My mom and I went to see his little singing program and graduation.
Everytime he saw me video taping him, he'd hide from me.
Here is Mrs. Gowens.
Do you see the awkwardness?
Friday, May 23, 2014
Joshua Graduation
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Mercedes and Her Prayer
Mercedes says the sweetest prayers. I love the language she uses, although Joshua recently corrected her and told her that she should say "I'm thankful..." in place of, "I love...". For instance, Mercedes loves to tell Heavenly Father how much she loves the flowers and loves the rainbows. I think it's cute.
Yesterday, when we were driving in the car, she asked me if she could pray. I told her that she can pray anywhere she wants at anytime. I turned down the radio and preceded to listen to such a thoughtful prayer. It went something like this:
Dear Heavenly Father, I love the flowers and the trees. I love my family (and names us one by one). I love Jesus and I hope he comes again to earth soon, with Gavin, because I really want to see him, and I love him. I really want Jesus to heal my finger. I have a hurt finger and I want it to get better. I want it to look like Mommy's or Daddy's finger, or like Luke or Hannah's finger because they have good fingers. I don't want it to be like Joshua's finger, because it is ugly (Joshua recently had an infection on his nail bed and it has caused his finger to get quite weird looking- temporarily). Please help my finger to get better.... Amen.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little. It was cute. After her prayer, she told me that she wanted to pray about her finger because Jesus can heal anybody. He has the power to do that, so she wanted him to heal her finger.
**Update** Today, she showed me her finger (but, I am pretty sure it was a different one) and told me that it was all better. Then, she went on to sing a song she made up about Jesus and his power to heal anything and anyone. I love moments like that!
Yesterday, when we were driving in the car, she asked me if she could pray. I told her that she can pray anywhere she wants at anytime. I turned down the radio and preceded to listen to such a thoughtful prayer. It went something like this:
Dear Heavenly Father, I love the flowers and the trees. I love my family (and names us one by one). I love Jesus and I hope he comes again to earth soon, with Gavin, because I really want to see him, and I love him. I really want Jesus to heal my finger. I have a hurt finger and I want it to get better. I want it to look like Mommy's or Daddy's finger, or like Luke or Hannah's finger because they have good fingers. I don't want it to be like Joshua's finger, because it is ugly (Joshua recently had an infection on his nail bed and it has caused his finger to get quite weird looking- temporarily). Please help my finger to get better.... Amen.
I couldn't help but chuckle a little. It was cute. After her prayer, she told me that she wanted to pray about her finger because Jesus can heal anybody. He has the power to do that, so she wanted him to heal her finger.
**Update** Today, she showed me her finger (but, I am pretty sure it was a different one) and told me that it was all better. Then, she went on to sing a song she made up about Jesus and his power to heal anything and anyone. I love moments like that!
Monday, May 12, 2014
Mother's Day Thoughts
This Mother's Day was awesome!
Joshua made it very special to me when I went to his classroom for the annual Mother's Day Tea party. I was a little late, and so I was one of the last people in the room. Most of the other kids had found their moms and Joshua was scouring over the crowd with his eyes. When he caught hold of me, he got this huge smile on his face and started waving me over to him. He gave me some gifts he had made for me in his class: a book, and placemat, and a painted glass bowl. He answered some questions about me which demonstrated that he knows me pretty well. Some of the questions were:
1. When is your mom the prettiest? A. Right after she showers.
2. What is your moms favorite drink? A. Water
3. How old is your mom? A. 31
4. What is your mom's favorite place to eat? A. Cafe Rio
5. What does your mom do with you? A. Takes me to the store... Home Depot... to get supplies for our new house.
6. What do you love most about your mom? A. That she's my mom.
He also was really excited the other morning when he came to me and told me that he had another surprise for me. He had made me a crown out of an empty toilet paper roll and left it blank (so that I could decorate it). He told me he thought of the idea while he was pooping. I told him that he really made me feel special and he said, "that's because you are special". After that, I had to bend over and try to retrieve my heart that had just melted into one, big, gooey puddle.
