Bedtime Snack

My kids are obsessed with popcorn, so that is the bedtime snack of choice these days.

Tonight we were on a walk and this was the conversation:

John: "Dad, why don't you like dogs?"
Matt: "I do like dogs but I just don't want to take care of one. I have you and Sophia to take care of."

John: "Well, I like dogs. You like taking care of me but not dogs?"

Matt: "I do like taking care of you. Dogs are a lot of work."

John: "Well I like dogs."

Matt: "I know you do."

Sophia: "Dog"

A motorcycle goes by and John says "I like motorcycles." Matt didn't hear him so he asks John "Did you say you like motorcycles or you don't like motorcycles?"

John: "I like motorcycles and I like puppies."

Oh boy...we are going to have to be really strong if we aren't going to get a dog.

Turning 30

Well it has happened....I am now 30. I was nervous about it but it all was okay and I had a great day.

My wonderful new staff...they are fabulous...dressed all in black and had a bagel breakfast to start the day of celebration. They presented me 30 suckers with a lollipop that said "30 Sucks" and a yummy gift card to Starbucks. I was showered through the day with cards and gift cards. The office staff wrote my name "Jodee" (Which is how I always wanted to spell it when I was younger. I had told them this story a few days after I started the new job and they remembered!) on a card, which will help me get more accessories for my new "professional" clothes. Along with a yummy cake to munch on through the day.

Matt brought me a birthday Dr. Pepper during the day.

Then off to my in-laws where a yummy dinner was made and I was once again showered with gifts. Beautiful jewelry and other accessories, along with a Chi! (The Chi has a story behind it that I might share in a later blog.)

The night ended with an episode of 30 Rock and my parents coming in late that night to visit for the weekend.

Friday....

My parents were here. This let me have a day off from dressing kids, changing diapers, washing any dishes, and just let me relax when I got home. My parents took us out for dinner and then beat us in a game of cards. Oh...and a yummy peach cobbler was made by my momma. (Mom and Dad had taken me shopping for my birthday so I would have "grown up/professional" clothes for administration.)

Saturday...

A relaxing day of doing nothing and visiting with friends.

Turning 30 wasn't a big hoopla or a big party...it was simply hanging out with family, some friends and seeing how blessed I am. And I loved it.

One funny thing that happened though....

The night I turned 30, I twisted my knee picking up John. Then when I went out to eat...the food upset my stomach. I hope the whole year isn't like this. :)

I think my 30s are going to be great.

Last night I was worried that the kids would cry when I dropped them off at Jewell's house for the first time this year....

I think they were okay!

An Update on the Kiddos

Today John went to the doctor for his 3 year old appointment. The sweet boy came in weighing 34 lbs (72 percentile) and standing tall at 37 inches (36 percentile). He got his eyes checked and all went well. There was a picture of a plus sign on the vision test. John's comment when asked what the object was simply was "Hey that is at church!" When a coffee cup was shown, he stated "My mom drinks coffee out of that each morning!" Oh the things kids say! The doctor was impressed that we were potty trained both day and night. We talked about Kindergarten shots and my heart fluttered. These will be the next shots that he gets. So all was well at the doctors office. John continues to just amaze me with his speech. He "read" me a story about Neptune tonight. He included words such as "planets", "rings around the planets", "telescope", "orbit", and "the sun is found in the middle". Little smarty pants! He is riding his big boy bike like a pro and still loves being outside, preferably with no shoes or clothes on.

Sweet Sophia is getting bigger each day and thinks she is already 3. She is in love with babies right now. She usually has a baby in her arms with a blanket around the baby. She is saying more words each day and I love it. We are working on animal sounds. I tried to teach her that a cow says moo. John taught her that a cow says "baaa". :) He thinks it is really funny when she says it. She is pointing to body parts. Sophia is quite funny. You see John loves to be the center of attention and he always has. (I am not sure where he got this...maybe Matt :)) When you would ask him to do something such as say animal sounds, he would perform and love it. Sophai is not about that. She doesn't seem to care if people knows she can do stuff. She does it when she wants and only when she wants. She doesn't really need the center of attention stuff. She has learned how to stand up to her brother. The other day at my parents house, John took something from her. As soon as he turned around, she plowed him down! Beware John! John loves to wake people up by yelling "Wake UP!!" Sophia goes up to John if he is sleeping and screams....oh that girl. The upcoming years should be exciting and surprising with these two.

