Gabe

This is a rhetorical question, but does anyone think I look a little like my dad?

Funny Stuff

Gabe:
"A girl at recess has been spying on me and chasing me around, and I'm fine with that."
"Hey, mom, sometimes I can really blend in with Chris Tomlin's voice."
While getting ready for bed, I told Gabe that I was glad we were able to go to Uncle Jerod's basketball game to support him. Gabe said, "Yeah, and I think the Dutch girls felt supported, too." (Jerod is asst. coach for the Pella Dutch girls basketball team)
Seth shot Gabe in the leg with a Nerf ball, and Gabe says, "Oh, that hit me right in my puberty leg!" I am confused, as I know he knows what puberty is and I'm not sure why he is using the term out of context. I ask what he means, and he says, "This leg has more hair on it than the other one, so I call it my puberty leg." Nice. Instead of right/left, we just say puberty/non-puberty around here.

Seth:
"Gabe's gonna be thrilled!"
"Hey, mom, which of my cool creations do you want to buy? The Hightectic robot, shooting shield, or 1700 Blaster? It's a hard choice, huh?" (He loves to build things with Legos)
I was accidentally eavesdropping, and overheard Seth say this to Gabe. "A boy at preschool never wants to try my ideas. He always says no, no, no Seth. It's the baddest thing in my life." Then Gabe gives some advice of things to try, and Seth says, "Okay, I'll try that, but if it doesn't work then I'm not inviting him to my birthday party." (Which is in far off September)

Josie:
"Mommy, Gabe said no thanks, but thanks for offering. That's so nice."
"I have a great suggestion."
"Jump, Cooper, jump!" He lays down. Loud sigh of aggravation from Josie. "I will not give you your bone." She puts the bone in her play kitchen oven and shuts the door, apparently to be used at a later training session. Makenna would be pleased that she is only rewarding obedience.
Later in the day, I hear, "You did a great job of obeying me, Cooper."
To Gabe, "Don't say oh my gosh, you're supposed to say oh my goodness."
To her Little People, "Things are not going well. You MUST get on the airplane! Ayudame!" (Which I think means help me in Spanish?)
"Mom, you forgot to sing Chris Tomlin." (I was singing a non-Chris Tomlin song)
My favorite is hearing her first Bible verse, all by herself, which she says all day long..."Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1".
And now, as I am typing, she is telling her Little People, "Do not lean on your own understanding." That's part of our new verse for this week:)

Grandma Jill and Josie

My mom and Josie at a Cancer Fundraiser for my Uncle Floyd. Aren't they sweet?

Flashback Friday

Josie Elisabeth at two weeks old. Where has the time gone...

Our middle child

I just had to give some props to the middle child. Don't the experts say they are the left out ones or something? This is my affectionate dreamer, who gives us all lots of love and lots of silly smiles every day.

Some random ramblings this week....

Josie:
"Mom, I want to paint just like Shadwee (Shadley) does." To which I say (in my head, of course), don't we all? Good luck with that if you got any of my artistic genes.
"Mom, look what I did. Is that a little cute?"
"Hey, mommy, who is Uncle Jerod? Did you marry him a lot?" (He's my brother, for the record)
We were watching Space Buddies, a movie about little puppies up in space, and she says,
"Mommy, why can't Cooper talk? The Space Buddies talk." When I tried to explain that it was just pretend and they weren't actually talking, she got very indignant. "Yes they do! Look at them-they're talking!"

Seth:
Nile asks where Gabe and Josie are, and Seth says, "They are having a little situation in there with mom." Translation: Receiving training due to disobedience
I ask him if he is going to sing at preschool today (which he rarely ever does-whose kid is he?!), and he says, "only the songs that aren't ridiculous. If they do some David Crowder songs, I'll sing those."

Gabe:
"Mom, it's really hard to keep God first in your life. I think if I didn't have Him first, I'd have my Star Wars figures first." Love the honesty, and it led to a great conversation about the daily challenge of placing God first in our lives.
I was at Walmart with the three kids, and a little baby went by us. After she passes, Gabe says with total sincerity, "Josie, did you see that pretty little baby. She's not as pretty as you, though. You're beautiful, Josie." He also stroked her hair while he said it, and before you ask, of course he learned that from his Dad.

Supposed to be Sleeping

There had been nothing but quiet from Josie's room for a good ten minutes, but I happened to walk by and see a light on in her room. I cracked the door a little, and found her reading to herself in bed. I snuck off to get the camera because it was so cute, and snapped these two pictures before she noticed me. Then we had a little discussion, because I can't have her doing this every night. We read tons of books during the day!

Chris Tomlin Concert

Nile surprised Gabe and I with tickets to see Chris Tomlin, and it was so great! Gabe loves Chris Tomlin, and he had a blast. God gave me a special blessing that night, and it couldn't have come at a better time. My very favorite singer is Christy Nockels, of Watermark. Love her! She was singing backup for Tomlin that night, and although they kept the lights off her for the first 20 minutes, I could tell by the mere shadow that it was her. I know every gesture and every voice inflection by heart, sad but true. Anyway, it turns out she only tours with them once in a while, and this happened to be one of the nights. It was a true blessing to me and touched my heart. Tomlin said she was his very favorite singer, too:)

Looking good, courtesy of Aunt Britt

My sister gave Josie some makeup for Christmas and she has been creating some great looks. It was hilarious listening to the boys' beauty advice (put this one on your eyes, not your lips; this color would look so pretty on you, etc.), but you can see for yourself that things stopped just short of looking pretty. It was super fun, tho. Gabe loves the finished product.

Big Girl Bed...finally!

Josie is loving her big girl bed, mainly because now there is space for someone to snuggle with her before bed. Our beloved dog Cooper (I almost mean that) has been sweet enough to sleep in her room every night so she is not scared. We'll soon have to wean her of that, I suppose. I was nervous not having her contained, but she has done remarkably well. By the way, a shout out to my dear friend, Shadley, who helped me enter the world of blogging. She had a hard job, for sure! Love ya, girl! More to come, hopefully...)