Precious Moments

 I did it.  I threw a fit.  Might as well have had my face in the carpet and limbs flailing in all available directions...which really is only two since I am not so flexible anymore. (Beginners attempt at yoga a few days ago confirmed this - eeesh!)

 

My fit was caused by this...thing!  This 'blog' thing. How ironic that one of my first posts was the joys of a new computer and how it would magically fix my ability to break all things involving technology.  Yeah.  It didn't.

 

For some reason blogger stopped letting me add pictures to my posts.  And let's face it - who wants to READ a blog??  Okay, well sometimes I do, but I am not going to assume that I am that interesting - ha.

 

My fit has lasted since September...of 2012.  Oh the shame!!!  Mommy I'm sorry.  You taught me better problem-solving skills than that.  So I have picked myself up off the proverbial carpet, and removed the proverbial carpet lint from my proverbial nose...no wait, my nose is real.  Back on track Sage!  And I am giving this a go.  First good sign - my pictures are showing up - Yay!  So here goes nothing...

 

I had no idea where to start, so I just picked a few randoms from the last few months so I can look back and remember the little things.  Our precious moments:)

 

Any time we have a movie night, Malachi builds a pallet on the floor out of his comforter and 2,387 stuffed animals.  I don't have a problem with exaggeration.  Then at the end of said movie night, he piles his 13,935 animals and himself on top of his comforter and Aaron carries them "special delivery style" to his room.  Yes my child is inside there.  And his head has only made contact with the door frame once.  #winning

 

 

 

So I'm a hairdresser.  God has a sense of humor.  My child has the most ridiculous - and by ridiculous I mean AAAGGHHH - head of hair ever.  It grows in about 15 different directions (again no problems with exaggeration here) and is as coarse as a brillow pad. And what's really awesome?  He HATES getting his hair cut.  Jericho requests it, and loves it.  Malachi not so much.  Amazing how different siblings can be!  At any rate, I've got job security for a LONG time. 

 

 

 

A typical Sunday morning before church.  Rockin' his cowboy boots while rockin' out.  'Nuff said.

 

 

 

Jericho LOVES trains.  Might be because we live near some train tracks and approximately every 5.42 minutes one goes by.  "Train Mommy!!  CHOO-CHOO!!"  So I built him a cardboard train for his 2nd birthday:)  He loved it.  And destroyed it.  In a matter of days.  Cest la vie.

 

 

 

My boys have sword fights Top Chef style.  Get a spatula and a wooden spoon and it is ON!

 

 

 

A basket full of bouncy boys.  And for the record, fabric softener does nothing for Malachi's hair.  Joking...

 

 

So yeah, that's all she wrote.  I will be back...hopefully without a visit to the carpet.  Have a blessed weekend:)

For my big bub

Dear Malachi,

Today you and I had a talk.  About life and death, and about Jesus.  My one greatest hope as a mom is that my children grow to love God and want to serve Him,  and I wanted to write this so that maybe someday you could look back and see how even at 3 years old, God was tugging at your heart.  So here you go...

       It started when I was folding laundry and you were using my massive pile of clean clothes as your hideout.  In the pile was a quilt that was given to me in memory of my Grandpa Koch.  I told you about him...

"Hey Bub, this quilt was from my Grandpa Koch.  You never got to meet him, he died when I was young, but you would have loved him."

Malachi: "He died?" (tearing up) "Why did he die?"

"He was very old, and had gotten sick so he died.  But he knew Jesus so he went to Heaven!" 

"He's in Heaven??  Heaven is up there (motioning up), and the Devil is down there (motioning down)?"

"Yep, he had Jesus in his heart so when he died he went to Heaven."
                    
"Well how do you die?"

"Your heart stops working."
                               
"Your heart stops working!?  But how does it do that!?"

"Well our bodies aren't perfect, they can get worn out and very old and stop working."

