Jonah's "Smokes"

On Friday night we were getting ready for snack time and Jonah says, "I want a smoke!" I looked at him curiously knowing that he'd never heard that term before and not having any idea what he could be referring to. He continued on for several minutes saying, "I want a smoke" or "Mommy, give me a smoke for snack" and finally adamantly saying, "Mommy, I need my smokes!" I went through a list of foods-s'mores, lil' smokies, cookies to which he said no each time. It finally dawned on my that earlier that day I had made him a smoothie to drink when he sat with me, my mom, my sister and my 19 year old nephew while we were drinking Starbucks. He had felt so big being the only kid at the table and having a "big" drink like everyone around him. So, I finally figured out he was meaning smoothie, asked him if that's what he wanted and was met with a big grin. I'm not sure how smoothie translated into "smoke" in his head but it was pretty funny coming from a 2 year old. The next night he was again asking for his "smokes". I would love to see people's expressions if he ever asks for a smoke while we're out in public!

Ready, set, read!

So, poor Aidan's baseball post keeps getting pushed back, but I couldn't wait to share this news!

Sarah has made several attempts over the past few months at reading but I could tell each time that she just wasn't ready. She didn't have that determination and perseverance to work at it. I've also figured it could still be a while before she grasps reading because she doesn't always recognize all her lower case letters and writes quite a few of them backwards.

Today we were getting ready to leave the house and she brought a book to me while I was doing my hair and said, "I want to read this." It wasn't really an "easy" reader but I didn't discourage her. Before I knew it she has sounded out the first line of words. She tried a few more words which were a bit challenging, and she didn't get frustrated, but decided to look for something easier. This afternoon we pulled out a "Read with Dick and Jane" book, which we borrowed from Grma Peggy's house in March. She read through 22 pages of it, with several lines on each page.

So, we have another reader in our house before starting Kindergarten! Go Sarah!

A Legacy

I have been thinking about my dad a lot lately--today marks one year since my dad flew blissfully into the arms of Jesus. How I would love to be worshipping with him at this moment!

I know I said I'd be posting about Aidan's baseball today, but I can't let this day pass without sharing my dad's legacy with you.

My dad was a very passionate man and he was passionate about many things: Airplanes, his Corvette, playing basketball, his wife, his children, to name a few. But, the one thing he was most passionate about was ministering to the hurting, broken, down-trodden and sick.

In any given situation-church, work, social gatherings, a walk in the park-he was constantly looking for that one person who needed a personal touch. He didn't care if the person was someone he knew well or a complete stranger. He would do whatever he could to meet that person's need, whether it be financial, physical, emotional or spiritual. He wore his heart on his sleeve and there was never any doubt how deeply he was moved by those in need. His deepest desire was show the love of God, and His compassion and mercy to anyone and everyone who crossed his path. The stories are too numerous to recount, or even count, of his outreach to the world, but I will share one with you.

I remember one Mother’s Day when I was around six years old, we saw a man in a wheel chair selling flowers on a street corner. My dad pulled the car over and went to buy flowers for my mom. As the man leaned over to get the flowers he fell out of his wheel chair. My dad gently and lovingly helped him back in to his chair and then came back to the car with tears literally streaming down his face. His compassion and pain for the man in the wheelchair is my earliest recollection of his heart for the hurting and is an image that shall never leave my mind. I knew on that day my dad was someone very special.

He lived much of his adult life bothered that he'd never fulfilled his calling to be a full-time missionary and he searched for ways to make it happen even up until a year before he died. What he may have never realized while on earth is that he was a missionary in the truest since of the word and I have no doubt he heard those words we all long for when he entered heaven, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

My heart's desire is to be a woman after God's own heart, but also a woman after my dad's heart. That I would carry on the legacy he has set before me of reaching out to those who are "the least of these" in the world. I can think of no greater honor than to be told, "You remind me of your dad."

Lookout Mountain

Yesterday the kids and I decided to take a half day trip up to Lookout Mountain, which is about 45 minutes from our house. I was only slightly nervous making my first trip into the mountains with all four kids but without Jeremy. My main concern was keeping track of them while trying to take pictures at the same time. They all did amazingly well and were very cooperative and there was No whining or fussing on the entire trip! (I usually get "I'm bored" a lot in the car from Katie and "I'm tired of walking" from any of the youngest three.) Only Jonah seemed to be out of energy by the end. For the last five minutes as we were walking up the trail toward the car he said over and over, "I need my car." "Where's my car?"

