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!

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!

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…

Cartwheels….

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

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

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

 

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!!

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

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!

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! 

This next one is my FAVORITE!!

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…

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”. 

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!