Cowtown!

We just left most of our paycheck in Arizona- and most of it at Cowtown boots! Jude received his first pair of cowboy boots last year. Green and tan leather. He wore them all the time, putting serious tread wear on the heels. Chris wanted him to get a new pair for the coming year even though the old ones still fit since we bought them big. He was a little easier to work with this year with all the fittings and try-ons. Jude (almost age 5) immediately spotted a pair with the American flag on the shaft. Even though they were mostly man made material, Chris bought them for him. He also got a pair of fancy blue and tan leather boots- totally legit!

I found an amazing pair of Dan Post boots I had my eye on last year- lots of floral and heart detailing and very distressed. Petra has numerous boots from Vovo and her pink boots from last year still fit so she did not get any. Tristan refused to even try on a pair.

Three days later the wheels in Chris' mind were spinning and he decided to get himself a pair on our way to the airport. Seven years into it, and the countrification of hubby is steadily on track! ha
Found himself a handmade pair from Mexico and proudly strutted into the work party today with them.

Round two at Cowtown found Tristan more willing to try on boots. In the midst of helping Chris find the right pair and coaching Petra that we were not buying her clothes there, I discovered Jude setting Tristan up on the kid bench and getting him to try on boots. Jude started to pull off Tristan's sneakers and said "you need to try them on and walk to make sure they fit." Tristan was totally willing now that brother was helping. He tried on a yellow /tan pair and wore them in the store for 20 min. He screamed when they had to come off to purchase! It's such a joy to see Jude helping little brother like that.

Beast glue

Jude calls Elmer's glue "beast glue." Me: "Why is it beast glue?"  He said "because there's a beast on it." (Referring to the picture above the word "Elmer's," which looks like a pig with horns to me!
LOL... just little things to keep me smiling during all the chaos and tantrums.

Music time

I usually practice guitar while Tristan Arrow naps and the twins have room time. This was on a weekend when Chris was around. Hope and pray he continues to have interest in learning an instrument.

Workin with intensity

This weekend's project was not planned; Chris tried to dig out some clover weeds in the backyard and discovered tons of rocks just under the surface. He quickly got all three children involved in the task. We were happily surprised at the intensity they put into the job! All three grabbed shovels and dug up the rocks and scooped them into contractor bags for almost two hours. Tristan has shown this willingness to hang with daddy for hours while painting fence posts and other jobs, but this time Petra and Jude totally dug in also.

 

Hold Baby

Tristan, at age 25 months, adores baby dolls. A few months ago he began to take interest in a little brown baby that Petra had and wanted to sleep with it. He also likes to carry it around during the day.  Sometimes when he is put in the crib with little brown baby, he will say "another baby," as he wants at least two in his bed.  The babies are frequently on his mind.  He just finished painting a fence post with daddy, and had a bath to wash the paint off. He came downstairs with wet hair looking totally adorable and carrying a baby.  He ran to the front door and said "I can't open it!" At first I didn't know why he wanted to go outside, then he said "get baby." We walked outside in the dark together and sure enough, his little brown baby was waiting for him outside.

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Hook worms

Vanda graciously offered to spend the night and help me complete the painting project in Tristan's room.  We had a great time talking late into the night. We discussed her childhood in Brazil which I always love hearing about. The call of God on her life becomes so clear to me when I hear more and more about where she came from.  She had no Bible teaching growing up, just a priest preaching sternly in Latin.  She traveled all over the world but somehow ended up in Virginia spending time with John Batluck.  Once they married and she truly surrendered to God, there was just no stopping her.  Her prayers, service, giving, mothering have changed generations for the better.  Her sons walk with God and her grandchildren will be following after soon.  She is one of the smartest people I've ever known, and I'm so glad her memory is strong. She is always researching history or health topics and is a wacky storyteller, thus giving us some comic relief this morning;

I stood at the stove this morning cooking up some Trim Healthy Mama pancakes and she wandered down with a book in her hand about the healing power of coconut.  She began reading about a man who had lost vitality, had become weak, poor appetite, etc. The wife feared he had cancer or something awful. Further testing revealed the man had hookworms in his body.  The wife read about coconut oil had the husband consume it. Voila! He was back to his old self, and the hookworms gone. Then, connecting "dots" in a way only Vanda can, she states "remember when Jude used to scream at 11pm,.... he probably had hookworms in his body."  When Jude was 2 to 3 and a half, he was very sensitive to proper sleep amounts and when he did not get enough sleep he would wake up with night terrors and was inconsolable.  Vanda had witnessed some of these episodes. Apparently, he was suffering from hookworms, undiagnosed and untreated.  I cannot make this stuff up!!!

Duck Fat!

Today was a very fun family day.  Started out kind of rough and we didn't make it to church.  We all went in town to get some groceries and a couple things at the farmer's market. A few weeks ago, a man selling poultry told Chris that he could get close to 70 dollars a pound for duck fat!  Chris had bought half a duck from him and was very excited to roast it, and began researching the best way.  Duck confit calls for cooking it in actual duck fat which we did not have.  I just ended up putting it into a pan and roasting it. It did produce a good amount of fat.  I've never heard Chris gush so much about a meal. He kept exhorting the children to eat more and more of the duck and surprisingly, Jude took a couple bones and ate them clean!  I've never seen him do that.  All the children seemed very happy after the duck meal!  Vanda arrived just in time to eat with us, and of course she is totally into any kind of farm fresh roasted meat.  Then everyone went out to work in our little veggie patch. Vanda brought circular fences to enclose the tomato plants and a few zucchini plants.  Tristan was pretty fussy off and on from not being able to nap, but he had lots of fun digging in garden.  Right after I had put him down for a nap, Petra went in his room, climbed in his crib and sat there reading a book as he screamed face down from being woke up!  Silly girl! Now I am making black bean "brownies" from my Trim Healthy Mama plan in preparation for the National Zoo tomorrow.

