An Addition

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Target and purchased a white board to put right above our kitchen table. Mike installed it last Sunday and wrote two Bible verses on it--one Old Testament and one New Testament. This morning, I made a sticker chart for Jenelle learning the verses. She quoted Genesis 1:1 this morning and chose a red sticker. She almost is ready to recite Matthew 28:6. We're so proud of her.

Jenelle's reaction

While watching the clip of Jenelle getting her eggs, Jenelle said, "I love watching me." How honest she is.:)

Easter

We decided since our church was having an 8AM traditional Easter service (the good ol' hymns and preaching) that we would attend that service. It worked out really well for us. My dad had volunteered to work in the nursery at that time and got to work in Clayton's class. When we handed Clayton to him, Clay didn't even realize he was being dropped off. We went to Sunday School after the service and then came home--more than an hour earlier than we normally do. We would do that every week if an 8AM service was offered.
We spent a little time at home (taking our family picture) before going to Mike's parents'. The kids ate lunch early and were taking naps when my parents and grandma arrived. We ate a peaceful lunch and then chatted and hid eggs while the kids napped. Then it was time for the egg hunt. It was fun to watch the kids. Clay wasn't real interested, but he collected a few and then dumped them out and collected them again. Cute. Jenelle ran as fast as she could to collect them. We had fun watching them. It was such a beautiful day God provided for Easter.

Thank You, Jesus, for being alive and for living and in and through us!

Jenelle posed for me before church

Our official 2008 Easter picture

Our family after the egg hunt.

Jenelle and Clayton with 5 of their 6 grandparents. They are so blessed!

Jenelle was proud of the eggs she found. Some she found in Clayton's bucket.:)Clayton picked up some eggs slowly after he figured it out a bit. Jenelle figured it out rather quickly.

Fun Today

Fun with friends in the North 40.

Denise gave Clayton his first razor( 7/8 of an inch) haircut. He was a pretty good sport.

All done with the haircut. It looks great!

Clayton enjoyed playing with the balloon and jumping on the mats at Tumble Tots.

Jenelle and Allison on the balance beam at Tumble Tots.

Jenelle had fun running back and forth over and over again.

A funny story

While I was teaching piano yesterday, Jenelle had to go poop she announced. My students was an 8 year old little girl. So, Jenelle went and I stayed at the piano teaching. In a minute, we heard, "Mom, come and see my big poop." I said, "Not right now," being a tad embarrassed. Then Jenelle said, "But it's big. Just like yours." Then I was really embarrassed. Luckily, no adults were present to witness this.:) No pictures for this post.

Blowing Bubbles

The kids have really been enjoying blowing bubbles. We got them individual containers which they love to carry around. Jenelle sometimes blows her bangs, but is getting much better at making bubbles. Clayton is learning, but mostly puts the blower in his mouth and sucks on it. Yuck! Anyway, he has blown a few bubbles, so he's making progress. One time yesterday, he opened his mouth and a big bubble came out. I didn't get it on film, but I enjoyed it.



Because of Clayton getting the bubbles all around his mouth, he is getting all dried out, so we're going to have to put a stop to the bubble blowing/drinking for a few days and let lotion and God heal him.:)

Moreno Valley Mall play place

My moms' group met for the kids to play at the Moreno Valley Mall play place outside of Gottschalks (with the aroma of Auntie Annie's pretzels tempting us). The kids had a great time running around and climbing. Gave us moms a chance to talk and watch.
Sliding down the bridge

Posing by the bridge

Sitting in the canoe

Playing on a car

Two Jenelle stories

Last week, Jenelle came into the kitchen crying, "I hit my head." I said, "On what?" She said, "On CJ's head." I kissed her head then she walked back to the front room and said, "CJ, will you forgive me? " He had his arms out ready for a hug.


When Jenelle was outside playing with our neighbor girl, Sidnoie (pronounced Sidney) Jenelle wanted to show Sidonie the owie on her knee. After she showed her, Jenelle asked Sidonie if she had an owie. Sidonie had an owie on her arm. Jenelle asked, "Do you want me to pray for it?" Sidonie said, "Sure." Jenelle said, "Dear God, please heal Sidonie's owie and heal my owie, too. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen."

Precious little girl.

Blueberries

I decided to give the kids a little bowl of frozen blueberries for their breakfast fruit. I left Clayton buckled into his seat with his banana bread and blueberries and went to help Jenelle clean up her room a bit. When I came back, there were blueberries on the floor, across the table on his placemat and a few in his bowl. Bummer. When I finally got him down from his chair, I realized he had been sitting on a few. Big bummer. The only saving grace is that he is wearing some hand me down jeans with a hole in each knee, so those pants have already seen better days. After reminding Jenelle to be very careful and to wear a bib, which she did, she told me as I was starting to do her hair that she got some on her pants. Ugh! Her pants are not hand me downs and are relatively new. Oh well. I tried to clean them right away, but the stain is a stain. I changed her pants, but am letting Clayton wear his stain on the back of his jeans. He doesn't care.:) I have to just let it go. Probably won't try blueberries again soon, but they are so good. Oh well.

Jenelle's Pictures

Life

Last evening, as Jenelle and Clayton were playing chase, I heard a loud thump followed by a cry. I ran in and found that Clay hadn't maneuvered the corner well. He hit his forehead hard and as I held him, the bump grew! Mike called it a golf ball, but I think it was shaped more like a football. We tried to put some frozen corn on it. It wasn't well received, but we hope it helped some. I held him for awhile. That was nice to cuddle for a bit. After a few minutes, he was fine. He did cry when he hit it one more time. I hate to re-injure a wound. Anyway, this morning, the swelling is down and he just has a bruise that he is oblivious to. That's so nice--to not worry about what you look like.

This morning, I heard Jenelle shut Clay's door (they were both in his room while CJ was still in his crib). When I opened the door a few minutes later, I looked right into Jenelle's eyes as she was sitting on the changing table. She said, "I'll get down." Yeah, she would, and she did quickly. She premeditated her deed by shutting the door. The surprised look on her face was pretty funny. And I guess it does look like fun.

Jenelle is getting herself dressed by herself most days. Clay is VERY into pencils and stickers. We just try to direct those things to paper--not to my piano books. :)

I bought them some balloons for the kids from the 99 cent store. They do say "It's a Boy", but they're having a ball with them. They can throw them over their heads, kick them, and have fun with them. Cheap fun that doesn't harm anyone or anything.