Hayloft

On Wednesday, May 26, after I picked Joshua up from school, we headed to pick up Shawn for his lunch break and then we were off to Hayloft Candles in Leola.

When we arrived, Joshua headed straight for the potty while I took Caleb & Ryan over to the goats and let them feed them. Caleb LOVED to feed these little things that fought each other over the food.

Ryan loved the animals, too! He would say "HELLO!" to the animals and "HEY YOU!" As we waited for Daddy to come back with Joshua, we said hello to the parrot, the deer and the sheep (which Ryan "baaa"ed at). We also saw the donkey, which "hee-haw"ed at the boys.

When the Bean came, we headed over to see the ducks because he was anxious to see if there were any babies. Sure enough, we saw some TINY little ducklings in the little pond area. We fed them and their mamas.

We also fed the swans, geese and ducks that were in the main pond. Ryan was great at throwing the pieces of food we gave him to the ducks. I was impressed that he didn't eat it but rather was enthralled watching the ducks get it... then eventually he decided to try one. YUCK! :( :( :(

As we continued to walk, we saw some "child" ducks (not the babies but definitely not full grown) in a little caged area, and we fed them. Caleb put the food out where he could see who was eating what. He LOVED this area!

The boys also fed the deer here. They enjoyed how the tongues would tickle their hands.

We didn't see any pigs, and there was a sign that their Binturon was stolen. :( The yak and llamas stayed at the far side of the cages as well. But the weather was sunny and the boys would have stayed all day feeding those ducks if we would have had more quarters.

We ended with feeding the goats one last time to give Joshua a chance before taking Daddy back to work. I had packed him a salad for lunch and he stopped for a soda on the way back through. It was a fun time! We love that place!

More Memorial Day! The New Zoo

After we said our goodbyes to our friends at the Horse Farm on Memorial Day, we decided to head to Deleware to the new zoo in Brandywine.

The zoo was small, but the kids had a good time. At the one area, there were small bobcats and Caleb would tell the 'kitty' (as Ryan called it) to roar and it seemed to do it on command for him. It was coincidence, but Caleb was thrilled at how it obeyed! He LOVED the zoo.

Ryan actually stayed in the stroller and didn't fuss about sitting. It was so busy that we knew he really couldn't walk the length of where we were going.

Most of the animals were napping that afternoon - I kid you not. :( :( :( I think maybe we chose a bad time to go. But, we still had fun.

When we left there, we decided to grab a late lunch at Bahama Breeze - a restaurant Shawn went to in Florida with his family. The kids all ate extremely well (Ryan even devoured a good bit of my salad!) and then we stopped in the Christiana Mall before heading home. It had been a memorable Memorial Day!

Making Memories Memorial Day Monday

On Memorial Day, we went to our friends' house (the Grube's) for breakfast. When we told Ryan where we were going, he remembered baby Aiden's name along with Isabella's. :) :)

After a very yummy breakfast, we all headed to a stable nearby to let the kids take a ride on a horse around a track. This is something this family offers every year on Memorial Day for small fee. Caleb rode Jessey and Joshua got to ride on Buzz. I joked that they only needed Woody to complete the whole Toy Story clan!

Caleb especially LOVED the horse back rides. He loves animals! 

Isabella got on next. We decided to let the youngest to oldest go on the horses, and Joshua waited patiently for his turn, even when they let another family go in front of him because it was the strongest horse and there was a grandma who wanted to ride with a little one. Finally it was his turn and he got the white horse with the strangest blue eyes!

Here were the spectators. Maybe next year Ryan will be old enough to ride - or mature enough to sit when held on an animal. We weren't going to chance it this year.

After they were done riding, we checked out some of the other horses in the stalls.

Then we snapped a few more pictures and headed out. We had fun with our friends!

Happy 80-month birthday, Joshua!