Malachi is tearing up again, "But I don't want to die!  I want to stay home, this is where I'm happy!"

"Oh sweetie I'm glad you're happy here, but Heaven is WAY better than home!  The Bible says that Jesus is preparing a mansion for us in Heaven - do you know what a mansion is?"

"No!"

"It's a house bigger than you could EVER imagine!  And nicer than you could ever imagine too!  Jesus has a place for His children to come and be with Him forever!"

"Forever?  But what will we do when it gets dark?"

"It won't get dark - ever!  In Heaven there isn't day or night, and you know what?  There's also no pain, no hurting, no crying EVER!"

"Ever!?  You mean no aches in my legs??"

"Nope, no aches in your legs!  And if you were to bump your head it wouldn't even hurt!"

"Well what if we get thirsty?"

"Um, I don't think we'll ever be thirsty or hungry bub - our new bodies won't ever feel hunger!"

"Well will there be stories in Heaven?  Like the stories in my Bible??"

"You know what bub? God IS the Bible!  So when we're in Heaven we won't have to read the Bible because we'll be with God!  So He can tell us stories!"

"Wow!  Will our new bodies be small??"

(laughing) "Well bub I don't actually know, the Bible isn't completely clear on what our new bodies will look like."

"Well I'll go get your Bible so we can find out!!" (runs and gets it and comes back)

"Sorry hon it doesn't say exactly what our new bodies are going to look like, just that they'll be perfect and work perfectly!"

"Well Mommy are you going to be in Heaven with me?"

"Yes bub, I'm going to Heaven when I die.  Do you know why?"
          
"No!"

"I'm going to Heaven because I believe in God and that Jesus died for my sins.  And I've asked Him into my heart!"

"Mommy will you help me ask Him into MY heart?"

"Of course!"  (sitting down beside him on the still unfolded massive pile of laundry...) "All you have to do is pray, so just say what I say okay?"

(taking my hand in his) "Okay Mommy!"

(He repeats after me line by line) "Dear Jesus, please come into my heart.  Forgive me of my sins and help me to live the way You want me to. Amen"

(Thinking for a second...) "So how do you go to the Devil?"

"Well bub, when someone doesn't believe in God, when they die that's where they go.  And it's AWFUL there.  It's dark all the time, it is extremely hot, everyone is crying and weeping - it's horrible.  That's why it's so important that we tell other people about Jesus so that they can be in Heaven with us too!"

(Opening my Bible to the maps in the back) "Look Mommy!  Heaven is right HERE!" (pointing somewhere near Israel)

(laughing) "Oh really?"

"Yep!  Will you read to me about David and Goliath?"

"Sure sweetie:)"  (so I take a seat next to him and read his favorite Bible story).

....

Bub you asked even more questions than that but that's the best I can remember.  You have such a sincere heart, and you are constantly trying to learn and understand.  You talked about death with tears in your eyes and you couldn't imagine anything better than being home with your mommy and daddy.  I pray that through your sweet, sincere words that Jesus has taken root in your heart and will mold you and shape you to be an amazing man of God.  And no matter how many questions you ask, or how many times you want to pray, I will always do my best to answer them and will always pray with you.  Love you bub.

A Day at the Park

It was a hot hot day in central Kansas. The dust had become so bad that we wore wet handkerchiefs over our mouths to help us bre….oh wait, that was the dust bowl. I guess it hasn’t been quite that bad;)

But despite the heat I decided the boys and I needed some play time at the park behind our house. So off we went! (We have to cross a church parking lot directly behind our house to get to the playground, and not gonna lie it felt a bit like the Sahara…)

Malachi walked Sirius for me:)

 

 Hot dog.  Ha.

 

 

Brothers!  They are so sweet together.

 



 

If I had an audio clip for this picture it would sound something like, “NA NA NA DA DA DA EEEEEEEE!!!!”

 

 

Breaking sticks. Yep.

 

 

Melting my face off.

