Wordless Wednesday

So Big!

Jonathan is now riding in our big boy car seat! He was very pleased with the change.

And here are Coleman and Andrew on their first rides in the big boy seat.

We had a little problem with the flash in this particular shot.

Coleman Joe, Age 3

There are so many things about Coleman at 3 that we don't want to forget.

* Coleman is our rooster. He is almost always first out of bed in the mornings, only sometimes beaten awake by Jonathan. His hair at the top of his head sticks straight up, adding to the rooster analogy. He even knows that's his "rooster tail."

*Some of his favorite foods are: mac and cheese, noodles of most any kind (especially when they are on someone else's plate), kiwi (known as wiwi), and "kokwate putting."

*Favorite color has always been green, but now may be changing to blue. He chooses blue a lot more often than green now.

*As soon as he sees Jonathan in the morning, he comes over to him and says, "Good Morning JonJon!" and gives him a big snuggle or hug. He loves that baby so much! If Jonathan is playing in the floor, Coleman is right next to him gently rubbing his back.

*Cole is still our really rough and tumble boy though. He does not shy away from any skirmish. We are finally making progress on the "your-head-is-not-a-weapon" front.

*Favorite activities include: riding his trike; playing outside; painting, markers or any other art project; floor puzzles (I get asked almost daily, "Will you play puzzles wif me?" How can I refuse?) and play-doh.

*When he gets almost finished with a floor puzzle, he'll tell me, "Cwose your eyes!" So I do, mostly, and then when he's put the last piece in place, he says, "Ta Da!" So proud of himself!

*He loves to be a helper. If I am cooking, he tries to drag the step ladder to the kitchen to help. He happily helps with laundry (and there is plenty to go around believe me!). When Brent cuts the grass, nothing makes Coleman happier than to follow along with his mower and then to help with the blower when Brent is finishing up the yard. He even asks for his little blower to be hung up right beside his daddy's in the garage when they finish.

*Coleman loves to read. When we have Family Reading Time at night after supper, he is the first to turn off the tv and dump out the library books. At bedtime, he asks for a wot of books in his bed. He loves our trips to the library each week, and will be getting his own library card this fall.

*Pretending has become his forte. Before, he would gladly participate in Andrew's pretend scenarios, but now he is starting to initiate pretend play on his own. Cowboys, firemen, soldiers, and pirates can all be seen/heard around here on any given day.

*"Jericho" on the Veggie Tales cd is his favorite song.

*He's becoming very aware of fairness issues. Sharing is a big deal right now. Specifically, when someone is not sharing with him. And to Coleman's three year old self, sharing means you should immediately relenquish whatever he is asking for. Fortunately, Andrew is a very good sharer most of the time, and we're never too far away to make sure everyone gets a good, equal turn.

*Coleman loves a good reunion. Whether we've been gone for several hours, like at school, or just a few minutes, like a run to the grocery store, Coleman acts like it's been years since he's seen us. His little face lights up and he comes running to you with arms open wide ready for a big hug. He says our names over and over, as if he can't believe it's really us.

*His speech is getting so much more sophisticated. Last week he started using father and mother instead of daddy and mommy. He still doesn't get everything quite right, though. Figuring out the English language is a lot for a three year old person.

Coleman Joe, we have absolutely loved your first three years! You amaze us with how big you are becoming. We thank God for you every day and can't wait to see what He does with your life.

"This is the LORD's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes."

~Psalm 119:24

Wordless Wednesday

Labor Day

We had a fun Labor Day weekend. Sunday afternoon we were playing outside, and our neighbor walked over and invited us on a boat ride to dinner. We grabbed the life jackets and off we went.


Our neighbors, Brent and Laurie, have a really nice boat and are so kind to let us enjoy it too. Here's Brent F. and Delia driving to dinner.


This is Laurie and Ben with me and Jonathan. She's expecting the "Final Flickinger" as she calls it. Due in December right around Jon Jon's birthday.

Skogie's is a really neat restaurant at one of the marinas here in town. They have a courtesy dock for customers to use while they eat.

The restaurant is very casual. Lots of folks in bathing suits and coverups. We ate inside the porch, but there is also air conditioning inside, and there are more picnic tables outside. Here are Ben and Coleman waiting on their chicken fingers.

Jonathan and Delia were at the head of the table.

On Monday, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to a new-to-us park in town. It has a very shady playground that we drive past a good bit. The yahoos were super excited to try out a new park. The weather was perfect for an outside adventure.

This was Jonathan's first time to swing. I couldn't be certain, but he seemed to enjoy it!

After we played for a while, we walked the trail through the woods and down by the lake.

If you look closely, you can see the Blue Ridge in the background. I love that the mountains are so close to our home. It was a perfect day.

Nine Months Old

Jonathan is now nine months old! He is into everything he can get his hands on, as the pictures below illustrate perfectly. His new love is Cheerios, and he would happily eat a whole box if someone would only give him one. He's standing and playing at his little playtable now, and he got in his new car seat this week. At his check-up today, he weighed 18 lbs 5 oz and is 28 inches long. He has started eating meats now, and his favorite is chicken and vegetables. It's time to start moving him toward table food, and increasing his time with a sippy cup rather than the bottle.

When he's on his tummy, he is trying his hardest to go somewhere, he just hasn't quite figured out crawling yet. And that is just fine with Mommy! I am in no hurry to have another mobile yahoo around here! But the cutest thing he does right now, he does when he's thinking really hard. He sticks his little tongue out! You can almost see smoke coming out of his ears from the wheels turning in his sweet little head.

Here is today's "bear in the chair" photo shoot. I think these are a very accurate representation of Jon Jon these days. Busy, busy, busy!

"Hey bear! Did you know I'm nine months old today?"

"See! It says so right here on this paper!"

"Bye Bye Everybody!"

Chuck E Cheese

A couple of weeks ago, we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese's for a fun morning. Andrew and Coleman were so excited when we told them where we were going. The only other time we've been as a family was in Winston Salem when Andrew was two. Here are the pictures from our recent trip, and the pictures from our visit in North Carolina are below.

riding some sort of bicycle/airplane that Daddy had to pedal

riding a roller coaster ride

I don't know why we didn't have them ride it together. There was plenty of room in the seat for them both.

It seems we are turning into real boys. The shooting games were far and away their favorites.

I made him get in the car with Chuck E. because of the picture below it.

It's not exactly the same car, but how funny to see him becoming such a big boy!

riding that same airplane/bicycle thing

the roller coaster ride

Coleman was just so excited to be there!

I try very hard to make sure our third yahoo doesn't get jipped out of things just because of his birth order. However, this time I didn't do so well. Jon Jon, I'm sorry you aren't in any of the pictures. You were there though, and you did have a fun time too. You loved sitting in your stroller eating puffs while your brothers played the games. I'll get a picture of you when we go again in two more years.