Big Milestone!

Big news around the Moss house:

Here is your hint....Yep.
You guessed it! Eli is no longer using training wheels on his bike!!

I really think it was more of a confidence thing for him than ability. He liked knowing he wasn't going to fall. But when you have a big brother who wants to get out there & help you....It's hard to refuse the offer! Jackson literally taught him how to ride all on his own. And I think that is so special!

Everything from using the brakes, to putting your foot down so you don't fall when stopping- all Jackson's doing. The only thing I helped with was showing him (in literally one pep talk/take off) that he really could take off all on his own.... He just needed the encouragement to see for himself. And he thought I was holding on to him!

Voila! A new independent bike rider over at our house!

Here's a video of him riding!

Hooah! Kid Style!

Uncle Todd went out of town for the Army for 3 weeks & when he happened to get home- we were over to Aunt Becca's house for dinner. He dropped his bags, ate dinner with us all & then after dinner began to tend to the bags. Well... We looked over & we saw this:

He looked really cute & was super excited that Uncle Todd let him play with his gear. Although like my mom said, "Yeah, it's all cute now, but wait til he turns 18 & it won't be so cute." True. Very True & I have to say it kind of turned my stomach at the thought. I sometimes wonder about our young newly enlisted military. I wonder what it is that makes them join. What calling they have in them to say they know at such a young age that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of this country. I think often about their families they are leaving behind & how it must be so painful for those parents to watch their boys go off to war. I know it's a cop out- but I can't let myself think about it too much. Especially since I have boys. And I know most boys on some level are drawn to the idea of guns, tankers, convoy, & all that gear that they see... So instead I will get back to the "cute for now" pictures!

The rest of the kids wanted to join in the fun, so Todd took them all upstairs & fitted them all in different gear! They thought this was so funny!

There never was a cute head of curls coming out from behind Soyars' hat!
Who is that hiding behind that mask??
And I don't think soldiers are allowed to be so sweet...Everyone lined all up....
And i love how Jackson's bag is about 4 times as wide as him!
Another cute head of hair behind an army hat...Thanks Uncle Todd for letting the kids have a little fun with your gear! And thanks for all you to do for our country!

Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!

It is amazing to me how competitive males can be!


We were over at Rebecca's house Friday night when all of the sudden, I look over & Jackson is doing a headstand. And he held it for an outrageously long time. I was pretty impressed. I had no idea he could do an headstand- much less hold it for a crazy insane amount of time for a 7 year old.

About 30 seconds later, Randy says, "That's no big deal. I could do that when I was his age." Hmmm, that was when you were 7- can you do it now? 29 years later?? Do you think he tried?

Of course he did! He is a male. He is competitive!We laughed so hard! He could still do it! And he also held it for a crazy amount of time! Then of course, we had to get a picture of Jackson right next to him- doing it together!

I hated that all i had was my camera phone because I would have liked some good shots of this! But oh, well! You take what you can get!

Two Funnies....

FUNNY #1:
Jackson has been working really hard at school on preparing for his Thanksgiving play & the Thanksgiving Feast.... they are learning many songs & he sings them often. It must be all they talked about at school for weeks! When it wasn't even thanksgiving yet, but it WAS spirit night at McDonald's (where proceeds from the sales go towards the elementary school...), he got in the car after school & before he even buckled... this was the very excited conversation....
J: MAMA, MAMA! Ms. Byrd, she said we could all go to McDonald's for supper!! ..... ..... But we had to ask our mom's & dad's first.... and and and.... it's for... it's for... THANKSGIVING!!
Me: (Laughing hysterically!!) Oh, Jackson, you are so cute... so confused... but so cute! (still laughing to tears....)
Eli: MAMA! It NOT funny!
Me: Oh, Eli... it really IS funny!


I got so tickled at this little conversation... mainly because i know at school they had been talking about Thanksgiving constantly & the most logical explanation for WHY we would be eating with Ms. Byrd at McDonald's (when he couldn't remember the reason....) was because it was for Thanksgiving! So funny!

FUNNY #2
I got Jackson's daily binder out of his bookbag yesterday & in it was a Thanksgiving card he had made. It had a turkey on the front & it said "I am thankful for....." Once i opened it, there was a blank line that he had to write in what he was thankful for. He wrote, "my dog." I busted out laughing.... WE DON'T HAVE A DOG. We haven't had a dog since our sweet Gracie Mae and that has been 2 years! I said, "Jackson! Why are you thankful for our dog? We don't have a dog!" And he replied. "I knew that... but i thought it would be nice to have one." Now, that's praying in faith right there!

The Sweetest Sound....

My boys LOVE to listen to what they call "church songs". They will say, i want to hear "changing me, changing you" which is actually the song Ancient Words, one of mine & Randy's favorite hymns. They sing all the time, with or without prompting by an adult & most of the time the song just comes from their heart without even hearing the actual music on the iPod. Eli was randomly even singing this particular song in Walmart the other night while we were shopping & asked me to sing along with him.... of course i DID!! There are several others that they request too, like Hosanna or Blue Skies & Rainbows, but today i happened to have the iPod going in the kitchen while Jackson was working on homework & Eli started singing Ancient Words as usual... i happened to have to camera nearby & caught it on video... so sweet let me tell you... (& i love the made up words that they put in place sometimes when they don't know the real word!)

