quotable

Jude:  "Wet's pway someting."

"I don't wike girls... but I wike you."

Ezzy:  Mommy, I wish we were people that buyed expensive stuff.

Me:  Like what?

Ezzy:  Like chocolate cookies that are expensive and cereal that is expensive.

Ezra sings a lot. He has this funny little deep pitched voice and his songs come out more like a chant that he repeats over and over.  Here are a few of his lyrics:

"Why would a momma chase an elephant?" (repeat over and over)

"I love God.

He's so strong and mighty and He has all the powers in the world

oooh... yeah....

I love God.

He's so awesome.

He can save us from all the bad guys in the world.

Oh....

My brothers hit me sometimes.

And it hurts so bad.

Just like God dying on the cross."

"Even when we're fighting and being mean to each other, God still loves you."

"I got lost in the woods.

My mom and dad couldn't find me.

It was so sad.

I couln't find the end of the jungle.

And my mom and dad couldn't find me." 

I overheard Jude and Ezra talking.  Jude was telling Ezra, "Mommy's my best friend."

Ezra holding a straw and waving it at Koa who is crawling on the floor.  He looks at me and says, "I'm training him."

Hermit crabs

Last night as Jude went to bed, he was a hermit crab. He pulled back the covers, burrowed into his hole, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

This morning, I woke up to hear a scurrying in my bed. It was Jude giggling and whispering to himself, then snuggling up against me, I heard his little voice, "And we were hermit crabs..." He was still a hermit crab!

Sometimes it works out like that.

Making a batch of playdoh first thing in the morning = 5 minutes.

Happy playtime for Jude and Ezra = 1 1/2 hours straight. Literally. Yep, it was worth it!


And, by the way, here are a few links that inspired me this week:

I totally related to this post, No More Complaining, "I Feel So Tired."   Tiredness is just a fact of life for me, so I might as well get over it and stop whining about it!

This post, Motivating Learners in Your Homeschool inspired me in my homeschool endeavors. 

And I love the way Misha described motherhood with all it's sacrifice in her article, Enough.  She also has a fantastic booklist of her Recent Favorites.  I added a bunch of these to my amazon wishlist!

And this article, Practicing the Art of Whisper, is just great.

Jennifer is reading Playful Parenting, too! - and has written reviews for chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 so far.

My little surfers

more co-sleeping

What's going on with Jude?

This is a journal entry from September 10:

Ever since I got back from my trip, Jude has been like a different kid. He's so clingy. He wants me to carry him everywhere and do everything for him. He wants nothing to do with Scott - only mommy. And he keeps shouting for things in a high-pitched, stressed-out voice, "I need JUICE!!" It is so frustrating, irritating, exasperating! I love this boy with all my heart, but I'm at my wits end with him.

Definitely I can see that when I went on that trip it caused some stress in little Jude's life.  Not only did I leave him, I brought the baby with me.  I chose Koa over him.  That's painful.  It's been tough to get that connection back with him.  The hard thing is, I know that what he needs is more connection, but his behavior is causing the opposite to happen.  And with three other children, including a baby, it's really hard to re-connect.  And honestly, I don't even know how to reconnect!

Well, I started reading a new book, Playful Parenting, and I had the breakthrough I've been praying for. I never realized before that play is such a powerful way to connect with our children. 

"Since fun and laughs are the currency of children's play, we may need some work on lightening up a bit.  When we get disconnected from children - and we do, again and again - play is our best bridge back to deep connection with them."

So, yesterday I determined to be more playful and see what would happen.  I needed to go grocery shopping and decided that I would take my little "tiger cubs" shopping.  When I took each one out of the van I gave them a little tug at the back of their necks with my mouth, the way a momma tiger carries her cubs.  Jude's eyes were twinkling.  He thought this was the greatest thing ever. Instead of buying food we were hunting, and our grocery bags were our meat.  The boys helped carry the bags into the car by carrying them in their mouths like little tigers.  It was hysterical.

"When we are exhausted or when we are at the end of our rope, we tend to think that play will be just more of an energy drain.  But when we engage playfully with our children, we find that sudenly we do have the energy, both for fun and for finding creative solutions to thorny problems."

