I Don't Want to Grow Up!

"I won't grow up.
Not a penny will I pinch.
I will never grow a mustache,
Or a fraction of an inch.
'Cause growing up is awfuller
Than all the awful things that ever were.
I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up!"

Read more: Peterpan - I Won't Grow Up Lyrics | MetroLyrics

After attending a Peter Pan musical in May, my children who are obsessed with birthdays all of a sudden decided that they didn't want to grow up either.  Kai was especially touched by that song and will often tell me with tears in his eyes that he doesn't want to get bigger, but always wants to be a kid.  While some days the thought that this season (having 3 loud & spirited preschoolers in the house) is just a season and does not last forever gives me comfort, but deep down I feel the same way.  Growing up and maturing are good things, but they bring a sense of loss and sadness also.  I remember sitting at the nursery door of our Tulsa house after putting the twins to bed when they were babies and just feeling overwhelmed by love and wishing that I could freeze time.  I knew that the stage of development that they were in would not last forever and I wanted to capture all that I could.  Although the toddler/preschool age is definitely not in my natural "sweet spot" as a mother, I want to appreciate all of the uniqueness that it brings and not wish away this time, as challenging as it may be!
I have quite a bit to catch up on, so I'll start with Easter pictures!

Evidence that they truly are not ready to grow up, which is fine by me!

Isaac is finally friends with the Easter Bunny!

Making resurrection rolls before Easter

We don't get many family pics in....so here is one!

My parents came to visit the end of May for Kai and Julia's 5th birthday party.  We decided to have a casual "Ice Cream Social" at the neighborhood clubhouse and end with swimming.  There was a lot of other fun games that I had prepared for, but nothing ever goes quite as planned!  I am promising myself not to mess with birthday parties next year.  Maybe we could do a fun family adventure instead (one that does not include hours of wasted time on planning)!   Do you think they will notice? ha!

Home made ice cream & toppings!

Kai's preschool friends

 We also signed the twins up for their first organized sport.  I should have known from my short career, that soccer was probably not going to stick!  Julia spent most of the time picking up dead grass and stuffing it into her pockets.  She did not like to be aggressive (did not like the Mad Dog  or "mean puppy" drills her coach had them perform), although she has no trouble with this at home!  My parents made it to their first and last games and did see Julia score two goals (first 2 and last 2!) at her last game.  Kai enjoyed playing also.  He had difficulty keeping up with all of the running, but put forth a lot of effort!  The league that we joined (Upwards Sports) focused not only on learning the sport, but also on character building.  Every practice included a devotional time with a Bible verse.  Kai loved applying the sportsmanship lessons and was the first to help someone up if they fell down...even if they didn't want help getting up!

Uncle Zach came for a visit also.  Love him!

 With the end of Spring, also came the end of preschool.  The kids all loved their teachers and classmates, but were looking forward to summer.  Isaac had a great first year of "school" and will go again next fall 2 days a week.  For all of the mischief that he gets in at home, he was very obedient for his teacher...unless she was being too kind to say anything!

I love this Mother's Day card the preschool teachers made ;)

Julia "graduated" preschool, although she will graduate again next year!  After a lot of prayer we have decided to enroll the twins in a year of Pre-K and delay their start to Kindergarten by a year.  They just turned 5 in May (original due date was end of July), and we really believe another year of preschool and time at home will benefit them both.

Julia & Ms. Kelly

Singing praise songs :)

Kai flourished in the PPCD (preschool program for kids with disabilities) preschool through the public school this past year.  He loved his friends, teachers, and mommy loved that he was receiving speech, physical, and occupational therapy during the half day program.  We will miss his buddies and teachers greatly next year.  Since Kai turned 5 in May, he no longer is eligible for this service.  He will join Julia & Isaac at the church preschool for a year of Pre-K in the fall.  The public school will tell us in September if there is enough funds for him to continue his speech therapy sessions at the school as a drop-in service.

Last Day of School, May 2014

 Here's the comparison to the first day of school.  They actually don't look very different to me.  Maybe it's true..."They won't grow up!" 

1st Day of School, August 2013

Well, there's the recap of Spring!  I will have to wait until we get another free moment to update on Summer.  We finally are under contract on our house after being on the market for almost 6 months!  Our new house won't be completed until next Spring.  There is a lot to do in the next few months including finding a rental house and packing everything up.  I better get busy.... :)

Busy Times!

Well, a few days ago, on Isaac's birthday,  I pulled out my camera and realized that I have not used it or downloaded pictures since before Christmas. Which means, it's time to "report" everything before I forget what has happened the past few months!  Most days are a whirlwind, but I'll do my best at capturing the important moments so that at least I can reflect on this new season of life.
For starters, we are selling our house and making a move!  But, this time it is not far...just several miles to the east.  We have considered moving closer to Jared's work since he started the commute to East Dallas last May.  After doing some research and praying about our options, we realized that if possible we would love to stay in the Highland Village area, but find something closer to the expressway Jared takes to work to cut the commute slightly.  We ended up finding some land in the older part of town, where we plan on building soon.  Jared is super excited about getting a chicken coop (no restrictions in this area) and the kids are excited to have a large yard and a much talked about dog!  I'm excited about building a smaller home, but putting some fun personal touches in it (but a bit overwhelmed with all the decisions to be made!).
Some memories that I wish to forget include constantly cleaning our house for showings.  It's been on the market for over a month.  We've had some interest, but nothing finalized yet.  The kids have tried their best to help the house sell...Julia even tried to make her new carpet look "prettier" with pink & purple food dye!  Isaac also believes that our floors look much better when splattered with milk or applesauce :)

