Shower options, if you're 6....

Let me set the scene. You are a 6 1/2 year old boy. 

It is HOT and you are up late after watching Daddy play softball. 

You go outside to help mom water the vegetable garden.

But then the sprinklers come on. 

Now 5 minutes ago he DID NOT want to shower. No siree.

The sprinklers though. That is A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY. 

Complete 6 year old joy right here folks. 

I love you mommy! 

Theres my silly boy. 

JOY. I'm just glad he left his clothes on. 

Look at this face. I mean how do you say no to this adorable boy?

My little big boy. He is my joy. 

This one turned out cool, you can see where he jumped to while my camera was getting the shot. Tonight I was wishing for a bigger flash for my camera so I could catch all his cuteness. 

So all these pictures just to say, Nathan showered in the sprinklers tonight. And I'm ok with that. He wants to do it again though. I really hope this doesn't make actual shower time more difficult.......

 Oh well. 

Our adoptive families

     You see these two beautiful women sitting with me? They are two of my heroes. And two women I love and respect and have so much gratitude for. I don't think I'll ever be able to describe how thankful I am for them and their loving hearts. 

   They took care of my daughters before I could. They loved them and nourished them and fought for them when nobody else would. They opened their homes and their hearts to them. They are part of my girls' story. And they are part of my story. 

   We keep in contact with them because they are family. I didn't know when we started our adoption process how much our family would grow. And I love how it has. I prayed for them while I prayed for my girls when I didn't even know I would get two daughters! I prayed our daughters would be in safe loving homes and they were. They were loved more than I imagined. 

    We had a great visit with them. The kids all played and we got to talk. They got to see the girls bigger. We stay in touch via Facebook and texting but this was this first we'd seen them in many months. 

     Lindy had been asking about her second birthday, which she had while in foster care, and so her foster mom got to tell her about it. I loved watching her eyes light up as she learned she had gifts and chocolate cake and pizza. She got to hear a few stories about when she was little that I didn't have. I love that. 

   Pray for the wonderful people who are foster patents and take care and fight for children who are not "theirs". So many of them pour so much of themselves in to the lives of little (and sometimes not so little) ones. They fight hard and it's a hard fight. 

My daughters and me

Today the boys have spent the day with Nana after spending the night, so it's just been the girls and me.

Lindy and I had a lazy morning in bed while Sarah slept in. Lindys been quietly getting out of bed in the morning to go potty then snuggling with me. It's been great because its some of the first times she has really initiated that kind of thing with me. It's been sweet times in the morning as she climbs in my bed. We snuggle and talk and laugh. This morning I was tired from a long night with Sarah so I turned some cartoons on for her. Oh how I love lazy summer mornings. Well lets be honest, I love lazy mornings. 

There's been baking. 

And of course eating. 

And time with our babies. 

I've even got some bible study done. 

It's been a quiet day. But I've enjoyed the time, and I've enjoyed watching them play and listening to them play with each other. And I am just so grateful The Lord has entrusted me with them. That I get to be their mommy, and they are my daughters. What a joy I have in them. 

Teaching them to appreciate their belongings

    We've had this problem with the boys lately. Maybe some of you can relate.

Not super bad, but in our house by 6 & 8 they should know better than to leave their room looking like this.

I mean really, right next to the empty hamper?!?

  The thing is, with our kids we really try to teach them early on to put their things away in the right place, and to put toys away when they are done. And they're really not horrible at it, but they are 6 and 8 and by now should know better. And the things that really bother me, are the toys all around the house, or left outside. Or clothes just tossed on the floor, or again left outside. Expensive Hurly hats that are left outside all night, shoes and socks left out getting rained on. You get the idea. I'm sure most of you are parents and experience the same frustrations. So we came up with a plan. I bought a clear storage bin from Walmart and we sat the boys down and told them if things were left out, they would be taken away until the offending party earned them back. We would not be buying them anything new as long as they had things in the box, and we would donate everything that wasn't earned back in a couple weeks time. If they didn't want them enough to earn them back, we would give it to someone who would appreciate it.   

  I bought a clear bin so they could see in, and placed it right in the front room next to the hall so they could see it. Also every time I'm out shopping and see something I'd like to get them I remind them that I can't. That might be kinda mean, but I want them to know they're missing out! 

   Well the box got fuller and fuller and so I reminded the boys that I would be taking things out to give away soon. That was yesterday and boy did they get in gear! 

He had to sweep and then clean, by hand on hands and knees, the kitchen floor

I'm pretty sure he enjoyed this one. And it was great I got the lawn mowed and he earned back some things!

 They also vacuumed and dusted and cleaned both bathrooms. Mostly I'd like them to do extra chores that are not part of their responsibilities in the family, but yesterday I was in need of tasks for them. So although they are asked to vacuum sometimes, I had vacuum and dusting as one job, and really made sure it was done well. And both bathrooms were cleaned by one boy, and more was asked of him then usual.

  I don't know if this will help. I need a better list of this for them to do to earn things back. We do still have somethings in the bin today, and I'm not sure what chores to have them do now. We'll have to put our heads together to figure out more. I'll probably make a list. 

  So tell me parents do you have the same thing going on at your house? And if not, please tell me the secret!!  