Matt is still in El Paso and things are going well. He will be home on Saturday evening and we are all excited to see him.

I am doing my new job as an administrative intern. It is a great job and I am loving it. It is something new everyday. I am learning so much! So much in fact, I go home mentally exhausted each day. I am also dressing super professional each day. I am looking forward to my Saturdays and Sundays of jeans, sweats and shorts. NO HIGH HEELS! My goal this year is to be consistent with my quiet times before work, to not have a lot of evening activities during the week, and to not have long to-do lists during weekdays. I use to have all these things I wanted to get done in the evenings. I felt like a lot of times it would take away from my time with the kids. So this year, no masters classes and free evenings (except when there is school things). I am going back to being intentional with my family and friends.

Thanks for checking in!

Mommy Time

The kids stayed down in Houston with Nannee and Pops, so Matt and I went on a day date! After church we went down to the Main Street AMC and saw Crazy, Stupid Love. It was SO good! The theater was awesome also. If you have never been to a theater that serves dinner and drinks (we actually got an appetizer) while watching a movie...I would recommend it. It was great and it had recliners! Wonderful.

Afterwards we went out for dinner and ended the evening with celebrating our nephew Kampbell's birthday. A great day!

So at 8:00 am this morning, Matt left for El Paso for the week. I am sure it will be a wonderful trip. Maybe he will blog about it when he gets back.

So now the kids are still in Houston and Matt is spending the night in Dallas (on his way to El Paso). So that means Mommy time! I got some girl time this evening and it was great. Food, drinks and visiting...you can't get better than that!

But now as I lay in bed...I miss my family. It is a little too quiet for me.

So Wednesday can't come soon enough...but I know it will get here.

Tomorrow night's plan: Law and Order with some sewing.

John's Birthday Parties

Well, it has been a week since the parties happened and now I am finally getting to blogging. So sorry to those that have been waiting...but the pictures are here so enjoy!

The morning party was for John's friends. You will notice they are all girls. Poor kid, we really only hang out with people who have girls, so that is John's friends. Yet, he has attended their princess birthdays, so the girls attended his Cars/Toy Story party...and everyone had a great time!

The party took place up at our church, Lakeland Community Church. It is nice because we know the facility director quite well (that would be Matt), so he hooked us up with the tunnel town.

John helped decorate the cake table....

The Toy Story 3/Cars Cake and Cupcakes

The big 3 year old!

The sweet sister...

Brielle and John freezing and smiling for the picture!

Color time and pinching bubbles...

Craft time!!

I made picture frames with the kids' names on it and they decorated them. We took pictures of John and each child so they will get their pictures in their Thank You notes to put in their frames.

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday, dear John...

Happy Birthday to you!!

Cake time!!!

Blue icing...yummy!

Sophia enjoyed the cupcakes a whole lot!!!

John played, and continues to play with all of his toys. He loves all of them. When he was playing with Woody and Bullseye and he had his hat on...it was exactly like watching Toy Story. It was so neat and cute to see his imagination fly.

Sophia was ready for party number 2.

We had the family come over in the evening to have another celebration. John picked the menu of some of his favorite foods. We had hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, asparagus and corn on the cob. It was a great time of visiting, eating, and playing.

John with his Pops and Papa....looking at a lawn mowing magazine.

John got a lot of really cool gifts. This is one of them...a new Cars bike! I will have to post a video of him riding it. He took to it so quickly. He was riding all over the place. He is so big!!

Overall, it was a great day. I will tell you, after everyone left, Matt and I just layed down and didn't move for like 30 minutes. We were worn out! But it was all worth it and I believe John had a great day.