Here are some of the highlights in pictures.

Our first stop at a scenic overlook was one of our favorites on the trip. There we saw literally hundreds of ladybugs in large groupings on one of the trails. It was interesting to note that many adults went past us on the trail totally oblivious to the huge population of ladybugs but because I had little people with me and the ladybugs were all at their eye level we got immense enjoyment out of them. The largest grouping were on poison ivy bushes so I refrained from trying to get a close up of those but here is a small sampling of them. How many ladybugs can you "spot"? Aidan and I each counted several times and came up with the same number. I will reveal the answer tomorrow. (You might want to save the picture to your computer and enlarge it.)

Our picnic lunch:

Aidan said his favorite part was all the flowers. He has an amazing appreciation for the different varieties of wildflowers and how they look grouped together with varying colors of brush and leafy plants. So, here are a few of the flowers we saw along the way. He was totally wild about the orange flowers with puffy red centers in the first picture. I'm not sure what all of the flowers are but I do know that the red flowers are poppies and the blue are columbines.


At the top of Lookout Mountain is the historic Boettcher Mansion where Jeremy and I almost got married--we'd put a deposit down and then realized it wouldn't hold the number of people that would attend. So it was a bit nostalgic for me. I love the stone architecture of this gazebo, which matches the stone of the mansion (I failed to get a picture of the outside of the mansion.) Aidan loved that the inside also has stone walls and felt like a castle.


This mushroom was enormous-the top was at least the size of my spread out hand.
It was a very happy trip and we will be returning very soon--hopefully with Jeremy!

I have lots of "catch-up" blogs to post and think I will have time over the next several days to do one a day so stay tuned! Next up: Aidan's Baseball Season

The Sweet Talker

I mentioned previously about Jonah becoming a "Sasser" but recently his talk has turned much sweeter and we are enjoying it immensely!

On Sunday when Jonah saw my mom dressed for church he immediately said, "You're beautiful!"

Yesterday was a bit emotional for our family as we visited my dad's grave for the first time since the headstone was placed last week. My mom had bought flowers in the morning to place in the affixed vase and after she had arranged them here at home she was sitting quietly at the table. Jonah came along and sincerely and gently asked, "What you thinking 'bout Gramma Neece?" It was so sensitive and insightful of him. He frequenly asks us "What you doing?" but I'd never heard him ask "What you thinking 'bout?" before.

This afternoon he showed a bit of sass and sweetness combined. I said to him, "It's nap time time, Jonah" and he calmly replied, "No, thank you." He has to be the most polite two year old I've ever known, using please and thank you constantly. Even his church teachers have commented on what a polite child he is.

I'm glad the sass is on the way out and sweetness is taking over!

I have lots of pictures I want to share on here I'm just trying to find the time to do it. Hopefully I'll have them up by the end of the week.

Thumb Update and Jesus Songs

Apparently a huge blister on the end of your thumb is not a deterrent for sucking it-at least not for Katie. Katie's thumb-sucking days are definitely not over...just the opposite happened from what I expected. She fussed about her thumb all day on the day she burned it, but by bedtime that night she was sucking it again. I expected her to be miserable with it for several days but she didn't complain about it once after the first day. In fact, it would seem that thumb-sucking is repairative. The burn and blister were completely healed up in three days. There is absolutely no trace of the burn left. Who knew? I've heard of dog saliva having healing properties--perhaps it's true of humans too...

On another note...Katie is very into singing and making up her own songs these days and they are super sweet. Some songs have to do with her wonderful family or trees and flowers and butterflies but most often they are about her love for God. Here are the first few lines of a song she made up last night:

The best king is Jesus
and Jesus is the Savior
and He is my favorite-ist guy!

The song when on in this way for about five minutes straight while we were in the car. I love it!

When we got home Jonah picked up where Katie left off and here is a little video of his singing:

(Sorry for the poor quality, I was using my phone. His words are "Jesus Love Me! Jesus Love You! Jesus!)

PS-I'm so thankful for blogger's auto save! I was finished with this post yesterday except for adding the video when our power unexpectedly went out and remained out for three hours.