The other day I had watched an episode of the Wonder Years which had left me crying. It was about a young boy who is no longer in need of his mother's constant nurturing. He was 13, and he didn't want to be babied. Anyway, of course it was written with sappy music and old flashbacks to when he was little and his mom was the center of his universe--a golden recipe to reduce any mother to tears, but especially me, because I have a tender heart (or so I have been told). Jon Mark heard my sniffling and turned around to find me wiping my eyes. "You're crying?" He asked me with a smile. Of course I was crying. Such an episode caused me to immediately see, in my mind's eye, all of my own children grown and leaving the nest. Suddenly, I went from being a young mother with four young kids, to an old lady whose arms were empty and heart was yearning to be that nurturer again.
Change is difficult for me. It always has been. It was hard for me when Vanessa left for college because I knew that our family was not going to be the same family that I had known and loved. Eventually, she would come home with a man that she chose to marry and our family as I knew it, would change. On the night before Vanessa was to leave, my mom had us sing the song, God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again, around the piano. I cried that night, because change was thick upon the air. Then, there was one summer evening when Lindsay and I sat out on some swings and watched the sunset for one last time, just as the two of us. I had met Jon Mark and I was pretty sure that it would turn into something permanent, so as we sat on those swings, I knew that I was soon to be leaving behind those moments with my sister. I would still have moments with her, but it wouldn't be the same. It would be different. Great, but different. There have been lots of chapters in my life, and eventually they all close, sometimes opening up to new and even better chapters, yet turning that first page is always hard.
Someday, I will know for sure, 100% sure, that I am done having babies of my own. My body will be my own again, not to be shared with my baby. My body will someday get a full night's rest on a routine basis. Someday, I will be able to type posts like this one without a baby trying to type on the keyboard or a three year old crying at my feet. I will feel sane and I will be on time. I will wear black without the fear of wearing spit-up on my shoulder. I will wear white pants without a second thought. Someday my kids will learn how to brush their own teeth and fix their own hair. I won't have to sing Rubber Ducky or Splish Splash while I attempt to help entertain a little one during bath time. Someday, and that day will come all too soon, my time will be my own. My days will be quiet. My ears won't be ringing with a chorus of "MOM!". My back won't hurt from holding a baby on my hip. The house will stay clean. I will be able to use the bathroom without some child supervising my every move. I won't have to hide behind the laundry room door to sneak a piece of candy. And, someday, I will miss it. All of it. Because motherhood, is the best.
Motherhood means that I get to practice over and over again self-sacrifice and patience. Motherhood is challenging and it is mundane. It means seeing the best in someone little, when all others can see is a tantrum throwing mess in the grocery isle. Motherhood is laughing until I cry, and crying until I laugh. It is a chubby fist full of hair and an open mouth, snotty kiss. It's chocolate drool, and a broken record. It's high-pitched voices singing along with me. It's bright eyes, and spontaneous hugs. Motherhood is hand prints on the glass door that I had just gotten through cleaning. It's tucking in, and then tucking in all over again because someone forgot that last cup of water--again. It's telling them "no" and bracing myself for the inevitable tears that follow. It's giving lots of make-me-better kisses. Motherhood is encouraging their best one more time while resisting the urge to just do it for them. It's about lullabies and lay-by's. It's about empathy and tears. Motherhood is singing about Jesus. Motherhood is insanity cloaked in wisdom. Motherhood is the best.
So, Joshua, Mercedes, Luke, and Hannah, thank you for making me a mom. Wearing white pants in so over-rated anyway :)
Jon Mark, thank you for supporting me as I stay home with our children. You are everything to me, and my life is so blessed by you. You are such a wonderful husband and father. You are my perfect match. I know that you hate public announcements of love and affection. But, no one really reads this blog anyway, so it's not really a public announcement. I love you!!
