Catch-Up Post from April: Commercials, Cousins, and a Lollipop Conundrum

My boys had a pretty cool opportunity this past April.  One of my good friends is a head honcho at our local children's museum here in Naples. She asked me to round up some homeschooling kids to shoot a commercial while the museum was closed one Monday.  I had many homeschooling peeps that were happy to oblige and they brought their good-looking crews to the empty-except-for-us museum on the appointed day.  A good time was had by all!

The commercial was about the fun opportunities there are to create art at the museum, 

so the shoot was done in the art room. 

As it was a regular, public school day I would not have been home for Nathanael 

when he got home from school (we live about 25 minutes away from the museum),

so I checked him out early and the lucky little dog got to come with us.  He was pretty excited.

Shhhhh....don't tell his teacher. 

We had to wait a few months to see the finished product, but now it can finally be watched below!

 Didn't it turn out great??  My good friend (and now CC Director!) Gabby's two children were the stars of the commercial and they did a FANTASTIC job.  Still cracks me up every time I watch it. :)

We ran into a very special lady while shopping at Trader Joe's in April.  This is Ledys, the sweet woman that took care of Hunter as from 9-months-old till he was 2 1/2 years old while I was still a working mom and teaching.   It was such a wonderful surprise to see her and she gushed over how handsome Hunter was and what a cutie Levi was.  Hunter even got the chance to help her out to her car with her groceries.  I'm so thankful for the way she loved on Hunter when he was in her home.  :)

Hunter got an award in Sparkies back in April for being a top dog with reciting his Bible verses!!  Way to go, Hunter!

And now for a short story:
Once upon a time there was a daddy who gave his sons some gigantic lollipops.  The daddy thought it would be cute for the boys to pose for a picture as they licked their delicious lollipops.  Everyone was happy and all was going well until....

in a pitiful moment the top of the biggest brother's lollipop suddenly broke off, 

fell down, and shattered all over the floor!

It was a moment of disbelief, worry, 

and all around bummed-outness by all three of the brothers.  

But immediately thereafter, the big brother laughed it off and went back to licking what was left of his lollipop.  

And they lived happily ever after. The End. 

One afternoon Levi and Nathanael worked together to make a little train town!  

They were very proud of themselves. 

It was a wonderful blessing when my cousin Tracy and her family came down to visit us for a few days in mid-April.
Who doesn't love a little cousin time??

We took the kids to the pool and they played together nicely in the kiddie pool area

while "Auntie" Tracy and "Uncle" Mark had their turn on the water slides!!

We ate a picnic lunch together

and just laid back and enjoyed our day at the pool. 

Brothers and cousins

are the best company!!

Whenever we go to the pool Hunter and Nathanael like to try and have me take a photo of them both jumping off the diving board at the same time, suspended in the air together. 

Timing was a little off this time. 

Left to right and top to bottom we have:

Hunter (age 8), Ashlyn (age 7), Nathanael (age 6), Matthew (age 5), Levi (age 2) and Andrew (age 3 at the time). 

Quite the happy and goofy crew. 

Happy especially when they're eating ice cream and 

Daddy (aka "Uncle" Josh) is doing silly dances behind the camera.

This is my cousin, Tracy (or Theresa, as grown-ups like to call her), and I as we were saying goodbye.  She is a couple years younger than I and we grew up in the suburbs of Chicago together.  When we were little I used to dress her up and treat her like she was my real-life, Barbie doll. I'd curl her hair, spray hairspray all over he head while she coughed and sputtered, and I would tell her, "Beauty is pain!"   I thought she looked just like Marsha Brady and I had nothing but envy for Tracy's blue eyes, long, blond hair, and sweet disposition.

Now we're both grown and very much in the same stage of life as we raise our young families and rely on the Lord's grace to get us through.  She is my prayer partner.  My confidant.  My friend.  She's the  closest thing I've ever had to a sister to grow up with.  And she's clearly not as good at making faces for the camera as I am.

She's my cousin and I am so thankful to have her in my life.  It was so awesome to have her family come for a visit.  :)
Love you, cuz!!

A Tale of New Roller Blades

Once upon a time there was a boy who got a Toys R Us gift card for his sixth birthday.  Somehow or another, the idea came that he should buy a set of roller blades with the gift card.  The boy's mom looked on the Toys R Us website and found the perfect set that got decent reviews.   They headed off to the brick and mortar store in hopes to find the exact pair they saw online. 

As they looked in the roller blade aisle, the pair they saw on the website was nowhere to be found.  The anxious and impatient boy found another pair that would barely fit him and insisted that he didn't want to wait for the pair that would fit him better to come in the mail from the website, but would rather buy the ones in the store.  The mom gave in and allowed the boy to buy the pair in the store, knowing they would only fit properly for about 5 minutes before he grew out of them.

 Once the boy got home, he squeezed his big feet into his new skates and set off.  It became apparent to the skating boy's big brother that he was not a good skater and that he needed some coaching.  The big brother began to show the skating boy what he believed to be the proper technique and stance the skating boy should have. 