I have been very busy making trips to the Scottish Rite hospital with Kai, where he sees his team of doctors who specialize in children with Spina Bifida.  His health has been stable, but we are addressing a new bladder/bowel program, searching for an answer to his habit of rolling his head side to side, and following up with speech and language tests, MRIs, bladder/kidney ultrasounds, etc.  I've also been meeting with his preschool teachers and therapists and discussing his goals for the upcoming year.  It has been a challenge for me to fight some stereotyping and generalizations that some of his therapists put on Kai as a "child with special needs."  They have been projecting a future of limited educational and vocational goals.  While we don't know what the future holds, everything in me wants to fight against limitations that others put on my child.  Kai is very bright, although his speech delay makes him appear more delayed than he is.  Only the Lord knows what lies ahead for Kai, and I rest in that. 
Our prayer for Kai as an infant (when we really didn't know what kind if any delays he would have), was that he would understand "The Truth."  God has done more than we could ever ask or imagine.  Last fall (September 10th), Kai communicated an interest in having Jesus come into his heart.  While I was amazed at what I was hearing (while driving with him in the van!), we pulled over and had a conversation about what that means and how that impacts the rest of his life.  He was very emotional about how our sins separate us from God.  After a while his whole face lit up and he said, "Mom!  But, the Cross!" and drew it in the air to make sure I knew what he was saying.  Jared talked to him later that night and confirmed that he definitely understands (as deeply as a 4 year old can) and has made a clear decision to follow Christ.  This alone fulfills any dreams I have for my sweet boy.

Preparing for his MRI in a "spaceship"

Being silly at the preschool Valentines party

Soccer practice

Julia is doing well and has been making a lot of new friends at school.  Several of the preschool boys' mothers have told me that their sons talk about Julia a lot :)  She is definitely used to playing with the boys at home!  She enjoyed a rare moment with Daddy on Valentines Day for a Father/Daughter dance.  She was so giddy, like she was caught up in a princess fairy tale!  She talked for days about the carriage ride and the dancing.  She also loved watching the ice skaters during the Olympics and attempted to imitate all of their moves.  She (and Kai) is currently signed up for soccer, which is the first organized sport that the kids have ever tried.  The highlight is wearing pink shin guards.  I think the poor dads that coach spend more time taking the girls inside for potty breaks than they do actually coaching the game! Now that Julia has spent more than half her life as a Texan, she is starting to talk with a slight drawl.  One of her favorite things to do is go on mommy or daddy dates for "Ahhs Cream!"

 

Isaac is now 3 years old!  That is hard to believe, although he is bigger than many 4 year olds.  Although Isaac has always been known as our clown, he has been showing us new sides to his multi-faceted personality.  His teacher made the comment recently that Isaac has signs of being a bit particular & methodical in his play skills.  She made the correct assumption that daddy was an engineer!  He can also be emotional and is completely terrified of the purple minions in the movie, Despicable Me 2. His voice carries loudly everywhere he goes, much like his dad.  Some of his favorite phrases are, "Hay is for Horses (after we say Hey!...which we must say a lot), "I love you, ____Julia, (Kai, etc..), and "I want to eat!"    He also thanks God for the same things during his prayers:  "Thank you for Papa(s), Uncle Zachy, Captain Hook, and Bad Guys!"  Sometimes Mommy, Daddy, siblings, and Nana(s) get added to the list!  We had a fun time celebrating Isaac's birthday last night at dinner with friends.  Isaac is excited about an upcoming visit with Papa & Grandma Jones this weekend along with a Cowboy birthday party.

Embarrassed during Birthday serenade!

Watching balloon artist!

Here are also some pictures of our highlights from Christmas:

Julia at home group's Christmas Candle Lighting Ceremony

They let Isaac have an open flame!

Santa sighting @ Seattle Tacoma airport!

Girl cousins hanging out!

Go Tell it on the Mountain!

Christmas Eve Matching PJs from Nana & Papa Christianson!

Eating the fish that "Isaac" caught!  Julia wanted to eat the eyeballs...whose child is this?

Fall Recap!

     Hello family and friends!  I hope you are all doing well!  I had to download photos from the past few months just to remember exactly what happened.  Some of the highlights were a visit from Uncle Zach in October, a quick trip to OKC area, Halloween, and our recent trip to "Papa's House" in Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  One of the sad moments was saying good-bye to our good friends and next door neighbors who moved to Ohio.  We have been so blessed by their friendship and miss having our driveway friends.

"Mommy, we were praising the Lord in that picture!" -Julia)

We miss you Bryce & Bridgette!

We had fun visiting with Cousin Sydney and Nathan while in OKC.

We also had fun with the Mueller family!

Carving pumpkins with Uncle Zachy

The twins boogying down and  being very "helpful"  :)

Texas State Fair...Are we having fun yet?  At least Zach got his fried S'mores!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

"Angwee Birds!"

Peter Pan & Captain Hook warming up to eachother!

Princess Rapunzel

Trick or Treating w/ friends!

The kids were troupers on our 11 hour trip to Nebraska for Thanksgiving.  They were so excited to go to Papa & Nana's house, that we only stopped once along the way.  Once there we saw Uncle Zach coach a girl's basketball game, played with our 5 cousins, spent some time in Lincoln (again more sporting events :), and enjoyed time with family.  The kids played so well together that we were able to enjoy more conversation than usual!  We are so thankful for our families and wish we could see them more often!

8 cousins (one 5 year old, two 4 year olds, four 2 year olds, and one 1 year old)  So much fun!

Papa & Isaac relaxing

Kai and Nana Jones

Julia and her "best friend" Izzy!

Baby Mabel got a lot of "petting!"

Kai & Little Red at the NE girls basketball game

Isaac fighting fires at the Children's Museum