Jude is TWO!

I can't even believe my sweet baby is two. This has, by far, been the hardest birthday of all my babies. I've always been about to have a baby or just had a baby when my other kiddos turned two (and no! We are not planning on any more babies for a VERY long time!) 

 

We had a tiny family celebration for breakfast with a bagel cake and presents and then headed to our dear friends house to celebrate their daughter's birthday and Jude. We had burgers, cupcakes and lots of swimming. It was sweet and simple with our friends. We are planning to celebrate all the kids birthdays when we have a beach weekend in July. 

Jude at 2...he is as sweet as they come. If I have been out of his sight for more than 15 minutes he comes and tells me,"I miss you mommy!" And then give me a kiss...it melts me! He loves to give kisses, loves to tackle hug his siblings on the couch, thinks he is big, loves anything with wheels, loves to snuggle and says "hold you mommy" about 20 times a day (how could you say no!). I ask him often throughout the day, "who loves you?" to which he replies, "mommy does...to the moon and back." so sweet. He is learning his numbers and alphabet. He still has a paci (when ou have 4 kids and one has something that will keep him quiet you keep it!!!!) and a "yaya" which he carries around everywhere. He is definitely mischievous and lands himself in timeout at least once a day. As soon as I call him out he runs to me and says, "uuuummmm, I sorry mommy" and then gives me a big bear hug. I love him with all my heart and thank The Lord that he had better plans for our family than I did. I love you "baby dudey"...to the moo and back!

                       Bagel blowout!

                 Opening presents

Snuggling is present from daddy...sully boy

                     Cheeeeeese!!!

Birthday cake number 2 from Nina and crazy eyed bk!

Father's Day weekend

We had a very eventful weekend! Let's just say it took me 2 days to recover the house and laundry from 4 days of fun! We had a great time though! Friday night we went to a local japenese steak house with clay's family to celebrate father's day. we had a great time, but jude was dedinitely not a fan of the huge flames!

On Saturday I took the kids to the Museum of science and history. It was a ton of fun, and thanks to our charts, they were very well behaved and we learned a lot about dinosaurs and the weather. After the museum we headed for lunch at the busiest chic fila I've ever been to!!! we then headed to Costco for some groceries for my small army! It was a long full day, but wonderful. 

  The kids looking at all the fish at MOSH

Then on Sunday we celebrated our wonderful daddy! The kids made clay breakfast in bed which included presents and homemade cards (the new requirement in our house if it's your special day, per the boys). Then we headed to church then off for a hike! It wasn't too hot, thank goodness, but their were A LOT of Mosquitos. The kids did great and discovered lots of creatures.

Them we headed to a beach club close to home and then capped the day off with dinner and a movie. Lots of fun celebration daddy! Let's just say the boys kept asking why their wasn't a "brother's day!" 

Back in the saddle and behavior charts

OK! I'm going to try and be more consistent in blogging (for all 5 of you =). Life has gotten so full and busy and I am so non technical blogging has fallen off the list of things to do, but with summer, and with a tiny bit of extra free time, I'm going to give this another try. I'm reminding my current self that my future self will thank me!

I'm going to do a whole family catch up soon, but for now I'm going to talk about our behavior charts. My sister, Abby, is majoring in ABA (applied behavioral analysis) so , with mom, they have been learning a lot of cool ways of working with children. I have also been reading and praying a lot about how to continue to grow and teach my "children in the way they should go." We do time outs and spankings and for the most part they have been effective for us. We work very hard at not disciplining in anger and helping the kids to understand why what they have done is wrong. It is also a huge challenge to be consistent with punishment when I am severely outnumbered...I often will forget to discipline or can't when we are out in public. We will continue to use spankings and time outs when necessary, but as I have been praying and reading I feel like I want my children to choose to do the right thing because they will receive a positive response. As they get older and more independent I want them to choose to please the Lord because they love Him and want to make him happy, not because they are fearful of Him (obviously I want them to have a holy fear..you know what I'm getting at!) So, we made some charts.

Let me back up. This was all catapulted into action because through the year my other sister, Whitney, lived with us. It was a huge help. I rarely had to take all the kids on errands and if I did I had an extra pair of hands or I could leave them in the car with a movie on and whit! She has gone to serve at a camp this summer, so I'm on my own! Well, on Tuesday I was running into Publix for a few things. The kids, for the most part, did great...until the checkout line. Picture me loading the conveyor belt, the cashier trying to chat, Jude standing in the cart and screaming, Cole running away, cooper asking for something for the 100th time, and then Bailey Kate spilled my whole 32oz diet coke ALL over the floor. Cue staring by all around. I was so embarrassed I started to walk away with my groceries WITHOUT paying! UGH! I got in the car and started planning my charts!

