There's No Place Like Home!

There truly is no place like home! Even though it's dirty and messy like a tornado went through it, there is this special feeling when you walk through the door. This sense of finally being able to relax and be comfortable. I can not even express how much I am looking forward to being in my own wonderful bed tonight (very soon, I might add). I honestly can't remember the last time I was this exhausted. I think being pregnant doesn't help. I feel like I can't move a muscle in my body. To top things off, I have had a headache for pretty much the entire time we were at the hospital and I've been nauseous the last couple days. I think the cafeteria food didn't help. No, actually I KNOW it didn't help! My mom made dinner for us tonight since we had to pick up the boys at their house anyways, and it was the best tasting food I've tasted for a VERY long time. Thanks, Mom! While we were at my parents, Isaac and I informed Jonny and Jason that we were planning on having Joel sleep with us tonight, since it was his first night back and he is just getting back on his normal anti-seizure medicine routine. (The three boys normally sleep together because Joel can't sleep by himself.) We didn't want Joel's seizures to wake up the boys. They quickly protested, stating that the reason they were soooo excited that we were back and because they missed sleeping with Joel and were looking forward to it. Guess where Joel is sleeping right now. Well, I am going to bed now. I just wanted to say how wonderful it is to be all together as a family again and how great it is to be home! Goodnight.

Project 365 ~ Day 10 ~ Our Community Center

Today we had a play date at the Fallbrook Community Center. We are so blessed to have such a great place for the kids to play. I played there when I was a kid, but they have since updated the play equipment (thank goodness...I used to get splinters from the old). Even with the new play equipment, it still is the same ol' place that I played. I love that. I love that when you're there and look around you see trees and greenery. Space. This is part of what I love about Fallbrook. The small town feel. Knowing that when I'm at the community center or going into town, I am going to run into someone I know. Fallbrook has grown from around 30,000 when I was a teen to over 60,000 now, but it still has the same feel. And I get to share my childhood memories with my kids. This particular day, Joel wanted me to help him sit on the big boy swing. He had never swung this way, so I was a little fearful that he would fall and get hurt. But he didn't...he hung on like a big boy and pumped his feet. It was so cute. How did he automatically know that he had to pump his feet to go? Maybe he was secretly watching his brothers do it. Of course, I pushed him as well. And we all had a grand time.

Joel's kisses can still be very wet. Even so, we all love him so much that we enjoy each and every kiss. You can see true big brother love on Jonny's face even though he's getting licked. Although, I'm sure this was followed by "Ewww, Joel!" - with a funny look on Jonny's face as he wiped his cheek off.

We had fun! What a great way to do P.E. for the older two and Physical Therapy for Joel.

To view all the best photos from our time at the community: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46770513@N06/sets/72157623134770897/

Project 365 ~ Day 6 ~ Jo-jo

Joel started saying something new today! He figured out how to tell me he wants something. I will start off by telling you that Joel has many nicknames. The nicknames started when he was little with Joely, Joely-poly which turned into Roly-poly, which then turned into Joely-poly-oly. After that he earned the nickname Curly because his hair was so curly and Monkey Boy because he climbed everything. A few months ago my mom wanted to give him a name he could say, so she started calling him Jo-jo (Joel calls Jonny "Jon-jon", so we knew he could say Jo-jo). It is so cute when he calls himself Jo-jo! Today he figured out that if he wants more food all he has to do is hold out his plate and say "Jo-jo". He figured out this also applies to a lot more than just food. So he has been going around the house pointing at things he wants and saying "Jo-jo". It is fun to watch him figure out the world around him. I thought you should know, I can't resist a picture with all three boys in it. I love that they have each other and they are so close. Joel was so cute kissing Jonny. I find it interesting that the bond between Jonny and Joel (5-year age gap) is very different than the bond between Joel and Jason (2-year 2-month age gap), and again different from the bond between Jonny and Jason (2-year 9-month age gap). Jonny and Jason are best friends. Joel's bond with Jonny is very special. Jonny is the big brother, he takes care of Joel, he helps him and teaches him. Jonny sleeps next to Joel and the first thing Joel does in the morning is wake up Jonny with kisses and banging or sitting on his head, pulling on his ear, etc. Joel looks up to Jonny and thinks he is the greatest thing, showering him with kisses and hugs often. Joel's relationship with Jason is a little different. Joel loves playing with Jason, although he get jealous easily. Jason likes to try and be the big brother Jonny is, but because they are much closer in age, Joel won't have it. When Jason tries to take Joel somewhere, Joel squeals and sits down in protest. When Jason tries to love on him, Joel sometimes kisses and hugs him back, and other times pushes him away. Jason is such a sweet, affectionate boy and sometimes I feel bad for him because Joel doesn't always love him back the way he wishes. I believe Joel thinks a lot of what Jason does is bossy. The boys all have their occasional squabbles, but they get along the majority of the time and love each other deeply.

So sweet!

Not so Wordless Wednesday

I was going to post this picture for Wordless Wednesday, but since I had already made the picture into a poster with Heritage Makers, I thought I'll just show you that. Aren't my boys sweet! I love this picture, it's so peaceful. I found a quote about brothers from the Quote Gallery. It will be an 18x24 poster that I will frame as art for my home. I love Heritage Makers! ~

Joel's Surgery...and more pictures

I have been fielding some questions about Joel's surgery lately which has really got me to thinking about it. I realize that I have never really posted details and I have been thinking that I would like to help people who may be in the situation where the surgery may need to be considered. So, very soon I will be doing a several part post about his surgery. It really changed our lives! :)

Here are some more of my favorite photos from the last month:

My sister-in-law and I did some (TONS) of canning.
I am going to have to post about it 'cause I have tons of great pictures.

