Jameson

I was talking to my mom on the phone today, and Jameson and Teagen wanted to talk too. I gave them the phone, each with their own turn. They talked to Grandma for a few minutes each. They have always enjoyed talking on the phone. It's cute too. They think they are important.

Teagen didn't talk too much, but he did tell Grandma that he was watching a movie. Then he told her that he was reading a book that was Jameson's. If you ever talk to him on the phone, don't believe a word he says. He seems to make most of it up.

Jameson was adorable on the phone. He was telling Grandma about a movie that he loves. He watches "Night At The Museum 2". He calls it the scary movie. Grandma told him that she doesn't like scary movies. Jameson told her it was okay because God would protect her. He proceeded to tell her that Jesus died on the cross and then 3 days later he came back alive. He also told her that Jesus is going to come back again.

In just a short time, he has learned so much. He has been asking so many questions, and I have been trying to answer them in a way appropriate for his age. He totally understands it. I don't need to embellish the stories with anything. He gets it. He picks up bits and pieces of things he hears and then comes to ask me any questions he has. I am amazed at his knowledge so far. I now know where our next steps will lead us. He is my little sponge. I am going to start reading my Bible aloud to him for both of our daily devotions. We can both get something out of God word together.

Jameson will be five years old in less than two months. He is growing up so fast. I love you Jameson. Thank you Lord for lightening up my life with this little boy.

Sorry, no pics

I sent my camera in to get fixed. Teagen got a hold of it and now it won't take pictures, so I had to send it in to the manufacturer. Thankfully it is still under warranty. The problem now is, I don't get to take pictures of things that I want to. I do have another camera, but it recently broke as well. It will zoom in, but not out. This means I am walking backwards, tripping over things as I go, trying to get farther away from what I am taking a picture of. It is not a pretty sight. I know you are probably picturing me falling on my rear, but it's not funny, it really hurts. Okay, maybe it is a little funny.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of my fruit bouquet I made last night. I used grapes, canteloupe, strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple. I had these long skewers and just started stabbing fruit and strategically placing it together in a pot. It actually looked pretty cool. There are lots of pictures online of fruit bouquets if you want to see what a professional one looks like. Mine was in no way as good as those, but it was pretty good for what it was.

Wanted to take a picture of Teagen and Gavin looking at each other this morning. They were engaged in an intense conversation. It was adorable, but no camera.

I wanted to take a picture of the frogs that we raised from tadpoles. They are tiny little tree frogs. They climb the walls of their aquarium. Cute and gross at the same time. No camera.

It will only be a couple weeks though. They said that their turn around time for getting the camera back to me would be approx. three weeks. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long.

In the meantime, please take the time to still read my posts on here. I know it is more fun to look at my amazing photos. I do have some dazzling skills with a camera. Please consider the possibility that I have a skill with words as well.

I love you all, and God Bless.

Will It Ever End?

I can't believe it. It happened again. I am tired of everything. Seriously, what else can go wrong? There have been too many things going wrong in my life right now. I am extremely stressed.

It all started with the big move. My husband's job got transferred. He got a promotion. We were uprooted and moved across the country, from Minnesota to Florida. To make matters worse, cuz we all know that moving in itself is stressful let alone moving across the country, I was pregnant. Our third baby boy was born on April 9th, 2010. Scott left for Florida on April 12th, leaving me alone with a 4yr old, a 2yr old, and a newborn. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that our newborn had a broken arm. Scott returned to Minnesota to bring us to Florida on May 17th. On May 20th we arrived at our new home.

After about a month living here, we really started to feel at home. My stress levels were starting to go down. I still didn't see Scott much, due to his job. He has some very irresponsible employees. Then the car problems started. First our minivan. It needed a new transmission. Not a cheap job. In come the money problems. Then problems start with our other vehicle. I'm not good with cars. They all apparently break down when I am driving them. Twice, I was stuck on the side of the road in a car that wouldn't start.

The transmission is still not fixed, and the car has had multiple problems. First it was the timing belt, then the alternator, than the AC belt. Now the AC doesn't work at all. I am really hoping it's just a fuse, but with my luck, it may just be that the car needs to be junked.

These fixes on our cars are pretty expensive. The cost of living here is also more expensive than MN. We are finding ourselves on an extremely tight budget. We are trying in every way possible to save money.

Now with all the problems that I have already had, you would think that God would say "Okay, she's had enough." Nope, God keeps on throwing things at me. The AC in our apartment decided to start leaking and soak the floor. I ended up with the carpet guys and the maintenance guys here for a couple hours tonight. Finally they say there was a clog in a hose or something. I guess it's fixed. It is actually kind of cold in here now.

All I want to know is, when am I gonna start to see some good things happen in my life. I know I have a lot to be thankful for, but what's up with all the problems. Scott told me to just remember Job. I remember him. God knows that I am not Job. I am not that strong.

Dear Lord I beg of you to make it stop. Take everything and make it better. Help me to remain calm. Lord, please show me your love. In Your Name, Amen.

Bible Verses

These are some Bible verses that I can relate to right now. I have copied them from the NKJV. I hope you enjoy reading them. They have given me so much encouragement.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--


Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

Pslam 62:5-7 My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength and my refuge, is in God.

Psalm 68:19-20 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Our God is the God of salvation; and to God the Lord belong escapes from death.

Psalm 138:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.

Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Proberbs 4:23 Keep you heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel--that will stand.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.



God is my strength.

Lies

Have you ever told a lie?
Have you ever been in a situation where you don't want to tell someone something and you feel you are forced to lie?

What do you do?

Is it polite to refuse to answer a question?

I know that lies are of the devil. I know that truth is in the Lord.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

What is a White Lie?