 

 

Malachi loves slides!

 

 

Love the way he looks at his big brother:)

 

 

So my child has fangs. His bottom two middle teeth came in, followed by his fangs on top – or snaggle teeth as we like to call them:) I’ll be a little sad when his top middle ones come in lol

 

 

Still loving the slides

 

Have a blessed week!

 

 

It's so hard!!

Jericho is SO close to crawling!  I mean seriously - for about 3 weeks now, SO close!  ::Sigh::  I feel bad for the kid, this has got to be the most frustrating stage.  He works and works and then launches himself forward aaand....face plant.  He crawls backwards extremely well, and can roll his way pretty much anywhere.  But traditional crawl? I know it's gotta happen sometime...eventually...(or not Avery;)  Here are some visual aids for your enjoyment:

 Malachi enjoys "helping"

And what would it be without video...

Keep up the good work Kiddo.

On another note, Malachi starts preschool two weeks from today!  He's excited, I'm excited - I think he's going to have a blast.  When I was filling out the paperwork for his enrollment the last question was something like, "Is there anything you would like us to know about your child's personality, learning style etc.?"  Lol I wasn't sure where to begin...I hope they're ready for him! 

I feel like I might be more excited about his 'first day of school' picture than his actual first day of school...normal? 

Have a blessed day!

I Have a New Computer!!

Oil and water.  Popcorn and jellybeans.  Socks and sandals.  Kids and naps (for mom).  Toothpaste and orange juice.  Me and technology.

Getting the picture?

We don’t get along.  At all.  My dad and sister have this insane ability to make things work – and not just work, but do whatever they want them to do!  I, however, did not inherit that gift (much to the frustration of my hubby and myself).  I tried to warn Aaron before we got married that I was cursed, that anything electronic I touched was ultimately doomed and should be given their last meal request form.  He laughed.  Six years later, the laughing has stopped. 

Since 2007 I have had a computer that has made my.life.miserable.  I’ll spare you the gory details but that keyboard had experienced more baths in my tears than Brett Favre has thrown touch down passes.  Or retired.  Not sure which is more. 

But finally, today, I have experienced redemption:) A brand new computer that has (hesitantly) restored my hope in me and technology having an amicable relationship!  So here’s to being able to get online in less than 2 minutes, updating my blog in less than an hour and a half (you think I'm joking), and uploading pictures to fb without an emotional breakdown (Wisconsin vacation 2012 – those who were there, I apologize)!  And since I have yet to transfer all of my pictures/videos from my old computer to my new one, I’m just throwing in my absolute favorite family pictures we’ve ever taken, courtesy of my amazing seester Ginger Skillen:)

…so I still haven’t learned how to format my pictures so they look pretty…one step at a time.

Go Fish!

I love watching Aaron and Malachi together:)  Aaron is such an amazing dad and it is so apparent to me how much little boys need their dads.  Over the last couple of summers Malachi has LOVED going fishing!  He started out with a kids fishing pole, no real hook and got to where he could cast it easily.  So we upgraded him to a full size fishing pole and he and his dad spent many evenings this summer fishing together.  At this point the closest Malachi will get to a fish is touching it with one finger and saying "Nice catchin' ya!"  Oh but he's definitely not afraid of worms.

I have to point out in this video that I noticed Malachi's buff shoulders and when I showed Aaron I thought his grin might break his face:)  Like father like son!  Is it bad that at 2 1/2 yrs old I'm legitimately afraid of Malachi's tackles??  Oh the fun to come...

On another note here's a conversation Malachi and I had yesterday.  To set the scene I was packing my lunch for work and Malachi was playing with some puzzles in his little brother's room.

Me: "Hey Malachi it's almost time to leave for Grandma's!  Can you please pick up your puzzles before we go?"

Malachi: "No!"

Me: "Bub you don't tell me no, please pick up your puzzles."

Malachi: "I don't want to."

