Wordless Wednesday- Boo to you...

DejaVu...

Jackson has almost completed his 11th baseball season-wow! That's almost as many as his daddy ever played since they didn't do two a year then. I thought it was so cool that his uniform color this year was the same maroon his daddy wore as Franklin High's MVP. (Jon was really excited they were the River Cats because he thought that meant catfish but was disappointed to find out it was some kind of cat.)

It was like deja vu watching him on the mound in his Little Jon outfit. Man I love those two! I love snapping pictures of him pitching:
A few times he would stand there and shake his head like he was shaking off the catcher's pitch call. The only problem is they don't call pitches at this age! Apparently he was just imitating what he's seen MLB pitchers do.
Look at the determination on this face:

He's had a great season with a great team and Daddy has enjoyed being the pitching coach. I love baseball which is a good thing since it's only a year or two before I'll have two games a day to watch.

Biggest Mistake of My Life...

Since Will was continually climbing out of his bunk bed, we thought it was time for big boy beds. Then we found some good ones at a great price and took the plunge. Biggest.mistake.ever... Now neither of them stay in their bed E.V.E.R.

On the upside, when we took down his baby bed he found one of his old pacies that had been under there for oh, about 2 and a half years and promptly popped it in his mouth:

The boys were so excited about their bunk beds:

In fact, all 4 kids decided they needed to sleep in them. It was like a free for all in there when the lights went out!

So now every night we put the boys back in the bed for an hour at which point Wesley falls asleep. Then we hand out spankings, fuss, bribe and cry (Jon and I) and about 11 or 12 Will finally falls asleep:

In conclusion, ignore the pediatricians who say when your kid can climb out it's time to get rid of the baby bed. Keep them in their until their feet are sticking out the slats. If only we could get a do over, if only...

Before and After...

Before Wesley's hair cut:

After, but still handsome:

This boy's hair has been a journey, and oh how far we've come:

Favorite Foto Friday...

Does everyone have a guitar playing Roman in their living room or is it just me?

Thankful Thursday...

God is teaching me all about having an attitude of gratitude for all things big and small, good and bad. Here's is one of God's "sweet kisses" as my friend Alicia would say. This definitely falls in the small category but means a lot to me.

I am thankful for the slight incline that my sidewalk and driveway have. Yes, I just said I am grateful to God for a little hill. You see rolling down the sidewalk, turning to roll down the driveway then crashing in the yard right before they hit the road is the one thing all 4 of my children play together without fighting. They all chose their vehicle of choice out of the ride on toy car lot that is our yard, and the races begin. They take turns riding together, pushing each other and race over and over. They will literally play here for hours which means I get to take a break from my full time job of referee. I on blessed days can even be found sitting down in a rocking chair or on the front step reading (although it's usually books for homeschool- it's still counted as me time). Those of you who were blessed with children complete with halos who turn to each other daily and say, "you complete me" as opposed to "can't you leave?" probably don't understand how precious a few non-WWF minutes can be to this mommy of 4, but the rest of you with less than perfect children who have given the "God chose you to be siblings so you need to learn to appreciate His gift" speech are sighing right along with me.

So, laugh if you want, but I am absolutely serious that today I am thanking God for an incline. If you want to join me, ask God to give you an attitude of thankfulness. He is faithful, and you will really be amazed at all the things He will bring to your mind, can't be much smaller than my little yet big one.

Wordless Wednesday...

Yeah, I'm proud- especially when Jon's genes start kicking on (hee hee)!

Mother's Day Out or As I Like to Call It "Hallelujah"...

Last year I would've sold a kidney to get these two in Mother's Day Out, but it was full. This year I didn't think we'd made it in either and was trying to make my peace with it when in August we got this blessed phone call that sent me running in the yard to share the good news with Jon (and anyone withing a block of us!). We were in!

Of course, that meant the fun part of shopping for new backpacks and lunchboxes. I lucked up and got two Cars lunch boxes at a friend's yard sale. I don't know why she had two except that it was meant to be :) So, I splurged and got them new McQueen backpacks and a theme was born. Then by miraculous coincidence Donnie just happened to show up at our door that morning with new Lightning McQueen shirts she had made them that just happened to match the shorts I had just put on them. Pretty amazing, huh?

These two were so excited about being big boys and going to school that they actually both smiled for my pictures- the biggest miracle of all!

How big does he look holding his lunch box? Wow!

I found the site of them carrying backpacks that were as big as them hilarious and stinking cute with an added bonus that they slowed them down enough that I could keep up with them!

They sat right down and got to business (notice big sister in the background who asks every day when she can stay and be the assistant teacher). Again, I was overwhelmed at how big they looked:

God especially blessed us with a wonderful teacher in Mrs. Kim who was also Ashton's teacher at this age. I'm afraid she was a little scared of them after reading my blog posts about the mischief they get into. (I never thought about people reading my blog and thinking they were like that all the time. They are sweet boys but that doesn't make for funny blog posts so...)

Since I haven't left them many times, it made me feel so much better knowing they were with such a sweet teacher who would truly love them.

They have done really great and absolutely love, love, love school. It's been really nice to have the time to focus on the other two while they are in school.

My favorite part is picking them up and having them tell me what they did. I love trying to puzzle out what they are telling me. Wesley really loves singing the ABC song, and Will is excited to know the number 2. So, hallelujah...

Why I Shouldn't Leave My Camera Unattended...

because you might download pictures and find some that you didn't know were on there...

Oh, this goofy boy!