Is one lie worse than another?

I teach my boys that the consequences for not telling the truth are worse than if they just tell me what they did that was wrong. We learn that the act of telling a lie is wrong, yet when someone asks for you to enter your age and/or weight on your drivers license you lie. Some lie when asked "Do I look fat in this?" I know there are those that will not lie about those things, but what would they lie about?

Why can't we all just tell the truth all the time?

Answer: Because we are afraid. Because we have the fear of hurting others or ourselves.

Shopping

I still have a hard time believing how much I get for so little. Yesterday, Scott stopped at Publix for me. The retail amount was $80.88. I spent $30.44. I saved $50.44, or about 62%. This is amazing. I have changed my mind. I actually enjoy grocery shopping now.

Update

I know you really wanted to know, but the tadpoles have sprouted legs. Some of them still don't have them, but quite a few of them do. I guess I should have expected to have a few late bloomers when we have fifteen of them. I know I must be crazy to let my kids have them. We are going to get rid of them as soon as they are fully sprouted.

On a more interesting note, I have been trying to train Gavin on his sleeping habits. He has been waking up a couple times a night for a little while now. I have tried to let him just cry himself back to sleep, but with Scott's work schedule, it doesn't always work. Maybe that's why he's waking up too. Well, we started giving him cereal and he wakes up less often, but it's still an issue. I was really hoping this baby would sleep through the night sooner than the other two. I have fallen back on the old "don't let him fall asleep yet" method.

The other boys are so extremely active, and have so much energy, that I need to drink a pot of coffee every hour just to be able to catch them. If I want to keep up with them, we are talking some major changes in my caffeine intake. I should probably stop drinking so much coffee, but life requires it right now.

Jameson has learned the 23rd Psalm. He knows the whole thing, and only needs a little prompting. Teagen knows the first couple verses with prompting, but it's still adorable. Just picture a 2 1/2 yr old reciting the 23rd Psalm. We will continue to work on it. Next, is the Ten Commandments.

We are working on getting rid of a lot of toys. There is no need for my boys to have as many toys as they do. The have a really hard time picking them all up. If there are less, they may just get them picked up every day. We are keeping the legos to play with only at certain times. We're keeping the blocks, cars, trains, dinosaurs, and army guys. There will be no more toys from kids meals at fast food restaurants in my house.

We are working on potty training Teagen. Any hints or tricks you want to share would be helpful. He is perfectly content to be wet. I can't afford to buy diapers for two kids anymore, so this has to happen.

We just found out that a good friend of Scott's will be staying with us for a couple days at the end of the month. He is Scott's friend, not mine. Pray that we will all be able to get along.

We really like living in Florida. We have decided that we don't know if we would leave here. The only downfall is family. We would really like our families to be closer. I really miss all of you.

My boys

Yes, it's that time. My baby turned 4 months old a few days ago. Gavin tried his first taste of rice cereal. He spit a lot of it out, but in all I think he liked it. I decided to start him on cereal at 4 months because he stopped sleeping through the night. He does know what to do with the spoon, which is a good sign.

My happy middle boy. Teagen loves to laugh. He will crawl up into your lap and tickle your arms or face or neck, ever so gently. It really does tickle. When you laugh or push his arms away, he starts his giggling. It is so contagious. Once you start you can't stop. Don't ever start tickling him, cause you will have him asking "Again?" for the rest of the day.  

My oldest. Jameson is so energetic. I know you can't tell from this picture, but this is the only way I could get a picture that wasn't blurry. He is always moving. If you want to take a picture of him and ask him to say "Cheese" he will, but he does it while jumping or some other elaborate movement. He is the one that is always asking me to come play with him, or if he can help with whatever I am doing. He's my big boy.

My three sons. They are all growing up so fast.

Swagbucks

I am really into saving money, if you couldn't tell from some of my Shopping posts. I am also into making money for doing something I do already. If you haven't yet, you need to check out Swagbucks. It's this really cool idea. You sign up on their website, or you can click on the link that I have here on my blog. After signing up you download their toolbar. A must, because it helps you earn more bucks. You use the toolbar to do any searches you want. Sometimes those searches will earn you swagbucks. You can also get swagbucks by doing the daily poll, taking surveys and many more. You trade in your swagbucks for gift cards. This is the cool part. For just 450 swagbucks you can get a $5 giftcard for Amazon. There are many more places to get giftcards from and other things you can get instead of giftcards. I have only been a member for a few weeks and almost have enough for that Amazon card. It's really easy, and the bucks add up pretty fast. At least they add up faster than any other thing I've tried. I am also a member of Inbox Dollars, and My Points. These are also great, but it takes more time to get anything. Definitely join Swagbucks, and if you are interested in the others as well, I will send you out an email, just let me know.

I'm going to.....

I always start something, but never finish it. Have you ever been there? There are a couple new things I would like to start. I really hope I actually keep up with these.

First, I want to start keeping a journal. You would think that I already do that. It's called a blog. Well my blog is a little different. There are quite a few things that I wouldn't mention here. Let's face it folks, if you can read this, then it's not really a journal. My journal will be private. I decided to put it in a letter format. I am going to write letters to God. I am a little excited to get started. Should I write in a notebook, or start a new file on my computer and type.

Second, I am really interested in getting into the whole runnin thing. I am always hearing about people talking about the marathon's and tri's they are going to run. It's like the new "IN" thing. I am interested in starting. I need to get a new pair of running shoes. I need to get used to the heat, and sweating a lot. I need to get used to pain. I hope I don't get discouraged and never start this. I would love for this to get me in shape, and make me feel better about myself.

