Father's Day

I am so sad I didn't get any pictures of Father's day. What kind of mom am I?

We had a super day! I tried to let Stephen sleep in but it was cut short. We brought him breakfast in bed and all played in there for a while. Drew and Charis are so blessed to have Stephen as a dad. He is so great with them and I never worry leaving them with him. He takes excellent care of them and they love him.

After church my dad came over for lunch. It was so good to see him and hang out. The kids always get very excited and put on a show. I am blessed to have my dad. He is very kind, thoughtful, loving, and generous. He is sweet enough to drive to see us whenever he has a day off and we are so thankful. The kids love reading books and goofing off when he is here. Dad got Stephen a buffalo hide for Father's Day. A real one that his friend shot. Stephen is going to use it as a rug in the office.

We didn't get to see Stephen's dad because he is preaching in Roaton this week. That is a tropical paradise in the Carribean. We missed him but, didn't feel sorry for him. We are blessed to have him. He is kind, loving, wise, and hilarious. He is such a great father-in-law.

Late in the afternoon, after a much needed nap, we stopped by to see my grandparents and we were able to see my family that was all there. The kids loved playing with the dog and playing with everyone.

I love family days. I know it was Stephen's day but I felt blessed to spend my day with people I love.

Golf trip

Stephen just went on a golf trip with his Dad and his Dad's friends to Pebble Beach. They got to play Pebble Beach, Spy Glass, and Spanish Bay. If you are like me you may think... that's nice. However, if you golf then I hear it really is great! He had so much fun. He loved spending time with all the guys. They stayed in Carmel and he said it was a quaint town. They way he described it makes me want to go sans the golf. I am glad he had fun. He is already talking about wanting to go back, what happened to "once in a lifetime" ;).

Stephen and his Dad

Stephen and his caddy- at Pebble you get a caddy automatically- so funny

The guys

My reminder

Let me begin by saying my kids are sweet and I am blessed. With that being said, like EVERY other person they are big fat sinners. Not more so than other kids but, enough so that they are building my character and theirs. Drew is very charming and smiles a giant cheesy smile at me while he does what I very clearly just told him not to do. Charis is more obedient but can already shoot me a look of death. So when I saw Dr. Dobson's Strong Willed Child book at Half Priced Books I knew it was manna for me.

The first night I read through it and went to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up with the words TEACH, TRAIN, and CORRECT in my head. I knew it was God because I hadn't read that in Dr. D's book and lately as I have been disciplining I have heard that little voice in my head say "Did you teach him or just tell him not to do something?". These are all things I knew as a teacher but, once the doctor handed me my own child(ren) I have been, at best, inept. I read lots of books and took a breastfeeding class so I thought I would rock that but, as I called for the lactation nurse for the third time one night I told her "I read all about this but, now I can't remember anything". That was just the beginning of me forgetting things that I used to know so easily. Due to that I needed to put those words on my fridge so I made this sign to remind me.

Dina let me use her fancy machine to cut the letters and then I modge podged them on canvas. I know it may be weird but, I will take encouragement where I can get it. The paper bubbled in places but, it still serves it purpose for me.

18 months old

This week our babies turn 18 months old. That is not a baby anymore. Waaaaa! Stephen told me he would wake me up every 3 hours crying to help me get over my baby fever that has set in now that my babies aren't babies.

Our offspring now take one nap a day! They sleep well at night and I am very thankful. Very.

Charis is hilarious! She has such a sense of adventure and no fear. She loves to dance and especially loves some Praise Baby. If you don't know about Praise Baby, then you can thank me later. They are videos, like Baby Einstein, but set to Christian music. I know the whole "TV is the devil and your children will go cross eyed and drool until they're 10 if they happen to catch a glimpse of TV" research study. And I agree but, the 15 minutes that my kids spend dancing around the room to praise songs is so worth it. Sorry, I think I got off subject. Charis... she loves any dairy food but, not much else. She still loves books. We are so thankful for her, she makes me laugh everyday. She has a bit of an independent spirit in her. She loves to be held but, find ways to amuse herself (and us). She still only has 8 teeth but, I can see some that are working on coming in soon.

Drew is a sweet boy. He loves to hug and give kisses. He likes to eat dairy and some fruit. He is also very ornery. He tries to charm me with a very cheesy smile when he is misbehaving. The problem is that I laugh. I try not to but, it is so stinking cute. He has started to give "love bites", that is not funny. He has a mouthful of teeth.

Both have recently learned to use a spoon, kind of.

Fun Story of a Mavs Fan

Our friends Dustin and Lyn moved 14 months ago to be missionaries in Thailand. They are big Mavs fans and it was killing Dustin to be in Thailand while the Mavs are in the Finals. Dustin made this video and sent it to Mark Cuban to try to persuade Mark to buy him a plane ticket to go to the game. Mark emailed back but said that he couldn't help. :(

At this point, I would have given up, but not Dustin. He managed to sell his season tickets to the game and buy cheaper ones to games 3,4, and 5. The really neat thing is that he made $1300 on the tickets and found a flight from Thailand to Dallas for $1300. He landed an hour and half before game 3 started. So his great adventure has been funded by his ticket sells.

I love that his wife was like sure, go to America to watch some b-ball. Dustin travelled 36 hours and 9000 miles to cheer on the Mavs. They better appreciate it and win!

An Old Osborne Proverb

It is better to live in the corner of your roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman (or baby who won't nap)."

-Proverb 25:24

Just kidding. I would much rather live in my house with these little guys. I am toughing out the one nap transition. Prayers and caffeine are welcome during this time. Drew is doing fabulous and instigated the transition. Little Charis just struggles. She only naps a little over an hour and then gets very fussy about dinner time. I hear that she eventually will adjust

Favorite things again

These are a few of my favorite things about the people in my house...

DREW

1. He snorts when he laughs.

2. He has crazy hair.

3. He surprises us with giant hugs after he runs top speed into us.

4. He waves at everyone like Prince William.

5. He hides and giggles when it is nap or bedtime.

CHARIS

1. She lets us hold her and love her as long as we read her book after book after book.

2. She loves Praise Baby and calls it praby.

3. She is adventurous.

4. She has a mullet but, manages to make it look it cute.

5. She yells "COOKIE" after dinner.

STEPHEN

1. He loves Jesus.

2. He makes me laugh everyday.

3. He is great at finding a good deal.

4. He works hard and does a great job at work.

5. He is a great Daddy and husband.

6. He lets me sleep with the fan on.