Life is not a slideshow.

I just love slideshows....

You know the kind.

The music has meaningful lyrics and the pictures go perfectly with the words.

I'm always coming up with ideas for slideshows....

But rarely do I ever make one.

Slideshows make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Even if they make you sad, they still seem to make things look so beautiful.

I've always wanted to be a mom.

I still want to be a good mom.

I can get all warm and fuzzy when I look at pictures of my boys.

Pictures like this one.....



Or this one...



Or Heaven help me...this one...



But see....

Then there is reality.

These sweet faces actually move and have life and personality.

Which is great...really it is!

But life gets so real.

It's real when one sweet dimple faced child somehow starts getting an attitude.

It's real when another sweet doe eyed deer tries to make a deal with me.

It's real when yet another sweet pumpkin screams bloody murder just to sleep close to me every night.

It's real.

Life is not a slideshow.

And really......I'm glad it isn't!

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Saturday marked 7 months for baby Nathan.

Can you believe it?

I still need to get a height and weight for him. He's real close to crawling and can certainly scoot around. Today I got a few toys out for him that had been stored away. He thought he was big stuff getting to play in the floor with the big boys.

Here's one of the pics I got for 7 months. You can see his two little teeth shining.

Sorry he's wearing an OU shirt Grandpa. It just happened to be what he had on and maybe you'll be forgiving since it was a gift from Ms. Pat!


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I have some more pictures that include Craig and I. But for some reason, my camera won't unload.....maybe next time.

Minnow Catch

This picture actually has nothing to do with the story, other than it is about Andrew.

Today, I had the pleasure of attending school with Andrew. I had told him a couple of weeks ago that I would like to do that before the end of the school year, and it just so happened that a note was sent home on Friday encouraging parents to come for some special activities going on this week.

Today's activity....tricycle races.

But that isn't what this story is about either...

This week, they are learning about fish, and one of the teachers had brought a bunch of minnows, and converted their sand play table into a little "fish pond." During recess, the children were allowed to play with them. Andrew was selected to go first today, since he had helped bring a tricycle back into the yard. He got to choose someone to play with him and he chose his friend D.

Now D was not hesitant at all about reaching in to grab a handful of minnows. Andrew, on the other hand, wanted to, but was scared. He was hilarious!!

(I did get a small portion on video with my phone...not sure how to put it on here though. Not to mention the fact, there are other kids in the video and I wouldn't want to post it without permission.)

Anyway....Andrew was squealing and screaming and whooping and hollering....and LAUGHING! Finally, he was able to bring himself to do it! He caught some minnows in his hands.

He said they tickled.

So glad I was there to see it!

Still a Blogger...I think...

Funny how I just love reading other blogs, but have such a hard time with my own. It isn't that I don't take pictures, or don't have any thoughts or humors to share.... I just don't take the time to record them, which is frustrating because I know I miss so much in the way of memories by not keeping a journal here. But hey...something is better than nothing right?

Sometimes I wonder if I will remember anything about my boys being little. I had to smile the other day as wonderful memories of Joshua flooded my mind. He and I were having our usual school battle and for whatever reason I began to think about how alert he has always been to the sights and sounds of tractors. (I held him as I recalled some of these memories aloud.)

Before he could even talk, he would perk up and listen if he heard something outside.

And as he began to talk, he became increasingly obsessed with tractors.

When he was around two years old, we passed several places where there were tractors on our way to church. Each and every time he would shout out "John Deere Tractor!!" Indeed, they were.

He would make frequent trips to a neighboring town with Grandpa to a farm supply store. The lady who ran it was a softy and would unwrap a brand new Farmall tractor toy to give him nearly every time he visited. We still have them all!

What precious memories....how quickly he's grown....almost finished with 2nd grade!

I really need to do this more....Andrew and Nathan, you are next! Love you all!