So Much To Say...

There are so many great things I have to tell you all about, I am not sure where to begin. Most might say to "start at the beginning" but yesterday was so much fun, that is what I'll choose! We loaded up the stroller and went to the NC State Fair. The children were very excited for their own reasons: Abby wanted to ride a roller coaster and Daniel wanted to go on the "Miracle Round" (aka - Merry-Go-Round). We couldn't bring ourselves to correct him... it's just way too cute! Oh, the biggest child, Brian, was looking forward to "fair food". I think I was just looking forward to a family fun day. We were all able to have our desires met, and Jonathan tolerated the day very well. I think the pictures tell about our day much better than any words I can think up, so enjoy.

I hope you can see in that last picture that Jonathan finally did get a tooth. The second cut through less than a week later!

And here's a video...

Some other highlights from the past month:

Peepaw returned from Hawaii with gifts. Daniel informed us that there are two places he wants to visit: "Hawaii and Outer Space".

Friends from Tennessee paid us a visit... we miss you guys!

Abby had the never-ending birthday... the last of the decorations finally came down one month after her birthday!!

Daniel draws a "giant." This is his first drawing of a person. Another recent first for Daniel... "watering the bushes". When you gotta go, you gotta go. Sorry, no picture for that one!

Abby has been part of a soccer team for the last 6 Saturdays. She believes soccer should be a spectator sport, even if you're on the team. She has shown "great courage" to be on the field every week, even though she would rather not.

The Potato Battle

Daniel is not afraid of too many things. He'll brave the diving board even though he cannot swim. He'll dig in the dirt to find just the right kind-of bug. He can ram his head into the wall and walk, I mean run, away saying "I okay." But for goodness sake, do not get the boy near any vegetables unless you are prepared for war!


Let me set the stage for you:

It is Saturday evening and time for supper. The kids should be pretty hungry by now since they have not had anything to eat since lunch. So I'm thinking that sounds like the perfect opportunity to put something on his plate that he hasn't tried, at least not in a long time. Now, I've been planning for this opportunity for awhile. I began a couple of weeks ago by cutting potatoes into little pieces, cooking them in the slightest bit of oil, and calling them "french fried potatoes". Notice the emphasis on the word potato. My thought was that after making the change from oil to water, and dropping the words "french fried," he might actually maybe possibly not object. I was wrong. Not only does he refuse to eat the potato, ONE potato, he decides nothing on his plate is worthy of eating.


Now, Sunday morning... time for breakfast. The plate that Daniel refused the night before is taken out of the fridge, warmed up, and placed in front of him. He replies, "I'm not hungry." We get dressed and go to church. Lucky for him, they have snacks at church! Also lucky for him, we have plans to visit family for the remainder of the day. While at Donnie & Donna's house, Daniel asks the question: "Did you bring my plate?" I answered, "No, we left it at home." Daniel's face lights up. He knows he gets to eat pizza! We all have a repreive .


Okay, now it is Monday morning, I open the fridge and see the dreaded plate. I carry on a debate with myself. I could throw the food away, and have a normal day, OR I can put my armor back on and go into battle... again. Really wanting to drop the food into the trash, I decide to put on my armor. Here we go. ALL DAY LONG, I try to talk him into eating the potato, explaining to him all the wonderful foods he can have if he would only take one bite. "I'm not hungry" was his battle cry. We get to supper time. I am determined not to carry this on to the next day. Also, the idea of sending my baby to bed with nothing to eat ALL DAY just tears me up inside. So, Abby finishes her supper, I feed Jonathan and go to put him in his bed. My instructions to Daniel are clear: eat this one potato before leaving the table. When I come back downstairs to the table, this is what I find:


















My sweet little boy had fallen asleep at the table. Oh, what a mean mother am I! What do I do? I pick him up and gently tell him he needs to eat one teeny, tiny bite. We struggle through it together... he eats the potato!!! Daniel won! He beat that mean, nasty, terrible potato! As we are celebrating he looks at me with those beautiful blue eyes and says, "Mommy, I wuv you." Now that is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

"Food" for thought

You know how I said before that God tends to teach me things through my children? Well, I have had this on my mind and figured I would share. In the book of Hebrews, Paul speaks about how the church is still in the "infant stage" ..."In fact, by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature..." Hebrews 5:12-14.