Make the Earth Happy Part 2

On Saturday Katie informed me that she no longer wants to be a mommy and pilot when she grows up--she wants to be a "Trash Ma'am". She wants to fly around the world in a trash mobile and make the whole earth clean--her words, not mine. Also, today while we were in the car she told me to look out the window at the tiny leaves that are finally growing on the trees around here. She said, "The trees at our house have lots of leaves already. The must be feeling very happy right now." I love these little moments the kids remind me to take to appreciate the amazing gift God has given us in the form of nature.

Katie seems very spiritually aware for being only three and a half. The prayers she says at night just tug on my heart strings. She says things such as thank you God for being God and for sending your love to us. She asks for help in doing the right things and for forgiveness for the things she does wrong. When we were in Houston in March we were at Kohl's with Grandma Peggy and Aunt Amy. I was off in another part of the store when Peggy saw someone she knew and they began to talk. This woman was going through a rough time and telling Peggy about it. All of a sudden Katie gave the woman a big hug and it seemed to make the woman's day. Both Peggy and Amy said they thought Katie could sense the woman's need for comfort and she just acted on it without hesitation. It never gets old watching my children's personalities blossom and learning more about the unique person God has created them to be.

In other Katie news we may be at the end of her thumb sucking days...she got a nasty burn this morning on the thumb that she sucks. I hope nobody turns me in for negligence on this one but I plugged in my flat iron to heat up and left the bathroom. She came along to wash her hands and decided to touch it. She knows very well that it is extremely hot, in fact I've used it on her hair and she's felt the heat coming from it when I do. But for whatever reason curiosity got the better of her today. So now she's got a huge blister at the top of her thumb. Of course she immediately stuck it in her mouth to soothe herself and found out right away that didn't work well. Her thumb is in her mouth about 75% of the day so this is a major thing. I managed to get her through her initial pain and first thumb sucking craving with a Toostie Pop. It was a couple hours later before it hit her again and this time I pacified with gum-which is a favorite of hers. However, I don't think I can continue to dole out suckers and gum whenever she is upset about not being able to suck over the next few days. She's just going to have to "suck it up" and get through this. =) Bedtime tonight is probably going to be torturous--I'm not even trying to get her down for a nap this afternoon. But maybe in the end we'll have a wonderful result of being thumb sucking free! Sarah also went through having a major owie on her thumb at this age and it stopped her sucking for a couple weeks and then she was right back at it (though she quite on her own several months after that). Here's to hoping!

The Sassy Talker

Nope, it's not one of the girls...this time anyway...

I have mentioned before that Jonah is the late talker of the group. He waited until he was almost two to say any words and now at 27 months is putting together 4-6 words sentences. Along with that, he's wasted no time in learning how to talk back. He has several phrases that he does this with but my favorite is, "yes, uh huh!" For example, yesterday at Aidan's game we were walking up a steep dirt hill to the playground and this is our conversation:

Jonah: It's muddy.
Me: No, it's just dirt. It's not muddy right now.
Jonah: Yes, uh huh! It's muddy, Mama!
(It definitely was not muddy.)

Another thing he picked up quickly is the answer of "nothing." One day I was upstairs getting ready for the day and heard a lot of noise coming from the kitchen. I peaked down the stairs and saw him rummaging in the silverware drawer. I called down the stairs, "Whatcha doing Jonah? He quickly turned around and without missing a beat said, "Nothing!" I wondered where he had picked that up from as I couldn't really recall the other kids saying it much. Then on Wednesday just he and I were in the car. I was getting a piece a gum and didn't want him to ask for a piece but apparently I wasn't as sneaky as I thought. As I'm unwrapping it I hear a "What you doing, Mama?" from behind me. And what was my quick response? "Nothing, Jonah." Busted on both counts-getting gum and lying! You would think that by my fourth child I would be better at watching my responses...

Make the Earth Happy!

I have a feeling I've lost most of my readers, considering that I haven't posted anything in almost two months. Hopefully, I have a few interested parties still lurking. I guess I just have the blog blahs. Hopefully with summer just around the corner I will have more inspiration and time. Ok, who am I kidding--there will not be more time during the summer with four busy children running the house all day. I guess I'll stick with the hopes of more inspiration.
Anyway, on to the topic of today's post. Here is a conversation the kids and I had on the way home from Aidan's baseball game last night.

