James' Choir Debut

Tonight was James' first choir performance with the "Angelic Threes". He did such a GREAT job and we are so proud of him. He sang both songs the whole way through, even "played" his bells. There was even a stage change so he could stand next to a pretty girl for the second song. Hillarious!

(Top row, fourth from the left)

James' cheering section!

To watch James' choir debut, click here.

Just Mommy

James has started calling John and I by our first names. Nice, right? I waited so long to hear the precious m and a sounds come out of those baby lips and now he is calling me Paige? Not cool.

It all started when our dear friend Michael and his sign came for a visit. I think James finally realized that not everyone calls us Mommy and Daddy. We actually have names!

Luke was the first to check out the sign.

James was laughing to hard to hold still.

We loved seeing you in October Michael...

...but I really want to be called Mommy again.

Happy Thanksgiving

A beautiful table,

delicious food,

and wonderful family and friends.

We have so much to be thankful for.

The Funky Chicken

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Little Boys

Sweet little boys on a Sunday morning.

Both boys now walk into their respective Sunday school classes without even looking back. They also both insisted on finishing their snack before they were ready to go. Oh how times have changed!

Saving the Children

Have you ever checked out this blog, or even this one? If you haven't you should. Be sure to take a box of tissues.

Ukraine will be voting soon to possibly halt all international adoptions from their orphanages. Orphanages that have heinous conditions, especially if you were born a special needs child. If this vote passes, hundreds of children who are in the process of being adopted will never meet their forever families. It is devastating to even imagine the possibility.

While we are not a family currently pursuing an adoption, we know some who are. We also have met sweet babies that were brought home from that country. Someone must speak for these children, and now here is your chance.

Take a moment to write to your congressman and senators. And more importantly pray. Pray that these babies will be able to feel the love of a family.

Seek justice,encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isiah 1:17

Funny Family and Happy Birthday

Our lesson this morning was about families. My template from my fun preschool book gave us 5 people in the family. Daddy, mommy, sister, brother and baby.

It quickly turned into Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeff and the three Georgia cousins. Why? Because we don't have a girl or a baby in our house and it was a source of confusion for my kids. That and when I asked Luke what Daddy was wearing he replied "hair".

James' masterpiece. They are apple picking. Aunt Julie is an amazing tree climber.

Luke with his family. Notice baby Dean is being held. So sweet.

And today is Uncle Morgan's birthday and we wish we could be there to share his cake. But since we are so far away, here is a little something from your cutest nephews.

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Happy Birthday Uncle Morgan!

Almost there

***Caution, this post discusses some aspects of potty training.***

Do you remember when I last talked about potty training? Yeah, it was in April. Why no news since April? Because for the last 6 or 7 months we have been attempting the whole potty training thing. Basically I felt like I was banging my head against a wall. Nothing worked.

Then miraculously, on Saturday night James said "Mommy can I sit on the potty?" I almost peed MY pants. Now that would have been counter productive. Anyway, since then James has been diaper free. That's right, no more diapers for James. We even braved church last Sunday without the pull-ups. He stays dry all the time. It makes me question, why did we start back in April? Oh right, because it felt like EVERYONE his age was already potty trained. We should have waited.

Now don't get fooled, we are still "potty training". I'll spare you the details, but there is still something he won't do on the potty. BUT, he also won't do in public. Enough said.

And to show how different my children are, guess who got the "potty prize" last week for doing something unmentionable.

Yes, it was Luke. He knew all about the prize. He heard me explaining it to James. So one night he said "potty", something he does a lot with a 25% success rate. But, last Thursday he did something James refuses to do and got the prize. I was not expecting that to happen.

My children are so different. And I love them so much!

Ahhem...my soap box.

Has anyone else noticed all the fighting among moms in the news lately? Stay-at-home mom versus the working mother versus "my parenting strategy is better then your parenting strategy". It makes me really sad to see us mothers tearing each other apart, all in the name of "stopping" the mommy guilt. You see, if one side can gain enough momentum, then maybe we can tell the other side they are wrong and make ourselves feel better. What no one is saying, is that everyone feels mommy guilt. You can't be a mom without wondering if maybe you should have done things differently.

I have never liked the term "agree to disagree". If you feel strongly about something say it. Which I guess is what all the hype in the media has been lately. I have heard working mothers described as "selfish" or they "outsource their loving". Also, stay at home moms are "uneducated" or staying home is "a right wing conspiracy to keep women out of politics". Really? Why all the mud slinging people.

What is being most left out too is the fact that children are blessings. Each child is a blessing, and has the ability to increase your joy. Motherhood is not a prison.

Make a decision for what is best for your family. Embrace it. Love it. Don't feel guilty.

Feeling Better and Fall Colors

Look who is feeling better!!!

A 24 hour bug, and only James got sick. Phew, I feel like we just dodged a major bullet. It is so much better to have a smiley happy James back with us. It is smiles like these that make me so thankful to be a mommy to such sweet boys. I have a feeling if we ever had a girl I wouldn't know what to do with her, because in this house we are all boy.

Here we all are enjoying the fall leaves and an impromptu photo shoot with Grammy.

Luke is always happy for a photo opp. He has been stringing together sentences lately, and if we listen carefully we can usually decode what he is saying.

My guys all looking cute in their red hats.

Coming soon, I may step out of my shell and stand on a soap box. You won't want to miss it.