A post you need to read

       Just a quick post today, I wanted y'all to head over to my beautiful friend Laura's blog and read this post (actually I think you should read the whole blog, but this post in particular is on my mind today). She talks about the words we say to our children and how important they are. And the words they really need to hear from us. It's been on my heart and mind since she posted it and I think is a really good reminder to all us moms (and dads) who easily get stuck in just day to day operations, and forget that we are helping to form little people! Anyway, please, please go check it out, and share with your friends. And think about it. It has given me so much to think about and I will soon be posting my thoughts too, so go read it!! Like now. Heres the link again, Words they need to hear. Have a blessed day!

Monster's birthday

  We had a birthday this weekend! Our youngest turned two. Her nickname around here is Monster, so I thought a fun monster party would be great. And it was fun to plan. I kinda like "out of the box" party ideas.  I looked through Pinterest for party ideas, but didn't find much, and nothing I wanted to do for her party. I got the invitations from a seller on easy.com, but I don't have that info.

 The banner letters, I got from this awesome blog. I've used then before to create a Thanksgiving banner, and they are such a great size, and so fun. 

       I did find a lot of great monster stuff at Oriental Trading Company, they had "Valentine" monster stuff on sale and the colors were perfect, because I wanted girlie colors, and was having a hard time finding it. I forgot to take more decoration pictures, but you can still find the things here, and here. The goody bags were bought from Oriental Trading as well, but I couldn't find them there tonight. They were filled with fun, not scary, monster goodies- balls, pop-ups, small monster bath ducks, mini monster beach balls, goofy build a monster stickers, and monster tattoos (but I couldn't find them tonight either). 

   Solomon helped me decorate the cupcakes. I just picked up the eye candies at Michael's, and we added fun faces. 

   Our little monster had a great time at her party. She was the center of attention and loved it so much.  Happy birthday Monster! 

Call me a prude....

    My six year old son said the wisest thing to me the other day. We were talking about summer and how excited we are to swim and get a small pool for the backyard and he says, "You know what girl's swim suits I don't like?"
"No brother, what girl's swim suits don't you like?" Since he's not too into girls being girly I thought it'd be something about the ones with skirts I buy his sisters.
"You know the ones that are like triangles and just cover their privates? I don't like those."
Well this surprised me. "Oh? Why?"
"Cause it barely covers their privates, and I'm worried I'll see their privates and I'm not supposed to ever see that."
Then Solomon chimes in "Ya thats not good to almost see that."
  Question- Why do my 6 & 8 year old boys get this and so many people don't? Sure when most people see a little girl in a tiny bikini it looks very innocent to them. And I get that it's really not intended to be sexual. One of my big reasons for not dressing my daughters in all the adorable teeny tiny bikinis is this; it is not intended to be sexual, but it can easily be seen that way. I'm sure my boys aren't the only ones bothered by this, and I know their dad feels the same about some women's suits we've seen in public. But beyond that, there are creeppy sexual predators all around us anymore. I don't want some sleazy man looking at my sweet innocent daughter in a sexual way, even if he doesn't do the unthinkable and act on it. And more over I don't want them to grow up thinking that wearing teeny tiny swim suits will be ok with me. Because what is cute on a 3 year old is downright inappropriate on a 13 year old.
   Additionally with so much information on the effects of the sun and the devastation of skin cancer, why are we expose so much of our children's skin? I have always had my boys where rash guard shirts when they have their swimming suits on. I was so disappointed when I went looking for girl's swimwear last year and had a hard time finding rash guard shirts for girls! I don't want more skin to be showing and subject to harm UV rays.
    And really it's not just the little girls, or teenage girls, swim wear. Its even the clothing that I find out in stores.  It is so frustrating trying to find cute spring and summer clothes for my girls. "Spaghetti" straps and halter tops litter the shirt selection, and the length of the shorts that are made for little girls will barely cover their bottoms, let alone a diaper covered bottom. These things may be cute on little girls, but I often think, would I want them wearing these clothes when they're teens? No I don't! And I don't want to raise my daughters thinking that showing off your body is how to get positive attention from either sex.
   And I'm not just thinking about how this will effect my daughters, but my sons as well. Theres no wonderful mystery of the female body any more. I don't want my boys to believe that all women's bodies are for them to look at, to think of women so little that they just notice her body.
    My friend Laura wrote a great post titled Overexposure and Our Sacred Bodies (to read her post just click the titled link). And I agree with a lot of what she is saying, theres a lot of good points. It makes me sad that my children are subject to so much sexualization in our culture.
    I'm not saying our daughters, or ourselves, have to wear burkas, or big ole shapeless dresses from neck to ankle. There are lots of cute clothing options out there that we can still be modest. My fabulously dressed friend Andrea at She'sCRAFTY does a monthly fashion post called helloSTYLE at Fancy Littles Things. She dresses so cute and modestly and highlights that in her fashion post. She's inspired me for quite a few outfits. We may have to look harder ladies, but cute and modest clothes are out there.
  Now let me be very clear here- I am NOT saying that parents who dress their little girls in any of the clothing I mentioned are bad parents. I know very good parents who I've seen their daughters in what I would not dress my daughters in. It is a personal conviction I have. I'm just asking if we as parents, and as society, have truly thought of the ramifications of how we're dressing our daughters.