Third, I am going to start following a schedule. You know, get up before the kids and start my day. Have specific thing to get done on specific days. This will help me to get things done. I usually forget what needs to be done, and then it never gets done. If I have a list of things that I need to do each day, and I follow that list, I believe things will be a little less hectic around here.

I will let you know how things are going with each of these in a week or two. It may take me a while to start the whole running thing. I want to wait until I get a decent pair of running shoes. I don't really have anything that would be in that category right now, and I don't want to get injured because of not having the right equipment. I need to have the money to buy the shoes first, and we are a little short on cash right now. I would like to buy so many things, that I am trying to patiently wait for.

My sister had her baby yesterday. I wish I was there to hold her. Congratulations little sis on your new addition! Give her a kiss for me.

Update

It is amazing how fast kids grow up. I have been sitting here working on my coupon stuff and my screen saver came on my computer. I have it set up to go through my pictures. Not only can I not tell my kids apart when I look at pictures of them when they were all about 3-4 months, but I have a hard time remembering the older two being that little.

Jameson is so eager to learn. He is asking me every day now, "Is it time for school?" I love his enthusiasm. I hope it continues throughout the year. We are working on teaching him how to read. I have decided that he will receive a gift when he learns how to read. He wants his own Bible really bad. My sister had this idea, and I am going to use it with my kids too. Jameson is so close to learning to read. He knows all the sounds of the letters, it just hasn't clicked that when you put the sounds together they make a word.

Teagen is a little shadow. He follows Jameson around all day and does what he does and says what he says. Jameson likes telling him what to do as well. Teagen is also a huge tease. He will sit there with his finger milimeters away from Jameson saying in his own mumbly words, "I'm not touching you." Jameson will start whining and complaining about this. My mom was right. I used to do that to my sisters and my mom always said, "Just wait until your kids do that." Teagen has such a great sense of humor.

Gavin is great. He is smiling so much now. He is scooting along on his tummy on the floor. Mostly his scooting consists of him just spinning in a circle. He also rolls from front to back to front. If I put him on the floor while I go make lunch, when I come back he is sometimes across the room. He is getting to be a little spoiled. He really likes to be held. He will stop crying immediately when you pick him up. I hope he grows out of it. I really hope he learns how to sit up soon.

Bad Days

The last few days have been a little difficult for me. Thursday started out great. We woke up and did our normal everyday activities. The boys were very well behaved. Then we set out to drive about an hour away for my women's Bible study. I was so excited. I have really been enjoying this book, and I couldn't wait to hear what all the other women thought of it. The discussion was great. We all had different views on the chapters we had read. We talked about the views each of us had. With everyone coming from a different past, it was really interesting and a great learning experience. When the discussion was over, I left to go pick up the boys and go home. Lauren Diaz was watching Jameson and Teagen. They had a lot of fun. My difficult time starts when I was pulling out of their driveway. There was a flapping noise coming from my car. I almost started to cry. I couldn't believe it, more car problems. Glenn, God Bless Him, came out and looked at my car. It was about 11pm. It was only the AC belt. I was able to drive home, but with no AC. I am so thankful for Glenn. We got home and the kids were obviously sleeping. I carried each one of them inside and put them in bed. I didn't get to sleep much, because I just don't anymore. The boys woke up at 6am.

I haven't been getting much sleep at all lately. Maybe because Gavin started waking up in the middle of the night. He used to sleep all night long. It could also be because Scott has been working at night so often lately, that I am going to bed by myself. I just don't sleep well when he's not next to me. I usually stay up until about 11pm. Then I go lay in bed. Lately, even when Scott is there, I haven't been falling asleep until about 1am or 2am. I could go to the doctor and see if their's a problem, but we don't have insurance.

Other than having no sleep, and one more thing going wrong with the car, everything was going fine. That is, until I just crashed. I don't see Scott much because of his job. He has been really busy with hiring and covering the shifts that have to be covered until he hires someone to cover them. Then he has to train people because they don't know how to do their jobs. He needs to learn how to delegate. He thinks he has to do everything. If he leaves something for someone else to do, it doesn't get done. Therefore, Scott ends up working more than he should. We don't see him. This, mixed with my feeling of already being lonely because of being 2000 miles away from my extended family and friends, has taken its toll. I have been feeling a little sorry for myself.

I think I need a vacation. My dream vacations used to involve Palm Trees. Now that my everyday life includes Palm Trees, where do I go for vacation? The answer is somewhere where there is snow. The problem is, I like the Palm Trees. I don't like the snow and cold.

Lord, please help me to realize that I am not alone. You have given me so many great friends down here, and I thank you for that. Please bring me peace through sleep. Please heal my cars. In Your Name I Pray. Amen.

My studies

I have a thirst, or maybe a craving, for knowledge. I am finding that I want to learn. Can you imagine. I went through all those years in school, not doing my homework, and trying in any way possible to not learn. Now, I can't get enough. I want to know everything. I am in the process of reading about 5 books right now. I know that seems like a lot, but I am looking for more.

I am reading and studying the Bible. I am thinking about looking at the book of Romans. I am going to find out everything I can about this book. Everybody, let me know what your favorite verse is in Romans, and why.

I am reading "The New Eve" by Robert M. Lewis and Jeremy Howard. We are studying this book in the women's study group at my church. It is pretty good. I especially like how they have the questions for each chapter. It is a true book to study. I also find myself referencing the Bible. Which, I believe, should be done with any book you read.

I am reading "Bring Up Boys" by James Dobson. This book is a must if you have boys. I now have three of them, so I was a little behind in reading this one. There are a lot of facts and statistics in this book, and all of them are eye opening. I always thought I was alone in the world of being a mommy of wild, out of control boys. Now I know that if you have three boys, God will give you the energy to keep up with them. Instead of trying to stop them from bouncing off the walls, which I always thought was just a saying, but my boys really do run into walls and bounce back, I join in the chaos and we all have a blast. I try to redirect their energy into constructive activities.

