happy as a bump on a pickle

"look, mama, I'm smiling!"

Eden Grace (6)

life through your children's eyes is so colorful,

kid-isms

"if we lived in a covered wagon could I run along aside?"  "sure, no problem"
"if Grandma came to visit and I showed her your room what do you think she'd do?"   answer, "Get back on the plane."
"Moriah and I want to watch the horse movie and Eden wants to watch Go Diego.  So she's 'out-counted' "  (this took me awhile.  Eden was "out-numbered")
"Mom, did you know that boys have eyelashes too?"
Eden (5) to Truman (8m.) "Aww, little kids grow up so fast."

priceless times

My older 3 princesses are at Church Camp this week with their memaw and 2 cousins.  Memaw is super brave.  I have the {awesome} opportunity to stay in her home {with a/c} and take care of my niece, Aurelia and my 2 babies. Prince Charming's sister and her husband and three children are missionaries in Molango, Mexico.  So it is rare that we see each other.

 Enjoying the silliness and girlie behavior of these sweeties.

You can tell they don't live in the US.

  I told them we were going to eat ice-cream sandwiches for lunch

 and they both laughed and then said, "ewww."

  Until they saw what I was talking about.  We had seconds. {hush}

Times with cousins are the best.

When you live in another country from your cousins, times with them are precious.

When you both live in different countries from America, times with them are priceless. 

  Some of my greatest childhood memories include

 jumping hay bales and roaming through the woods

 with my cousins, at our grandparent's farm.

I'm so thankful that my children are making lots of memories this summer.

 
Wow. I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I've posted.  The kids and I are enjoying a little family time in Louisiana for a few weeks before we head back to Jamaica to host 3 awesome groups.

never overlook

 Lil' Princesses,
just remember that nobody….nobody sees the world quite like you do.

as you look out at life

never overlook the simple beauty around you.

the sunshine through the trees

the crimson red flower (that we don't know the name of)

that fuzzy black caterpillar you found on the back step

your favorite {soft} blue shirt

...and that is just in the last few minutes...

I love you, my darlings

I choose motherhood

I choose lullabies in a rocking chair 

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches smeared on the wall

I choose worry wrinkles and laugh lines

sticky fingers and grass stains

I choose fairytales and dress up clothes

picnic blankets and dirt

I choose sprinkles and hotdogs

tears of worry and hugs of forgiveness

I choose ABC's and broken crayons

a handful of weeds and butterfly nets

Princess Alexis (8) and John Truman (15 m.)

I choose motherhood,

dirt…glorious dirt

{my dad's voice} "a little dirt under your fingernails never hurt anyone"
I'm not positive but pretty sure my relatives have said this {a time or two} to me.  My parents always made me help in the vegetable gardens growing up.  Picking miles and miles of green beans.

So because my kids love their papa so much… I'm thinking they pretty much live by this rule.  Keeping them clean and sanitized is a full time job.  Not that I need more to do, but it sure keeps things interesting.  Especially with our current water situation.  The water is off 2 or 3 days each week.

Being kids they don't mind at all being dirty.  The dirtier the better.  This particular day they were instructing their baby brother on the fine art of digging for worms.  No, I didn't take any pictures of the little night crawlers they terrorized…even though they begged me.

Meanwhile in Jamaica…this is how we do it.  All my good mixing bowls.  My poor neighbors.

John Truman loves his rubber boots but has not quite mastered the art of keeping them on yet.  Brynlee kept busy just putting his shoes back on.

It's the little things...

broad little shoulders

Little boys are different than little girls.
Boy, that was profound, huh?

Broad little shoulders.  
I am daily amazed at my growing son's characteristic and natural boyish ability.  Nobody teaches little boys to make car sounds.  John Truman is always going in daddy's office and getting screwdrivers out of the tool boxes. If Daddy is outside {correction....while daddy is always outside} working on something lil' John is right there at his knee mimicking his every move.

Yesterday, I was working on my latest {pinterest} project and John Truman came up and noticing that I was on his level snuggled with me.  Just a few seconds is all he needed but it was precious to me.  I'm lovin' these broad little shoulders.

mommy's little man

there is a little man who has stolen my heart away. 

I prayed so hard for years for a little boy.  And this is the one I got!

He only has 2 teeth and no hair, but I think he's the most handsome man under 3 foot.

He says mama.

Ok, he says mama and it means "food" but he looks for me when he says it!

He says Dada, banana, and a certain sound when he sees a "dog" or "chicken"

If he hears daddy driving up the road he gets so excited 

and waddles to the front door as quick as he can. 

He loves cars and daddy's tools.

He even knows that tools work on things and where they go.  Amazing.

He's growing up so quick.  In less than a month he will turn 1.

Why does time have to move so fast?

one proud mama,

what more could a girl ask for?

A good book and a good friend.

  What more could a girl ask for? 

In our household, the pets are not just animals they are friends. I went outside to check on Eden and found her reading storybooks to her favorite chicken. 

The chicken seemed really into the book.

what a wonderful world,

practicing piano

Princess Alexis, practicing and practicing and practicing

Special Thank You to Pastor and Mrs. Fox 

from First Baptist Church, Wayland, Missouri.  

Your gift of piano books have been so inspiring.

To God Be the Glory,
 

Cute as a button

I'm teaching 4th Grade, 3rd Grade, and Kindergarten.  

I'm teaching Preschool.

I'm a mommy to a fast, intelligent 10 m. old.

I have to get creative to keep my sanity.

Having activities to keep them occupied make our days go a lot smoother.  

When I was a little girl, I would go to my Great-Grandma McNamar's house after school on most days.  I have so many good memories of evenings spent with my Grandma Chickens.  She would serve me homemade chocolate chip cookies and Hawaiian Punch, we would play Bingo and Hide the Thimble, and watch the Price is Right.

Grandma taught me to sew cross stitch and sew buttons.  She had jars of buttons and she would get a long piece of colored embroidery thread and I would sew buttons in pretty patterns and designs.  After I was finished, she would cut the string and we would put the buttons back in the jar to start over another day.

My mom has 2 large jars of button that were Grandma Chicken's.  I was so happy to look through them recently and enjoy remembering the exact buttons that Grandma and I used years ago.

When I first brought out the pretty colored buttons,  all of my daughters had to take turns sewing them.  I loved their enthusiasm.  This simple activity is teaching them a trait, a hobby, and good housekeeping skills all at once.

Love my kids,
 

planting ice cream cones

My poor flower beds.  

They don't stand a chance.  The ones in the front of the house flourish and bloom regularly.  The two little beds behind the house have become the meeting place of the laying hens.  They scratch the rocks, wiggle their little fluffy bodies in the dirt, and eat the leaves off of each plant.

When I was going to the clothes lines line yesterday I saw this plastic cone sticking out of the ground.  Brylee,2, said she was "planting ice cream cones".  Yep, that's just what she did.

well, you never know what might happen.

guilty as charged

the guilt was written all over his face.

"Yes, mom, I ate your flower."
"Yes, mom, I am very sorry."

true story.