Airplane

Post- L.A. trip, sometimes we play airplane. We line up stools in the kitchen, and Jake alternates between being the pilot (easy for him as a pilot's son) and a flight attendant. He first gives a very realistic preparation for takeoff spiel,  and one we reach cruising altitude, he takes on the girls' favorite role and walks along the stools doling out a few leftover-from-pottytraining pretzel M&M's.  Notice the passenger on the far right is using the distraction of airplane activity to try on big sis' shoes. That passenger is somewhat unruly at times. But everyone toes the line for the flight attendant with M&M's!

I love these random photos that you don't think much of at the time, but are funnier in retrospect. So here Abby Jane is already in her nightgown, paired with high heels. Blythe is wearing a new apron from Miss Carole (our grandma in L.A.) over her clothes, pushing Pink Baby with her Pink "night night" in the shopping cart, and Joy halfway has on a craft apron while stealthily putting on Janie's shoes. Life.

Swim lesons '12

Well, folks, there's a lot less drama than swim lessons '11. Guess it comes with being four... and having a female picture (Bonus: Mr. Doug, who taught that one series of lessons that Abby Jane absolutely flipped out on, was student at KSU. So Jake ran into him on a few occasions several months after swim lessons were over. They recognized each other, and Doug said, "You're Abby Jane's dad." Must have made a great impression.) In any case, this session is far different and is actually the only one we're doing this year to simply brush up on our basics before the pools open for summer!

 She had fun jumping in...

 and on the second day was swimming with only a small float on her back (as opposed to this noodle) the whole way across the pool.

In the meantime, Joy thinks it's really fun that there are restrooms about 30 feet from where we watch, so she likes to pass the time making potty runs. Thankfully, we haven't missed anything big yet while taking care of two year old business. :)

After school program

Bet y'all didn't know we ran one, but we do. Almost every single day, after the girls' naps, I begin it. Then, while I fix dinner, Jake finishes it.  After school program, backyard Bible club, garage toy rental... we have different names for it. But pretty much every day, it's Jake or me or both of us with a minimum of seven children, sometimes more if a neighbor has a friend over to play.  I glanced in the front yard while I was cooking the other day and saw Jake conducting a limbo line, so I thought I would capture some every day life.

Though we would truly enjoy having time just by ourselves with our kids outside, we are usually glad for the chance to love on some kids who are kind to our children and honestly in need of a bit of extra love themselves.

Malibu guests

Ironically, five days after Janie and I got back from LA, our dear friends the Fishers, who hosted us for lunch with Pepperdine friends, were swinging through Atlanta! So after a couple of years of our families not seeing each other, we got together twice in one week in two different states. Here is Miss Katie letting Joy hold baby Madison!

 Blythe and Lindsey checking each other out- they're about three months apart in age.

 All the big girls worked hard in the playroom!

We are surely thankful for these sweet friendships with friends on similar tracks in life- both Jarrett and Jake are wrapping up doctorates, but Katie and I are busy at home with little girls... and we have known each other since the pre-kid days when you develop relationships better and faster without a tiny person interrupting your sentences. :) Not that I would trade my little interrupters for anything, but they do make you have to be more intentional about establishing and keeping up friendships!

Family party

There was a big gathering of my mom's side of the family the other night to celebrate my great Aunt Julianne (far left) visiting from Oregon. Here is my precious, wonderful Grandaddy with his two little sisters Aunt Julianne and Aunt Carolyn. Let's have a moment here to appreciate the pure photogenic-ness here.

 Granny Joan and Mom joining in for a group shot before the rest of the crowd arrived...

They wanted to take a picture of me and the girls (Jake was still on his way). This makes me laugh. This is the Friday after the extremely challenging week I mentioned in the previous post on potty training. Let's just say that even in transit to my mom's that night, I was thinking it might be a baaaad idea to take my girls anywhere. They rose to the occasion long enough for us to see folks for a little bit, eat dinner, and then the crash and burn at the end was swift. At some point, Joy threw a ball onto the dining room table where all the adults were seated enjoying a little reunion. But hey, we made it, hugged all the important necks, and no major damage was done. Success.

 We'll end on another shot of these three. It was wonderful to see them!

Pottytraining Twins

So, for any of you who don't know, Jake decided that while Abby Jane and I were in LA, he would pottytrain the twins. Go ahead and insert here all the accolades and praises and comments about how ridiculously amazing he is and how I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have picked this guy. 

So while we were in LA, I got multiple picture texts of various successes in the potty, and things went very well for him, all things considered. He was the one to get the girls through that sit-around-and-wait-by-the-potty stage that can be exhausting. They performed for him in all arenas. Though there was one incidence in which our Harry the Dirty Dog book became a little dirtier by some misfire and needed cloroxing as a result.

When I came home, I felt very confident taking over the reigns of the daily runnings of our household with all three girls and pottytraining the twins, given the point to which Jake got me after a few days of hard work, lots of loads of laundry, a good bit of pretzel M&M consumption (lower in fat), and a great dose of daddy/girl bonding time.

Well.

Those first three days back were among the very hardest I've ever had as a parent, as somehow naps got thrown for a tailspin when pottytraining began. As Sandy put it, they were feeling their Wheaties.  It also turns out that Blythe likes to go on the potty for Daddy, but for Mama, she just likes to "hold it" until her naptime diaper.  It's not potty training if you don't use the potty.

 We made a go of it for those three days. Then we remembered that these twins have nothing in common other than a birthday and the day they first rolled over, so why on earth should we expect them to be ready to potty train simultaneously? So we took the pressure off Blythe, and we'll try with her again when she's more ready. That might seem like a simple decision, but I cannot express the relief it brought!

So now we have two out of three who are in princess panties in our home! YEAA for such an exciting step! Blythe is a great cheerleader. She giggles and says in her falsetto little voice, "Tankle, tankle! ["tinkle, tinkle"- thanks Mimi for expanding their vocab] Good job, Jew [Joy]!"

 ALSO, I never mentioned that we pulled the pacis the day after Easter! Joy woke from a nap saying her paci was "owwie" in her mouth, and I sagely explained that her mouth must be too grown up for her paci now, and that was the end of that. Blythe wanted to be a grown-up, too, so just like that, after almost two and a half years of being major naptime paci junkies, they kicked the habit. The only downfall there was that they chat for a long time before falling asleep for naps. I guess the pacis impeded their conversations. Sometimes I miss those pacis. It was a lot quieter back then.Those two seem to be trying to solve world hunger every afternoon, but eventually, they do fall asleep.

Mother's Day gift idea!

Through 418 Stitches, we support Hagar International and cannot say enough about what an amazing ministry it is. Really. Well this year, Hagar USA is encouraging people to honor the moms in your life with a Mother's Day gift in honor of a mother who has been freed and to help other mothers find freedom.  Check out their site for details about these cool bags. Who couldn't use another tote bag? Be green at the grocery store. Take it to the pool. There's nine million uses for a cool bag, and even better, you're giving an impactful gift that she won't forget about in two weeks. Change it up this year- what an awesome way to celebrate motherhood! The mom in your life will like it, I promise.