Joshua turned 80-months old on Saturday, May 18. He played t-ball that afternoon, and Mamaw & Papaw got to see most of the game, missing just the first inning. He was thrilled to have visitors come see him. :)

The biggest news for this month is that one of his top front teeth has come in! He has prayed and prayed for these teeth, ever since they were knocked out when he fell out of bed. And one of them has made its debut. It is a HUGE tooth, making me realize once again that we need to be saving our money for braces. Thankfully he's at the age that many of his friends also have missing teeth or weird-looking ones coming in, so it's no longer a big deal to him. But, please pray for all his teeth!

The other big news is that Joshua has officially learned how to tie his own shoe laces. Hurray!

The other day, Joshua sat on the floor and let Ryan sit on his lap to read him one of his favorite books. Joshua reads smoothly these days and actually enjoys it. He can pick up a book by himself and read - like a Thor book that Caleb picked out for him at the library when we were there. I thought Joshua reading to his baby brother was the sweetest thing... only I couldn't find my camera. It had been missing for awhile, but after Shawn bought another one, we found it in the bottom of the diaper bag. I do take it along, but I always put it in the same pocket. When it wasn't there, I just assumed it was in the house. Whoops! Either way, we should have pictures once again! For that reason, though, I didn't have any of Joshua on his actual birthday. :( :( :(

Joshua's friend wrote him a note that said "You are NUS" and signed it. Joshua brought it home and said "I think he meant that I'm nice, but it says I'm nus" and giggled. Daddy said maybe it was missing the 't' to be 'nuts' - HA!  Knowing the kid, I'm pretty sure he meant nice, but I laughed at Shawn's explanation. ;-)

Joshua has been loving playing catch in the back yard. He has been giving me several pointers! We have been learning together, and it's been fun. Shawn bought a T and a set of real bases, so we've had some games back there. We love our little house and yard!

My Bean broke the ladder to his bed in a rage/fit and felt really bad about it afterward. We talked and took away all electronics for two weeks - he could not have anything that took batteries or needed to be plugged in. I think he was the nicest, most bearable person to be around in those two weeks. And, I was able to contact the manufacturer of the bed (thank God we keep all records and I could find it!) and they sent us a new ladder immediately. So, it all ended well. I could tell Joshua felt awful about it, and we talked about how to deal with intense anger when we're truly frustrated. I gave him ideas like punching a pillow, doing jumping jacks or some sort of physical exercise to alleviate, to take deep slow breaths and think of happier things or places to try and calm down. It's hard, but it's a good life lesson to learn. While the Bible says it's okay to get angry, it's not okay to sin or hurt people or things in our anger. So, we have to be able to vent it in a more structured way. I also asked him to try and think about whether or not this thing was worth being that angry about - if someone is hurting him or his brothers or something is really wrong, then anger is appropriate. But, if it's just something minor that's frustrating him, maybe getting that angry and bent out of shape isn't really worth it. I know from experience! :)

Joshua in general is outgoing and full of emotions. When he's happy and joking, he is a complete joy to be around. When he's sad, it breaks our hearts. When he's angry - look out! He is full of life and we love him no matter what. He is still learning how to control all these feelings and he's still open to talking about what's going on. He has such a sweet, sensitive little spirit!

My boy is growing tall! He has really shot up in the last month or so. I see a big difference, and he is SO strong! He's learning lots and really transitioning into the next stage of life. I am not ready for him to be in school full days, but I think he's ready. How I pray for him! I am ready for summer and the ability to spend more time together. May we not take a single moment for granted!

Happy 80-month birthday, Joshua!

Happy 23-month birthday, Ryan!

Ryan turned 23-months old on Tuesday, May 7. I can't believe this is the last month I'll ever have a 1-year-old in my house!

 Ryan is extremely articulate and repeats everyone like a well-trained parrot. He even said "I'm a sucker" after Mamaw from Florida called him a "thumb sucker" - he completely missed the thumb part until Papaw called him "Tommy the Tum-tucker" which Ryan still calls himself on occasion. :) :) :) He still does love that thumb of his!

