Kid's Christmas Program

The big 3 kids had their nativity program at church a few Sundays ago. Bo was a wise man, Mae the star, and Arabelle an angel. They did great!

Bo in his funny wise man costume:

Sweet star"

Once Mae saw me, she ran to me and cried. Oops! So I carried her down and she eventually joined the others on the stage.

Still snuggling:

She finally agreed to go stand with Arabelle:

Bo got tired, I guess.

My friend sent me this picture. Bo was right in front of her. When he sat down, he got a string of dental floss out of his pocket and flossed for the rest of the program. ha!

Lemon Santa

When I am doing one on one lessons with Arabelle, Bo takes his tablet and does some educational apps...either letter tracing, word games, math, or a Spanish learning app (Duolingo). I didn't realize he had been actually doing the Spanish app much. Yesterday he came out from doing his tablet time and asked me for a "lemon Santa". I obviously made a funny face and he said, "That means an apple". I laughed and kind of assumed he was being silly and making his own language to be funny. Arabelle even said, "Yeah, that's how you say apple".

A little while later he asked if he could do his Spanish some more and somehow it came out that he thought "lemon Santa" was "apple" in Spanish. He brought me his tablet and touched the apple picture and it said "la manzana", but he still believed it was saying "lemon Santa". I was laughing so hard. This has been my favorite homeschool moment to date. Ha!

I made a video of him saying it and it does *kind of* sound like "lemon Santa".

*Obviously I explained the correct pronunciation of the words, but he doesn't really hear the difference. I've taken the app off so he won't learn a bunch of totally wrong words. haha!

And he didn't want to make this video, but I promised him an extra piece of gum, so he cooperated. ;)

Personality

Mae has become such a funny girl lately. She is always making us laugh. She's been saying, "Get outta town!!" after hearing me tease Bo with that statement the other day.

Jared got some paint out for the kids the other evening and they loved painting then playing in the sprinkler. They each had a box to paint, but Mae chose a different artistic outlet....painting herself!

She said, "Look at Mae!!!".

*the last few posts have been about Mae and Zeke, but I promise Arabelle and Bo are around too. They are just doing their own thing a lot of the time or not interested in posing for pictures. :)

Mae's personality

Mae's personality has really come out in the last few weeks. She is SO much like Bo to me, which pretty much means she's full speed all the time and acts really silly. :)

She has become really expressive lately too. Here she is drawing on the board last weekend and being very excited about what she was 'writing'. I tried to take a picture, but she was moving too much and it kept being blurry.

And she has started singing a lot when she talks, which is always surprising and funny (you have to wait until about 20 seconds in for her to get going).

As cute and funny as she is, boy, you can tell she's getting close to 2 years old! That's all I will say about that. :)

Chicken Weasel Nugget Head

Bo is obsessed with Legos. OBSESSED! He would sit all day and build stuff with them. I used some of his Christmas money to order him a few Lego men. It came with 10, but I've only given him 3 so far, because I expect him to lose them. :p

He named the Pirate there in blue 'Chicken Weasel Nugget Head' on Saturday, but he kept forgetting what he named him.

He very seriously asked me how I remember his name. Ha! I told him that it was easy to remember his name because he's my little boy and I didn't name him something silly like Chicken Weasel Nugget Head. Once I said his Lego man's name, he perked up and said, "You remembered!!!" and he hasn't forgotten the name since.

Oh yeah, see the sheriff there in brown and black? His name is Jared, since that's easy to remember. haha!

This silly little boy always keeps us laughing!!!

Sweet Mae

Mae is growing and changing so much these days! She's more and more like a little girl than a baby and has such a funny personality! 

She loves to look at herself and grin. 

She has figured out how to blow dandelions. Arabelle showed her how one day and when Mae tried the first time, she ended up with a mouth full. Ha!

She loved wearing her mittens on Thursday!

She's just a fun loving girl!

And here's Mae watching the UGA bowl game awhile back....she says "Go Dawgs!". 

Sick babies!

We have had quite a week! Friday was a week ago, we left to go to Papaw and Mamaw's house for the weekend because Jared was gone, I needed the help, and the kids would have a blast. Well, Mae threw up in the car about 15 minutes after we left the house. Awful. It was awful. Luckily, I had an extra booster seat in the car from when a little girl rode to church with us, so I shuffled the kids around, stripped Mae down, and away we went (with the windows cracked and the heater on!). Mae made it almost to Papaw and Mamaw's house before getting sick in Bo's car seat (Bo was so mad at her! Ha!). 

She settled on down and never got sick again. Phew.

Bo woke up Sat. morning with a fever and congestion (so, Sat. was day 1 for him).

Cuddling up and making silly faces: 

Sunday Bo was still sick and I figured out that I had picked up the stomach virus from Mae. I was feeling AWFUL Sat. night, but thought it was pregnancy sickness until early Sun morning. Fortunately, it was a relatively short virus and I was back to my baseline nausea by Monday morning.

We got home Sunday afternoon. As you can see, Mae had perked up. :)

Arabelle picked up the stomach virus on Monday  (and Mamaw did too....sorry Mamaw!!!) and Bo was still feverish, congested, and coughing. Pretty pitiful! Mae went to pre-school that day and stayed through lunch and nap time so I could recover and the big kids could rest without a high energy toddler around. 

Arabelle was fine by Tue morning, Bo was still sick, and Mae woke up feverish and snotty. 

So, off to the Dr we went for Bo, who was on day 4 of the fever. His ears were beginning to get infected from all the drainage and sinus congestion, so he started his first ever antibiotic.

Big kids at the Dr office! 