That night Kai, Ezzy and Koa all fell asleep, but Jude was still awake.  This is a situation that could potentially frustrate me, but I decided to keep the playfulness going just to see what would happen.  We started out playing tigers again.  He was the baby tiger, I was the mommy and Scott was the daddy.  Then we were hawks and the daddy hawk taught him how to fly and the mommy hawk fed him some worms.  Then we were hermit crabs.  Again he was the baby and Scott and I were the parents.  We had to hide in our shells a lot.  Next we were bears, but this time he was a "big boy bear."  His voice changed a little bit, he was being more confident and doing more things as a big boy bear.  Then I suggested that the big boy bear was tired.  He went to lay down by Koa, still as the "big boy bear" whispering that the big boy bear wouldn't wake up the baby.

Jude's face as I entered his world of imaginary play was incredible.  Eyes alive, alert, engaged.  Facial expression serious, concentrated, intense, fully engrossed in what he was imagining.  He was seriously happy - like I haven't seen him in quite some time. 

Now today he seems to have a deeper contentment, he seems more brave, more able to risk being a "big boy" and know that I'll be here, buiding trust back with me.

A friend came by who's known to be a big Jude fan.  Since my trip Jude has been very grumpy and mean with this friend who used to be his pal.  Well, today Jude was being friendly, silly and engaging once more.  "Wow, he's getting back to like he was before,"  he said.  Yes, he is.   I think my Jude is back to stay.
 

Developing character in our kids

Do you ever see a negative character trait expressed in your child and just cringe?  I believe that part of my job as mom is to help my children in their character development.  In the midst of dealing with difficult behaviors, I have to take deep breaths and remind myself to have grace.  Change is a process.  I have to pray about how to best address these things.  And I have to be diligent and not give up, even though it can be an exhausting process.

It helps to reflect, too.  The hard ages for me to deal with seem to be ages 4&5.  I remember going through a really difficult time with Kai at these ages.  I had times where I wondered if I would ever see results?  Would he ever get it?  "It's ok to be angry, but it's not ok to hit, scream, etc."  I repeated this phrase over and over and over again.  I can look back now and honestly say, he got it.  He did learn and he has gained a good measure of self-control over his emotions.  That's what I have to remember as I deal with Ezra and Jude who each turned 3 and 5 and seem to have entered into new phases with new challenges.

I'm working on teaching them about Honor.  According to this book, honor means: 

Treating people as special

Doing more than what's expected

Having a good attitude

I really like that. 

Cheap Thrills

Happy Birthday, Baby!

I'm a little bit behind, but here's my journal entry from the night of July 26 and July 27, the day Jude turned three.

The sweetest family moments always seem to happen when everyone is piled in our bed.  That's where we were last night when we started sharing funny stories about Jude, remembering his life and thinking about his Birthday, how he's turning 3.  Here are some memories we shared.

Ezzy remembered standing on the sidewalk with Jude at our house in Granadilla, waving at cars and shouting, "HONGA!" because Jude couldn't make an "L" sound, so that's what he said instead of "hola!"  silly!

Then I remembered how he would stand on the balcony at our house in San Francisco de dos rios and shout at the guard, "GORDITO!" because that's what the guard called him everyday as he rolled by in his stroller.  And also how he would hear the lottery man coming down the street and would echo his call shouting, "LOTERIA!" in a funny, deep voice just like the loteria man!  And the way he would zip down the stairs on his belly so fast!

Everyone cracked up laughing remembering these moments.

Jude's First Birthday

Jude's 2nd Birthday

Today he's turning 3 and Kai says, "Now he can talk good when he plays.  And he doesn't destroy everything anymore."  He's learned how to play with his brothers. 

This morning I woke up and Jude had snuck in the bed in the middle of the night.  He was right behind me hugging my back.  I woke up before him with Koa and we watched him sleep.  So peaceful.  When he opened his eyes I said, "Happy Birthday, Jude.  You're three years old now." 

He looked back at me and said, "But I'm still a boy."

"Yes.  You're still a boy."

Then he rolled off the bed to go find his brothers to make sure he's not missing any fun that might have started without him.

