Mother's Day Reflection...

Today, I am so grateful to be called "Mom" by this little girl...

(school portrait by Leonard's)

and this little boy... 

(school portrait by Leonard's)

They are two very different people.  

She likes flowers.  He likes trucks.

She could color for hours.  He jumps from one activity to the next as fast as a gnat.

She is all girl.  He is all boy.

She's a Daddy's girl.  He's a Momma's boy.

She kisses her brother.  He hits his sister.

She loves macaroni and cheese.  He hates macaroni and cheese.

But, they are both MINE!! 

Both call me "Mom".

I am truly honored by this title because this girl and this boy are the two most amazing little people on this Earth!

Thank you, God, for sending them to me!

Gracism

So, we are watching House Hunters this evening.  This episode featured a gay couple searching for a new home in Los Angeles, CA.  Grace asked me "Do those boys have wives?"  I said "No, they don't."  She asks "Because they don't want to be bossed around?"  Yep, that's it!  They don't want to be bossed around!!  What a funny, funny kid!!!

One more Gracism, from a few days ago...

This conversation occurred as we were walking out the door to go to school.

Me:  "Grace, do you have your gippy?"

Grace:  "Yep, I have everything I need.  I have junk in my trunk!"

RJ turns 2!!

Our baby boy turned two years old!  I can't believe it! 

RJ is such a funny little guy.  He's so quirky, going from clown one minute to straight man the next minute.  He is a special part of our family unit.  Grace adores her little brother.  She sneaks kisses and hugs whenever she can.  RJ loves his big sister, but he doesn't always show it.  

Since he's been going through the terrible twos he has been a pest to his sister.  He will hit her, pull her hair, push her, take her toys, etc. all to see what kind of reaction he gets out of her...which, as you guessed, is always negative.  But he really does love her.  For instance, he was sick today with a bad cough and fever, so I kept him home.  Grace still went to school.  RJ asked about "sissy" several times today and was happy to see her when she got home.  I love that my kids love each other.  I pray that they will always be friends and take care of each other.  They are the two best things that Bryan and I have ever done.  We are so proud of them!

RJ is still infatuated with trucks.  All kinds.  Monster trucks, dump trucks, mixers, diggers, garbage trucks, UPS trucks, Tractor trailers, any kind of truck he loves it.  Naturally his birthday had to involve trucks.

 Mommy and Daddy got RJ a wooden train set.  He REALLY likes it!

Getting ready for his party.

The cake wouldn't be complete without a truck.

A workin' man.

This just makes me smile!!  

(got to take the hat off to blow out the candles)

The boy likes his cake!

(hat's back on)

Happy Birthday Arj!!  Mommy and Daddy are so proud of our little Dude!  We are very blessed that God sent you to us.  WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!

Grace turns 4!!

So,life has totally gotten in the way of my blogging.  I'm going to skip Christmas and jump into Grace's birthday, which incidentally falls before St. Patrick's Day, but St. Pat got posted first.  

Grace!!  Our beautiful LOVE!!  She turned 4 this year!  Yikes!!  Where in the world does the time go??  Grace was actually sick on the day of her birthday.  Thankfully she was much better for her weekend celebration, a Butterfly Birthday!

All her little friends got a pair of butterfly wings, a butterfly ring, a butterfly lollipop, and butterfly stickers.  It was really cute seeing them all run around the park in their wings!

Grace had a great day.  Her smile made all the hard work worth it!

Two of my three Loves!!

Butterfly Grace at her birthday party.

 RJ enjoying his cheeseballs.

 My birthday girl!

Celebrating her birthday at school.

Grace you bring Mommy and Daddy such joy.  You are a gentle soul and we are so lucky that God chose us to be your parents.  WE LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS!!  

Happy Birthday G-Bug!!

So Peaceful!!

I love watching my babies sleep.  There is nothing more peaceful!  

St. Patrick's Day!!

"Tricky" left a gold coin, from his pot of gold, for each of the kids.  This made up for all of his trickery.  That Leprechaun was so crazy.  I wonder what he will do next year?

Yummy!!

The green rice krispie treats were delicious!

I made rice krispie treats last night, cut them up, put them on a plate, then covered them with tin foil.  When we woke up this morning "Tricky" the Leprechaun, as we like to call him, turned our rice krispie treats GREEN!!

In celebration of St. Patrick's Day we were visited last night by a leprechaun.  Very mischievous was this wee man.  He turned the water in our potty green, then walked all over our toilet paper leaving tiny green foot prints.  He also left a tiny little rainbow on the seat.  

Mike and Sully

Grace has been talking about visiting Mike and Sully for months, if not years.  She saw the Monsters, Inc. movie when she was around 1 or 2 years old.  We visited them shortly after seeing the movie.  She was afraid of them, but after we left she kept talking about how she would hug them and not be afraid the next time she saw them.  

We finally went for that visit.  Surprisingly there was no line.  We just walked right up to them and Grace gave them both hugs!  It was cute to see her beaming face.  RJ seemed to be a bit skeptical, but shook hands with Sully.  That moment was perfect!

On a side note:  A shout out goes to whomever found RJ's gippy on the ground at Disney's Hollywood Studios and turned it in to an employee.  I realized it was missing within 20 minutes of leaving Mike and Sully.  As I frantically retraced our steps back to the monsters, I asked every employee I encountered if they had seen RJ's blue and brown gippy.  One very nice lady said someone turned a similar item in and ALAS it was his!!  I never in a million years would have expected to find a lost item at Disney World.  Thank God for small miracles!