A Marvelous March

Ballet & Tap

Jenni is enjoying ballet and working on her recital dances. She is working on her leaps and loves practicing at home. Jenni is also enjoying tap, the upbeat music she dances to, and learning another recital dance.

BSF

We are loving BSF! Jenni loves meeting the "special blessing" in her class each week (the weekly volunteer that helps her teachers) and she loves helping her friends and learning more about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Joshua gets so excited each morning he learns that we are going to Bible Study. He yells out "Bible! Bible! Bible!" Jenni loves sharing with Joshua what she learns during her Bible study time and talks to him about how they can worship God together.

Soccer
Games

 

High fives

 Jenni playing defense

 Joshua taking a break from his explorations

Joshua practicing his soccer skills on the sidelines...with a basketball
(Little man couldn't find his soccer ball before we left :) )

 Eric being a "soccer dad" :)

 Joshie being a cute and supportive little brother :)

 Sweet Jenni J

 J did a lot of smiling during this game

 Joshie did a lot of resting this game :)

I love Jenni's kick-ins...and pretty much anything 4 year old's do when playing soccer.

Practice

 Jenni practicing kicking with the inside of her foot

Jenni's sweet high kick

Soccer practices continue and Jenni J has begun spring soccer games. We enjoy watching J play and cheering the girls on! Joshua is so excited when he hears it's soccer practice time and runs to find his little soccer ball to kick on the sidelines! This month included our family's turn to provide snacks for after the game - which is most definitely a highlight of my life! There were a number of things I really wanted to do when I was a little girl, thinking about when I would be a mommy, and one of the things I looked forward to was bringing the snacks for soccer! I call these things the "Highlights of My Life" and another highlight is artwork on the fridge! :)

Six Flags in the Spring

Sweet little ones

Eric took Jenni on a roller coaster, so Joshua and I headed to the kid-friendly rides where Joshua rode the airplane for the first time by himself. He much prefers to ride with Jenni and she be the "driver." :)

Jenni J waiting patiently to ride the hot air balloon/Ferris wheel type ride - one of her favorites.

Jenni enjoys all the characters. Joshua loves loves loves Sylvester.

Waiting for his turn with daddy on El Sombrero.

Jenni J watching the boys.

Joshua's excited face when he goes on rides. He usually keeps this face the whole ride, puts his hands in the air, and then afterwards tells us about his tummy tickling. :)

 What fun we have at Six Flags! Jenni has been counting down the weeks until Six Flags reopened for the spring. The first thing Joshua asked after learning that Six Flags was reopening was if he could ride "the hat" (el sombrero) and hug Sylvester the Cat (his favorite). Sweet boy. Jenni enjoys all the rides she is able to go on and enjoys seeing all the characters dressed in costumes. Joshua loves to put his hands in the air when he is on bigger rides and hug Sylvester any chance he sees him. Beautiful weather and wonderful memories!

Frozen Yogurt Date

 

 Joshua enjoyed Eric's toppings :)

Jenni J is growing up too fast! 

Girls Date

 Jenni came along with me when I was getting a pedicure. She enjoyed relaxing in her message chair, talking with the other ladies, and getting her fingernails and toenails polished. She was very excited at the idea of picking her own color of polish and made sure to pick one with sparkles! Afterward, we went to the mall to do some spring shopping!

Home Building

 We decided to build our first house! To read our monthly update click here.

Visiting Grandpa & Grandma!

Easter Egg Filling

 Joshie roaring at Grandma :)

 Joshie roaring at Grandpa and Jenni roaring at Grandma :)

Joshua's scared face

The littles had lots of fun filling their Easter eggs with candy and little animals. Grandma was sweet enough to find some yummy treats that the kiddos could eat and easily fill into the eggs. Jenni enjoyed filling the eggs and Joshua got distracted with the treats and probably ate more candy than he filled eggs. Once he found the little animals, he enjoyed roaring at everyone.

Playtime at the Park

 Joshua fell asleep on the drive there :)

We spent time at our two favorite parks. One was super sunny and the other was nice and shaded. Jenni enjoyed running around to the different play sets with Grandma and Joshie enjoyed playing with Grandpa.

Spring Pictures

I took a few pictures of Jenni and Joshua outside. At the end of the pictures they each picked a flower for Grandma from her garden. :)

Easter Egg Hunting

 We paid a long overdue visit to Grandpa and Grandma's! We sure do miss when we lived two hours away, when we could hop in the car and be at their house much quicker. Jenni is typically always patient during our car rides - and Joshie too - but this time he was ready to be at PaPa's house in about an hour. So sweet Jenni J kept talking to Joshua in the backseat about patience and how we would be there soon...just not really soon :)

We had a lot of fun visiting Grandpa and Grandma. Jenni enjoyed chatting with Grandma, listening to Grandma tell stories about when Aunt Andrea and Mommy were little girls, having Grandpa read her new books, going on walks through the neighborhood, making craft projects and helping with lunch and dinner preparations, and doing an early Easter egg hunt! Joshua loved helping Grandma, being Grandpa John's sidekick, taking boy walks with Grandpa, and swinging in the backyard.

Sweet Snapshots

Jenni has really improved riding her bike since getting it for Christmas. She is getting much better at steering and peddles at a nice pace.

 Jenni working on a few puzzles

 Joshua Gabriel enjoying a laugh on the way home from Bible study

 Sweet little man flying his helicopter in the car on our way to church

 Joshua's extent of helping in the kitchen :)

Little Man, Little Man
When I checked on Joshua after nap time, I saw that he stacked a book tower :)

 I tried to take a few pictures before BSF. Little Man was more interested in the airplane. :)

Love this boy!

