Jonah's 4th Birthday

With much anicipation the day finally arrived- Jonah turned FOUR! Up until now, I've felt young, thinking I still have "little" kids. However, entering the world of having a 4 year old, just makes me feel old. He's not really a "little" boy anymore, he's a big 4 year old.

We started the day with Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast and then bummed around in our jammies- just what Jonah wanted to do. We then headed to Maple Grove for some fun and games at Chuck E. Cheese. He had a great time running from game to game, and Phia was quite the trooper, keeping right up with him.

We had some family and a couple friends over for cake, ice cream, and presents on Friday evening- very fun times.

Then on Saturday we took Jonah and 3 friends to the Maple Maze (like a McDonald's Playplace, but perhaps 3 times as large). They had an absolute blast! We then came back to our house for more cake (Spiderman cupcakes actually) and more gifts.

What a blessed little boy. To have family and friends nearby, who love him dearly, makes this mom smile from ear to ear. He had a wonderful birthday weekend, and now it's time to come down from the adrenaline and sugar high.

Halloween

Here are some pictures from Halloween. Both kids loved dressing up in their outfits to be the Cowboy and Indian. Aphia, amazingly, left her headband on the whole night and it didn't bug her! They both loved going around the neighborhood to get candy (or "nanny" as Phia calls it) and loved to hand it out to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door. Aphia had a death-grip on her bag when we got home and was not about to let it go! I had told them they could each have 2 pieces when we got home, so they each got to pick out what they wanted. Jonah also shared one with Mommy and Daddy (without prompting!)... Phia, not so much. It was a great night!

There's a Mergency Mom!

Jonah's always been pretty good at pronunciation, and I've worked with him on it. So I think it's kind of funny that when he says, "There's a mergency!" instead of E-mergency, I just chuckle and don't really correct him.

Today I was helping get the last of the daycare kids out the door, Jonah had gone out to the car because we were leaving shortly for some errands. He ran back in, as I was talking to the mom that was leaving with her little ones and says, "Mom! There are sirens!" I said, "What kind?" "I don't know, but it's a mergency mom! We need to pray!!" I thought this was really sweet and said, "Ok buddy, I'll be done talking in a second and then we will." Well he was apparently not ok with that because he waited about 3 seconds, then folded his hands, looked at me for another second and then started to pray by himself, outloud, but not loud enough for me to hear. It was REALLY sweet!

Later, I told him how proud I was of him, for praying for the people in the emergency. I asked what he had said to Jesus and he responded with, "I said, 'Thank you Jesus for the day (which is pretty much how he starts every prayer), and for the mergency. Help all the people to be safe and healthy. Amen."

Makes my heart happy as a mom... These are the moments God uses to affirm that I'm doing a good job, which God knows I need :)

Instead

Today we had nothing on the calendar, except to bring Willy to the vet at 9:00.

I made a HUGE list of things I wanted to clean and get done. But then I reconcidered. Friday's are my only day with just my children. I wasn't going to ignore them.

I WAS going to clean out my van. Instead, we drove around (in a messy van) looking for beautiful trees, whose leaves were brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds, marveling at God's creation.

I WAS going to clean my entire kitchen, top to bottom. Instead, I made a great, big building with giant legos.

I WAS going to clean my bedroom. Instead, I did a project with Jonah and spent time talking with him.

I WAS going to clean up and scrub down my bathroom. Instead, I sat on the floor singing songs with Phia. (The Wheels on the Bus, Three Little Monkeys, and The Choo Choo Song are some favorites.)

I WAS going to clean up the living room, it is a disaster as you can see from the pictures below. Instead I spent a few moments visiting with a wonderful friend who came by to drop off something and also brought me Jimmy John's for lunch!
So this is my life today. Messy with toys everywhere. I wanted it to be spic and span. Instead, I made it enjoyable, extremely enjoyable for me and my kids.

Family Vacay

Last Thursday we started our lil vacay by heading up north. First we made a stop in Duluth to visit with Josh, Stephanie and the girls. We had a wonderful dinner together with cheers to hydrogen and cheers to the History Channel (right Stephie?!). We never did get to cheers "Modern Marvels" like I thought we would. (Sorry JJ, "They're makin' fun of you!")

Friday morning we continued our trek up the shore of Lake Superior. It was a GORGEOUS day and so we took the scenic route along the lake.

We liked that we had broken the driving trip up, into two days instead of making it all in one. The kids were great riders because of this too!

We had a great time at Lamb's Resort with the Ennen Family (NeeNee's Mom's side)- there was about 40-50 of us there.

Saturday we had a leisurely morning then headed to the Alpine Slides at Lutsen in the afternoon. Jonah LOVED them and had SUCH a great time! I got a free ticket from someone so I got to go once with Jonah (Jeremiah went the other times with him.) Well since Jeremiah was going alone this time, he thought he'd be big racer man- go real fast. Not smarty man. He lost a little control, went over the edges and gouged his hand on a rock/root/stick or something. He came FLYING down and said he was hurt, but I couldn't see how bad, so was like, "Do you need a bandaid or something?!" yeah... the EMT came over and sent us to the ER in Grand Marais where they spent 1 1/2 hours just cleaning out the gash, then another 2 1/2 hours stitching it up. He had SEVERAL interior stitches and 13 exterior in the palm of his hand. It was a really bad, jagged, dirty cut and was no fun.

Well, we were supposed to leave Sunday afternoon, but since he only had one hand to drive, that wasn't going to fly since he'd be driving a big, full sized truck and big trailer down the windy north shore. PLUS he was on Vicodin and wasn't supposed to drive with that. I wasn't about to attempt my first trailer driving experience under these circumstances (with my father in law's truck nonetheless), so we waited until Monday morning to leave so my dad could drive the truck instead.