Loving life with three

It is definitely more stressful with three, but I am so glad we had a third child!! Little Tristan is really starting to run, but with such a weaving back and forth in his toddler- like way.  He is so intent on play and following older brother and sister and doing just what they do.  Sometimes I fear we have a super strong clique in this house! Jude and Petra will run up to the "friends" room for hours and play 'mater and McQueen." At times they greatly struggle to have Tristan in there with them. I pray often that they will include him more and more. They still see him as a "baby" at least half of the time. 
May 2013
 Jude:
    *still loves construction toys, books, and videos (trucks, dump trucks, etc.)
    *loves to read books with mommy and is learning letters, enjoys books on tapes, and favorite video is "Lots and Lots of Trucks"
    * Plays in the sandbox with siblings or alone for long periods of time
     *loves to run around the whole property with Petra, starting to climb trees
     *learning to play T-ball!
     * very affectionate; often says in the middle of the day "mommy, I like ya" or "mommy I love you"
    *has been very picky with food but really starting to eat more variety -still loves avocados and bread
    *loves going to the library, to Awana (but misses the old Awana where he could play with toys more), loves preschool and going to playgrounds.  often asks in the morning, "where are we going today?"

PETRA:

   * loves Princess books and dolls. Ariel is her favorite and often changes into her Ariel costume.
   *very attached to friends, especially Taylor Jo and Ester. Prays for friends and dinner prayer and always asks to go to their home
   *Just started a dance class at a Sandy Spring ballet studio!  She is so excited and is wearing leotard all the time!
   *Loves to read books with mommy and knows all letters, very eager to read and a more willing student with reading lessons at home
   *loves going to preschool and Awana, not too excited for Sunday School each week, but becomes more cheerful once there ( I think it's because there are less toys than last years class and it is not always the same friends in there)
   *pretty good eater, loves many vegetables, hummus, guacamole, most meats, yogurt and ALL berries- they will be devoured in  a heartbeat.  Vanda just planted raspberries in back yard!
   *loves to sing and dance all over the house all day- even when there is no music on. dances to country and classical music , preschool states she is great at music class and always knows the words
   *Fiercely devoted to twin Jude but is affectionate to Tristan and making room in her world for him more and more
   *loves to play outside but will often just go back inside while everyone else is out and keep herself busy with dolls and stuff

TRISTAN
  *loves mommy and daddy and siblings and is a total 1 year old JOY
   * throws self on floor on back with legs up in the air if he can't get his way! ha ha
   *wants to be outside as much as possible- digging in sandbox, helping daddy treat evergreens with hollytone fertilizer, playhouse, and general exploring
   *loves books and really starting to speak, can repeat back almost any word or phrase, using 2 word phrases now "daddy work" "daddy home" "mommy go"
   *loves most foods and has been completely feeding himself for months
   *starting to stay in his Sunday school class finally- without crying
   *loves "happy pills"- an omega 3 supplement Chris gives him
  

I will hug you two times

We took all three kids to Maddie Doan's lacrosse game this evening.  All three were more interested in running up and down the bleachers than watching the game.  I stayed in my seat but Jude and Petra kept running back to me saying "mommy, we saw a score!"  The highlight of my day was Jude running back to  me during a score and then I said "can you hug mommy?"  He eagerly threw his arms around my neck for  a good hug.  Then Petra came up behind him and said, "I will hug you two times."  Ha ha, gotta out -do the brother I guess.

Catching position

Suddenly at 19 months, Tristan is really protesting bedtime in his crib.  Last night he woke up at 1:30am. I nursed him then layed him back down. He immediately stood up and started screaming in his crib.  We let him cry.  I fell asleep.. woke up around 4:30 and still heard him!!!!! Chris said he finally fell asleep at 5:30.  At 5:45 I went in to cover him, knowing he would be so cold.  I found him crouched like a baseball catcher in corner of his crib asleep!  Poor baby, fell asleep crying and "standing" up.  He lasted all day on like 6 hours of sleep and went down peacefully at 7pm.... I pray it lasts all night!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Friends

Jude's "take charge" personality is blooming more each day. Today we had new friends over and we showed them the sand pit.  On the walk home, Jude put his arm around Timothy (also 4) as if to lead him along. Petra observed and also encircled him.  While playing at home, Jude kept leading- "boys come here," "David I need you," etc.  So enjoyed seeing them make new friends today!

Arizona!

One of my favorite things about the trip occured on the flight home.  Just as we landed and everyone was clicking off their seatbelts in the relative quiet of the plane, Jude said "Mommy, I like ya."  So many people looked and smiled.  Jude began saying "mommy, I like ya," off and on throughout the day a few months ago!  Kinda funny, and he also says "mommy, I love you" too.  Petra also sweetly comes up and says I  love you and gives kisses randomly throughout the day.   Where Jude came up with "I like ya" is mysterious, but it's so him. :)  Love that cowboy.  Me and and the kids cowboy up'ed while out in Arizona.

Church built 200+ years ago, still active congregation

 

Jude climbing the mini mountain

All together!

"at the cross"

"samson" pick up a rock