Jonny broke his ankle. What a pain...literally (and figuratively)!

My boys!

Joel likes Grampy's hat...or any straw hat for that matter.

Brothers, aren't they cute together!

I've got to run to Joel's OT (Occupational Therapy) now, but I still have more pics I want to share with you later...that's the problem with not posting for a month and being a person who LOVES taking pictures. Now sharing them all at once for you it seems like a lot, but really it's no more than I would have shown you if I had been posting regularly.

Happy 5th Birthday, Jason!!!

I can't believe you're five today. You are growing up so fast and I love the young man you're becoming. You have such a sweet spirit and I love how you love to have fun. You're giggle makes everyone around you light up with huge smiles and joy. Your brothers love you and enjoy playing with you. I love how you guys are such good friends and how well you get along. My prayer for you is that you will continue to love the Lord with all your heart and that you will hunger to learn more about Him as you grow. God blessed me and Daddy so much when he gave you to us. I thank him every day for you. I am enjoying watching you become more adventurous, outgoing, and imaginative. I hope you had a great day today. I'm looking forward to your first train ride and the beach on Saturday.

Love, Mama
Note: We had a fun day today spending time as a family, then we had a special family dinner. Our tradition is the birthday boy (or girl) gets to choose their favorite food for their birthday dinner. Jason chose KFC and brownies. I would have preferred to cook something, but that's what he wanted. On Saturday we will finish his birthday celebration. We have another tradition we started with Jonny. Each child gets his first train ride on their fifth birthday then afterwards we take a picnic to the park or beach. Jason wanted the beach with sand and since Jonny currently has a cast on his ankle and can't go in the sand we modified our plans from going to a beach on Coronado to going to La Jolla Shores. La Jolla Shores is a great beach that has a grassy park-like area as well as sand and swimming. It's a wonderful beach for little guys because it's shallow for quite far out and it has nice sand (not too rocky). We are all super looking forward to Saturday. My mom and dad will spend the day with us. Happy birthday, Jason! We love you!

Jonny's Piano Recital

Look at my handsome boys! Growing up so fast.

Jonny with his buddies, Jacob & Josh.
(L to R Jacob, Jonny, Josh) It's fun to have twin friends.
They also take piano lessons from my sister-in-law, Dorinda.

Jonny had his end of the year piano recital last night. Sadly Isaac missed it due to being out of town working for a few days. I recorded Jonny playing so Isaac would still be able to see it. I am so proud of Jonny. He is such a wonderful, sweet boy and his piano skills have greatly increased. He went from never having played last summer to what you see in the video. He completed his first lesson book just a few weeks ago. Way to go, Jonny! I love you, sweet boy!

P.S. It's fun to be able to take piano lessons from your aunt!
P.P.S. You will need to pause the music on the blog before watching the video.

Beauty & Joy

I love this picture because all I see when I look at it are beauty and joy. Look at those eyelashes and cute baby teeth. I love when he smiles. Look at that gorgeous curly hair. I love his curly hair. I've never told you but one of his nicknames is "Curly". I love how he is being playful with Daddy in this picture. This picture was taken at the San Diego Zoo on Tuesday. It was a field trip/family day. God's timing is perfect, you see we decided a little over a month ago that Isaac would take the day off work to go with us. Jonny was going on a two hour behind the scenes tour and needed an adult to go with him. The little guys were too young to go on the tour and needed an adult with them. Since I can't be in two places we had decided Isaac would go. Guess what happened. Isaac had most of the week off due to lack of work. Not a great situation but couldn't have come in a better week since we had the zoo on Tuesday and today we are leaving for Indio. Actually, we are supposed to be leaving in an hour and I'm not packed yet...so I better go pack. I'll leave you with more pictures from the zoo. We had a great time! (And by the way, Jonny wants to run a zoo when he grows up...perfect field trip for him!)

Thank you to my wonderful husband who watched the little ones for two hours while I went on the behind the scenes tour with Jonny.

Mommy (me) & Jonny on the tour.

We got to pet the camel!

Why is it that the reptile house is always a favorite with little boys? Both of my boys want to work with reptiles when they grow up.

The hippo was awesome!

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Pictures

I Love: Wordless Wednesday

Some words for my wordless Wednesday: It is so hard to choose just one picture! It's also hard not to give a caption, so here it is: Joel was sitting watching his brothers play basketball and cracking up every time one of them made a basket. Too cute! His laughter is contagious. Every time he laughs we end up giggling right along with him (and usually grabbing the camera).

Brotherly Love

It's amazing how much love God has given my boys for each other. You would think that the two older boys would be jealous of the extra time I have to spend caring for Joel, but they're not. It makes my mommy heart overflow with joy when I see them together. Jonny and Jason are truly best friends and both of them love Joel with all their hearts. There is also a special bond between Jason and Joel (Jason loves playing with Joel therefore Joel responds to him.) I love the bottom picture. Joel is kissing Jason and you can see the love on Jason's face.