I have been really getting into apologetics right now. My pastor gave me a book called "Creative Defense: Evidence Against Evolution". I have only read a few pages, but so far it is really good.

The last book, is called "Prayers of an Excellent Wife" by Andrew Case. I am really excited about this one. I just got it and can't wait to start reading it.

Here are some more that I would like to start reading soon.
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
The Love Dare by Kendrick?
Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr Kevin Leman
Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham
Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay
How To Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur
What Happens When Women Say Yes to God by Lysa TerKeurst

I could probaby go on for quite a while, but I will stop here. I don't know that I will have a chance to read any of these. I am thinking that Jesus will come back before I have a chance to get through even half of them.

Shopping

The total retail was $81.42. After discounts and coupons, I spent $31.18.

I saved a total of about 62%

Crochet

This is the blanket I made for Gavin. It was my first attemp with the Bobble stitch. It was really fun to make, but took quite a while. I am making one now for Jameson. It will also have the Bobble stitch, except it will have just stripes instead of diamonds. I really enjoy crocheting. The only problem I have now is that it is kind of hard to find things to crochet in Florida. There is no point in making blakets down here. You won't get any use out of it. There is a reason to have a nice warm crocheted blanket when you live in Minnesota. Oh well, I still made this Ripple pattern blanket for a member of our church. She is having a baby, and I thought a blanket would be a good idea. I hope she can still use it in this heat. I may just have to make some booties to go with the blanket. I had so much fun making both of these.

I will keep posting my crochet accomplishments here. If anyone has any questions about what pattern I may have used or how to do a certain stitch or maybe you just want to start crocheting. You can ask my anything, and I will help with what I can. Welcome to my world of balls of knotted yarn.

My boys

Check it out! These are my boys. I love them all so much. They are so energetic and wear me out, but I wouldn't trade my tired, worn out days for anything.

We havn't had a chance to get to the beach lately, but we have gone to the pool a few times. We went there yesterday, and the boys found, of all things, tadpoles. They were in the drain running along the edge of the pool area. There were tons of them. Jameson kept calling them bugs. We, actually the boys, decided that they wanted to bring them home. We caught a few of them. Okay, it was more than a few. It was about 15 of them. They are sitting in a tiny little aquarium on our dining room table. I guess our next thing to learn about in school is how tadpoles turn into frogs.

Gavin is growing up so fast. I can't believe he is almost 4 months old. He has started scooting across the living room floor. He also rolls from back to stomach, then gets stuck. He for some reason hasn't figured out how to make it from his stomach to his back. Jameson took a pacifier, Teagen preferred his two fingers, and Gavin likes his thumb. This proves that all kids are different no matter how much they look alike.

I am guilty!

I am guilty of many things. I am ashamed to say that I am not the best Mommy out there. I strive to be, but fall seriously short.

My house has toys everywhere. They are not just in the play room. They are in the kitchen, in the bedroom, in the livingroom, and even in the bathroom. Some of them or stored in boxes in the closet. You may even find some in the dresser with the clothes.

The toys are not organized. The wooden blocks are mixed with the dinosaurs and legos and stuffed animals. We do not attempt to organize the toys anymore. They never stay that way, why should I spend the time trying. We just put all the toys together in the big bin. That is, when we pick them up. Remember there are toys everywhere.

My boys don't always wear clothes. They usually run around the house in their underwear/diapers. I don't even put pajamas on them at bedtime. If we do leave the house, I do get them dressed. But, I don't bother with taking their clothes off and putting pajamas on at night. They just sleep in their clothes. That is, if they have made it this far without undressing themselves.

We eat PB&J, mac & cheese, hotdogs, and chicken nuggets. These are the things we make sure we have on hand at all times. At times, this is probably the only food in our house.

We drink only water and sometimes milk. They don't get a choice. If you are thirsty, you get water. If you are eating a meal at the table, you get milk.

I have succeeded in teaching my boys to be afraid of bugs. I am not a fan of bugs. If you know me, you have probably seen me running away from a bug at some point. I just don't like them to fly towards me or crawl on me. If they leave me and my home alone, they MIGHT live. Since moving to Florida, we see a lot more bugs. The boys grab a shoe and attempt to squash any spider, ant, or any other creepy crawly thing they see.

The only time we leave our house is to get more food, or go to church. Give me a break on this one. It's hot down here. I never went outside in the Minnesota winters either.

I guess, these aren't too bad.

Shopping

I have done it again.

Retail for all this was $73.84.

After all discounts and coupons, I paid $27.82.

Phrases I Hear All Day Long

My boys repeat themselves quite often. Sometimes I feel like we are living the same day over and over. It never fails. Jameson gets up in the morning and comes into my room to wake me up. He will stand next to my bed and say:

"Good Morning Mommy!"

Not only is that a great way to wake up, but he has been so cheerful when he wakes up lately. He wasn't always like this. There was a time when it was terribly difficult to get him to wake up. He would whine and cry and throw a tantrum if he woke up before he was ready. This has all changed in the last couple of months. The next thing I hear is:

"I'm Hungry!"

We proceed into the kitchen to make breakfast. This usually consists of cereal, but occasionally means having pancakes or eggs or french toast. Immediately after finishing breakfast I hear:

"May I Have A Snack?"