Well, of course Jonathan is beginning to eat baby food, so I get to see this scripture vividly every day. It is very exciting to see a baby go from just milk to eating some simple foods. There is a lot of joy that comes from watching him experience new flavors and textures. We all start off this way, but can you imagine never getting beyond baby food. Think about some of your favorite foods. I love pizza. The taste of the crust with a little tomato sauce, some ooey, gooey, stringy cheese, the strong flavor of pepperoni wrapped up in all that wonderful cheese (I really like cheese!). Or how about an Outback filet with all its juices seered in just right. Now, imagine that instead of eating all of those wonderful flavors and textures, you are going to have pureed peas (with no salt) and a little bit of rice cereal, unsweetened, bland and not much texture. Sounds great to Jonathan, but I think I'll pass.

I cannot help but draw a correlation from this to our relationship with Christ. If we do not stay in the Word and continue to grow, imagine what we must be missing. A life with Christ is not meant to be bland and boring, there is so much there for us to experience, but we will miss it if we don't seek it out!

Tarheels in Training

We had our first UNC football game on Saturday. I think that was the highlight of the year for Brian, second only to the birth of Jonathan. Speaking of Jonathan, he has been practicing his push-ups so that he will be ready to play when the scouts come callin'! Check out these pictures from gameday...

Milestone for Jonathan

Nope, not a tooth... Jonathan rolled over today from his back to his tummy. This may not sound like it is worth blogging about, but you can't tell that to my mom! Also, I think Jonathan is going to have the same voice as Daniel! And, I ask you, who's heart wouldn't be melted away by those baby blues?!


Abby had her first day of ballet class today. The classes are at the same place that Abby & Daniel had summer camp. I think she had a really big time. When I picked her up she told me that she definitely wants to go back. Actually, to be exact (we must be accurate whenever Abby is concerned)..."It only lasted like a few minutes, but I still want to go back!"

Oh. Here's some insignificant information but I think you'll understand why I'm including it... Daniel & Abby have discovered a new favorite snack. It is called, (are you ready for this?)...Pirate's Booty! Now, I'm not really sure if they love the way it tastes or if they just have fun saying the name!!

School News

Having a routine is oh so refreshing! We begin each day with breakfast and Bible time. Then we go to the classroom to do the pledge of allegiance and someone says a prayer to get us started. Daniel prayed today that "no one would be hitting each other"! The rest of our school day consists of some workbook pages for writing, reading and math (we have science and art on certain days), also some type of hands-on math activity, then we have storytime. You may remember that we initially ran into a bit of a problem with storytime... there was no rug. Well, there is a solution to every problem. We now have our storytime blanket which we spread out on the floor every day just for storytime. Only the students (Abby & Daniel, and sometimes Jonathan) are allowed to sit on the blanket. The teacher must sit in the chair. Oh, did I mention that the blanket must be perfectly laid out, no wrinkles (per Abby's instruction). Anyway, after story we move on to playtime while Mommy prepares the cafeteria for the students. There is usually a little more playtime or recess outside and then comes my favorite part of the day... QUIET TIME!! Everyone goes to their room to read or color. Abby usually gets to read a book. At the end of the week she writes her memory verse before reading. We are all still having fun with the whole concept of "homeschool" and I LOVE getting to share that part of our lives together.



I failed to point out that sometime during our desk time, we break so that Abby can lead us in some stretching exercises. These often include sit-ups, push-ups, and running circles in the house. Who needs the Y??!

The pictures below are from this morning. You can see that we are still working on the classroom. I promise it will look more like school soon! (PS - still no tooth from Jonathan)

Playing "Catch-up"

After reveiwing some pictures taken over the past week, I realize that we have been pretty busy. I saw several that just need to be shared.

First, as mentioned in our previous blog, Jonathan believes in the "grab-and-gag" method of eating as you can see in this picture...

Can you guess what normally follows eating? Yep, a bath. We kept this one mildly PG-13...

Too bad fat rolls aren't so cute as you age. Here's a little more from the highchair...

Now, after all of our "pets" have been near Jonathan's feeding station, they MUST have a bath too!

Switching gears, Abby & Daniel have been pretty busy as well. Everyone knows that football season is quickly approaching and that means football players and the cheerleaders need some time out on the field.

There is so much going on in this town, it is amazing. Not only did we get to meet TARHEEL football players and cheerleaders, but we also went to a really cool play about bugs. Not a bad way to spend a weekend in Chapel Hill. This play that we went to was like nothing I'd ever heard of before. It is hard to describe, and the pictures really do not do it justice. The title of the play was "I am an Insect." Of course, being in Chapel Hill, there was an environmental message not-so-hidden in the story. Despite the politics, Abby & Daniel (and Jonathan, too) were captivated through the entire show!

As you can see, we are keeping ourselves busy. I am sure there will be more to come very soon. I am signing off with another cute one of Jonathan. This is what happens when you have an older sister...