Six Months

No way my baby is already six months old!!! Where did the time go? Here are Micah's six month old pictures. He resembles Noah as a baby, just with reddish hair and blue eyes. Although I think his eyes are beautiful in the color pictures...I can't help but L.O.V.E. the black and white pictures of him even more!

Oh That Jonah!!!

I wanted the kids to smile and NOT be grumpy for pictures...so I had what I thought at the time was a great idea. I went to McDonald's and ordered two small Sprites. (My thinking here; sugar = energy, energy = not grumpy, not grumpy = smiles) When I got to the window, they gave me two SUPER SIZED sprites. I told the lady my order was wrong, but she asked me if I wanted to take it anyway, since there was a long line behind me and I would not have to pay anything extra. Great deal right??? WRONG!!! Ever heard of too much of a good thing? For children who are rarely allowed to have sugar, a super sized Sprite turns them into screaming hyper maniacs running at break-neck speed. It also produces pictures like this...

Jonah could not sit still for more than 1/2 a second, but boy did he enjoy himself! I on the other hand was ready to pull my hair out...and the worst part is that it was my own doing! Note to self: massive amounts of sugar = misbehaving children.

Picture Perfect

Today was picture day for the boys. Here are a few of my favorites.

Adult Sunday School

Yesterday I was privileged to speak in one of the adult Sunday School classes. I have to admit I was very nervous...that is until Noah loosened me up with conversation on the way to church.

Noah: Momma, are you teaching today?
Me: Yep.
Noah: Will you be teaching my class?
Me: No, Mrs. Jenny will be teaching your class.
Noah: Then who will you be teaching?
Me: The adult class.
Noah: ADULTS!!! Don't they know it by now?

Oliver James Givens

Our family continues to grow. A few weeks ago we came home and found this sitting on our steps. Of course we fed her, and now it doesn't look like she is going anywhere. Noah has already named her. Noah will not believe me that the cat is a girl. He says we have to wait and see if it has babies, that is what makes it a girl, until then it is a boy. I figured there was no need to argue since we are going to have that situation taken care of and will not be having kittens anyway.

Noah's words telling my grandmother how he named the cat...

I named it Oliver James Givens. Oliver 'cause it reminds me of the cat Grammy used to have, James 'cause I want to name it after Pa, and Givens 'cause that makes us a family. We are just going to call it Oliver, but when it is bad and we have to yell we can call it Oliver James Givens.

Oh what a glimpse into our lives that gives. Unfortunately the boys know their full names all too well! I have a feeling this cat will learn her full name just as quickly. The crazy cat runs inside every time the door is open. Do you have any idea how hard it is to coerce a toddler to come in the door and kick nudge a cat out the door at the same time?

Fun In The Sun

Our church had a youth campout rally last night. My kids are really too young for campouts, (since they go to bed with the chickens) but we participated in the parts that they could enjoy! Last night (after Jonah went to sleep) I allowed Noah to stay up past his bedtime and took him out to the ball field so that he could do crafts and listen to the music group. We left there about nine and came home for bed. This morning after we got up and had breakfast, we all headed back out there. They had brought out the fire truck and were allowing the kids to spray each other with the hose and had slip and slides set up. As you can tell from the pictures, Noah and Jonah had a great time on the slip and slides. They were the last ones to leave! Micah spent his time in the shade and enjoyed getting cooed over by everyone.

Beach Day

Tuesday, my Mom and I took the boys down to Land's End and met up with my Aunt Terry, cousin Rebecca, and her three boys. We all had fun playing in the sand, laying in the sun, and splashing in the water.
Noah, trying to catch a fish. He succeeded, and was convinced by Grammy that he needed to bring it home! Thank God we were in her car, so the dead fish rode in HER trunk all the way home.

Micah stayed under the umbrella most of the day. I did not want to give him sunburn...again!

Jonah is just too cute...no words needed...JUST.TOO.CUTE!