This is one that gets repeated frequently throughout the day. Randomly throughout the next few hours I hear this:

"Jameson Pushed Me!"
"I Need A Hug!"
"Teagen Bit Me!"
"May I Watch TV?"
"May I Have A Snack?"
"May I Have A Drink?"
"Gavin Is Crying!" (like I didn't hear him)

Lunch time comes and goes and I hear:

"May I Have A Snack?"
"I Don't Want To Take A Nap!"
"May I Hold Gavin?"
"I Have To Go Potty!"
"Jameson Hit Me!"
"Teagen Threw A Toy At Me!"
"I'm Hungry!"
"What Time Is It?"

Dinner time comes and goes and I hear:

"I Don't Like That!"
"May I Have A Snack?"
"I'm Not Tired!"

Amidst the normal everyday phrases is an everyday story or two or three by Jameson. His story is different everyday, and very confusing. I am surprised by what his mind comes up with. Just ask him to tell you about his sleep stories and he will tell you something like this:

It was a Mario sleep story with a lion in it and it ate mario up with his tongue. That's what happened. I waked up when it was dark outside and I fell back asleep. That's what happened. He was in the castle and that's why the lion was in the castle. King Koopa said go eat Mario up. King Koopa was so angry. King Koopa was happy. I waked up in the morning again. That's what happened all day. My other sleep story is: It's about a silly Moses. I really love you Moses. That's what happened. Help God. You will listen to me. I'm pretending I'm a lion. (he proceeds to crawl around and growl for the next 15 minutes)

Shopping

This is everything I bought. The total was $79.01. I only paid $26.67. I love coupons, and Publix.

School

I have started school with the boys. Already? You might ask me. Well, I have decided that they need something to do during the day. They are bouncing off the walls all day long. This gives them a little structure. They have been doing great with their chores though. We wake up and eat breakfast. Before they can go play, we have to do dishes and laundry. Before lunch, all the toys have to be picked up. Then we eat lunch and take a nap. All of us take a nap. Then more play and toys again have to picked up before dinner. Then more play and pick up and bed time.

School now comes before lunch. I have been working with them on following directions. They aren't the greatest at this yet, but they are getting there. The curriculum I am using is great. It is called Bright Beginnings. Both of the boys really like it. It is more of a preschool level, and more for Teagen, but Jameson has been learning a lot too. I think Jameson just doesn't want Teagen to pass him up. They drew pictures of animals and wrote their names. Here is Jameson's.

This is a Giraffe. Can you see the spots, and the long neck?

Gavin 3 months

Gavin turned 3 months old yesterday.

He loves his brothers.

He loves to smile.

He loves to move.

He has grown so much, yet he is still so small. He is cooing and grabbing things. We all love to play with him. He also loves being held. He is getting used to having everybody spoil him. We love our little baby.

Happy 3 months Gavin!

Tarpon Springs

Jameson playing with his new alligator toy.

Teagen playing with his new shark toy.

Jameson and Teagen by a "fake" shark in Tarpon Springs. They boys thought it was the coolest thing in the world to have a shark hanging there.

The plants and sea sponge vase we got at Tarpon Springs. Isn't it beautiful?

4th Of July

Scott had Friday off of work, so we took off in the morning to go to the beach. It was great. It was mostly cloudy, but we still got a little sunburn. The water was the perfect temp, the sand wasn't too hot to walk in. I think it was our best beach visit yet. We ended up staying for about two hours. It was great.

On Saturday morning, we packed up the car, squeezed all three boys into the back seat, and headed out to Tampa. The van is still being fixed, so it was a rather uncomfortable journey. We made it though. It only took about four and a half hours.

When we got there, we visited with Scott's Grandma for a while, then went to his uncle's house to hang out with everybody else. We swam in the pool, and played cards, and had lots of fun. It was great to see everyone. There was a rather intense game of beach ball volley ball in the pool. When we got back to Grandma's that night we had a hard time getting the boys to sleep. They were a little excited.

On Sunday, we woke up to Scott's grandma making us breakfast. She made pancakes for the boys, and crepes for us. They were delicious. After breakfast, we went to Tarpon Springs. We visited a few gift shops and got a toy shark for Teagen, and a toy alligator for Jameson. We also stopped to eat Greek food. I love Greek food. We had Gyro's. They were delicious. It was raining when we first got there, but the clouds went away and the sun came out to play. It turned into a really hot day. We tried to find a boat ride to go on. They usually have a boat ride where they go out and show you what they do to harvest the sponges they sell all over Tarpon Springs. The boats weren't running that day though. We couldn't find a single one that was going out. We'll have to stop back another time for the boat ride. That's okay, I am always willing to get more Greek food.

After Tarpon Springs, we went back to Scott's uncle's house. We swam some more and played cards more and had fun just hanging out and talking with everyone. There were some fireworks that we could see from the end of the dock, but the bugs were kind of bad. There were some rather large mosquitos. Also, I was introduced to what is known as a wood spider. I still don't have a picture of these yet. I will get one and post it later. They can apparently get pretty big.

When we woke up on Monday morning, Scott's Grandma was making us breakfast. She is a great cook. She made french toast, eggs, sausage, bagels, and grits. I tried grits for the first time. I really liked them. The boys really liked them too. I guess this will be one new thing we will add to our breakfast menus.

We packed up the car again, and squeezed the boys into the back seat again, and took off to head home. It was such an eventful weekend. I didn't want it to end, but knew it had to. We came home to a quiet home. We were all tired, and went to bed.

Now starts another week.

Update

The camera is broken. It may be a while before I post pictures again. I am trying to figure out how to get my camera fixed under the warranty. The problem is that we bought the camera in Minnesota, and now we live in Florida. I just hope we don't have to spend too much to ship it back there, or maybe we can get it fixed here for free. We are still working on it, and trying to make decisions.

