Thursday, January 31, 2013

One on one

One of my goals this year is to schedule more one on one time with my kids!  They each need special time with me and I NEED time with them as well!  As Caleb is getting older he is able to spend time in the toy room with the older kids so it frees me for time with the others.  Caleb gets his time with me as we snuggle, as a nurse him, as I give him a bath and feed him.  Grace gets her time with me when the others are napping.  We read together, play games, snuggle on the couch, and do schoolwork.

BUT… it is harder and hard for me to make special time with Hannah and Josiah. I am working on it, though, and I have a plan that will include special one on one times with each of those two throughout the week.  Here is just one of the special things I did this week.

On Tuesday, Josiah and I had a BLAST as we made No Bake Cookies together.  He loved the idea of helping me make cookies and he was SUPER excited to eat them after dinner.  He was a great help as he dumped the ingredients in the pot and stirred, and as you can tell he was really concentrating on his task… he is a task person!  Thanks, Little Buddy!  I loved spending that special time with you.  Mommy loves you!

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There is SO SHARING the utensils when you work with just mommy!  He got to lick it CLEAN and he didn’t miss ANY spots!  That’s our boy!

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Gymnast in the Making!

Ever since seeing the gymnastic trials back last spring/early summer, Grace has wanted to do gymnastics.  After seeing the Olympics she was CONVINCED that we HAD to let her try!  She was going to be the next Gabby Douglas (who trained in West DSM)!  She walks like a gymnast, flips like a gymnast, reads books about gymnastics, and even makes her own routines (this summer I drew a balanced beam on the driveway so she could practice!).   We wanted to be sure that this is what she wanted to do, and we knew it was when we got the reminders from her over and over.  This wasn’t just a passing fad… it was more than that. 

So… we gave her a leotard for Christmas and signed her up to preview a few classes.  We have now settled on Sapphire Gymnastics on Thursday nights from 6-7. She has a small class and a firm but friendly teacher, who was impressed that Grace has never taken gymnastics before!  :)  She is the youngest in her class, but she is really hardworking and feisty (like her momma) so I know she will do fine!  I just LOVE watching her! Here are pictures from her first class….

Stretching and warming up…

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Cartwheels….

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Backwards somersaults…..Hmmmm… how do we do this?

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Bars work…. casting, elevations, and rolls…..

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Beam work….walking forward and backward, flamingo walking (putting her toe to her knee), and spins….

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She also had lots of tumbling and even some work on the vault.  She really likes all the parts of the night…. can’t wait to see her in action tonight!!  Our little gymnast in the making!!

Money, Money, Money!

Starting January 1, 2013, Josiah is now participating in the chores around the Lightner house!  He is making his own bed, putting his clothes away, helping to empty the dishwasher and sorting laundry!  Many hands make light work!  He is excited to get 5 pennies each Saturday for the work that he did during the week.  He especially likes the sound that they make when they clink at the bottom of the jar and then the LOUD noises that come when he shakes them! 

Welcome to the world of money, son!  We hope to teach you well!!

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(I love Hannah’s eyes in this picture!!!)

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Rockin' the Giggles!

Does it warm your heart like it warms mine when you see and hear your children getting along together, when they laugh, giggle and enjoy being together?  Oh, how I love to hear that!  It is one of the goals that I have... to build a home that creates love for one another...a team....a family!

So... this morning when we heard and saw THIS, I HAD to get a video of it!  ADORABLE! He was certainly rockin' the giggles!  Thanks, Grace!  It may be bitterly cold outside but my heart has been super warmed!



Tuesday, January 22, 2013

8 Months and growing….

I took these ADORABLE pictures of our little Buster this morning!  He is now eight months old (as of last Friday)… and growing and growing!  He now has two teeth – both are on the bottom.   He loves to crawl everywhere… especially to the stairs.  And yes, he is climbing those like a champion.  He even pulls himself up to stand on toys, tables, the couch, the baby gates, etc.  He is a GREAT eater and really loves to eat all of the baby food that I make for him.  He eats peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, pears, peaches, apples, and bananas as well as rice cereal and oatmeal.  BUT… he has now learned how to blow raspberries when I feed him…which he and the other kids think is REALLY funny (even though I tell them it isn’t!!!)  He is a cute little man and we love him dearly! 