The littlest brother was carefully watching this scene unfold and taking it all in. 

After seeing the struggle the skating boy was going through, 

the big brother decided that bringing out a clip board and making a series of random check marks

and scores on the clip board, while barking coaching statements, would improve the performance of the skating boy.  

The big brother continued his critiques and coaching as he officially marked important 

information on his clip board about the skating boy's performance.

It is not known if the clip board was the catalyst for the skating boy's improvement. But, the fact remains that he started doing better once the clip board was involved.  And after a couple laps on the sidewalk, the big brother decided

that the skating lesson was over and it was time to honor the skating boy with a 1st place skating award.

What a priceless reward for all of his hard work!!

After seeing the success that his coaching brought about in the skating boy, the big brother decided he would have a go at squeezing his too large feet into the skates to see how well HE would do. 

He quickly discovered that all of the coaching he barked at the skating boy 

did not translate well into his own, practical skating experience

As the big brother fell over and over again, the skating boy brought out the clipboard 

in hopes that it might improve the big brother's skill and performance. 

In the end, the big brother came to a full understanding of the phrase, "Easier said than done."   And the only way he felt even halfway safe with the skates on was to push a stroller with the littlest (and protesting) brother riding inside.  Defeated, the big brother gave up quickly thereafter. 

Epilogue:

The big brother's Nana graciously bought him a pair of roller blades a few weeks after this incident that fit well and rolled more smoothly than the skating boy's.  While they are still novices, both the big brother and the skating boy have improved tremendously and enjoy putting their skates on practicing outside whenever they have the opportunity.  :)

Catching Up on March

There are a lot of sweet memories from the month of March 2014.   

Lots of photos ahead in this post!!

At the beginning of the month one of Nathanael's good friends, Marin, had a birthday party complete with a farm animal petting zoo!  Levi got to have a few moments with the animals when we came to pick Nathanael up from the party. 

 Nathanael LOVES his friends.  He is definitely a social kind of guy.  

Isabella and Marin were two of his best friends in kindergarten. 

 Few things are more fun than hanging out in a big box and watching TV with your brother.  :)

 One day in March we went through a car wash.  Despite his big brother's reassurances otherwise, Levi was convinced we weren't going to survive the experience. 

Hunter had a big accomplishment in the month of March.  Here is a photo of him just a moment after he finished reading the last word of the book of Matthew!  He and I read (and discussed) an entire book of the Bible together!  He was proud of himself. 

 Daddy's homemade pizza is a favorite meal of ours on Friday nights.  

Levi decided to break out his own pizza from the play kitchen to practice cooking just like daddy.

 Daddy started construction on a deck on the side of our house in the month of March. 

 He had helpers that were willing to pitch in. 

 

 We spent two weeks constructing bridges out of straws, rubber bands, and modeling clay in CC. 

 Unfortunately, Hunter and his partner's bridge didn't fare well in the weight test. 

He still learned a lot in the process, though!

 A photo of recess at CC.

It was our turn to do a family presentation in March for our CC group.  

It was so nice to have daddy and Nathanael able to be there as we introduced our family.  

Nathanael is the puzzle master around here. 

Levi toyed around with the idea of going on the potty right before nap time in the month March.  

I think he was just doing it to extend story time a little.  :/

 Our school had a fundraising Walk-A-Thon in the month of March.  Hunter used the opportunity to get out and catch up with some of his old friends from first grade as he walked. 

 Levi used the opportunity to soak up all the attention he got from the pretty girls. 

 Aunt Juliet visited with us for a few days in March.

 Nana Copeland sent Nathanael a play teepee for his birthday.  

All three of the boys enjoy playing in it. 

 Hunter and Nathanael started earning an allowance of $.50 a day 

for cleaning their room on a daily basis.  

 They came up with some creative and attractive ways to arrange 

their stuffed animals on and around their bed.

 After getting a new dresser with our tax return, I went a little nutso 

with organizing and set up a rack for all the boys' shoes of various sizes.  

That way I wouldn't miss what we had for the two younger boys' next size up.  

 

Along with the dresser, I also used some money from our tax return to make a gallery wall above our shoe cabinet in the entry area of our house. 

I love the way it turned out and it was so much fun to create!!

 Levi and his precious baby reading books together before nap time. 

 Levi began asking to sleep in a tent just like he saw his big brothers making in their bed.  

Thankfully, a sheet over his crib was enough to satisfy him. 

 One day Hunter in March, Hunter was asked to cook dinner for the family. 

He was ready to take on the challenge. 

 He made a simple recipe for wild caught cod with fresh squeezed lemon juice and butter. 

 He also made some brown rice and broccoli. 

 He was very proud of himself. 

 We were proud of him too!  Great job, Hunter!

 Nathanael loves for me to take photos of his Lego creations. 

 Nathanael spent some time in March perfecting his skills on the monkey bars. 

We were all impressed with his big boy strength!!!  

It's such a blessing having such a fantastic playground right in our backyard!