...Singing happy birthday, three candles sparkling atop a Mickey Mouse pancake.  Blow the candles, Jude!  Jude attempts to blow, but Ezzy blows them out.  Ezzy and Kai have hardly been able to contain their excitement all morning.  When can Jude open his presents???  After his pancakes... it's so hard to wait, it's just so exciting! 

"How old are you Jude?"

"I'm 6!" 

"No, he's three," says Ezzy.

"I'm 3!"  Big smile! 

For his birthday Jude received a xylophone, a Mr. Potato Head and a kickboard that he calls his "sufboard."  He opened his presents this morning after his pancake breakfast and it touched my heart how he immediately shared with his brothers without a thought or a fuss. 

Jude....

Your name means "praise" and your life does bring praise to God.  You are so joyful, silly, friendly.  Your smile lights up a room.  You love people, you're outgoing.  You love to play and you love to make people laugh.  You love your brothers so much.  Your smile, hugs, kisses and love fill my heart with warmth.  You are a joy.  You're a treasure.  I'm so glad you were born 3 years ago today, my little gordito.  You radiate love.

Rainbow Rice

Another Pink and Green Mama Activity!  This one is too fun and easy not to share.  I think this is probably one of the best activities I've done.  

Just put some rice in a ziploc bag.  Add a few squirts of hand sanitizer (or rubbing alcohol will work too) and a few squirts of food coloring.  Squish it all up to dye the rice.

 Here are all our colors drying in their bags.  They dried really fast.

I poured the colors into a clear container, look how cool it looks!

Jude was thrilled with this!

 

Add some toys and get ready for lots of imaginative, sensory play!

Mixing it up is so much fun!

 

Here's a video of Jude playing in the rice.

Paint bubbles

 

You just fill a container with a little water, paint and dishwashing soap.  Blow with a straw to make bubbles and then print them on paper. 

 

Wow!

Paint speckled face.

Our results - fantastic!

I found this activity at simplehomeschool.net.  I check in every few days and find some great ideas. 

Just wanted to share a few other fun ideas.  Listed below is a great resource for age appropriate art activities with kids.  It lists all the art supplies you can use and have on hand for different ages with different arts and crafts activities listed.

Making Art at Home:  My Favorite Art Supplies for Toddlers

Making Art at Home:  My Favorite Art Supplies for Preschoolers

Making Art at Home:  My Favorite Art Supplies for School - Aged children

What art activities do you enjoy with your kids?

Way behind...

I've been counting my way to 1,000 gifts, taking time to give thanks each Monday. I got waaaay behind on my list in the last month or two, but I've been doing some in my journal and thought I'd get back to gratitude on my blog. What a difference it makes to give thanks!

56. Whirring of fans.
57. Freshly cut grass.
58. Spontaneous scissor projects.
59. Sandbags ready for the next big rain.
60. Tax Return!
61. More bike riding and less driving.
62. Homemade get well cards when I'm sick.
63. Chubby baby legs.
64. The way the afternoon rain cools things off.
65. A wrist roll tan line.
66. Geckos in the house.
67. The thrill of a hermit crab changing shells.
68. Kai's soft, high singing voice that is amazingly on key.
69. Leggos - what a great toy.
70. A cool shower after a long, hot day.

71.  Trusting my husband.

72.  Extended baby days with this one.

73.  The way an iguana can captivate their attention so fully.

74.  This face.

75.  The incredible kid he's becoming.  Those moments when I look at him and I'm just amazed.

76.  Older brothers loving and caring for their baby brother.
77.  Fitting into non-maternity clothes - finally!

My mom sent me this article, which lead me to this blog, and this post (watch the video - it had me in tears!) - all with some great thoughts on gratitude with our children and science of the amazing difference this can make in the lives of parents and children.  The Bible exhorts us many times to "give thanks" at all times, in all circumstances.  How amazing to find science that backs this up.  God in his goodness doesn't command us to do things with no reason, but because of His great love for us and because He wants good things for us.  And so it is with giving thanks. 

Learning to swim... Jude style

Those who know Jude, know his infectious personality, his win-you-over smile and contagious laugh. When it comes to learning how to swim, as in most things he does, he doesn't hold back. Right now he has us laughing watching him do belly flop after belly flop. He just runs head first into the pool! He's not one to be left behind, so he's doing double-time to keep up with his big brothers!