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This next one is my FAVORITE!!

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Ok… Rachelle and Bethany… do you think that he looks a little like Riley and Brayden?  I think he has the same shape of his face.. it must be a Chase thing!  Let me know what you think…

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Music to my ears...

I think it is kind of ironic that as we wait for our little ones to be born, we are anxious to hear that first cry!  Oh, how I long to hear that sound as I have just delivered my son or daughter.  Then from that point forward we are trying to STOP them from crying!  :)  But another sound that is music to my ears is the sound of my little ones beginning to talk... and saying Mama!  Caleb is at the stage that he is saying that more and more... and I am convinced that he is referring to me!  What a feeling!  MUSIC TO MY EARS and HEART!!


Another Milestone

Caleb has now graduated from the sink to the real big boy bathtub!! He made his debut last night with Josiah looking on and “helping”. I was home from church with the boys since Caleb is still snotty so it was only fitting to try this with the boys.  Josiah really loved having his little brother with him… he liked showing him the “soaps”. 

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Our prayer is that they will be great buddies… always looking out for each other and being each other’s best friend!  I see glimpses of that each day… and it warms my heart!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Christmas…Part 2

We keep things really simple for Christmas; we want our kids to have a good time, but we want the focus to be on the Biblical reason we are celebrating!  We have stressed that to them over and over.  That does not mean that we skip presents, but it does mean that we don’t buy and buy and go into debt in the process.  Some gifts were “needs”; others were bought from Craigslist; while others were just for fun because we know they would LOVE it! 
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The toothbrush was tickling his tongue and teeth… funny boy!
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Opening some stockings from Grampa and Nanna!
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Josiah was supposed to PRETEND to be eating his chocolate… but he ate the chocolate AND the foil wrapper!
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Grace had a BIG surprise that she had made for Daddy…. she was SO EXCITED to have Daddy open it!  His reaction is classic!
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Josiah got Superman PJs and Hannah got Prince Charming and Cinderella!
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Grace opened up a leotard for her next present.  She was a little confused about getting what looked like a bathing suit, but we had a little explaining to do.  She was getting this gift so she could go to gymnastics every week!  Once she realized what we were talking about.. she got really excited…… we loved it!
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Josiah loved his Superman pajamas with matching hat and mittens… he wore them the rest of the day!  He is SO MUCH like his daddy!
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Grace trying out her Skip it from Grampa and Nanna!
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Josiah LOVED all of the Legos that we got for him….we got a WHOLE BUNCH on Craigslist for a GREAT price!  Josiah was thrilled!
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Hannah’s special gift was Cinderella’s horse and carriage.  She immediately got it out of the packaging and got to playing with it!  She loved how Cinderella and Prince Charming could fit inside!  Our girls will spend hours and hours playing that!
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There is that Danny smile that Grace gets when she is in LOVE with something….she is totally excited about this watch!  It is water proof and it has a light!  HOW COOL!
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The Chase kids exchanged names.  My family got to buy a gift for the NY Chases while Karen had to buy for us.  The funny thing about the exchange is that we got the Chases an ice cream maker and Karen got us THE EXACT SAME ONE!!!  We were all totally excited to use it… and by the way, it makes yummy, yummy ice cream!!  THANKS, AUNTIE KK!!!
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Later in the day, Josiah opened his last gift… he got a remote controlled car from Grampa and Nanna!  He loved it… notice the concentration as he drives the car around the living room.  He LOVED crashing into things… especially into mommy!
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Even though we were going to be “alone” for Christmas, I still wanted to have a big dinner.  I cooked a turkey, sweet potatoes, corn muffins and green beans!  YUMMY!!  We ALL enjoyed it!
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Caleb enjoyed his meal: squash, apple sauce, and rice cereal.  He seems thankful, right?
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It was a SUPER day… with SUPER people!  I love this little family more than I could ever say.  They are SUPER special to me.  It is hard to believe that it all started over 15 years ago with two naïve college kids in love!  It was truly a merry Christmas!
For fun…. here are a few pictures that I found from our “new” New Hampshire home in 2003 and then the family Christmas in Chester!  CRAZY… mom with gray hair!  Dad with a beard!  Only Adam has kids!  CRAZY!
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AJ… is that a Milloy jersey?
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