I am reading a book for the womens bible study group I joined at church. The book is "The New Eve". I will let you all know what I think of it. I have only read part of the first chapter so far.

I am buying a Bible for the boys. They need to have their own. They are always wanting to "read" my Bible or Daddy's Bible. They can't read yet, but I think that reading their own Bible might just be an incentive. I am going to get the Early Readers Bible. I just need to figure out what version to get. I am leaning towards the NKJV.

I am also going to buy a few more books for myself. I am really getting into studying my Bible, so I wanted to get some books to help me out.

"How To Study Your Bible" by Kay Arthur
"Love & Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs
"Share Jesus Without Fear" by William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd
"Have A New Kid By Friday" by Kevin Lehman

I am really excited to start reading all of these. First I have to buy them. I am going through Amazon. I have no problem with getting books that are used, they are cheaper. I am going to order them next week.

This weekend for the 4th we are going into Tampa to see Scott's family. We are really excited to see them. It will be about a 5 hour drive, but we will manage. We were hoping to have the van fixed by then, but we don't know if that will happen. If not, we will all squeeze into the little Toyota. It is possible to fit 3 carseats in the back seat of that car. We plan on doing a lot of stuff while in Tampa, so pray that the weather is good.

The boys are very stubborn. They don't like to go to bed, eat all their dinner, clean up, and many more things. They are typical boys I suppose. The only thing, is that now they don't have a choice. We have started to hold firm to the rules that we set up a long time ago. We never really enforced them before. Now the boys are not having much fun learning the chores they get to do. We are trying to make it fun for them to do, but they know what work is. I love their effort. Next we will work on doing our chores without whining.

Posting Video's

I can not for anything, figure out how to post a video on here. If you know, please comment on here and let me know. It's probably extremely simple, but I'm not that computer savy. I would like to share the video's of my kids saying it how it is. They will tell you what they know, which they think is everything. Someone please help. Thanx.

Creation

I have started a new curriculum with Jameson. I didn't want to wait until September, because he needs something to do during the day, besides watching TV. I need to keep him busy. He loves school. He loves writing letters and numbers, and practicing sounds. We are learning to read. The thing he loves most though, is memorizing his Bible verses. He does really well with the verse, but forgets the reference.

The curriculum I started is called Bright Beginnings. We have only gone through the first couple days, but I really like it. The first part of the school day involves reading from the Bible. It started in the beginning, with Genesis 1. We went into the bathroom and turned off the light to show what it was like before God created the world. Then God said "Let there be light!" Jameson loves that part. He now wants to play the creation game all the time.

Because of going through these verses in the Bible and teaching their meaning to my 4yr old, I have been thinking a lot about the topic of Creation vs. Evolution. I know this topic has been discussed so many times that everyone is probably sick of hearing about it. Well I have a different twist. I wholeheartedly believe in Creation. I believe that God created the world and everything in it in 6 - 24 hour days. Then on the 7th day he rested. I believe that was approx. 6000 years ago. I do not believe that the dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. Every time a read a dinosaur book to my kids, I leave that part out and say "a long time ago" instead.

There are so many reasons as to why I believe this, but it would take too long and take up way too much space to mention them all now. I suggest, if you are interested, watch the movie "End of the Harvest". It is a great movie

The Pool

We went swimming in the pool today. Scott got home from work at about 4pm and we all changed and headed to the pool. There is a kiddie pool about 1 foot deep that the boys love playing in. When they get tired of that, we put their life jackets on and go to the big pool. Lately the boys have been jumping into the water from the side of the pool. They both don't like water in their faces, so this is a big step. Teagen is afraid of being in the water by himself. He clings to either Scott or I the entire time. He doesn't trust the life jacket. I suppose that is a good thing. We are trying to teach him how to swim, starting with the kicking. He does it for a few seconds, then stops. He really likes it when we just drag him around the pool. Today Gavin came into the pool with us. He really loved it. He had a huge smile on his face, and was moving his arms and legs a lot. Going to the pool has kind of become an evening tradition here. It's our way of getting some energy out of the boys before dinner and bed. They do end up sleeping better.

Gavin has started to do a lot of babbling. It is really fun to just sit and talk to him. Jameson does most of the talking. I am going to try to get it on video, cuz it is adorable watching a 4yr old talk to a 2mo old. Jameson asked me the other day, "What happened to Gavin's teeth?"

Teagen has really gotten into the Terrible Two's. He has become extremely defiant. We are relearning how to control a 2yr old, if that is even possible. Teagen can also be the sweetest kid around. He loves to snuggle, and will be the first to give you a hug. You don't even have to ask for one, he's the one who always wants to hug someone.

Pictures

Gavin is now 2 months old. He started smiling recently. I love it. His smiles are hard to catch on camera. He smiles with his whole body. Arms and legs get extended and everything. It's really cute. I will try to post a video of it later. He's a joy to have around and the other boys always want to help out with him.

Jameson loves his little brother. He is always asking if he can hold him or play with him. Jameson can usually get Gavin to stop crying. He is a big helper. He helps with laundry and dishes. Now if I could only get him to change diapers.

Teagen is still a big trouble maker. He teases his big brother all the time, but when you get down to it, he just wants to be like Jameson. He is a big copy cat. He does exactly what Jameson does, and says what Jameson says. Yes, he still sucks two fingers too.

Oh no! We have another finger sucker. It's not very often that we see this though. Usually he doesn't want his fingers or a pacifier. He does just fine without either. He doesn't cry much, only when he's hungry.

The boys got a hold of my camera and took some pictures. They are not supposed to be on top of that dresser. If I had walked into the room when he was up there, he would have jumped down and ran to me asking for a hug. It's great how kids know they are in trouble, and either they are asking for forgiveness, or they want to distract you from punishing them. It makes it harder to punish them when they are sooooo cute.

