Pay it forward

I have seen this everywhere but have never been apart of it.  Basically you do an act of kindness for someone you don't know, and you do it annonamously.  

I was in the drive thru at Taco Bell and was trying to hand my money to the cashier when he told me that the car in front of me paid for my entire meal!  I had about $16 worth of food ordered and they paid the whole thing.  Apparently they told the cashier to tell me to have a great day.  

Now it's my turn to pay it forward.  I don't know how I will do it, but my goal is to do it by the end of next week.  Hopefully I can make someone's day, just like someone made my day!

Sign language

Dan and Jake have been working very hard to learn baby sign language.  Jake has mastered "more"!  He will sign when asked and he will sign when he truly does want more.  Last night we paused the tv and he immediately started signing more. It was pretty awesome to see him show us that he wanted more tv instead of screaming.

Look how proud and happy he is!

The sign for more has many variations, but the one he picked up on was taking your pointer finger and pushing it to the palm of your other hand.  I never thought sign language was something I needed to teach my kids.  I also feel that it delays speech even though there are studies proven that it doesn't.  I'm glad that Dan is working with Jake and bonding with him.  I think they are working on "all done" "eat" and "drink" next.  Yeah Jakey!!!!! Such a smart little boy! 

Farm Fun

Sunday I took the boys over to my parents house so Dan could do some chores.  Since it was such a beautiful day my mom wanted to go to the park farm.  Naturally I didn't bring the stroller so we had to use the wagon.

Jake didn't care about the smaller animals like the chickens and goats, but he loved the pig and the cow.  He kept saying "WOW" over and over!  I think the size of the bigger animals amazed him.  

Nature walk

Friday we took a nature walk.  There is a paved bike trail in our town that is 10 miles long connecting to 3 other towns and several parks.  It's very well maintained and can be accessed from anywhere.  We walked about 4 miles of it.  Some spots are beautiful with lakes and streams, and other parts are through neighborhoods and behind houses.  It's a great trail to walk on.

Caleb slept the whole time while Jake walked for a bit then realized riding is much better!  We will be going again that's for sure!!

Fun day

Jenny came over today to visit us!

She brought me Jimmy Johns for lunch and we watched t.v. while we ate.  After eating we took Jake for a swim.

When Jake became too cold (it wasn't very hot today, but we were bored sitting inside) we came inside and everyone took a nap while I read.

From left to right- Sadie by Jenny's knee, Jenny, Stella curled up, and Lily

By the time everyone woke up from napping, Dan arrived home and Jenny, Cal, and I went shopping.  Our first stop was kohls, but we didn't find what we needed so we left quickly.  Next was to Target.  We had lots of fun browsing and spending too much money.  

By the time we were done at Target we were tired and hungry, so we got some froyo then came home to get the boys ready for bed.  Like always, I enjoyed spending the day with her.  Jake even greeted her first when we came back home, he loves her so much!  Thanks for spending time with me, Jen, even though you had other things to do.

Super(sleepy)baby!!

I caught some fun pictures of Cal sleeping on the floor the other day and they reminded me of a superhero flying through the sky! If I had any talent with photoshop I would have made some scenes, but I still thinks these are pretty cute.

 Super Cal to the rescue!

Oh look! Someone needs saving this way

Oh wait, I mean this way...

Posing for my newspaper feature

Super Cal is tired after a long day of saving people (look at that sweet face)

Jealous and hurt

I love my sister.  She is my best friend and is always there for me.  She is great with my boys and knows how to handle them.  But I never see her any more.  

She is in the beginning stages of a new relationship and spends all of her free time with her boyfriend, which is completely normal and I was the same way when I started dating Dan.  It's hard not to get my feelings hurt when she never comes over anymore to see us.  It's also hard not to get jealous when she calls me and tells me all the fun things they do together while I'm stuck at home.  They go out to eat, bowling, the movies, everything. My only excitement is going to the grocery store once a week. I would love to get out of the house and do something fun.

I told myself to give it time, and to realize that it is completely normal for her to want to see him, but I couldn't do it and decided I wouldn't ask her to hang out anymore and to give her space.  To my surprise she called me yesterday and told me we are hanging out sometime this week and it's not a choice.  Just when I tossed in the towel to us hanging out any more, she schedules some time for me! 

I am going to try really hard not to get my feelings hurt.  I know this is exactly how I would behave, but it's hard to not let those negative emotions get the best of me.