OK, so we have 2 sets of charts. One for obedience and one for errand/store behavior. For the behavior chart EVERY time the kids obey (EVERY) they get a sticker. Even for the smallest thing. The goal is that it will become second nature to obey without question for even the smallest thing. Once they get to 30 stickers they get to go to the dollar store and buy 1 thing. You can use anything that makes your kids tick. Then, once they fill up their whole chart (about 150 spots) they get to go to Target and buy something for 10.00 or less. We are on day 4 and it is like I have different children. I ask one time, they obey they get a sticker, they don't obey they don't get a sticker....we've given out a lot of stickers.

For the errand/store chart they have a list of behaviors I expect...don't whine, don't ask for anything in the store, no fighting, stand next to or hold onto the cart, etc. We went shopping yesterday for over 2 hours to multiple stores and it was AWESOME! I gave a few warnings to remind them of what they were working towards. It was so nice to enjoy my time and not feel like I was losing control or wanting to scream at my kids. I bring the charts with me EVERYWHERE we go so that the reward is immediate.  My goal, obviously, is to stay consistent. It is so easy to lose consistency when their behavior starts to get better, but I keep reminding myself I want this to be a long term change in my kids...I'm trying to modify their behavior. Here are some pictures of our charts. You can pray with me that we can stay consistent in this new challenge!

 Don't judge my inability to make a straight line =)

Advent at the zoo

So this Christmas season Clay and I wanted to add some traditions to our family and keep old ones going. Growing up my family had many traditions...I LOVE traditions! One of the things we did was an advent calendar. Some friends from church told me that each day in December leading up to Christmas their kids would pull an activity out (ours was a little calendar with pockets) of something and do the "advent" for the day. I was a little intimidated becuse with 4 kids just about everything is a task, but I really wanted to make this season about memories and joy and not just busyness. I wrote up a list of things to do each day. Some were simple, like make a christmas craft or read the Christmas story. Others were a little bigger like go to Sea World or go to the Nutcracker (I've gone every year since I was 2). One of the "advents" was one when we were at my parents. Every night my mom puts a little surprise under the kids pillows to play with as they fall asleep. On this night she put the rudolph nose under their pillows with a note that said to "put on your rudolph nose, grab some eggnog and jump in the car to go hunt Christmas lights. It was so fun and as you can see Cole and Cooper fell asleep on the hunt! All in all it was a wonderful tradition that I can't wait to do next year. Here is the slidwshow of some of the highlights of our season. I'm so blessed to be a part of this crazy family. It is so tiring, but such a joy to watch these little people learn and grow. Christmas in this house was busy (anything we do is busy =) but it was so special. I loved every morning whe the kids woke up...they would run downstairs find Elfie (our elf on the shelf) and then go grab the "advent" for that day, bring it to me and wait in anticipation to see what the activity would be. I'll hopefully get to posting about our actual Christmas before the summer!

Family Update!

Well, this is way overdue, but here is quick update on all the monkeys in the zoo!

Jude's face cracks me up in this picture!

Cole-5 years 2 months
The boy has boundless energy and a very large vocabulary! He goes from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep. Some days I'm convinced he chugs a 5 hour energy when I'm not looking. He often just lets out a scream (and yes, I mean scream) of joy randomly...wherever he is. Makes me NUTS!!! Though he never stops, he has a sweet and tender heart. He loves his momma, daddy, brothers and sister something fierce! We all get unsolicited hugs and kisses throughout the day just because he has to get "the love out." He loves to read to Jude, loves all things electronic, loves to play with Cooper and will have a tea party or two with BK (when he thinks no one is looking.) He loves to learn and is amazing me every day with how much he is learning and remembering. Currently he has mastered his doubles facts, is flying through 1st grade math, is getting quite good at reading 3 and 4 letter words, is working hard on NEAT handwriting, knows 1st, 2nd, and 3rd latin declensions, knows the timeline from the ancient world into the first week of medevial times (if you are in CC you know what I'm talking about) and has memorized tons of info about science, history, and geography. He also, can "blob" the world, which considering I had no idea what the 7 continents were when we started homeschooling is a big deal! He definitely fills my day with opportunities to practice patience, but he also fills with with SO much joy!

                                                                       Typical!

Cooper- 5 years 1 month
Cooper has quite a bit of energy too, but is able to control it a bit better! He also loves all things electronic, but has learned how to "work the system" quite well. We have certain times in the day when they are allowed to play said electronics and cannot ask for a turn...they have to wait until mommy or daddy say it is their turn, but if they do 1 minute will be added to the time they are able to play the game. Well, Cooper knows all of these rules and regularly will say, "I know its not time to play the ds right now mom,"but he does it with his charming smile hoping I will cave....He will also say, "I'm not going to ask if its my turn mom." So sneaky, yet so smart! He tends to get lots of ouchies and definitely can turn on the drama card. Yesterday he had a tiny blister on his foot and told me he probably needed a cast for it (thanks Doc Mcstuffins). I told him I thought a band aid would suffice. He is so sweet and gentle with Jude. Loves animals, is very patient with Bk, loves to giggle and snuggle with mommy, is quick to change his attitude when needed, and is SO smart. Lately he asks me every time he eats if its healthy for him. He tells me all the time that it is important to eat really healthy things so that he will grow strong and fast like a cheetah. It is so cute and I think he might just have a future in nutrition. He also has an amazing leaning towards spiritual things. He asks a lot about heaven and what it will be like, what makes Jesus happy and says these amazing, deep things to me all the time. I know the Lord has amazing plans for my boy! He has an amazing strength in math...it blows my mind every day! He is learning all of the above things Cole is and it is so fun to teach them together becase I'm convinced that they are thriving because they have eachother.