Ryan loves books and being read to. He also has a new-found love for Elmo. He enjoys the Elmo videos we have on Elmo and babies and Elmo and dogs and finally Elmo and the farm animals. He also has started liking Mickey Mouse. It's rare that he'll sit still for long, but he'll watch at least a few minutes of these before getting back up to play.

 His current favorite song is "Tonight, Tonight" by Hot Rae Chelle (sp? I could have the band completely off...) He'll sing "La la la" all the time! He loves to sing! He also knows all the words to the God song and Happy Birthday. :) :) :)

 Ryan has just started really posing for pictures and saying "CHEESE!"

He's a less picky eater than either of my other kids, enjoying scrambled eggs, meat, fruit, carrots, and just about anything we give him (almost).

 Ryan also started jumping with ease, getting both feet off the ground at the same time. A woman at the gym recently said to me "my gosh, just look at his calf muscles!" Sure enough, as I look at him, I realize he is very much built like Shawn - extremely muscular. He is a strong little man! But, he has more of my personality, I fear, and will make his feelings known. While he used to seem more easygoing, we are definitely heading into the terrible two's as he is testing our boundaries and throwing more fits. I know that this too shall pass and is a phase of learning who he is and if we mean what we say.

Ryan LOVES his older brothers (here's a picture of Joshua reading to him and in the picture above, he had just taken this hat from Caleb). His favorite person is Dada, followed by Mamaw from her house. Since our anniversary trip (and probably even before), he is THRILLED when he gets to see her. She let him and Caleb help plant flowers at our house and he had a great time. They also look SO pretty!

Ryan is growing both in physical form and mentally each and every day. I love to watch him grow and still cuddle with him as a baby! He tells us he's not a baby when we call him that. He'll always be my baby, but he is certainly growing into a toddler! He's outgrowing his 2T shirts (although the shorts still fit him well in the waist) and needing more of a 3T for his height. I also need to get his feet re-measured as I believe they have grown recently too. But, his Crocs fit well.

There is more I could write, but I'll save it for another time. Happy 23-months, Ryan!

Happy Mother's Day

This year for Mother's Day, I went shopping with Mom (twice!) and bought her some things she picked out. It was fun! We took only Ryan along with us, and we ran into our former pastor's wife, who said "I love that training I hear!" when Ryan loudly said "I love you bestest!" after I told him I loved him. He is such a cutie pie (most times).

I so rarely get a picture with my mom that I decided to try and take one when I stopped at her house to wish her a Happy Mother's Day that Sunday afternoon. :) It was with my phone, though, as I had misplaced our camera. :(

Shawn's parents were also in town for Mother's Day. He was actually born on Mother's Day 35 years ago. We wanted to get a picture with him and his mom that day, but we missed the opportunity.

 Here's Ryan with Joshua's baseball glove the one night while they were visiting.

 And here's one with Mamaw from Florida and the boys (with Joshua showing off his penny collection).

I said I didn't need any gifts on Mother's Day because the fact that God allowed me to have three amazing little boys was more than enough for me! Truly, the fact that they are all healthy and well is more of a gift than I could ever ask for!

On Mother's Day morning I was woken up at 6 am by Joshua, who was SO excited to give me the presents he made for me that he couldn't stand it anymore. As he gave me the flower he planted at school, a good bit of dirt spilled all over my bedroom carpet. His excitement and enthusiasm made me smile, though, even as I yawned and scooped him into my arms. Not too much later, Caleb spilled his bowl of fruit loops and milk at the breakfast table completely by accident after telling me how much he loves me. 

I can't help but think that I am one lucky mom to have three beautiful healthy little boys. The fact that God entrusted them to me is the biggest gift I could receive. I love the promise in Isaiah 40:11 that says "He gently leads those who have young." 

We are also thankful for our mamas and the blessings they are in our lives. It's a great time to remember how God has blessed us!