Joshua made it very special to me when I went to his classroom for the annual Mother's Day Tea party. I was a little late, and so I was one of the last people in the room. Most of the other kids had found their moms and Joshua was scouring over the crowd with his eyes. When he caught hold of me, he got this huge smile on his face and started waving me over to him. He gave me some gifts he had made for me in his class: a book, and placemat, and a painted glass bowl. He answered some questions about me which demonstrated that he knows me pretty well. Some of the questions were:
1. When is your mom the prettiest? A. Right after she showers.
2. What is your moms favorite drink? A. Water
3. How old is your mom? A. 31
4. What is your mom's favorite place to eat? A. Cafe Rio
5. What does your mom do with you? A. Takes me to the store... Home Depot... to get supplies for our new house.
6. What do you love most about your mom? A. That she's my mom.
He also was really excited the other morning when he came to me and told me that he had another surprise for me. He had made me a crown out of an empty toilet paper roll and left it blank (so that I could decorate it). He told me he thought of the idea while he was pooping. I told him that he really made me feel special and he said, "that's because you are special". After that, I had to bend over and try to retrieve my heart that had just melted into one, big, gooey puddle.
The other day I had watched an episode of the Wonder Years which had left me crying. It was about a young boy who is no longer in need of his mother's constant nurturing. He was 13, and he didn't want to be babied. Anyway, of course it was written with sappy music and old flashbacks to when he was little and his mom was the center of his universe--a golden recipe to reduce any mother to tears, but especially me, because I have a tender heart (or so I have been told). Jon Mark heard my sniffling and turned around to find me wiping my eyes. "You're crying?" He asked me with a smile. Of course I was crying. Such an episode caused me to immediately see, in my mind's eye, all of my own children grown and leaving the nest. Suddenly, I went from being a young mother with four young kids, to an old lady whose arms were empty and heart was yearning to be that nurturer again.
Change is difficult for me. It always has been. It was hard for me when Vanessa left for college because I knew that our family was not going to be the same family that I had known and loved. Eventually, she would come home with a man that she chose to marry and our family as I knew it, would change. On the night before Vanessa was to leave, my mom had us sing the song, God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again, around the piano. I cried that night, because change was thick upon the air. Then, there was one summer evening when Lindsay and I sat out on some swings and watched the sunset for one last time, just as the two of us. I had met Jon Mark and I was pretty sure that it would turn into something permanent, so as we sat on those swings, I knew that I was soon to be leaving behind those moments with my sister. I would still have moments with her, but it wouldn't be the same. It would be different. Great, but different. There have been lots of chapters in my life, and eventually they all close, sometimes opening up to new and even better chapters, yet turning that first page is always hard.
Someday, I will know for sure, 100% sure, that I am done having babies of my own. My body will be my own again, not to be shared with my baby. My body will someday get a full night's rest on a routine basis. Someday, I will be able to type posts like this one without a baby trying to type on the keyboard or a three year old crying at my feet. I will feel sane and I will be on time. I will wear black without the fear of wearing spit-up on my shoulder. I will wear white pants without a second thought. Someday my kids will learn how to brush their own teeth and fix their own hair. I won't have to sing Rubber Ducky or Splish Splash while I attempt to help entertain a little one during bath time. Someday, and that day will come all too soon, my time will be my own. My days will be quiet. My ears won't be ringing with a chorus of "MOM!". My back won't hurt from holding a baby on my hip. The house will stay clean. I will be able to use the bathroom without some child supervising my every move. I won't have to hide behind the laundry room door to sneak a piece of candy. And, someday, I will miss it. All of it. Because motherhood, is the best.
Motherhood means that I get to practice over and over again self-sacrifice and patience. Motherhood is challenging and it is mundane. It means seeing the best in someone little, when all others can see is a tantrum throwing mess in the grocery isle. Motherhood is laughing until I cry, and crying until I laugh. It is a chubby fist full of hair and an open mouth, snotty kiss. It's chocolate drool, and a broken record. It's high-pitched voices singing along with me. It's bright eyes, and spontaneous hugs. Motherhood is hand prints on the glass door that I had just gotten through cleaning. It's tucking in, and then tucking in all over again because someone forgot that last cup of water--again. It's telling them "no" and bracing myself for the inevitable tears that follow. It's giving lots of make-me-better kisses. Motherhood is encouraging their best one more time while resisting the urge to just do it for them. It's about lullabies and lay-by's. It's about empathy and tears. Motherhood is singing about Jesus. Motherhood is insanity cloaked in wisdom. Motherhood is the best.