I guess we got one more day of vacation out of the deal!

Here's Jeremiah and Jonah coming down the slide the first time. And the next is a picture of the leaves on the mountain. This one is just from the parking lot... I was going to send the camera up with Jeremiah the next time he went up, but his lil mishap prevented anymore pictures of the beautiful red leaves.

Bits and Pieces of the Kruger World

We haven't posted in a while (neither me- Aphia, nor my mom) so I thought I'd post some stuff and my mom wants to say a few things too.





Last Wednesday we got to welcome a new cousin into our family! Addison Grace Foskett was born to my Auntie Becca and Uncle Tim. We got to go to the hospital on Friday morning to see them, and then to their house on Saturday to see them again! I just love the "beebee!" so much! I love to kiss her, and wave "hi" to her, and smother her with love! Jonah likes to say, "Hi Buddy Boy," until Mommy reminds him that Addi is a girl. Then he just says, "Hi Buddy," in a really sweet, soft voice.



Here's some pictures of our visits with her! Here's Me seeing Baby Addi for the first time!

Below is Jonah and Mommy talking to Addison Grace!


Mommy and Addi are pretty tight already. She's definitely the favorite Auntie :)

Here's Proud Uncle Jer, who only has nieces! But he loves them to bits!

Ok, now my mom has some things to say.

So on Friday we had to run to Old Navy to return some shoes I had gotten for Jonah.







Back up a couple steps and I need to tell you that occasionally, Jonah mixes up the words "dimple" and "nipple" and sometimes he says "nimple" for either one... ok, now you know this going to be funny!





So, back to Old Navy. Jonah puts his shoes up on the counter and says to the cashier, in his sweet 3 year old voice, "I'd like to return these shoes." She asks, "Do you have a receipt?" "Yes I do, right here," and he hands her the receipt. She smiles her big, dimpled smile and Jonah whips his head up to me with a big smile and says, "Mom! Does she have big nipples?!"





Now I'm not one for taking the Lord's name in vein, but "Oh God!" Quick NeeNee, THINK! "DIMPLES! Do you mean 'dimples' Jonah?" While pointing to my cheeks, to which he FORTUNATELY replies with an enthusiastic, "Yes!"





Just another "Mommy Moment" with the Jones.



Here are some more pictures of our walk to the park on Sunday. It was cloudy most of the day, so when the sun peaked out, we were out of the house and in the sun!





Finally a note another note about Jonah. I'm so proud of the way he gobbles up knowledge! He's in Cubbies for AWANA this year at church, and they have to memorize Bible verses. When I say, "Jonah, what's your Bible verse?" He replies with, "Genesis 1:31, All He had made was very good!" (paraphrased for little ones). He's great at memorization.




I've known that he's good with letters and words, memorization, and stuff like that. He knew all his letters by 2 1/2 and is starting to put sounds together to form words when he wants to spell something. It's pretty fun to watch and teach. He's also pretty darn good at writing, he can write his name, Aphia's, Mom, Dad, and he'll look up at the letters on the wall and copy ones to make what he thinks are words!




But lately he's been pretty into numbers too. We told him, "5 more minutes until bedtime," the other night. Then we said, "Ok it's been 3 minutes," to which he replied, "Ok, then 2 more minutes!" Jeremiah and I looked at each other, surprised! A minute later Jeremiah said, "Ok, it's been 4 minutes. How many more minutes?" To which Jonah promptly said, "One," like duh, Dad! I wondered if these were flukes, but I've been asking him a lot now, questions like those and he really knows and understands how to add and subtract small numbers like that!



Makes me proud as a mom :)

So Blessed!

Just a lil note to brag on some pretty fabulous folks I know!

My children's grandparents (ALL of them... and the "Greats" too) are just so darned awesome!

Two particular things come to mind, because they are presently affecting me!

First, my mom came out here today, surprising me (and Jonah- who stood there stunned, staring at her!) to help me out for the day! I had a plethora of children and she had come to fulfill the mantra, "Many hands make light work." And it truly was a wonderful day. AND to top it off, she spoke to me through EVERY love language!!
1. Quality Time: She came out here yes, to help me out, but I also got to spend time with her, which I love and cherish.
2. Gifts: She stopped at Coffee Connection and brought me my FAVORITE- white chocolate mocha with decaf. She also brought me a box of random stuff, including a picture that I hung in my bathroom, that I LOVE and have wanted. If you want to know what it's of, you'll have to come to my bathroom and see :)
3. Acts of Service: She came to help me out with all the kids I had today!! What a blessing!
4. Physical Touch: We always gotta hug!
5. Words of Affirmation (which is actually my #1): She affirmed that I'm doing a good job, boosting my confidence, saying that I was brave taking on twin infants for daycare, and just over all affirming me all day in what I'm doing.

Secondly, Rob and Bonnie are coming here tomorrow evening and bringing the kids back to Willmar with them for the weekend. I get to have the whole day on Friday ALL FOR MYSELF! I've got an amazing day planned, then we get to meet Chris and Emily in Mpls. for dinner at Buca!!!! I acknowledge that I am very, very fortunate! We have a wedding to go to on Saturday and then are heading to Willmar on Sunday to watch Auntie Liz in a play and have dinner with everyone. It will be a wonderful weekend of relaxation and much needed hubby/wifey time.

So yeah, just thought I'd throw this out there, because I know and love some pretty remarkable peeps that help keep me going.