Bailey Kate - 3 years 5 months
Oh miss Bailey Kate! She is a hoot! The temper and OCD seem to be calming down a bit, I don't know if that is due to consistent discipline or moving out of this super challenging stage...either way I'll take it! She is her own woman. She has quite the fashion sense. Currently she will only wear dresses...no pants, no skirts, no shorts, JUST dresses (if anyone needs tons of girls shorts and tshirts I have 2 drawers full!) She is constantly playing some game or make believe. Today it was a paper plate she colored on, covered in happy face stickers which was her plate of cookies she handed out to everyone. Yesterday, on the way to ballet she informed me,"mommy, I'm going to talk to myself now." Um, ok! She is loving ballet class once a week, but would prefer home "dool" instead of going to preschool. She still loves babies, loves al things princess, loves the color pink, loves to do whatever mommy is doing, loves to color and do crafts. She usually is content to sit and cut and glue the WHOLE time we are doing school. She keeps us in stitches constantly with her antics. I can't wait to see what kind of woman she grwos up to be.

Jude - 16 months

My sweet baby Jude. He is still such a sweet, silly baby. He has mastered walking and has moved onto running. He can also go up and down the stairs with no trouble. He LOVES to eat and eats all the time. He weaned himself at 15 months (made me sad ), thinks he is one of the big kids and as a result has no fear! He is definitely my most adventerous and mischevious baby. He has quite a temper, which we are trying to work on so it won't be as fierce as BK's, is quite the momma's boy, but is SO excited when he sees daddy walk through the door. He LOVES books and animals. We recently went to the Alligator farm and he was in awe of all of the animals. I love this stage of discovery and joy. I'm savoring the last remnents of baby. I still have yet to cut his baby mullet and have no intentions to =) My friend aske me the other day if he was going to be a redneck for halloween. He is so sweet and cuddly and chubby and I love him to the moon and back!

running thoughts

So, I've started training for another half marathon....before you think I'm wonder woman, DON'T! I only run to eat =) I love to eat and the only way I've found, with our busy schedule, to stay in shape is to run...so, I run! This morning during my run I decided to forgo the trashy music I usually listen to (though it's not my taste all the time it sure helps because the beat helps me run at a more consistent pace) I decided to listen to a little Phil Whickam. It was a nice change.

Lately, mostly through homeschooling, I have realized that 1) I'm a closet control freak. I love to have control and order. 2) I care a lot about what people think of me. As I have embarked on this new journey I have to relinquish a lot of control (my days often don't go as planned) and I have to be comfortable with the choice Clay and I have made and not worry so much about what others think of me. God is gently reminding me that the only approval I should be working for is His. I love to make people happy, I love to serve, I love to have people think I have it all together, I love to have people like me...I love myself! As I was running this morning God gently reminded me that He chose me, before the foundations of the world, not as a woman who has it all together, but as the wretched, filthy, sinner that I am. He loved (loves) me when I don't have it all together, when my children are acting crazy, when my house is a mess, when I choose to "try" and control things and get angry when things don't go my way, when other people don't like me. I've been a Christian since I was 6, I know the story of salvation in my brain, but I often don't know it in my heart. I'm quick to forget...He loves me no matter what! I debated if my morning musings were bloggable (yes, I just made up that word =), but I figured maybe some people who read this need to be reminded of this just like I did. He chose you...He loves you, just the way you are! You don't have to have it all together, he still chooses you (mind boggling)! Maybe one day I won't forget this so easily!

Observations from the first 2 weeks of home schooling...

• My kids are hilarious
• Cole CANNOT hold still or stop talking (I hear it is hereditary =)
• Cooper is amazing at blending sounds...until he is tired, then he just says whatever sounds come to mind...makes me crazy!
• I'm loving the curriculum we chose and Classical Conversations. The kids are learning a ton and so am I!
• Bailey Kate didn't want to go to preschool today becuae she wanted to stay at home and go to "home dool!" She is quite the party animal so I was shocked she wanted to stay home with me!
• I love structure and so do my kids!
• Cooper told me yesterday that I was the "goodest" teacher. Melted my heart (and I took a mental note to work on a little grammar =)
• My sister (who is living with us for the year) is a HUGE help with Jude in the mornings. I don't know how moms do it with little babies without help!
• I'm so blessed to be able to teach my children at home. I love being with them, and though some days I want go hide under the covers in my room, I really have enjoyed my intentional time with the kids the past 2 weeks.
• At the end of the day I'm EXHAUSTED!!! It is so much work, but so worth it!

                                                            A little break at the park

Breakfast the first day of school...YUM!!