Somebody's about to be 2...

Definitely close to age 2... though he's been having these tantrums for awhile now... These pictures were taken yesterday - he got mad because I wouldn't let him get something out of the refrigerator... and then he yanked some magnets off and threw them, which then turned into a standoff between mommy and child.

"Luke, pick up the magnets and put them on the refrigerator."

"No!!!"

That went on many, many times. I made sure and took his hand to the magnet so he would know what I was talking about.

It was a very long 30 minutes.

And yes, he did finally pick up the magnets... Whew!

Sweet little girl

I realized I had something on each of the boys, so Ans, it's all you now!

This picture is actually about a year old (Easter last year), but I love it.

As I prepare to write this, I think my mom would say that Ansley is alot like I was... not sure if that's good or bad?... She has such a tender spirit and a sweet, sweet heart. I love how she is so sensitive to others. We have to work hard with Cole to see outside of his little self-circle, to look at others, be sensitive of others needs, etc. It just doesn't come natural to him.

But it does for Ansley. One of my best friends has three little boys, two with special needs. The oldest is in Ansley's class at school, and he's also in her class at church. We have had many discussions about loving on Cade, even though God made him different and also that he can still get his feelings hurt, even if he can't communicate as well as other kids. I love it when I pick her up from class at church and the teacher tells me how Ansley was almost protective of her special friend, staying right with him. Ansley seems to go more out of her way to play with him and be around him, and she always wants to know where he was if he is absent from school.

And not too long ago, a precious family from our school lost their little baby to a disease called EB (abbreviated for a very long name). One of their sons is in Cole's class, so we were really following their story. Jameson (the baby) was in the hospital for over a week before he finally passed away, so we had been talking about and praying for him and his family. I decided to show the kids the family's blog (http://jtsetsma.blogspot.com/). As soon as Ansley saw the precious baby who had a skin disease, she started to cry. She wanted to know if he was o.k, if it hurt him, and she said it made her so sad. It made me sad too, but makes me happy to know that Ansley has a sweet, sensitive heart. And I pray that she never loses that!

On the other hand, she also has a strong, stubborn will (why do all of my kids have that?). There have been a few times in the past few weeks that I have looked at her and thought "Who took my sweet little girl away? Who IS this??" So now we are trying to get creative in our discipline of our little "middle child". I think my mom said I was pretty difficult at age 4, but it got better around 5?? We are only a month away from turning 5, so I'm hoping things change quick! :-)

That's my boy!

I LOVE to read...think I can probably thank my mom for that. Sometimes I wish I had sought a degree to be a librarian instead of teaching math...maybe one day. But I am trying to pass on that love for reading to my kids - it opens up a whole new world and it can pass the time quickly. Cole and I are currently reading through The Box Car Children series - he is fascinated by them, and I am enjoying them myself. In fact, I don't like for anyone else to read in the series to him, because then I miss out on what is happening in the book.


Now that he is in school, he doesn't get to go to the public library with us very often - we usually go during the day, so I try to grab several books that I think he may like. I usually don't even have to say anything to him - just set the books on the table and next thing I know, he is sitting there with a pile of books, looking through them. And since he is learning to read, he sometimes stops and tries to read the words. And of course, I pick out a few books that I know he can read (because he has to read several throughout the quarter and then take an AR test on them), but I still grab others that are not necessarily on his level, and he loves to look through them or have them read to him.


Anyways, I just love it when I find my very active little boy sitting in a chair with some books, just looking through them while his younger siblings run and scream all around him. I decided to snap this picture of him the other day, just chillin' in the chair, reading some books!

Big Boy Haircut

Well, we finally gave Luke a true haircut. Chris took the razor to his hair (using a 7, so not super short but definitely not like it was). He was so patient, just sitting there carefully watching Daddy buzz his hair off. I thought he might be afraid of this loud thing buzzing around his head, but it didn't seem to faze him!




And when they were finished, I was amazed at how different he looks! I like it... but I don't! He looks like a little boy and less like a baby. Probably doesn't help that he's about to be 2....

Entering the blogging world...

So here I am...finally starting a blog. I'm wondering if I will really keep it up, but I'm going to try! My mom is always asking about seeing updated pictures of the kids, so I thought this might be a good way to put some photos up every now and then, and record the sweet little memories that happen during the day. We will see how it goes...