3 Men & A Little Lady

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

SUMMERS FAMILY NEWS!!!!!

Some people might think we are CRAZY, but there is nothing better than a new baby! We are so excited to have another little addition to our family at the end of September!

When we told the boys last night that mommy has a baby in her tummy their responses were hysterical! Drew told us, "I don't think that is a good idea!" Ian told us, "I want 100 babies!" Owen said, "NO!" (He does say that to everything though) I know the boys will be excited when we actually have a new little baby that they can hold. Unfortunately, they have quite a wait ahead of them!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

My kids WILL get their veggies!

I am a firm believer in the importance of a healthy diet. I make sure my boys always get the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables in a day. Drew & Ian have always eaten their veggies without a fight, even when they were toddlers. People would even comment how impressed they were with how well they ate them. I even wondered why other parents couldn't get their kids to eat their vegetables. Well of course, I am getting tested because the Lord has blessed me with a challenging eater! Owen hates vegetables and most fruit! It baffles me that I could have a child like this. He used to love steamed broccoli and that was the only veggie I could get him to eat, but even now he won't touch them. So I have had to get creative in order to get him the good nutrients that his body needs!

* If you have a weak stomach (Carmin) do not read this!

Johanna's Fresh Smoothie

I use a magic bullet to blend the following ingredients:
2 T. Flax Seed
1/3 C. Simply Orange Juice
Half of a banana
3 spoonfuls of Dannon All Natural Yogurt
Handful of fresh spinach leaves
Half of a celery stick
1 broccoli spear
4 baby tomatoes
Chunk of cucumber with the skin
Juice from half of a lemon
Handful of blueberries
Handful of strawberries

Its amazing how much he loves this smoothie. I make him one everyday, but still continue to always offer him a veggie and fruit at every meal hoping that someday he will choose to eat them for himself. So if you have a picky eater, give the smoothie a try and tell me what you think! They honestly have no clue how good it is for them and you can relax knowing your child is getting a drink packed with healthy nutrients.

Let's Race!

We use many different parenting techniques with our boys to help motivate them. Racing... has become one of our most used and popular way to get the boys to do what we want them to do. We race to see who can get up the stairs the fastest, who can put their shoes on first, & who can clean up toys the quickest. At times, Kenny & I have to drive different vehicles to church and we each take a boy, Drew usually likes to stay with me, & Ian always wants to be with Kenny. So we will "race" (very carefully) to see who can get home first. Well today Drew & I were in the lead, getting all the green lights, and staying in front of Kenny until he sped through a yellow light to pass me. Drew got VERY UPSET : crying, screaming that he wanted to win, and kicking the back seat in dismay that daddy and Ian beat us. Of course when we pulled into the driveway, Kenny & Ian were gloating about their victory, which made Drew even more upset. Kenny told him he needed to calm down and told him to go to his room. Kenny's remark to me, "Let's hope he outgrows this before he starts playing sports!"

So tonight as the boys are getting ready for bed Ian makes the statement, "I am beating you putting on my pajamas!" Drew calmly responded, "That's fine, I'll beat you next time!" WOW....I'm amazed how much he matured in one afternoon!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Mr. President

Today Barack Obama has been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America, at a historic ceremony in Washington DC. I wish him well and will pray for him as he leads our country.

Monday, January 19, 2009

New Discoveries

Today my boys and I had a blast! We discovered a Children's Museum down in the desert and spent all morning down there playing. The boys had fun playing, doing crafts, pretending, and learning!

The boys each made their own pizza and placed it in the fire burning oven.

They took a ride on a motorcycle!

They painted a Beetle Car!

They pulled themselves up using a rope.

They climbed through a rope maze.

They shopped in the cutest grocery store. I was in heaven at this point.

We will definitely be going back soon! I went ahead and got a year pass, so if anyone wants to go let me know. I love days where we go out and find cool discoveries!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Having Fun in the Sun/Mud!

Owen after going outside to play with Drew and Ian. I think he had fun!

Church Basketball

For the last several years Kenny has played along his friends church b-ball. We had our first game of the season on Friday night. It is always a highlight of the boys week. We go as a family to watch him. I sit and chat with friends, we also make up the cheering section, while the children run around. Its a tradition to then go to McDonald's after the game so the kids can play and the men can talk about the game...good times. Two years ago our team actually took first place! Kenny loves to play and continues to be very competitive.

Kenny is shooting in this shot and scores! (unfortunately that was the only shot he made the whole night)

The Banning Ball Players Wins: 0 Losses: 1

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"