8 Years Ago Today

Our family welcomed

Josiah Israel

whose name means: Fire of the Lord, Prince of God

and since the day he was born he has been doing things his own way

and defining his name

crawling at 5 months and climbing soon after

walking at 8 months and then running.

This kid does everything with such intensity

I believe he can do ANYTHING he sets his mind to

and boy does he have a mind of his own

he has always had a wide variety of things that he has

"wanted to be" when he grows up

in the past it was Plumber and Architect

This morning I took him to breakfast and over our donuts

we talked about what it was that he wanted to do and be

can I just take a minute and say

This boy NEVER ceases to amaze me

Here is his list.

What he wants to be:

A Paleontologist

an Inventor 

A Scientist 

Things he wants accomplish:

Invent a car that runs on water

Make a teleport device

Make a DS (and other electronics) run on water

Make up his own video games

Make his own TV show

One thing he would really like to do:

meet miyamoto (the creator of Mario)

Thank you Josiah for teaching me so much about mothering and for having such a tender spirit and a loving heart.

Hair

For a long time our princess Miss Avrah has been asking to get her hair cut

but I wasn't ready for her to get it all chopped off yet

But

Today was the day

we woke up early, 

(don't we always!)

and I took her, just the two of us 

Now it's official

she actually looks like a big girl

Short enough for her to brush

long enough to still put in a pony tail or braid

Perfect!

New Sleeping Arrangements

As some of you may remember 

Hosea and Micah have been sleeping in a closet,

 a large closet with enough room…but a closet none the less.

A couple weeks ago we acquired new beds for Avrah, Hosea and Micah

 (Thanks Grandma Dian)

We set up the beds and got them all ready, 

we told the boys that they couldn’t sleep in them until Micah started pooping in the potty.

Fast forward a few weeks...

He started going on the potty…

So

Last Saturday we moved them into their new rooms,

 at nights anyway.

.they still take their naps in their closet beds.

They are doing great

My babies really are growing up.

Tenderhearted

Yesterday

When I picked up the little boys from school

Micah’s teacher said something that no mom wants to hear

“Your son made me cry today.”

My mind went running crazy what could he have done to the teacher to make her cry

Then she said

“They were tears of JOY.”

They were getting ready to go outside and it was chilly and as all the kids were getting their jackets on Micah ran over to his teacher’s coat and got it for her and said “Miss Janna don’t forget your jacket” She said that in all her years of teaching 3 year olds she has never had one do this kind of thing.

Last night

Sometimes when Avrah doesn’t like the look of what we are having for dinner she will get all sullen and act a little ill. 

The kids were all sitting at the table as I was bringing in their plates and getting their drinks together.

Judah was sitting next to Avrah,

he didn’t know I was watching 

he leaned over to her and asked her in a whisper

 if she was feeling alright and assured her that it would be ok.

I am just so proud of these kids, from the youngest to the oldest, they all have such tender spirits and hearts that are so soft toward others. 

Back 2 School

I love this time of year.

Everybody in my family is going back to school.

My classes started on Monday. I'm taking ASL I (American Sign Language), as you may remember all of my classes thus far have been online, but this class is an actual class. I was very nervous as it had been 13 years since I had been in a classroom. I absolutely love it, it is one of the highlights of my week. I also will be taking Comp II (online) and later in the semester my Nutrition class starts.

Mr. Vargas starts his classes back up here in a couple weeks as well.

Now for the fun part..

the kiddos..

Judah

I can not believe he is in FIFTH grade already!!

Josiah

My big second grader. He has the same teacher Judah had for second grade.. and so it begins...

Avrah

My little Kindergartner, she is so big, she did her own hair this morning..so cute!

Hosea and Micah start school (preschool 3 days a week) again in a couple of weeks as well, they met their teachers today too (silly momma forgot to take pictures). This year they are doing something new, they will be in separate classes for the first time. I think they will do great, and if not then next year they can be back together.

So now that my household will be getting back into some kind of schedule, maybe I will get back to my blogging.... Maybe

Happy 10!

Today marks a very special anniversary for me.

The 10 year anniversary of me becoming a mother.

My little man Judah was the perfect baby to break me into the job.

He was so chill and easy going, only cried when something was wrong

and was the world's best sleeper and eater.

as he has grown he keeps teaching me how to be a better mom, just by being himself.

 He really is very compassionate and tenderhearted.

He loves all his little brother's and his sister and is so loving and caring with them.

and he always is ready with a kind word and smile to cheer you up if you are down.

He is so excited about being 10 and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for him.

This morning I took him out to donuts for breakfast, and as we were leaving there was a table of teenage boys, and I said to him one day you are going to be as big as those boys and then you won't want to have donuts with your mama and he said "No, I'll always want to have donuts with you Mom."

I don't know what I did to get such a sweet kid, but I sure hope he stays this sweet for a long time.

A Princess Turns 5

5 years ago today, my life changed forever.

We added a princess to the family.

I always thought we would have two princesses but that wasn't meant to be

From the minute she was born our princess has been charming everyone she has met

Our princess loves cake

and she loves sparkly things

and she loves to pose

It's been an amazing five years

having the privilege to watch her grow more beautiful by the day

Our princess also loves her brothers

Almost as much as they love her

Baby girl, can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us.

With you, it is sure to be AMAZING.

2 Things Tuesday

My two thing Tuesday are:

1) Long distance cousins

I have many cousins that live far away from me and a handful of those live in California. One of those cousins came to visit and brought her husband and four beautiful children. We didn't get to spend nearly enough time with them but what we did spend was great and we can't wait to go out there to see them.

and

2) Blue bell factory tours

We went and toured the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory today. The "we" there included 7 adults and 14 kids (all 9 and under)

Here are some of the cousins listening politely

and these cousins were not

Cute

Hosea

Micah

They didn't let us take pictures during the actual tour

but

we did get ice cream at the end

YUM!!

{embracing} Superheroes

 {Embracing}

So last week Mr. Vargas took all 5 kids to Hobby Lobby by himself... and found a huge amount of VBS crafts on sale...and he bought lot of them, actually that is an understatement...there is a reason he isn't really allowed to go to the store by himself.. I kid...kind of...

Anyway

This morning we decided to make super hero masks

and the finished results

Judah AKA Sonic BOOM

Super Power:  Super Speed

Josiah AKA Firehose

Super Power: Shape Shifter

Avrah AKA ThunderGirl

Super Power: Thundering the Whole World

Hosea

Super Power: FAST!

Micah

Super power: MAN!

Together THEY are the FAB 5!

OH and we CAN'T forget

Mr. Vargas AKA SuperDAD

Super Power: Being Awesome