say the cutest things.
JACOB: He was telling me a story about some things his classmates, two girls who happen to sit by him, said at school today, but interjected mid-sentence to say, "As you can see I’m surrounded by females!"
CALEB: I was admiring his blemish-free, picture-perfect skin and I told him I wish my skin looked like his. He matter-of-factly replied, "Mom, I think you’re skin is perfect. It’s exactly what I would expect for myself when I’m a grown-up."
So witty those two!
I’ve had this picture sitting on my desk for a while. I pack the boys (now two boys!) lunch everyday, and have found that it is easy to get in a rut. What do I pack today? Same bat show on the same bat channel! Our standards are pb&j, pb&honey, or ham sandwiches. BORING! And if I’m bored with packing it, imagine how they feel about eating it! Then I saw this in a magazine and got completely inspired. Maybe you will too… (click on it for a bigger version)
This baby wants to move. He wants to crawl. And grab things. And scoot. And touch everything. And put everything in his mouth. He’s THIS close to crawling, and just can’t quite figure it out yet. He’ll roll and reach and shimmy to try to reach something. I’m holding my breath, because life WILL change as soon as he does start crawling. But I can’t help but cheer him on.
Derek had a glass of water and was letting Sam take sips, which he loves. Derek started to pull it away, and WHOA! stop! Samuel wasn’t letting it go so fast.
He’s got two little "toofers" (as we like to call them) now. And is sleeping thru the night in his own room…wahoo! I put him down around 7 pm, nurse him again before I go to bed around 10, and then he’ll sleep until 6 or 7 am. It’s a beautiful thing. And he takes two good naps a day, although they are continually interrupted to go pick-up older brothers. Such is life in the 3rd position. And just this week he has really started to babble. He’s always been SO quiet…not a lot of crying, but not a lot of happy noises either. And this week that all changed…lots of blowing bubbles, razzing and playing with his voice. I love it.
In other news…I was SO proud of myself this year at Teacher Night. There are always lists to sign-up to be a room parent, volunteer, etc, etc, etc. And I resisted. I even thought to myself, "my blog readers will be so proud of me". In fact, I stood in front of the paper for a full minute just staring at, talking myself down. It was difficult, but I held strong and refused to pick up the pen.
But then I made a fatal error. I told the teacher, "If you don’t have anyone sign up for room mom, let me know and I’ll do it." (**INSERT LOUD GAME SHOW BUZZING NOISE!!)
I got an e-mail this morning from the room parent coordinator. Welcome to Room Parent 101! Here we go again. 🙂
The age of 8 is a big milestone in our religion. The age where a child reaches accountability. Where they will be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It’s a special age. And we’ve been looking forward to it with Jacob. It’s a moment in time, with him, that I want to savor and enjoy. I also want to pause and look back at how he’s grown these last 8 years. And also look forward to the milestones ahead…
I took him yesterday to the LDS temple grounds to take some pictures of him in his new suit. He’s such a handsome kid. And smart. And kind. And energetic. And funny. We went out to eat together afterwards. And I can honestly say it’s one of the best times I’ve ever had with him. I’ve had lots of good times with him, but yesterday was special. Just me and him. Talking, laughing, being ourselves…enjoying together. My Big J.
This morning I was at my neighbor, Michelle’s. She has a darling 3-year old named Bauer, who has a full head of dark curly hair. He’s a gorgeous child. And he loves Samuel. He was sitting with him this morning, and then ran up to me and said,
"Why’d you cut Baby Samuel’s hair?!"
Cute…
This weekend started a new soccer season for BOTH of the big boys. Caleb is playing for the first time, and Jacob is in his 5th season. We weren’t sure what to expect with Caleb…he’s the smallest on his team and the youngest, which is a bit of a handicap. And he has a tendency to be an observer more than a "in the middle of things" kind of guy. But it was fun to watch him cheer on his team and run hard. And he’s got the intimidation factor DOWN. He stood on the field before the quarter and made all kinds of poses and faces at the other team. It was hysterical…and had all of the parents on the sideline in stitches. Too cute.
Yep, that’s right…he’s #1!! And here’s my favorite…after someone scored a goal.
And here’s Jacob with his buddy, Brendan. They’ve been friends since they were 10 months old, and they’re being baptized on the same day in a couple of weeks.
And after two evening games, this little guy was exhausted.
These guys of mine are growing up…changing…getting big. They’re good boys. It’s fun to watch them grow. I love that I get to be a part of their lives.
Caleb started Pre-K on Friday. He was a little nervous, but always very brave and confident. He is going 3 days a week from 9am to 2pm. He even eats lunch there, which is new for both of us. I miss him! But I’m excited to get some serious work done around here (i.e. painting my bathroom this week), and then be able to focus more on him when he’s around.
This little guy learned to clap this week, and now you can find all of us Smiths clapping A LOT. So cute.
I just realized I haven’t downloaded pics from our first weekend of soccer games, so I’ll do that tomorrow.
But I’ll give one more insight in to my life right now…
These little beauties are called Box Tops. I’m the official Box Tops Coordinator for our school. I know, I know…it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a very important and highly sought after position. In fact, I had to plead for them to let me do it. Cutting thousands of these little things and bundling them into groups of 50, and coordinating drawings for free ice cream, and trying to inspire the parents of over 600 students to clip and send in these cash producing snippets is a very important job. And I am up to the task. So if you see these in YOUR pantry (and aren’t already sending them to another unworthy B.T. Coordinator — traitors!!), do a girl a favor and clip/send. They’re worth $.10 each. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but I already have $200 worth just from the summer. Keep clipping, BABY!
Now I can wear THESE all year long! Yippee!!
It’s the day after Labor Day, and I have labored hard today. I organized our very messy and unorganized game room/media room with help from some storage bins from IKEA. It was such a productive day and I feel really good about the results. We had a super fun weekend with my Dad and Christy. Swimming, eating and project-ing. Dad taught me how to sponge paint my bathroom, and although the colors aren’t right, I really enjoyed learning the technique. The rest of the week will be full, with b’day parties, soccer practices, curriculum night, piano, neighborhood meetings and Caleb’s meet-the-teacher. I’m feeling out of my "slump" though and ready to prepare for fall. I think my "funk" last week was just the let down from an amazing summer. Time to move on…pumpkins, warm bread and changing leaves. Oh, wait…I live in Texas. Well, a girl can dream.
And it’s a doozie.
This little guy is getting a tooth!!
That explains his stoic mood this week. But he still is never very much trouble, this one. He’s amazing!
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