Saturday, July 24, 2010

you will laugh about it when you get to the other side

Today I met a woman with seven, yes seven boys. You can imagine my delite when I say that she made it thru and was at Silverwood Theme Park with one, of her two, granddaughters. She was encouraging telling me that her boys did things she is just now learning about. She told me to be thankful that I do not, and will not know of all the stunts they pull. But that when I get to the other side and they are grown up and responsible for themselves I will look back and laugh about it.
I truly have days when I am not sure how parents make it thru the day and come out in one piece. But this nice lady placed her hand on me and said "you to will make it thru and laugh about it later."

My boys are challenging and I think it is Gods way of showing me that I got what was coming. For as long as I can remember, I wanted twins. Not only twins but I wanted three boys then one girl. We will see about the girl. There are days when four seem like no problem and then we go on trips and we no longer have to bring a stroller, a pack and play, diapers, bottles, a diaper bag, or any of that. It is nice to be in a phase where the boys are able to go to the theme park and walk or tell us what they want. We are in a fun "family stage." But part of me is feeling like our team is not complete yet. Like there is one more player out there telling me they need to be on the Reeves team. So, for now we will keep going as a family of 5 and see where life and God takes us.

Friday, July 23, 2010

vinegar does more than clean your floors

Today was a challenge for me as my five year old has been testing how far he can get with John and I.Well Today we took extreme measures. He was spitting on is cousins, and if there is one thing I do not tolerate it is spitting. So yes my friends he got Vinegar in his mouth. This is the recap from outside the door or the bathroom. He is crying saying "yuck what is that stuff it is gross" no no no I don't want it. Then he came out and said "that was sick" as he is crying. I have a feeling that this moment will stay with him forever and that when he even for one second thinks about spitting he will refrain due to the fact that he will not want the "vinegar wash"

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Call to the family dentist

So... here we are on Monday getting ready to go on our trip to Idaho and I look in Jacobs mouth and find that his bottom front tooth is crooked. Now my children have such beautiful straight teeth, not that I am proud of that or anything,so I feel it and it is the slightest bit loose. How exciting you may think but I said "holy crap" to the two teeth that were already up behind those two front teeth. Should I be worried about that? Do I need to have them pulled? If I do I will have to go to Helena and oh crap school starts in three weeks. So I call my wonderful sister in law, at work, making her pee her pants because I never call her at work. She assures me this is somewhat normal but that I may want to have our dentist look at it. So I go to our wonderful dentist office promptly at 0800 the next morning only to return again at 1115 because the doctor was "in surgery" doesn't he know that I am totally concerned about this. So we go back and he looks and tells Jacob to wiggle the heck out of the two front teeth and they will come out. So every day we wiggle them more and more, hoping this will work.

The funny thing about most of Jacobs quirks he has is, I tell his sister or his mom or step mom about or his dad and they say to me "I am pretty sure that John did that as a child." Like the teeth coming in before others are out and like chewing on any piece of paper his little hands can get on and chewing his shirt. So yes folks in this case the apple does not fall far from the tree. Perhaps it will be the apple that aids us in getting these teeth out.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Challenges of boys

TAKE THE TIME BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

For the past three weeks we have been going to swim lessons in the morning for a half hour and the boys have loved it but Alex has taken to goofing off more than swimming. Yes, he is the youngest, and I think he is beginning to realize what that role has been traditionally known as. For instance, he has now taken to talking in a language only Nate can translate. It is sort of a baby voice and a winning voice. He has also become accustom to not going to bed a night but rather playing in his room. Which is fine except for that he has mastered the art of puppy dog eyes that say cuddle me in the chair then I will go to sleep. Now who would pass up a cuddle in a chair for I know that their time wanting this is limited but every night? Seriously.
I am finding myself cherishing these moments even more with Jacob as he is going to be starting kindergarten in about one month and I know he is going to not be with John and I as much. He is going to be gone ALL DAY. One part of my mothering role is so excited for this and the other is a little scared. Will he know not to talk to strangers? Will he get pushed around on the playground? Will he have lot of friends? All these questions and I can only hope that John and I have placed in him good decision making and good morals to get him thru the next year at school.
Last week I was driving in the car with the boys and Jacob asked my "Mom who is God? What does he look like? Where does he live?" Such big questions from a 5 year old. Then he says to me "mom do you think we could go to the book store and get a book about God?" I told him that we could and I told him that the greatest thing about God is that he loves you even when you make bad choices and That really hit Jacob hard. John and I have been working on teaching Jacob to make good choices. He is having a hard time learning this but I think again, it is one of those lessons that is hard now but will be bountiful later. So later that night as John and I were on our way to a BBQ we stopped at the Christian bookstore. Now let me start by telling you that I can not go into this store without coming out with way more than I had intend to get. So I found a book on questions kids ask about God and thumbed thru it and decided it would help us in our question and answer sessions, (which always seem to be in the car).

LOVE LANGUAGE FOR CHILDREN

In addition to that book I got "The Five Love Languages of Children."
After the boys were in bed that night I read the entire book. It was easy to read and really made me think of how to best love my children so that they feel loved.
Jacob:
He is a combination. He is quality time, words of affirmation, and physical touch. He loves to have time with John and I one on one. We have started taking him out with just one of us and him without his brothers. He often chooses a restaurant dinner as he calls it or swimming with one of us. We try and do this a few times a month. He also thrives on words of affirmation. He loves for us to tell him he is having good behavior or is doing something well. At swimming you can often find him peeking over the side of the pool to give me a thumbs up. This is his way of one making sure I am watching him but to also be sure that I am showing him love be one thumb and he know he has my approval. At any given point thru the day one could find Jacob coming up to John or I giving us a hug and saying "I love you, you are the best." He loves to have snuggles at night and I have to remind myself just as the book says I have to just take five minutes out of what I am doing and show him the affection he needs and his love tank will be full.
Nate:
This little tow head is for sure quality time and physical touch which go hand in hand. He loves to be the one to sit right next to me when watching TV and he loves to read a story at night before bed and then he needs 3 kisses and 3 snuggles because he is three yours old. This is for sure my sensitive one. Just the other day we had a huge wind storm and the toys were blowing in the back yard. He started crying hysterically and was so scared that his house would blow away. Then John went out to pick things up and he was terrified that his dad was gonna be gone. We have to be very careful how we talk to him because if you raise your voice he will think you are yelling at him (so imagine when I really am yelling at him what this does to him.. not pretty.) I often find him saying "mom I am gonna have very good behavior" he truly tries to do good. He love to go to Church with me and will often tell his brother "you don't go to church with mom only I do"
Alex:
He is also physical touch. He loves to snuggle as well but he is always wanting to be held and wants to be the closest to John or I . He would rather sit on the side of the pool close to me than go in. I think he has gotten it a bit sooner that quality time with mom or dad has to come at any cost. just as he knows that at night the other brothers are in bed and he can pull the puppy eyes and he will get a 20 min snuggle with mom or dad. Yes he has us wrapped around his finger where he wants us but again take advantage of this time cause it does not last for long.
I am glad I got this book and read it. I think that it has some good points that all kids are different even if raised by the same parents and that a child may not be one specific type but a combination and that could change over time. If you have time this is a quick read and is worth it.
Next on my list to read is "How to tame your superhero" Will post review when I read it.

Jim and Cheryl's 50th dinner

Here are the photos from the 50th dinner we had. They turned out great. They were doNE by Stephanie D photography out of vancOuver, seE did a great job.


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