My baby is 5!

Zeke turned 5 today and he woke up and said "yesterday I was 4 now I am 5, how come I am 5 now?" I love his questions, they are almost always unanswerable. Like why is fire hot?
I don't know it just is!
Dan wrote an amazing blog for Zeke, check it out I cried just thinking about his little lifeand how special he is.
I feel so blessed to be Zeke's mom and I am grateful everyday that I get to learn from him and love him.
We went to round table pizza with a few friends for his birthday, not because he loves pizza actually he hates it, but they had fans and games so of course he chose it!
Anyway today we are taking cupcakes to class and tomorrow he gets to fly on a plane and see all of his favorite people so I think this is going to be a great birthday!

counting down

Vacation is in 5 days and I am starting to get a little crazy as I wait for it. As I write the house is in shambles, literally, Zeke won't stop asking me the same 3 questions about a flashlight, a fan and when we get to go over to the nieghbors house and Sofia is crying because I won't let her rip the paper out of the printer and I keep giving her chicken instead of animal crackers.
The count down began months ago for vacation but I am now counting the minutes... as Dan says "don't worry babe when the baby comes things will get much easier!!"
The photo was just taken and I just picked up half the stuff that was on the floor, good times!

Can you please hold?

I am sitting on hold with my bank...again. It seems like every week I sit on hold for something that I need to fix or change, my Dr office, my health insurance, the bank, the phone company, the credit card company, and the list goes on. Since moving it seems like there is always something I have to switch or a wrong charge etc. Seriously our phone bill has never been this high, we only have our cell phones so it is adding up! I feel like i need to get one of those really cool ear piece phones that important people have, so I won't have a neck ache. Can't you just see me wandering around the house doing housework while wearing an ear piece! I am pretty sure it won't happen but it is a funny picture.
I am trying to have patience but the bank girl just came back for the 3rd time without an answer to my question. Aghhh!
Anyway I have no patience or organization for this part of my housewife duties! Luckily my kids are happily playing, usually when I am on the phone it is some kind of hidden cue to act like animals and go running and screaming through the house! Yay for those rare moments when they are content and don't need my attention for longer than 2 minutes!
This blog has no point except to complain about being on the phone!

lather, rinse repeat

That title doesn't really make sense but I like the sound of it.
So I was realizing lately that as a mom I repeat myself a ridiculous amount of times during the day. It starts to drive a person insane when you say the same thing over and over again with no real results, but I guess that is the joy of motherhood and teaching your children how to behave!
But on any certain day I find that these few phrases come out of my mouth over and over again:
To Zeke:
Stop hitting your sister
Stop picking your nose
Wash your hands
eat your dinner
stop yelling
turn your volume down
stop hitting your sister
don't kick the dog
no you can't have the fan on
did you wash your hands with soap
don't talk back
don't push your sister
stop talking like a baby
don't sass me
turn off the fan please
did you hear what I said
be gentle with your sister or the dog(whichever fits best in the circumstance)

To Sofia
Don't hit mama
are you hungry
don't eat the dog food
no, no Sof don't touch
don't hit mama
don't eat the dog food
are you hungry
no don't open the toilet
don't hit brother
be gentle with the dog
don't eat the dog food

I know one day I will miss the way I constantly said the same things 100 plus times a day, so I will cherish it now! But there are definitely days when you want to yell is anyone listening to what I am saying!!!
There are many good things that I repeat as well, like reading books, both of the kids LOVE to read books and I read the same ones 25 times a day but it is so worth it when they both cuddle up on each side of me and we read Quick as a cricket for the 13th time today!
Being a mom tests your patience, makes you humble, exhausts you and brings you some of the greatest joy. I am so thankful I get to be a mom, what a crazy responsibility, raising these kids to love God and love others. So tomorrow when I wake up saying the same thing to Zeke I will be grateful for my life of lather rinse repeat!

Jesus plays basketball

I just love the mind of my almost 5 year old. This morning I was talking with him about what he learned at church last night, he told me there were some people who didn't have food so some other people gave them some. They were talking about Acts, I was glad he had soaked some of the lesson up, then he went on to say that he also learned Jesus played basketball and that in the summer when Jesus comes to the park downtown he will turn on the fans for us.
Thanks Nate!
On Saturday night we went to Pizza with the Edwardsons and then went to a grassy area where they do Marketfest on Thursday nights in the summer. There were these huge tall industrial Fans and Zeke really REALLY wanted to turn them on. We kept telling him that only people who work at the city can turn them on when it is really hot. But Nate decided to say that Jesus had to power to turn them on and to ask him! So of course Zeke has been talking about how this summer Jesus will come to this park and turn them on!
As far as Jesus playing basketball, the only thing I can come up with for that thought is that on the front cover of his little story a man is holding a basket of food that kind of looks like a basketball??? So of course he assumed Jesus feeds the hungry and plays a little b-ball as well!
I love how it all comes back to fans, even the Bible story and Jesus, everything comes back to his beloved fans!

women's retreat

We had the first Women's retreat for the The Stirring last weekend and things were so crazy when I got back this is the first time I have had to debrief and mull over the weekend.
For me the retreat was amazing, it was so nice to have more than 5 minutes to talk with girls from church. It seems on Sundays my time is limited to really sit and talk with people because of my responsibilities as a mom. Which is one of my favorite jobs!
But to really hang out and laugh with other women was so nice for me. It has been hard for me to adjust and find my spot here in Redding. I know these things take time and I also know my role as mom and wife is priority, but it is hard to make new friends and new relationships.
The retreat was so awesome to just sit and meditate on God's word. I love that Jesus can use one word or one phrase and show me what things in my life I need to work through in order to become more like Him. I loved to worship with so many other women, the feeling of our hearts calling out to Jesus to meet us to change us. It was so what I needed and I am so thankful I could be a part of it.

Visitors

In the last month we have had a lot of visitors come up to see us! Dan's mom came up last weekend and we flew kites twice which I think we adults may have enjoyed more than the kids! I didn't get too many pics of the first day where Carol could have seriously injured herself trying to get the kite up, but I think that is what Grandmas do, they just go for it in order to please the kids!
Our dear dear friends Steve & karen came up on Sunday and stayed with us for a few days and when they left today it made me miss them even more! It is always so fun to hang out and relax with friends you have known for so long. Friends you can talk about anything with and who make you laugh and who love your kids like they are their own. Zeke absolutely LOVES steve and Karen, they are like family to him and every morning he woke up and waited for them outside their room to get up! He got plenty of wrestle time in with Steve, and Karen of course read him books and the teacher in her played phonics games with him! Zeke also enjoys acting like their cat immojean, and Karen obliged by teaching him to purr and scratching him behind the ears. You know they are good friends when they indulge your kids in the weird games and acting they want to do!
I miss that feeling of friendship where you are truly known by your friends. I know we will always be great friends with them, it just sucks not having them down the street anymore.
We love you guys, thanks for good times... thankfully see ya soon!

Easter pics

These pictures are as close as we got to smiling for the camera. They are in their Easter best and it was a lovely day so stopped by a bright flowering bush and took some pictures. It is almost the same as going to JCpenney! Not really though, maybe for Zeke's birthday we will do some professional pictures. Although I just realized with moving and all I never took Sofia to get her one year pictures, the 2nd kid always gets jacked. As Dan says I am sure it will get easier when we have a 3rd baby! yikes