Go Speed Racer, Go!

After having seen the movie recently, as Kaydee and CJ were having a "race" in Lowe's, they both sat down and started singing the Speed Racer song. Even some of the employees got a chuckle out of them!

Beauty Queen in Training

The other morning I found Kaydee in my bathroom...

Doing this!

When I asked her what she was doing, she very calmly said, lips! As if this were a normal, every day occurrence and she had to do her lips! I think my make-up gets more use from her than it does me!

Kaydee's First Movie

CJ has been begging us to go see Speed Racer. Well, last Tuesday, the 13th, we decided to take him and Kaydee. CJ has been to the movies a few times and loves it, but we were a little concerned about Kaydee as she had never been. We knew Speed Racer was a super long movie but we decided to go for it!

Everyone anxious to go inside..we saw it on an IMAX...very cool!

Yummy snacks!

This is all mine?

They both did great at first...engrossed in their snacks. Kaydee had a whole lemonade to herself plus a box of gummy bears and I think she also snuck a few sips of my coke! Well, about half way through, the sugar kicked in! She was up walking the aisle, talking, kicking seats...

...and then she crashed!

It was hilarious! It was truly like a cartoon where you see the toy that winds up super fast and goes, and goes, and goes, and then BOOM! Crashes!

CJ loved the movie and has decided to have a Speed Racer party for his 5th birthday coming up on the 11th of June. We had a great time!

More Cute Sayings

When Chris and I picked up the kids from my friend, Cindy's house, Cindy referred to Kaydee as honey when she was putting on her shoes. Kaydee quickly replied..."I not honey...he is!" (pointing to Chris) This cracked us up!

CJ rarely takes naps anymore and as a result, if we have to drive anywhere after about 6 o' clock, Chris and I know we have to keep him awake or the car ride will make him sleep. Well, the other day we were going out to dinner to a place across town and CJ started to fade. When Chris and I told him to stay awake, CJ said, "I'm not sleeping...I'm just practicing for quiet time!"

Stop and See the Children

You've heard the saying stop and smell the roses...well, this is just what Kaydee is doing only it is a hibiscus in our front yard. I recently attended a home schooling seminar where one of the speakers encouraged us to stop and see the children. I thought that saying was so true! It is amazing what I hear and see my children saying and doing when I stop talking, sit back and just watch. While Chris and I were driving down the road this same weekend after the conference, we heard CJ and Kaydee saying all kinds of things...they were giving each other fives, holding hands, giggling and laughing. At one point, they were both singing along with the radio...I forget what song it was but it was from a Christian station. The saying "garbage in, garbage out" came to mind. We realized that they pay closer attention than we even know...what if we didn't play Christian music for them but instead filled their heads with music that had vulgar and explicit lyrics?

A picture is worth a thousand words

I love Mother's Day. I do! It is one of my favorite holidays. It's not because it is one of the few days I can let Chris do everything around the house without feeling guilty or because I get to be pampered, though both of those are a great side benefit. It's not because it is a day where I can show my mom how much I appreciate and love her, though again, it is definitely a pleasure to do so. Of course, do I really need a special holiday as an excuse to do that? I love it because well, simply stated, I am a mom! God has blessed me not once, but twice with beautiful, precious children. Imperfect, impatient, little me. I should do this every day, but on Mother's Day particularly, I walk tall and proud with a big grin on my face because I am proud to be a mom. I am a member of an exclusive club reserved only for women...the mom's club! A void has been filled within me that I never even knew I had until I became a mom! To me, Mother's Day is almost more about my children than me...without them, I wouldn't be a mom. There would be nothing to celebrate.


I love this picture...this was my first mother's day and every time I look at it I remember exactly how I felt. I was and still am thrilled and ecstatic to be CJ's mom. Below is the poem that came to me in the middle of the night one night when I was pregnant with CJ. At the time that I wrote it, I didn't even know what we were having.

Ten little fingers
Ten perfect little toes
Two beautiful eyes
And an adorable little nose
A pretty little smile
And a head full of hair
You fit in so perfectly
Its like you’ve always been there
Our hearts are full of love
For this gift from God above
May we never take for granted
This precious child that we been handed

This is Kaydee when she was one day old and we were about to leave to go home. Again, I look at this and am flooded with the same overwhelming love and happiness that I felt that day. While I was pregnant with Kaydee, I really felt the pressure to write a poem but it seemed, the harder I tried, the worse the poem. Finally, one night, when I wasn't even trying, her poem came to me.