- at this point I walk into the room and find Malachi laying flat on his back, arms and legs all stretched out -

Me: "Hey Bub let's go ahead and pick up your puzzles please."

Malachi: "No thanks, I really don't want to."

Me: "Let's do it together like a team - I'll help you!"

Malachi: "Okay mom, why don't you go ahead and start and I'll watch."

Me (laughing): "No I don't think so bub"

Malachi: "It's okay Mom, you go ahead I'll be there in a minute."

Me: (still laughing) "Nice try Bub."

Thankfully he did end up picking up his puzzles - please tell me I'm not the only one who has this kind of conversation with their toddler??  If only I was better at keeping a straight face...

Mmm cookies....

Do you ever sit there and watch something happen, all the while your insides are screaming "Clean up that mess! Don't let it happen! Ooh there goes the flour..." Welcome to my world of making cookies with Malachi:) He has always enjoyed "helping" but even more so lately. If I give him a job to do he is content to do it for a long time. So today it was scooping flour. Not actually into the cookie dough, just scooping. And scooping. And scooping some more.

Now don't misunderstand, I am not a clean freak. Actually I almost laughed out loud right then at the thought. But as good as Malachi's aim is, it got lost every time he said anything. "Hey Mom!" equalled flour on the floor. "Mom look at me!" Another scoop on the counter. "Look at me scoop Mom!" And Jaxon (our dog) suddenly had a very nice powdered toupee. To which I responded "You're doing an awesome job bub" and I laughed.

So here's a little slide show of my ever-so-eager helper. And although I forgot to take pictures of the final product, the cookies were delicious:)

Now that you're all sufficiently hungry, I'll satisfy your appetites with another list of all things Malachi:

• You get smarter and smarter every day. Two nights ago you were playing cars with your dad in your room, and when you came out you showed me how subtraction and addition work with your cars. Your teacher dad was so proud:)
• Since I already mentioned cars, I'll say that you are obsessed right now! You love anything on wheels but especially the endless supply of hot wheels at your Grandma Susie's house and your growing collection at home.
• You skied behind the boat all by yourself on vacation. As your mom, I was freaking out (but I'm sure I acted cool as a cucumber) and you did amazing!! You skied around the entire lake and loved it!
• You are fighting nap times and bed times right now. You usually have to be put back down a couple times before you'll stay. And you do fight it more for mom than anyone else. It's awesome.
• You are doing so good being potty trained! We still have some poop issues but they are so so so much better.
• The other day I commented that we needed rain, to which you said "Yeah! The grass and plants are dry and they need rain to drink through their roots!" I love your brains. And I love that you're learning from others - thanks Gma's and Gpa's, Aunts and Uncles for being such good teachers.
• You are FAST.
• I am SLOW.
• We were snuggling on the couch and you felt Jericho kick you from inside my belly:) I pointed out that he had kicked you and was saying "hi!" The next day you ran up and said, "Remember when Jericho kicked me?? I want to kick him too!" I said no.
• Your favorite Bible story is David and Goliath. We have an amazing kid's Bible that makes it easy to understand but stays really accurate. However, your favorite quote from that story is Goliath telling God's army, "I'll rip your heads off and have you on toast!" I really love when you yell that at the pool. Once more, we want to be like DAVID. Not Goliath.
• You are going to be an amazing big brother:) You talk to my belly and hug on it and kiss it all the time. And you can't wait to teach Jericho SO many things! How about we leave Goliath out of it though?
• I'm so proud of your manners. You do such a good job of saying "May I..." and "Please and thank you." It's amazing what a difference those little things make day to day.

Goodness. When I don't post for 4 months my lists could go on forever! The first 16 wks of this pregnancy I was extremely sick and couldn't handle looking at a computer screen. So here's hoping that the holidays/giving birth/having a newborn will provide much more free time for updates! I'll get the hang of this someday...
I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed day!!!