This is called a Spiny Backed Orb Weaver. We saw it on a massive web a few feet from our front door. It looked so freaky that I had to look it up online. I found out that it isn't poisonous, but I am still going to keep my distance. I hear that these spiders are common down here.

Cars

I am not good with cars. When we drove down to Florida from Minnesota, we had some difficulty in the mountains with our van. We started to have trouble accelerating and going up the hills. After arriving in Florida, I brought the van in to have it checked out. They told me it was the transmission. It wasn't changing gears. It's approx. $2000 to fix.

One car down, now for the other one.

Scott has been using the car to drive back and forth to work. We didn't think there was enough room in the back seat for all three boys and their car seats. Somehow we managed to fit/squeeze them all in. We were so happy that we were going to be able to still have one vehicle to use.

I was driving, with all three boys squeezed in back, to pick up Scott from work and go to a church group meeting. About half way their, the car wouldn't accelerate anymore. I managed to get to an exit, and off the freeway. However, I was not able to make it to the gas station that was maybe a few hundred feet from the exit. The car just stopped running. I couldn't start it either. We think it may be the battery/alternator.

Well the boys and I sat in the car for about half an hour in the intense heat without air conditioning, while we waited for Scott to come pick us up. He finally got there and we unloaded the kids from the car and loaded them up in Scott's work van. We pushed the car to the gas station, and left it there overnight. We continued on to our church group meeting.

Once we got to our meeting, my mood changed. I am in awe over how caring everyone is. We have never experienced a church family that is so close knit. They really are a family, and have been accepted us as part of that family. We thank God for that.

Now our prayer request is for WISDOM. We need to decide what to do with both of the vehicles.

All three boys were so amazingly well behaved during this whole ordeal.

Today

Scott didn't come home last night because he worked really late, and then had another shift really early. When I woke up this morning, Jameson and Teagen were both in my bed. We got up and went into the kitchen to get breakfast. I wasn't in the mood to cook anything, so we had cereal.

The boys found a spider on the wall. They both ran and got a shoe to smash it, then just sat there watching it. They kept returning to me, updating me on the progress of the spider. Then, Teagen was done watching it, and smashed it. Jameson didn't like that Teagen had killed it. He wanted to know if Jesus would bring the spider back alive.

Teagen got into my pens again. This time he didn't color on anything but paper.

Jameson has been begging me all day to do school stuff with him. I am not in the mood today, and we were supposed to take today off of school anyway. I know I should let him do it when he is that interested, but I just didn't feel like it today.

My dad had knee replacement surgery today. The surgery went well, and he is in recovery now. I will hear more later.

Teagen got to the salt shaker in the kitchen, and decided to empty it all over the floor. Jameson took apart all my post-it notes. Both the boys are really wild today. Time to put a movie on for them.

Vaccines???

Way to go Bill Gates. I, for one, will be thinking twice about what vaccines, if any, my kids will be getting. There are vaccines being introduced into other countries, and the sterility rates are raising in those countries as well. He just opened up a whole new can of worms. Why does the world need to be "depopulated"? God said to go and multiply. You can fit every person in the world into one city in norther Florida. (I can't remember which one.) There is plenty of world left out there to fill. As far as CO2 goes, isn't that kind of necessary to have? We exhale it, plants devour it and make oxygen for us to inhale. CO2 does not need to be down to zero.

Star Spangled Banner

Popeye

Jameson has been into watching some black and white cartoons. Some of them don't have any talking, just music. He loves them. The ones he likes the most are the Popeye cartoons. He has been running around the house all day trying to save Olive Oyl, and punching Bluto. I think the best part about Jameson trying to be Popeye is that he has asked me for spinach for lunch.

Everyone has told him that if he eats his veggies he will "grow up big and strong". He doesn't believe it until he sees it on TV. Popeye gets mega strength when he eats his spinach, so now Jameson needs to eat spinach. I wonder if he'll like it.

Guess what we're having for lunch tomorrow.

Reading

Jameson knows all his letters and the sounds they make. Because he has reached this very important mile stone, we decided to start trying to teach him to read. We started explaining that when you put letters together the sounds they make form a word. He didn't get it. We started with an easy one. MOM. Jameson sounded it out. MMMMMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM. We asked him what does that say, what word is that? Jameson said, "Toilet."

Thanks Jameson. He doesn't get it yet. That's okay, we will keep working at it.

Florida

Okay, we are now in Florida. We left good old Minnesota on Tuesday, May 18th at about 6am. We drove the minivan, while my parents drove the Budget rental truck. We are so thankful to them for helping out all they have. The first day, we made it to southern Illinois to a town called Effingham. Yes, you read it right. Effingham. We stayed the night there and left early the next morning. The next day we made it through the mountains with only a little trouble with the vehicle. Our vans transmition doesn't like the mountains. We stopped that night in a town just south of Atlanta, Georgia. We arrived here in Boynton Beach, Florida, on the third evening. It was about 8pm Eastern time. Scott called a few of his employees, and they had the truck unloaded in about an hour. My parents stayed and helped us out with unpacking and arranging things. They flew out of the Fort Lauderdale airport on Monday, May 24th. We are definitely going to miss everyone back in Minnesota.

We have gone to the beach down here a couple times, and plan to go about once a week. We would like to have the boys enrolled in swimming lessons, but they are expensive. I think we will just end up teaching them ourselves. Swimming is key when you live ten minutes from the ocean. The kids love the beach. It is one huge sandbox, and the waves are really fun.

Scott has been working a lot, but there are many compliments on his accomplishments. Hopefully soon he will be able to spend a little more time at home.