Oh what a joy
Oh what a dream
My darling baby girl
With bouncing brown curls
From your rosy little cheeks
To your dimply little knees
My heart is overflowing
As I feel you growing, growing, growing
I feel your every move
I feel your every kick
We are so thankful
For we are whom God has picked
You are such a gift
You are such a treasure
We will love you forever and ever
To not only have one tiny blessing
But to now have two
Is more than a miracle
A real dream come true
May we never take for granted
These precious children that we’ve been handed

It seems only fitting to reflect on these, as I celebrate the day God made me a mom not once, but twice. This day has been bittersweet though. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely perfect from start to finish...my husband and my children did everything right which I posted about previously, but there was just one thing...I didn't get to see my mom. There have been very few Mother's Days that we weren't together and for that I am grateful and hopefully, it won't be an issue in the future. But for now, I am sad. CJ and Kaydee didn't get to give you your flower pot in person, instead we had to mail it. They didn't get to show you where each of their adorable, tiny, little fingerprints was transformed into butterflies and bumble bees. No, I don't need a holiday to tell you I love you or tell you that you are a great mom. In fact, I tell you those things almost daily, but still on Mother's Day, a mom should be with her children. I think I get that now more than ever! I love you, Mom! Happy Mother's Day! I can't wait to see you!

There are lots of reasons why I love you, Mom, this is just one of them...What grandmother do you know who rides their granddaughter's scooter...and likes it? This is a picture from two Christmas's ago when Kiersten and Kelby got scooters and Nana decided to test one out. We happened to be turning into the street as she came toward us and this picture is forever burned in our brains. It cracks us up to this day!

My Mother's Day

Sunday Morning, (after sleeping in) I was awakened by the happy pitter-patter of little feet running down the hall (along with Daddy). They came running into my room with pink roses inside a huge watering can (my precious , thoughtful CJ see prior post), yelling Happy Mother's day and giving me my gifts! What a way to wake up! In the words of CJ, "Now that's what I'm talking about!" They all had huge smiles on their faces and Kaydee was dancing around making up her own song, "Happy Mother's, Happy Mother's!" Then CJ and Kaydee both jumped up on the bed to give me hugs! It was great!

Then, I got breakfast in bed! Delicious blueberry waffles!

Chef CJ creating another masterpiece...blueberry waffles!

Hurry up...Mama's waiting for her waffles!

The rest of the afternoon we got to do whatever I wanted to do. I pulled rank and even convinced CJ to wear what I wanted him to wear to dinner. A rare occurrence these days as he usually dresses himself as you might can tell from some of the pictures...:)
Since all mothers should see their children on Mother's Day (if possible), we met Chris's Mom and Dad for dinner where CJ and Kaydee personally presented Mimi with her flower pot.
We had a great dinner with some good photo ops at the end...

Mother's Day Surprise

I referenced a project that the kids and I did last week for Mother's Day which involved paint but I couldn't talk about what it was until after Sunday.

Let's see...how can I do this without making a mess?

CJ painted Nana's pot blue

So far, so good. No mess yet!

Kaydee paints Mimi's pot lilac...notice she has already started making the mess! Each of them painted the background of their pot the favorite color of Nana and Mimi. Then, each of them chose different things they wanted to make with their fingerprints and what color the item would be. They turned out really cute! So cute in fact, we are going to make some for me!

Here CJ and Kaydee are proudly showing Mimi which fingerprint is theirs and what they made out if it...pink butterflies, red and black caterpillars, etc.

FYI I am still finding green paint all over my house from the "Kermit" incident!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had hoped to get this posted on Sunday, but it just didn't work out. I will post more about Mother's Day tomorrow, but in the meantime, I will leave you with this! To my mom, my sister, and mother-in-law, know that we were thinking of you!



I had been working with them on Nana and Mimi but CJ decided to add Auntie Dee and me to the list as well! Wasn't that thoughtful? I love you too my precious little sweet peas!

More Garden Pictures

Kaydee watering our flowers in the front yard. She and CJ both have too much fun experimenting with the settings on the hose!
CJ helping mama plant the veggies. Yes, he actually did dig the hole, plant the veggie, water it in, and cover it up!
One of our boxes. We have three total that we planted this season. We are growing, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, green beans, bell peppers, basil, cilantro, cantaloupe, and strawberries. We are very excited to see what kind of yield we will get! It is really fun to do this as a family, even the kids loved it. They also love to help me water it, and I can't wait to go out there and see their faces when we actually get to pick the veggies!

Another Big helper

I don't know what the exact temp was on Saturday, but I think we were hovering around 100. Because Kaydee was hot and tired, she decided to hitch a ride with dirt and pass the shovel onto brother!

CJ takes over "digging"
He decided he liked smoothing out the dirt in the boxes better!

Also Daddy's big helper! Here, CJ is helping Chris hammer in the nails that hold the twine which creates the grid in the boxes.

A Family Affair

Daddy's big helper! We have been wanting to plant a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember but have never taken the plunge. Well, this year we decided to just go for it and this weekend was the only available weekend we had to do it. Here Kaydee is helping Chris build the boxes as we are doing a square foot garden.

Team work! Kaydee grabbed their wheelbarrow and rake and off to the backyard she went to help with the garden!

Kaydee thought the tiller was a little loud!

Peek- a- boo! Kaydee had a ball with the weed control fabric!

