Give me a smile

Do you SEE what I have to work with? In their defense, while taking the first one up there I told them if they didn't smile they wouldn't get any presents for Christmas. Yep I did. So what I got was the "Home Alone" scared faced from Lexi, a terrified looking smile from Lane, and a huge laugh from Lucas because he has already figured out that Momma is a total softy and doesn't mean half of what she says and he will always win me over with that smile.....Yep he's right. I asked for a hug in the 3rd one and Lexi just went with it. We did end up with a picture that was suitable to send my grandma and I went with it. While I love the craziness that is them, grandma just doesn't seem to appreciate the stuck out tongue as much as I do, poor grandma.
I had a lot more fun trying to get a good picture this year than years past. I have realized the older they get the easier it is, for the most part. Lucas still hates having his picture taken at all, Lexi now thinks she is a model and gives me crazy faces or fake cheesy smiles, but Lane does pretty good. He lost his first tooth a couple of days after I took these and looks oh so cute now, kinda wish that was in the Christmas picture as a memory but it's ok I have taken plenty of pictures of it already.
We are now in the stages of fighting over every toy they own, EVERY time I turn my back or go to the bathroom someone hits someone, takes a toy from someone or is just looking at them wrong. True story- today while I snuck away for a bathroom break I heard, "Why are you looking at me............Lucas I said why are you looking at me? Stop. I am going to tell Momma!" Yep apparently it is now a no no to look at each other. So of course hearing this I start laughing and give my hiding spot away......... These are the things you have to laugh at and remind yourself that it will only be like this for a short time. It is definitely worth it, all of it.
Just when you start to worry that they can no longer stand each other and will hate each other forever something seems to happen to show you otherwise. For example, last night after being put to bed both boys decided they HAD to potty ONE more time. Lane ended up in the master bathroom and Lucas in the front, Lexi was in bed. Lexi is yelling "MOMMA I gotta tell you sumtin'!" for the 439,689 time so I am walking to her room when we hear Lucas screaming. For some reason he decided he needed to lift the seat on the potty to sit down to go................I have no idea why..............but yea he fell in.............and Donny and I laughed hysterically. Poor Lucas was very upset but Donny and I just could not stop laughing. Don't judge, he was fine and it was funny. What made it even funnier is when big brother Lane came running to the rescue trying to get his pants up as fast as he can, with a look of terror on his face asking, "what's wrong, what's wrong with Lucas?" Then a little prissy girl jumps out of bed and comes running, "what happened to my brudder Lucas?" They were so concerned for the screaming Lucas and Donny and I got looks of "and your suppose to be the ones taking care of us?" thrown in there but we just laughed and I smiled because that little moment showed me the love they truly have for one another. Even though they fuss and fight and act like crazy people sometimes, they love one another and want to protect each other, and get mad at their crazy laughing parents.

Happy Birthday little ones

Not long ago I had three children under the age of three. I remember it very well, it was crazy, it was hard, but it was worth it. Saturday the BABIES turned 3 years old. The babies is what I will call them for the rest of their lives probably. They will always be my babies. So now I have a 5 year old and two 3 year olds, which is just crazy to think about. My children are growing up way to fast. It really does fly by. The first few months of no sleep, spit up covered clothing and way to many diapers to count is now but a blur.
Lucas is my most independent child, even more so than his big brother. I hear "I do it myself!" all day from him. He is his Daddy's mini-me and I love that. I love his little sweet face that is so so babyish to me. I love those blue eyes that light up when he talks about "Tinman" from The Wizard of Oz. I love that smile and the way he sticks his tongue out while he is working on something. He is my youngest, my baby and even though he is the most independent one he is also likes to play his role as the baby. He loves sharing a room with his big brother and if big brother is gone to Nana's or Meme's house for the night he has to sleep in Lane's bed. He loves hugs and kisses. He will tell you if he wants you to kiss him or if he wants to be the one to kiss you. There IS a difference to him. If he is going to be the kisser you can NOT pucker your lips out because that means you kissed him, lol. I love that. Lucas is rough and wild. We are so thankful for our baby boy and all of his craziness.
Lexi is my girlie girl. She is sassy, can have an attitude, but can be sweet as candy too. She loves her brothers but has figured out how to take care of herself and doesn't take anything off the boys! She loves to have her hair fixed and to wear pretty dresses. Lexi is shy when you first meet her, hiding behind my legs but once you are around her a while she loves showing off. She loves big squeezing hugs and kisses. Lexi loves for me to hold her, she would sit on my lap all day if I would let her. School time is her favorite part of the day. She loves hearing me teach and drawing pictures. She is motherly when she isn't fighting with the boys. She will rub Lucas' head when he is sleepy. She wants a sister so badly and asks for one all the time. She loves her brothers but wants someone that will play something other than dinosaurs, even though she does enjoy playing dinosaurs. She is our Princess and we are so thankful for her.
They are growing up so fast and I want to try to enjoy it all. I get caught up in all of the household things that have to be done and forget to sit and enjoy sometimes. I am happiest when I am sitting and watching them play nicely together, hearing their little stories they come up with for each dinosaur or barbie. Seeing them chase each other running from some invisible monster or a big brother with a blanket on his head. These are the things that I love most.

Happy Thanksgiving- yes it's late but it's me

Yes I am a blogging slacker who only blogs occasionally. I know this. But I always have cute pics when I blog, that makes up for it, right? Yea okay. We learned about Pilgrims and Indians right before and right after Thanksgiving. Here are two of my little Indians, the third one was crying on the couch over glue, yep glue. I was planning on teaching it all before but we had a horrible stomach virus sweep in the week of Thanksgiving so it didn't happen. Yes I was sick ON THANKSGIVING, that is just sad. I ate a grilled cheese for my Thanksgiving lunch. A. GRILLED. CHEESE. The kids were mostly better by then so my awesome mother in law agreed to risk getting the horrible horrible stomach virus (so thankful for that) and took them to her house that evening so they didn't have to see me so very sick and so that Donny could take care of me.
So back to the learning- I taught about the Pilgrims. About how they left their country because they weren't allowed to worship God, pray and read their Bible how they wanted. (I was teaching a 5 yr old and two 2 yr olds so it was pretty basic) My 5 yr old stops me and ASKS if he can say a prayer. Yes my jaw dropped. I didn't even think he was truly listening to me. His prayer, "Jesus thank you that we can pray, read our Bible and go to church. And thank you for Jesus dying on the cross! Jesus name Amen!" I had tears in my eyes. That right there made it all worth it. All of the fights to get him to do schoolwork and feeling like I was beating my head against a brick wall. All of the days when that school directly across the street from my house looked so good because homeschooling IS hard work. It is not all rainbows and butterflies. Getting to teach my child about Jesus Christ, how people love Him, how we should love Him is worth it all and so very priceless. One thing I am very thankful for is being able to homeschool my children and teach them the things that are important to our family.