Art....

At any given day of the week... the corner of my kitchen counter looks like this.....And INEVITABLY, the little black table looks like this..... (Pretty much EVERYDAY....) and this is mild.... trust me......
My kitchen looks like this because my boys are infatuated and obsessed with art of any kind. Seriously, they LOVE to craft... give 'em stickers, glue, markers, or paint & they are content for a long time.
You just have to make sure you are okay with a mess because that is exactly what is to follow!! And they tend to just leave it and walk away....... We are working on that part! I should have taken a picture of the floor... it would have given you better perspective......

Batman & er.....Robin? No Batman & Batman!

I am going to let these photos speak for themselves.... but i will go ahead & say, Thanks to Ann for the hand-me-downs. As you can see.... ALL the boys are enjoying them!!
Even Daddy plays along.....

boys... boys.... boys....

Sometimes i wonder.... Did God give me boys to teach me patience?
And then i think.... If so, i am FAILING miserably!

Here's a prime example.... boys are just different than girls. Bottom line. I am learning to accept that they will never be as easy as girls. They wrestle, they fight, they go FULL force 24/7. They say things like "poopie" just so they can laugh at themselves. Girls would NOT do this. Well, most wouldn't anyway...

Girls also wouldn't take this.....


and make their Daddy's have to do this......
And then have the nerve to giggle everytime the situation was discussed. Now you are probably thinking, "that ELI! he is a sneaky little thing." But let me tell ya, it was the FIVE year old Jackson who SOOOOOO knew better. His cousin Leah came running upstairs to deliver this message, "Aunt Rachel! Jackson put that thing that holds the toilet paper down the toilet!" Yep.... when i went RUNNING down to save the day.... it was too late.... he had FLUSHED the toilet (i guess to see what would happen...) and it WENT DOWN!. Soooo, when his Daddy came home from work, he had a new project to do.... take the toilet off the floor completely to get the rod back out.....

sigh......

boys are just different. I am learning to accept it. Please pray with me for that patience i need.....

amen.

Mama Love....

I just love the nights when the boys go get their blankies out of their beds & want to snuggle before bedtime. And i love that my lap can still hold the both of them. I know the time is going to come where they won't want to snuggle with me, so i try to get all the late night snuggles that i can!

Oh, that Eli!

Do you think he meant to fall asleep like this?? One leg up, one leg down... he was even snoring!

Lil' Cowboys

The big thing around the the Moss house these days is dressing up like cowboys. Jackson came out of the bedroom the other day looking like this glorious vision here.....

And then days later he was tickled pink with himself for helping Eli do the same....

(The cowboy boots have been quite the hit since Grandma Tee passed them on to us from Kenneth ~ in fact, they get worn DAILY! I am waiting for him to ask me to wear them to church... which will be a definite NO, since they are still mighty big right now!)

Jacksonism & Eli-ism....

• So okay, Eli isn't really ready for an "eli-ism" but i was so excited today about something he said, yes that's right, he SAID something! He reprotoire of words basically amounts to "ball," "dat" (that), "eh huh" (no) & other grunts that we are able to decipher pretty well. However, this morning, when i was driving the boys over to the Moss', we passed one of MANY fields & i heard a grunt & a "orse" (horse!). I turned back to see & sure enough he had pointed to the horse! The next field comes by & i said, "Eli, what is that?" He pointed, & replied, "ow!" (cow!) I was so excited! This went on the entire way to the Moss'- yes there are lots of horses & cows in between! Then tonight, when we ordered pizza, i asked jackson if he wanted pepperoni or cheese when it arrived & he said "pepperoni", so i asked Eli the same, & he said "eese" (cheese!). He has said this a few random times, but only when saying "cheese" to smile at the camera, so i was excited about it anyway!

• On to the Jacksonism..... Tonight at the dinner table, when we were eating pizza, Randy was outside mowing the backyard - trying to get it all done before dark & while the weather wasn't so HOT! We can see the backyard from our kitchen table & the boys were watching Randy. Jackson said, "If daddy doesn't come in, his pizza will be cold, huh?" I said,"yes, but it will be alright- daddy is working hard." Jackson said, "Yep, him working real hard..... {pause}.... Him works as hard as me sometimes!" HA! I said, "sometimes?" J said, "Yeah- sometimes him works as hard as me." Then he thought a little more & said, "I can do that sometime." (the mowing). So i replied, "That is something i can guarantee you that you can do sometime!!" So he says to me {pointing to the lawn mower} "You'll have to buy one of those for me." No problem little man, that one can be all yours is about 10 years! How awesome is it, that at 4 years old, the best thing in the world to you is the prospect of having your very own lawnmower & a yard to mow right by yourself! This is truly a joy of having a boy, because in a few years, Randy will have LOTS of extra help in the yard! But here is my question, Where is my little helper for the laundry? Or the dishes? Or the mopping? or the Dinner? Can i get one of those?