I'm Not Telling!

I think Kaydee has been watching CJ a little too closely lately...when Chris asked her why she had pinched me (ouch!), this is what she did! She then proceeded to say the ever popular "because".

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

Yesterday I was driving down the road, minding my own business, listening to the radio and out of the clear blue CJ said, "Mama, I don't want to die when I get old." My internal mom siren went off and I thought OK, how am I supposed to respond. Dear Lord, please help me know how to handle this delicate conversation. Finally, after what seemed like an hour of internally processing but in actuality was more like a minute, I calmly say, "well, sweetie, you don't have to worry about that right now. When you get older, I think you will be glad about going to Heaven." CJ, says, "I don't want to go to Heaven...I like it right here on Earth!" I told him Heaven is much better...it is prettier than any place he can imagine, and if he was an old man, then mama and daddy would probably already be in Heaven, and we would all be together again! And, we can meet God and ask Him all of the things that we want to know now, but don't really have the answers to. CJ says, "but I don't want to meet God, He is big and scary." I told him that God wasn't scary, that God loved him, God created him, and that he was God's child. Well, that stopped CJ right in his tracks...he stopped talking...let out a big sigh like he was annoyed and quickly rebutted, "No, I'm not...Jesus is!"

I realized then and there that this could be a long conversation...I prepped myself to get "deep" and said, well, that is true...Jesus is God's son but we are God's children as well. He is our Heavenly Father...then CJ said "OK, OK, I get it..." I knew that this opportunity was over for now...that he had resumed being a normal almost 5 year old and that to push any further would be futile. But, next time, I will be on my toes and ready, ready when he is.

Dear God, thank you for this precious little boy, this inquisitive, thoughtful, full of energy, independent, strong willed little boy who constantly keeps me on my toes. Please help me to always know how to relate to him, and when his heart is open, please give me the words that will speak to him and lead him to you.

Scooter Time!

CJ and Kaydee riding their scooters

I'm coming "JJ"I'm done! This would be the look I referenced in the previous post!

More Mimi and Papa pictures

Scooter girl! Kaydee got this scooter for her birthday and she loves it! Now she can be like brother...she had no trouble learning to use it either. She just hopped right on as if she had been riding forever! She is really funny...she and CJ know that they can only ride to our neighbor's mailbox and back on the sidewalk of course. Well, both of them will get all of their gear on, only to have Kaydee get halfway to Miss Barbara's and decide she's done...right there. She will strip all of her pads off and throw them down, and come running back! Thankfully, big brother is always right there willing to pick them up.

Mimi, I think you need a shot!

This picture is significant because of the quilt...this has been in Chris's family for a long time as it was made by his great-grandmother (he thinks...we will be sure to verify this with Mimi tomorrow). Mimi if this is wrong, feel free to chime in on the comments! :-) Anyway, next time Mimi comes, we should have her cuddle under it too as then it would be three generations!

A Visit From Mimi and Papa

As I was going through pictures from the last couple of months, I found some cute ones of Kaydee's birthday celebration with Mimi and Papa.

Mimi, make me look pretty!

How do I look?

Flower Garden Week 2

Here is the finished version of CJ and Kaydee's garden at two weeks growth...Isn't it looking pretty? We also hung a hummingbird feeder that they personally picked out. The bench is just their size!

They love their new bench!

Speaking of Messes...

Last night Chris and I were in the office while we thought Kaydee was in the next room playing. Well, I stayed at the computer for a moment while Chris went into the other room...The next thing I hear is, "Oh my!" Now, at this point I am bracing myself as I know that nothing good ever follows that statement. Then he says, "honey, come here!" Now, I am shaking my head thinking do I really have to? I just don't think I can look...only to hear CJ yelling about a mess...Remember in my previous posts that he is the "neat" one. In fact, earlier in the day yesterday, the kids and I worked on a project for Mother's Day. I won't say what it was until after Mother's Day, but let's just say that it involved paint and I had to coax CJ into doing it because he really didn't want to get his fingers dirty, he wanted to use a brush! I guess Kaydee didn't get enough painting in because as I came around the corner, here is what I found...


Even Kaydee was embarrassed once we found her...I think she thought she would be in trouble because she went into an all out lip pudging, screaming fit!

Chris said, "She made a pretty shade of green, didn't she?" Yes, she had gotten two different shades of green paint and mixed them on a paper plate (she remembered what to do) and then proceeded to paint herself like a frog! Now at times like this what good would it really serve to get upset? We just threw our hands back, laughed, and took a picture. Then Chris extracted her from her high chair, which was also green at this point, and he bathed her while I cleaned up the seat (and table and the floor!) Let's just say that the tub was still recovering this morning! We asked her if she was going to do this again, and she emphatically said , "No!" I am not so sure though, because today as she told Nana about this on the phone, she just giggled and said it was funny! My children have figured out all of my hiding places...I think I need new ones for chocolate, for make-up and for paint!