Sarah: Mommy, tomorrow is Earth Day.

Me: Yes, it is. Do you know what that means?

Sarah: No, I just heard someone else say it.

Me: It's a day for us to be thankful for the beautiful earth God created for us and to remember to be kind to the earth. What can we do to show kindness to the earth?

Sarah: Pick up trash.

Me: Right.

Sarah: Plant trees.

Me: Right.

Katie: Yeah, because the trees tickle the earth! And flowers tickle the earth too, don't they mommy?

Me: Well, I suppose they probably do...

I guess to a three year old, tickling is a major form of kindness. So get on out there and think of what you can do to bring the earth some joy and laughter!

Barr Lake State Park

The past few weeks here have been unseasonable warm--it actually got in the low 70's one day this week. Crazy! We are trying hard not to be lulled into a false sense of thinking Spring has arrived though. Considering that March is typically the snowiest month of the year we know there is bound to be more winter weather in the near future.

On MLK day we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather since Aidan and Sarah didn't have school. We picked Jeremy up from work at lunch time and had a picnic at Barr Lake State park which is about 15 minutes from where he works and about 25 minutes from our house. So here are some pictures to commemorate the day.

Jonah was trying so hard to keep up with the other he had one arm swinging just as fast and hard as he possibly could while he was running. It really had Jeremy and I laughing.

Stuff and Things

I know it's been a week now since Valentines Day but I haven't had a chance to post since then. We had a great weekend here at the Craft household. Aidan and Sarah had parties at school on the 13th and both had a blast. Can I just say that Valentines Day has gotten to be almost as bad as Halloween with the amount of candy they got! (Of course-our kids gave out cards with candy attached so we are guilty in contributing to this!) We gave the kids a few little gifts mostly from the dollar spot at Target--love that place! But they also got candy and gifts from other family members and were definitely on sugar overload by the end of the weekend.

On Friday Jeremy came home with two bouquets of flowers-one for me which were my favorites-tulips! He hand picked an incredible mosaic vase and then chose the two bouquets of tulips to complement the vase and he did an amazing job. I LOVE this vase!

The other bouquet Jeremy brought were white roses for my mom. He's brought flowers to my mom on several occasions and it was especially sweet to remember her this year since it's her first without my dad. My brother had also brought my mom roses earlier that day-his were a variegated pink and I have to say that the combo of the white and pink together were stunning.




On Saturday my mom took all the kids over to my sisters for supper and play time. Jeremy and I got to have a date! We went out for Hawaiian BBQ--yum! This was my second time for Hawaiian BBQ and Jeremy's first. I am sooo hooked! I'm already craving it again-less than a week later. Since we got to the restaurant at 4:00 and no one else was there we were out of there by 5:00 and headed home to watch a movie in a quiet house. We had about four hours at home before the kids returned and it was bliss! I loved being at home without the kids and I loved watching an entire movie in one sitting without three kids climbing all over me. It was a perfect date!

At one point during the weekend Sarah asked me what a Valentine is-or why do we call other people our Valentines. So I explained to her that is a term for some one that we love very much and is very dear to us and her response was, "Well then, Jesus is my Valentine!" I love hearing things like that from my kids.

I feel like I haven't given fair time to Katie on my blog and I guess it's partly because a lot of times I can't relay in typed words the joy she is to our family. Her command of grammar and language at the age of three is amazing and I wish I would take more time to write down some of the incredible things she says but then again I'm not sure how they would translate while being read. My hope is to have an all about Katie post in the very near future.

I have been holding on to this next information for over two weeks debating whether I should share it here or not. Basically my hesitation is because this is purely a bragging moment but here goes...