Sweet Jenni J

 Getting ready to go in to BSF!

Joshie looking like a sad, lost puppy :)

Keeping up with the family's activities can be tiring for a growing boy!

Overheard

Singing in the car...

Jenni: "Mommy, you know I love singing to Taylor, but right now I really just want to worship God. Can you put in a God CD please?"

Jenni: "I like to worship God by singing to Him. Do you think God enjoys me singing to Him as much as I enjoying seeing to Him?"

Talking about school activities for the week...
Jenni: "I have an art idea. Do you think we can do a God project this week?"
Me: "What's a God project?"
Jenni: "Like our art project for the week. Each day I can do a painting of things God created...like the sky and flowers and stars and sun."

Eric coming home after work...
Eric: "Jenni it looks like there's a hundred puzzle pieces on the floor. Have you been working on puzzles today?"
Jenni: "Yeah, but there's not just a hundred pieces here Daddy! I think there's probably a few hundred."

Jenni's understanding of larger numbers...
Jenni: "Mommy, I've been thinking about how much I love you. I love you eighteen million."
A few minutes later...
Jenni: "I love Joshie like...thirty thousand. That's still a big number right?":)

We told Jenni that we were planning on building a house...
Jenni: "We're going to build a house?! How are we going to do that?!"

Jenni being a little mommy...
Jenni: "Joshua, you feel a little warm. Do you have a fever sweet boy? Do you feel alright?"

With me being pregnant and Eric traveling, I taught Jenni J how to call Grandma Linda in case of an emergency...
Jenni: "I think that's enough practice. Now let's really call Grandma and I can talk to her."
After their little chat...
Jenni: "Now I feel like a real mommy! Will you show me how you text people please?"
Oh Sweet Jenni J :) So I showed her how to text daddy and the message she typed was "I love you. You love me." :)

On our drive to Grandpa and Grandma's, Joshua was upset and Jenni was trying to explain that God has work for every believer to do and that Joshua has to listen to God to know what his work is...a complicated concept for a tired two year old...
Jenni: "Joshua, if you keep crying you won't be able to hear God try to speak to you. You have to be quiet, sweetheart."
After several unsuccessful attempts of calming Joshua down...
Jenni: "Mommy, do you think God will email Joshua if he won't listen to Him?"
Later on, Joshie was still sad...
Jenni: "Joshie, when I'm sad I sing a pretty song."
Me: "Jenni, I really don't think Joshua thinks like that."
Jenni: "Joshie, just try to think of a pretty song or I can think of one for you." :)

Jenni waking up from nap...
Jenni: "Mommy, I'm nice and cheerful now. Can I stay up with you?"
The wonders of a nap!

Jenni's guessing game...
Jenni: "It starts with I. I...I...I...
Me: "iPod touch, Jenni?"
Another example...
Jenni: "I want to do something. It starts with the sound p...p...p...
Me: "Paint, Jenni?"

Jenni during school time...
Jenni: "We're doing all this so I can be in kindergarten, right?"

Jenni is very excited about starting kindergarten...
Jenni: "What does it feel like to be in kindergarten?" :)

An Update on Jenni

Jenni J continues her love of puzzles. This month she began to do multiple puzzles at once. I found her working at the train table with three puzzles open, 300 puzzle pieces spread across the table, and her working on all three puzzles at once. Jenni's love of singing continues to grow and she prefers to sing songs about God than any others. She still enjoys helping me in the kitchen, cooking, baking or simply cleaning up. She still prefers skirts or dresses over shorts or pants and prefers her hair down instead of a ponytail. She enjoys getting dressed for school in the morning and by dinner time has changed outfits or is dressed up in a princess costume. Jenni enjoys telling ridiculous jokes that sometimes (but usually don't) make sense but Joshua thinks they're hilarious. Example joke: "Why do chickens sit on their eggs? Because they don't have chairs!" A sweet thing about J this month is her enjoyment of being told stories from when I was a little girl.

An Update on Joshua

Little Man, Little Man. He is a sweet pea and loves having his back rubbed when he is tired. He also enjoys going to sleep with a train, car or helicopter in hand, so we hear helicopter noises in Joshua's room for a few minutes until he drifts off to sleep or we hear him calling out "choo choo" for several minutes. Sweet boy. Joshua also likes to pick up his room often and is very particular about putting his toys in the correct baskets. He also likes things clean - if he gets a spot on his shirt, he wants it changed, if he drops food on the table, he washes it with a washcloth, etc.  Joshua enjoys coloring, painting, building with legos and making plenty of noise playing trains or cars. He prefers to wear his boots over other shoes and pretends to put gel in his hair, like his daddy. This past month he has become extremely loving and sweet, running up to Eric, Jenni or me giving us big hugs or kisses. And his vocabulary is expanding and we are all quite proud of him!

An Update on Baby J

Baby J is a healthy, growing babe with a strong heart! We are so thankful for good progress reports from the doctor! I can now feel our sweet babe moving around and Jenni is looking forward to when she can feel the babe move around too! And we found out that our sweet babe is a BOY! Jenni was thrilled when she heard the news and was literally jumping up and down. I'm pretty sure Joshua only cares that the baby is real (and not a doll) because each time he mentions the babe he wants to make sure that the babe can cry and suck their thumb. Sweet brother. We are so excited to meet our newest little man!