from Ms. Christi and Ms. Shanna.  They loved on each child when they got to the classroom and before they left the classroom.  They sincerely loved them - it was so obvious.  They were the type of teachers that I pray for all of my boys to experience.

My Drew had an extraordinary first school experience.  He went from hiding behind his big brother as Clayton introduced him to kids in his class, to giving chest bumps to each of the boys before we left.  He went from crying uncontrollably when I left on the first day, to walking in totally confident.  It has been so neat to see my shy boy come out of his shell and learn to love school.  On the last week of school, he asked me if he had school the next day.  The following day was a Wednesday, so I told him that he didn't.  He said, "Aw, man.  Preschool. is. epic!"  Ha ha!  I'm so grateful for the preschool staff, and especially his darling teachers, that worked soooo hard to make learning fun and loved on my boy like he was their very own.  What a great year it was for my Drew...

Mother's Day 2013

My 4 guys were all soooo sweet to me this Mother's Day!  They kept surprising me throughout the day with acts of kindness.  It was one of my favorite days ever.  :)

I love being a mom and feel passionately about investing in my kids.  But... mothering is so much harder than I ever dreamed it would be.  Most nights I lay in bed and recount all of the times that I blew it throughout the day.  "Man, I could have handled that better..."  "Why didn't I do this instead of that?"  It's a humbling job to nurture little souls, isn't it?

At the end of the day, being a mother to these three boys is a calling.  They are precious gifts that the Lord has given me to refine me and to teach me more about Himself.  When they are hurting and I want nothing more than to comfort them, I know that my Father feels that same feeling when my heart is hurting, only infinitely stronger.  When they disappoint me by behavior that I know that they have been taught is wrong, I know that my Father is infinitely more devastated by my own sin.  When I feel joy because they obey simply out of love with expectations of nothing in return, I know that my Father is infinitely more joyful when I obey Him with pure motives.  Mothering these three has taught more about Christ than I ever could have imagined.  Even when it is really, really, really hard, I am grateful that these three are mine.

On Mother's Day morning, I woke up to breakfast in bed from my Clayton.  He brought me a plate of cheese toast, a banana, and a yogurt drink.  All on his own - Wade wasn't up yet either.  It was the best cheese toast that I have ever had in my life.  ;)

We had just finished a poetry unit in school.  Clayton had written me a really thoughtful acrostic poem.  So sweet!

 Drew had picked out a card and written his name and "Mom" on the envelope.  Darling boy.

We went to church, which is always a tremendous blessing.  I love my church so much.

 I could never tire of those toddler hands grabbing my face and holding on tight for an extra long smooch.  ;)

The boys gave me flowers and the sweetest handmade gifts (better than anything that money could buy!). 

Clayton had asked for a break while we were working on schoolwork earlier in the week.  He hinted at the fact that he was working on a gift.  Y'all, he wrote the sweetest poem for me!  Wade said that he was so proud when he brought it to show him.  He asked Wade to help him type it up and frame it.  I was so moved when I read it - straight from his little heart.

As much as I love the framed version, the original is even better.  I will keep it for all eternity, you can rest assured of that.  (My favorite part is "Some times she is stern, but that's because she is helping you learn."  Me, stern???  Never.  Ha!  Priceless.)

Drew made a sweet hand print canvas at preschool.   Hand print art is my favey fav.

The questionaire on the back is hilarious!  "The best thing she cooks is: a cherry pop tart."  Oh my word - I laughed til I cried!

To top it all off, my guys bought me two BoyMom tee shirts, a necklace with the boys' initials, and 6 rose bushes.  Eeek!  I was so excited!  Wade and Clayton worked hard to plant my "rose garden" along the side of the house.  I love the thought of those bushes growing and providing years of beauty.

Days like this are important reminders that all of the tough parts of motherhood are totally worth it.  :)

Owen Digs Being 2!

We celebrated Owen's 2nd birthday with a construction themed party on Saturday, May 11th.  We had a smaller celebration with just family and a few friends at the park.  While I was planning, I tried to include all of Owen's favorite things - family & friends, breakfast foods, being outside, his favorite park, and lots of trucks and diggers.  :) 

Party favors were easy - a tool belt, construction hat, and dump trucks.

We got his cake at Costco, and I jazzed it up a bit with orange cone candles, a crumpled up cupcake (dirt), and (new) construction vehicles.

Two of the best looking guys on the planet.  ;)

Owen loves almost everything about being at the park.  He could play there for hours and hours.

His only dislike... the swings.  :(

He always asks to swing, and then he proceeds to cry and look terrified.  Ha!

He has discovered "Superman swinging," and he is a fan.  ;)

Morgan & Makinley are always a huge help wrangling my crew.  Sweet girls!

The lighter that I brought was a dud, and the wind made it impossible to light the candles even when we were able to get a bit of a spark.  So, there were no candles to blow out.  Wah-wah!  Owen didn't care if they were lit or not, though.  He leaned forward and blew anyway at the end of the Happy Birthday song.  Ha!  2 year olds are so easy to please.  :)

Grammie & Papaw have given each of the boys a train set for their 2nd-5th birthdays - one car each year.  Owen was excited to get the engine and the first car.  Such a fun tradition!

My sister, Jeff, and the boys surprised us by coming to Owen's party.  Originally, they weren't able to come because Angel and Jonathan both had ball games.  At the last minute, the boys' baseball games were rained out, so they left Houston at 6am and drove straight to the park.  

Now that is dedication!  :)  We were so glad that they were able to come.

I loved getting to plan Owen's party - focusing on party details is a welcomed distraction from lamenting about my kids getting another year older.  Party planning is my coping mechanism.  ;)  I think my sweet boy enjoyed his celebration, and we are so grateful to our friends & family that spent their Saturday morning with us.  Such a fun day!