So much testosterone!

I live in a house full of testosterone, so i don't know why i was suprised that Randy took the time to teach the boys arm wrestling so early!Jackson was trying SOOOO hard, check out the strain (& he is using 2 hands). Eli just couldn't be left out, so Randy took a turn with him too! He thought this was so funny. So i guess dinner was over at this point?

Out to Lowes...

Yesterday the boys & i went to Lowe's Home Improvement store to get a new ceiling fan (one of ours unfortunately broke!!) Usually Daddy is with us if we ever hit this store, but today he was working so i had to fill in for him- I had to let the boys sit on all the lawn mowers out front. Who knew how exciting this could be? This is the reason these boys love to go to Lowe's with Randy- all the big lawn mowers!

The funniest part of this trip to me was that i noticed when we got out of the car (as Jackson was already asking about the lawn mowers), was that Jackson was also wearing a pink, beaded, strawberry shortcake bracelet! He loves to play dress up, but he also loves a good ride on a lawn mower! Eli enjoyed this too, even though he doesn't look like it in the pictures. He was irritated at me with the camera & just wanted me to move him to a different mower!

Say Ahhhh!

This week i happened to catch this shot of the boys. They can play so nicely together sometimes. Jackson said to Eli, "Open your mouth, Buddy. It's okay, Buddy.... it only take a minute... it won't hurt" They can be so cute! I couldn't believe how cooperative Eli was since he HATES this part at the doctor's office! Go figure!!

Two Cute Jacksonisms....

Two funny things Jackson said today....

"mommy, we going to eat at the driveway?" (we were getting happy meals at the drive-through & heading to the park!)

Then later.... (as i slammed on brakes on the way home from church)...
"Mommy! What happened? Did you see a reindeer?!" (this cracked me up because i had to explain that we only see reindeer at christmas and the animal i almost hit the other night when i slammed on brakes was just a deer.)

The joys of sneaky boys

Jackson: Momma.... there's too much in there & it's not going in the hole.
Rachel: What?
Jackson: The water isn't going down the hole.
Rachel: What water? What were you doing?
Jackson: Nothing... I was washing my hands & there is too much in there & it isn't going down the hole in there.
Rachel: Did you put something in the sink?
Jackson: Nope.
Rachel: Well you're daddy's the plumber in this house. Talk to him.
Randy: What happened?
Jackson: Daddy.... Daddy....There is too much water & it isn't going down the hole.
Randy (walks into the bathroom): Oh my!
Jackson: See? It isn't going down the hole.
Randy: What did you put down the drain, Jackson?!
Jackson: Nothing... Ummm. A wipe.
Randy: A WIPE!? How far did you push it down?
Jackson: Just a little.
Randy: Argghhhh (growling & walking through the living room & talking to Rachel): He's crammed MORE than one wipe down there & i don't know if i can get it out.

moral of the story: NEVER leave a 4 year old unattended if his name is Jackson & he is sounding quiet for more than 2 minutes. (And yes, he got the wipes out!)

One of those dreaded talks.....

On the way to preschool this morning, Jackson & i were playing a little game in the car. I would see something, point it out (I see a crane!) & the other would look for it. Everytime Jackson did it to me, i would look for the named object & he would say "OOps, you missed it!" Well, because we were playing this game, he was looking VERY intently out the window as we drove down the road. Well, we passed a cemetary & this is how the conversation went:
J: what's that?
R: What?
J:What them? What them for?
R: (thinking "do i give an honest answer or do i fluff?") Well...when people get really old and really sick, they die, and we put them there.......
J: (Looking really concerned & eyebrows frowning)
R: (Recovering.....) But they really aren't there, they are with Jesus, people just go there to remember people they loved.
J: but WHY?
R: Well..... that is just how the world works (I am fully aware that this wasn't really an answer)
J: I going to learn about this at school tomorrow!
R: I will be sure to tell ms missy that for you, Jackson!

Once we got to school & i told Ms. Missy, she laughed so hard & said, "GREAT! We will have to learn about graves now!"

Another cute thing jackson said to me this morning before the graveside discussion was really adult like- we were still playing the "spy game" & everytime i would look & he would say "You missed it" i would say "Jackson, you are such a booger!" Well, once he said "No i not. I am jackson." So i said, "well you are jackson, but you are also a booger!" And he said, "i not a budder (booger), i am jackson ACTUALLY!" He is so funny to me sometimes!

My SWEET boys

I got out my camera the other day & figured out how to take some pretty decent close ups of two of my favorite people......

Eli now loves to stick his tongue out.... he is getting 3 new teeth right now...


For some reason i love Jackson's ears in this picture (along with his great smile of course)...

Oh those baby blues....
More of those baby blues... compliments of their daddy of course!
My fussy face...