School Clothes

Last Saturday, Joe had to attend his defensive driving course in Charleston. I decided that would be a good day to take Noah shopping for school clothes. Dad and Linda took Micah and Jonah with them for the day and the rest of us (Joe, Noah, and I) headed out towards Charleston. Noah and I dropped Joe off at the college and then went on to shop for the day.

Me: Okay Noah, are you ready to go to the mall?
Noah: What is a mall?
Me: (Realizing that I had deprived my child of yet another thing by living in the woods) A mall is a huge building that has little stores inside of it that all sell different things. Some sell shoes, some sell hats, some sell jewelry, and some sell clothes.
Noah: Oh, you mean Wal-Mart!

It is SO MUCH FUN to shop with Noah. He gets excited over the littlest things. We had a great time and caught some terrific sales at Old Navy. Pretty much all of our shopping for school clothes is complete. He even found jeans that fit him 'just right'. We were done with shopping by the early afternoon, but could not pick Joe up until five, so we spent the rest of the day at Chuck E. Cheese! Just Noah and Mommy, playing all the games together.

Big Boy Bed

Our bed plan for the boys is still on track. Another milestone has been accomplished...Jonah has been sleeping in his big boy bed (the bottom bunk) for over a week now. He thinks it is great and when he gets tired, he will say "night-night" and go climb in himself!
Unfortunately, we are still in need of some protective head gear. Not only does Jonah like sleeping in the bottom bunk, he also can climb all the way to the top bunk by himself. That in itself is not really a problem...it is the getting down that he has a problem with.
Noah is still sleeping in his top bunk every night and is excited to be sharing a room with Jonah. We will see how long it takes before the excitement wears off and he is drawing a line down the middle of the room with masking tape.
Micah will be transitioning to the crib this week. Hopefully he will sleep better in there. The past couple of weeks he has been waking up at least twice a night to nurse. Not good since I had gotten used to him sleeping all night....I don't like going backwards!

Red Neck Rollercoaster

These are pictures my Mom took when we were visiting with her this week. I use wicker laundry baskets at my house and therefore do not allow the boys to play with them. After being allowed to play with a laundry basket and plastic stool at Grammy's house, I think I know what both boys will be asking for Christmas. They had a blast! Who knew something so simple could be so much fun?

MIA

So I guess I have been missing in action for the past week or so. I could claim that I have been incredibly busy, but while that is technically true, I really haven't been any busier than usual. I guess I have to fess up and say that I have just been lazy. No excuses...just laziness, but I will do better. I am going to try and play catch up during all of my free time any stolen moments I can find for myself over the next couple of days to get you "up to date" with what has been going on with the boys. Keep checking on us...I will be posting pictures too!

Future Politician

I am afraid we have a future politician on our hands.
Last week while visiting schools, a principal asked Noah if he liked to read books. To which he responded, "Oh yeah, you better bet I do." When she proceeded to ask him which book was his favorite, he said (without skipping a beat) "All books are my favorite!"
Today when we returned home from lunch with Granny, he asked if I would make the same potatoes for supper that I made for lunch. I asked which he liked better, Granny's macaroni or my scalloped potatoes. His answer? "I think you both did a great job."
Yes, I am afraid we do have a future politician on our hands.

Spanglish

Today I took the boys to my cousin's house for his son's birthday party. They are a bi-lingual family, with the father's first language being English and the mother's first language being Spanish. So here we come together with the father's side of the family speaking mostly English and the mother's side of the family speaking mostly Spanish. Needless to say, it was a very interesting party.
Enough background, let me get to the point!
As I sit here reflecting on the day's events, I am also thinking about the changes coming up as Noah starts school. Noah has always made friends easily and I have no doubt that he will continue to do so when school starts. It amazes me the way that children can put all things aside and decide that they are going to be friends for the day and just concentrate on having the most fun possible. Language barriers, age differences, race, or gender cease to matter. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all still had such innocence?