Pitiful boy! His amoxicillin is pink and supposed to be bubble gum flavored. After he swallowed his first dose, Arabelle asked him what it tasted like and he said, "A hot dog with bubble gum in it....not good!". Hahaha!

Mae ran a fever from Tuesday-Friday, but was fine Saturday. She has been sleepier than usual and a bit moody. She went from this:

 to this in about a second....

So far Arabelle seems to have missed out on this fever and cold virus (not the flu, Bo's swab was negative).

I had the fever, coughing, and congestion from Wed night on to now. The fever stopped during the night Friday night, but the congestion and coughing is about to drive me nuts and I feel even more awful for how the kids must have felt!

Car Wash

Last Tuesday morning, we took the 'cars' out for a wash. Mae joined right in with the big kids.

I guess Bo thought HE needed a washing too. ;)

Bo had me laughing.....he decided to try to put the car in the bucket to finish washing it.

Then he put himself in the bucket!

We ended up having a picnic that day too. Mae's first picnic since she started eating 'real' food. Arabelle and Bo were so excited.....we haven't done one in awhile!

Silly Kids

These foam letters that link together to make a mat have been the most fun! They are great for phonics games and anything else that the kids can come up with. 

Even wearing them! 

Peace or Piece

I have to share this now or I'll forget.

We were playing in the back yard this afternoon while Mae napped. We were having a deep theological discussion, as it goes with a 5 and 3 year old who ask question after question after question.....

I said, "...and God will give you a peace" and Bo quickly followed with "of candy!!!!". Arabelle and I both nearly fell on the ground from laughing so hard.

That's Bo for you!!

Funnies

Arabelle and Bo definitely keep us laughing! I usually have 15 minutes of stories for Jared at the end of the day.

I've been teaching Arabelle some different things, like how to use the phone, what to do in an emergency, our address, days of the week, etc. We were reviewing some things and I asked her our address. She said it and ended with "slash dot com!". It took her a couple of days to finally get that it's 9-1-1 instead of 9-9-1!

We were doing some stamps and ink pads this morning and I asked her what she wanted to do when she's grown. She has said for a while now that she wants to live at the beach. She also added that she wants to stay home and play with her babies (awww!!), then she added "yeah, I don't like to work". haha! I guess she thinks all I do is play, which I kind of take as a compliment. I guess she doesn't see cooking, laundry, and cleaning as work?

Never a dull moment around here!

Arabelle

Arabelle has always said funny things. I guess all kids do! Here are a few funnies from the last few days.

It's been raining a lot lately, so she's been playing with the umbrella off the front porch when it's raining. She had some blueberries in that pink pail and was sitting under the umbrella. Bo and I were on the porch when she invited Bo to "come for a fellowship". That's the Southern Baptist in her, I guess.....food and fellowship!

Saturday afternoon, we were hanging out at home and Arabelle asked to play on the iPad. We told her to get her glasses before playing and she started crying and said "Now I have to walk all the way back to my room!!!" (to get them). You would have thought we asked her to walk to Douglas to get them. We just started laughing!

I can't remember what was going on, but she said "What in the world!?!" to me on July 4th in the funniest voice. She also likes to take Bo the "hair salon" and do his hair. He's got a buzz cut, so she has to get a little creative. 

She was in the "salon" with Bo and he dropped a play phone. She said, "It's okay Bo, that happens. More or less". haha!

Arabelle found a wallet that goes with a bag I have and has been keeping her change in it for several months. She has a lot in there! She always takes it to church and puts a handful of change in the offering plate each time. This week, she brought it to Walmart because she wanted to buy Bo some M&Ms, Mae a baby toy, and Jared some Twizzlers. She got her some M&Ms too. ;) Her total was $6.96, so we counted out $7 in change (all quarters, thankfully!) to pay. She was so excited that she had her own bag and receipt and I was proud of her for being willing to share her money to buy treats for others. 

I can't believe she'll be 5 soon!

Father's Day 2013

We had a whirlwind of a weekend celebrating Father's Day. It was filled with family fun, good food, and swimming!

We started Friday evening by celebrating Sambo's birthday and visiting with family. Tripp and Bo both say that they are each other's best friends. They walked around the room at the restaurant saying "Bo is my best friend" and "Tripp is my best friend" over and over. Aren't they sweet!?

Saturday, we went to Pineview to celebrate Father's Day with Papaw and Grandpa. We spent the afternoon swimming, eating homemade ice cream, and having a good BBQ supper.

Papaw with 3 of his 8 grandchildren!

So thankful for a hard working Dad!

Bo is fearless in the water and is a great swimmer now!

Arabelle is a bit more hesitant, but is a good swimmer too. I think she'd be better if she couldn't stand up in the shallow end. ;)

They both do good belly flops!

Shark!

Quite possibly my favorite picture of Grandpa EVER! I love it. :)

Poor Jared didn't get a whole lot of special treatment for Father's Day this year. He did take a nap Saturday, but Sunday turned into a whirlwind of a day. He got up with the kids around 7. I just can't drag myself out of bed early right now when I'm up twice/night with Mae. We went to church, then Sambo and Leigh Leigh's for lunch. Bo was really whiny and clingy during church, which is unusual. We usually have a bit of trouble with him sitting still and staying quiet, but he was mighty cuddly. We realized at lunch that he had a fever. No other symptoms, but the fever was enough to make him feel pretty miserable.

We attempted a family picture, which just makes me laugh to look at. We'll remember how crazy this time in our life was when we look back on this picture. 

The sun was too bright for Arabelle, Bo was miserable with a fever, and Mae was so overtired and overstimulated from the activities of the day. I remind myself daily that this is just a short season of our life and things won't always be so hectic. I feel like I'm sweating all day long chasing these 3 kids around in the June heat though!

I did get a sweet one with my girls.