Playing Guitar with Papa

Having a musician for a Papa is one of Ethan & Naomi's favorite things! They LOVE the guitar, keyboard, drums, anything musical... they are right there and wanting to play.
Josiah just wrote a new song, so he was playing it for us. The kids were mostly interested in strumming- so sweet. Now if we can just get Nomi to play guitar in the "family band" all will be well!! (If you don't know about the "family band"- according to Ethan- Josiah plays guitar, keys and sings, Ethan plays drums, Nomi plays bass and I'm in charge of making macaroni! Yes, I know, he already knows at 3 that I have no musical ability.)

Prayer Answered!

This is the cutest story that Christal (Josiah's sister) told me today:

This morning Vallerie (the kid's oldest cousin- she's almost 4) wanted to pray for Ethan and Naomi- which is just so sweet. So she prayed to God that we'd have a good
day and that they'd be good.

So, oblivious to this myself, we started our day and all was going smoothly. No timeouts, no major problems. I even commented to Ethan that it was a great day!

This afternoon, Christal told me over Facebook about Val's prayer and asked how the day was going... I just smiled and said, "Thanks God!" And told Christal that Val's prayer had worked and asked, "Can you say that prayer every morning please??!"

We laughed and agreed- every morning, we're praying that one another's kids are good and that we all have a good day! Anyone else want to join the prayer circle? :)

Found More Stripe Love!

Well, anyone who knows me, knows about my stripe-addiction. I LOVE them. I have striped curtains, striped throw-pillows... and now 2 Kids that get dressed in striped clothing A LOT! I just can't help it... I love stripes. Now, I don't dress myself in many striped things (you know, stripes aren't always that flattering on adults!)
Thankfully, Grammie Gail came to the rescue with a new striped shirt for Nomi! And I think she approves! Thanks Grammie!

2 More Teeth!

So, our Miss Nomi has just cut her 2 top teeth! That makes a total of 4 now. She wasn't too fussy, thanks to her Amber Teething Necklace and some good teething biscuits!
She is our joy and delight! She's also trying to walk, which is hilarious to watch... crawling at lightning speed... saying "Daddy," "Oh no," and "E-I-E-I-O"- all are very funny to hear. I'm, of course, a little saddened that "Mama" wasn't first on her list. Oh well... someday!

Ethan's Belated BDay Party and G & G Smith Visit!

We had a lovely 3-day weekend with Grand-Papa and Grammie Smith. We celebrated Ethan's bday with my family as well- a lovely cake made by our good friend Amanda Ellison was the hit of the celebration!
Ethan's favorite gifts was the Hungry Hungry Hippos! Thanks Uncle Mike and Kristina! Nice pick... brings me back to our childhood days. He keeps asking, "Mom, can I feed the Hippos?" It's too cute!

Ethan speaks

There's a TV show on PBS called, "Martha Speaks." It's about a dog who can talk. So in the spirit of the crazy things Martha says, here are a few Ethan Speaks statements of late. He never ceases to amuse- that's for sure.
"Mom, you're being a bad mom!" This saying is used anytime I tell him something he doesn't want to hear!
"Dad, you're making me crazy!" This is a favorite one when he knows he's in trouble.
Ask Ethan anything and he says, "I don't know..." Just the default statement these days.

Nomi loves Caribou Coffee!

Our good friend Cheryl came over and brought me a cup of coffee (she's so sweet!) and when I was done- Nomi wanted to try some! So, at first I just let her have the sleeve which became a good chew toy. And then she wanted the cup- right to her lips and she tried to take a sip! Too funny... I'm just happy to be raising a Caribou-coffee lover!