We found a church that we really like. We have only been there twice, and some of the families have already wanted to make play dates. Everyone there is so extremely nice. I know I will become really good friends with the ladies there. This is definitely where God wants us to be.

Princess

I think this story will be best told in a dialogue format, so here goes...

Jameson: Mommy, I need to give all my kids a toy car.
Mommy: Jameson, you don't have any kids.
Jameson: Yes I do. Kane is my kid.
Mommy: Oh, you mean your cousins.
Jameson: Yes, my cousins. I need to give one to Kane and Jace and Sam and Ana and Jacob and Jimmy and all Princess Lindsays kids.

I couldn't say anything after I heard that. I guess we all know how I rate. It's Princess Lindsay, but what about Mommy. I think I need to work on my Princess traits. Jameson is too funny.

What did you say?

Jameson hears everything. You can't say anything when Jameson is in the room and think he didn't hear it. He did, and he will let you know that he heard you later. Scott and I talked many times around the kids about what we were expecting when the new baby came. We were not sure if my water would break first like with the our first two children, or if I would start have contractions and just go into the hospital in labor first. We also would pray that Jesus would just let my water break, cuz we just couldn't wait to meet our little Gavin. Jameson, hearing this and not understanding what we were talking about, has been telling me lately that his "water" hurts. I had to tell him, "Honey, you don't have a water." He doesn't believe me. He thinks he does have a water.

Gavin

Gavin joined us on Friday, April 9th, 2010. He was 8 lbs 8 ozs, and 21 1/2". He was born with a broken arm. We now have to use an ace bandage to bind his arm to his chest. We are praying that it heals soon. We need to have him start moving his arm and make sure the muscles are going to work well so he won't need physical therapy. Jameson and Teagen both love Gavin a lot. They both are great little helpers. Teagen likes to give everything to Gavin. I mean everything from toys to cups and clothes and movies. Jameson likes to sing to Gavin when he cries. Our favorite song for a crying baby is "Jesus Loves The Little Children". It doesn't always work, but we have fun singing anyway. Gavin doesn't cry too much, only when he's not being held. We are all adjusting well to our new arrival.

Letters

Jameson is now learning his letters. He really likes the TV show on PBS called Super Why. The entire show focuses on letters and reading. I am just happy that he is interested in learning. He keeps asking me what letter starts certain words. Not only is Jameson learning his letters really quickly, but Teagen already knows a couple. W and O. Teagen is only 2 and learning things so fast. He just might pass up Jameson.

I had to add this picture. They really do love each other. The photographer was able to capture the normal everyday attitude of my wonderful boys. They will play until they start crying. Sometimes for no reason.

This is how you say it.

Jameson loves going to McDonalds. He always eats all his nuggets and fries. The only thing is, that now he finds it extremely important to tell me in the car every time we pass one of these restaurants. He calls them McDonuts. I love it. I have to try really hard not to laugh at him every time he says it. He also enjoys watching "tatoons" (cartoons to you and me). I will have to ask my mom what words I had in my vocabulary as a kid. Jameson talks so much, I know we will find more new words.

New Stinker

We just found out recently, that we will be adding another little stinker to our family. We are very excited. Jameson understands that there will be a little baby coming, but Teagen could care less. Hopefully he will understand "gentle" by the time the new one arrives. April is the month we are all looking forward to.

I haven't written anything in a while, and I'm sorry for that. My only excuse is that I have been busy with the boys. They are both doing great, and I am losing weight just chasing them around. Teagen recently said n'night and waved. Teagen also learned how to play peek-a-boo. He does this by covering his mouth with his hands instead of his eyes. Adorable right? Jameson has been an adventure all by himself. He is very wild. We have a pool at our new apartment, and Jameson loves being able to go swimming. He now asks all day every day if we can go. He loves the water, but doesn't like it in his face. He is afraid to go underwater. He wants water glasses as he calls them.

Tantrums

Teagen is growing up so fast. He threw his first tantrum today. I couldn't help but laugh. I don't know if that was the best thing to do, but it was cute. He was mad that I closed the dishwasher. He likes to help put the dishes away. Putting them away to Teagen is throwing them on the floor. I knew there were some heavy breakable dishes in there, so I closed it. He proceeded to yell at me and shake his finger at me and stomp around. I wish I had a video camera.

Jameson has had about four great days now. He is behaving so well. He has had a couple of small fits, but that is because Teagen likes to tease him. Teagen will grab a toy from him and quickly run away. I love my boys so much.

I'm scared.

Every night now for quite a while, Jameson cries after going to bed. He complains about being scared. Scott and I go in and try to comfort him. We tell him that all he has to do when he is scared is say "Jesus". Tonight when I told him that again, he looked at me and said, "Is Jesus going to sit in my bed?" I told him "Yes. He will come and stay with you in your bed, so you don't have to be scared." Jameson then looked at me like he thought I was crazy. He said, "Mommy, Jesus to heavy." I was speachless. All I could do was hug him. I told him it was okay, Jesus would just stand next to his bed. He was asleep five minutes later. Thank You Jesus for standing next to Jameson's bed tonight.

Hungry

Jameson tells everyone all day long that he is hungry. He is a pretty picky eater. He will eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, corndogs, and any kind of fruit. He will sometimes eat green beans, carrots and chicken. If I serve him any type of pasta, he would rather go hungry than eat. Which brings be to the main reason I am typing this. Jameson just recently started (when I am not looking of course) to put his food on Teagen's plate. Now, what I didn't mention earlier is that Teagen will eat anything you put in front of him. Jameson has become one sneaky little stinker, and Teagen has become one chunky little stinker. I love my boys.