As I have mentioned in a previous post Aidan is currently in 1st grade and has been placed in 3rd grade math this year. In third grade math they pre-assess every student before they begin a new unit. For every unit so far Aidan has been place in the "Challenge" group which is the highest level--basically they are working at a fourth grade level. Every few weeks I will ask Aidan how he's doing with math--is he feeling overwhelmed, is he understanding it, is it too hard? He always says he's doing fine but sometimes it's hard to really tell with him. So, a couple weeks ago we had a parent-teacher conference with his 1st grade teacher and she told us that Aidan currently has the highest math grade in the entire third grade---I guess he was telling me truth when he said he's doing OK. His teacher also shared with us a ten page story he had written during his free time in class about a couple men that had lived in the Antarctic and then traveled to China. It was incredible! The plot was well developed and the names of characters and places were very realistic and well thought out. He is currently reading at an end of fifth grade reading level and continually blows us away with his academics. During the conference Jeremy and I continually just looked at each other in unbelief and wondered where this Whiz Kid came from. We are so proud of Aidan and know that God has amazing plans for him!

More on Jonah

Jonah thoroughly enjoyed his birthday this year and seemed to understand there were presents and happiness just for him. He will happily tell you he is two when asked and seems to understand that he is bigger now.

The day after his birthday we took down his crib and set up his toddler bed and he is loving it!

We had his party a week after his birthday and even though we'd talked about the party I don't think he really grasped it until he walked downstairs after his nap on Saturday and saw all the people and balloons and presents. He was thrilled! He saw the presents and immediately said, "mine!" We had been talking about his bus cake for weeks but I guess he didn't quite get the concept at first. I made the cake the day before and he watched me put it together and apply the initial layer of frosting and then I finished it when he was napping. I showed him the finished product when he woke up and he was excited and said bus cake but then immediately thrust his fingers into the top of it-I think he was trying to pick it up like a toy. When he saw his frosting covered fingers and realized what he'd done he was broken hearted and sobbed and sobbed! I easily repaired it but wish I'd taken some pictures of the cake and his sobbing while holding out his messy hand.

Eating a chip at his party and looking cool at the same time!

When we sat him down with his cake and put the candle on he started tapping his fingers on the table saying, "happy, happy, happy" because he realized what would be coming next. He seemed to love being sang to.

I'm excited to see what Jonah adventures await us in the coming year!

Jonah's Happy Day!

My final baby is two years old today. I am filled with a mix of happiness and sadness. Sad about being totally done with the baby days--even though he's not technically been a baby for a year now I've still thought of him as one. A year ago he still relied on me for basically everything and now he can feed himself, clearly state his wants and needs (sometimes with screaming and tantrums!), he can mostly dress himself, he goes potty and brushes his teeth, and walks everywhere instead of being carried. Thankfully he is still full of cuddles and kisses! As much as I miss having a baby in the house (after 7 straight years), I am more excited about entering a new phase as a family. As Jonah grows so do the possibilities of things we can do as a family. I love to watch him learning how to interact with the other three as they all play together. I love hearing new words tumble from his mouth day by day. I love seeing his personality really begin to emerge--he is quite a little ham and so full of expression!

On another note--I have thought about posting on here all month long but seem to have been suffering from "blog block". Hopefully with this post I will have gotten past that and return to regular blogging again.

Have a happy day!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

These pictures are from a few years ago but I couldn't resist sharing them. I only wish that Jonah could be a part of them too--perhaps I could figure out a way to super-impose him as an angel or something! Aidan is 4, Sarah 2, and Katie 3 1/2 months.

I hope you have a very blessed Christmas. Hold your loved ones close today!

Stocking Stuff part 4

Jonah-Joe's turn! It's so weird to look at his pictures since his ages at Christmas are different than the other three.

2007 - 10 1/2 months

2008 - almost 23 months

We had opened presents a few days before these pictures were taken and when I handed Jonah his stocking he was quite disappointed that there wasn't anything in it this time.

Stocking Stuff part 3

Katie's turn - Our smiley girl!

2005 - 3 1/2 months

2006 - 16 months

2007 - 2 years

2008 - 3 years

Stocking Stuff part 2

Here are Sarah's pics--looking at these really makes me miss her curls!

2003 - 3 1/2 months

2004 - 16 months

2005 - 2 years

2006 - 3 years

2007 - 4 years

2008 - 5 years

Stocking Stuff

Each year we have taken pictures of each of the kids with their stockings as a way to mark their growth. I'll be sharing those photos over the next four posts. Here are Aidan's pics - Enjoy!

2001 - 3 1/1 months old

2002 - 16 months old

2003 - 2 years

2004 - 3 years

2005 - 4 years

2006 - 5 years

2007 - 6 years

2008 - 7 years