So, Joshua, Mercedes, Luke, and Hannah, thank you for making me a mom. Wearing white pants in so over-rated anyway :)
Jon Mark, thank you for supporting me as I stay home with our children. You are everything to me, and my life is so blessed by you. You are such a wonderful husband and father. You are my perfect match. I know that you hate public announcements of love and affection. But, no one really reads this blog anyway, so it's not really a public announcement. I love you!!
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Mother's Day BYU Video
Pregnant Power
BYU TV has done a comedy sketch video about the power that pregnant ladies have. I thought it was funny, so I had to share with all of those pregnant ladies out there.
HAHA!!
BYU TV has done a comedy sketch video about the power that pregnant ladies have. I thought it was funny, so I had to share with all of those pregnant ladies out there.
HAHA!!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Luke's Birthday Part 2
Luke, you loved everything about this day, and that makes me so happy. You sure are growing up fast, but you still need hugs and kisses, and a lot of cuddles. Sometimes, when you're having a rough day, if I am wise enough to reflect, I realize that it is because you didn't get enough cuddles. So, on those days, I sit down and offer to take you in my arms and I cuddle you for good long time. After that, you're always much better behaved.
You got roller skates for your birthday and you have been wearing them everywhere. I got to Target, and when I took you out of your car seat, I saw that instead of shoes on your feet, you were wearing your roller skates. You roller skated all over Target.
You are a sensitive little guy, but you're learning to not cry so much. You were almost potty-trained, but I think you decided that it's much more convenient to go in your pull-up. I'll have to potty-train you the right way when we move into our new house.
You're a quick learner at physical things, perhaps it's because you want to keep up with your brother and sister. You can climb and jump and scoot around and skate. You should see the distance you can make in a two-legged jump. The other day, you saw me exercising and you went and got a stool to jump up and down on like I was doing on a chair. You did well!
We love you, Luke!
Luke's Birthday Part 1
We went to Chuck E Cheese for Luke's birthday, it was so much fun. I think I became a little kid again. I dominated the boys in basketball... but only once. The stars must have aligned perfectly, or something, because I went back to being very bad after that one amazing run.
He wanted a camp fire cake. So, I made a camp fire cake. Courtesy of Pinterest, I loved the way it turned out. The cake itself wasn't very tasty, but the presentation was awesome! HAHA!
Papa Haws
Grandma Haws
Hannah
Mercedes
Bekah, Meilie, Lindsay (sorry Lin).
Joshua
Daddy
Nick
Me and my dad
Michelle, Luke, and Joshua
Jessica
Bear
Elephanti (Evelyn)
Luke had a blast all day. He woke up and ate his birthday breakfast, which he chose to be cereal. Then, we went and he picked out a balloon and told everyone in the store that it was his birthday. He watched me make his cake while he played with his cousins. We went to his party and he ate pizza. When we got home, he opened his present from us (a 2 person scooter). Dad let him eat cereal again before bed because it was his birthday. He tried on his new roller skates and Joshua played with his new darts (Joshua was very excited about that present and pretty much took it over). At the end of the day, Mercedes exclaimed, "this was the best birthday ever!" And, it wasn't even her birthday, so I'd say that it was a success.
Banana's Party
Hannah had a fun party with all of her cousins and grandparents. We had it at the McAvoy's playground.
I made a smash cake in the shape of a banana, and she ate the whole thing! She was on a sugar high and acting so silly.
We had banana nut home made ice cream. YUMMY!
Would you know that it has been a little over a week since her birthday and she can pretty much walk but prefers to crawl around? And, more impressive is that she can climb three rungs up a huge ladder. I didn't let her climb any higher, but I bet she can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)