Just a glimpse of our every day crazy..

At the apple orchard, kids are playing, I have no idea what I was doing, trying to round our stuff up I think.

Friend: "That's Megan, she's in charge of our kids' ministry."

Person I haven't met: "Oh, great! Are these all of your kids?"

Friend: "Well, not all of them. See that little blonde boy with no pants who just put that chip-clip on his penis? He's Megan's. And that other blonde boy peeing on the tree? He's Megan's too."

Don't worry. The kids' ministry is in good hands.

Raising a misson-minded preschooler.

Is it possible to raise a mission minded preschooler? At the very least, I know it's possible to raise a hospitable, compassionate, loving one. The other day I was a few minutes early picking William up from preschool. He was eating his snack with his classmates and one of the assistants was sitting next to him. After a few minutes of chatting, William told me that he invited all of his friends and teachers to come play video games. I told him how great that was, and sometime we could do that. A few minutes later the assistant(a mid 50s Saudi woman) told me about this interaction.

Her: Nodding at William "He is very special. I have henna on my fingers, you know henna?"

I told her I was indeed familiar with henna.

Her: "Most of the other kids ask me what it is and are afraid for me to touch them, they think it will come off. William asked me what it was, shrugged his shoulders, and was fine with it. He was the only one!"

I love that my baby was so accepting of this. I love that in his own sweet way, he made this woman feel accepted and loved. The missions of children are so much more than we realize sometimes.

William's First Practical Joke

Scene: Will, Owen and I are in our backyard. I'm sitting on top step of my deck, reading a book. Owen is playing in the baby pool, and Will is standing behind me lost in deep thoughts. Suddenly, Will interrupts the silence with This Statement..

Will: "Mommy, I just love pooping outside."

Me: "Um.. (putting book down) Did you poop outside, honey?"

W: "Yep!"

M: "Sweetie, we don't poop outside, only animals poop outside. Hold on, I'm going to get a bag.. (coming back with a bag) Okay baby, where's the poop?"

W: "Come on, mama! I'll take you!" (he grabs my hand and pulls me into the yard while I, petrified of stepping on the poop, look a million directions at once). Will Points up. "There it is Mama!"
M: "Where??"

W: "In the tree!" Then his lips start twitching, as he's holding back a giant grin.

M: looking at the tree, then back at William "Will, are you making a joke?"

W: "Yep!"

We both start cracking up. My sweet Willy-nilly had me completely duped with his first practical joke. Ahhh the love.

The world from William's eyes..

All Grown up... Sort of.

A draft I found from last July.. How has a whole year passed??

Will at lunch: "Mommy, I'm all growed up!"
Me: "Really?"
Will: "Look at me Mommy! I'm not a preschooler anymore."
Me: "Huh. Then what are you?"
Will: "I'm a boy."
Me: "Wow! When did you grow up?"
Will: "Last night. When I was sleepin'."

Tomorrow is Will's 3rd birthday!!

What I have learned about giving your children independence.. AKA Let it go already!

My children have taught me countless things. One of these things that I wanted to share was how to allow your preschooler to gain independence. When William was just over a year old I became pregnant with our second child. Because of a very difficult pregnancy I was on bed rest for 3 months, then Owen was born 3 months early. Because of all of this, with the help of my family and wonderful husband, William learned how to be fairly independent.

Now at almost 3 I can't believe the things he has mastered. Sometimes I still want him to be a little baby and let me do things for him, but alas, the independent will is strong in him! (As I write this he walked into the bathroom without a word and went potty) His desire to be independent has taught me SO much! I have learned that it's okay that he doesn't do things perfectly. If he puts his shoes on the wrong feet, his socks on inside-out, or his pants on backwards it's okay! He's allowed to make these mistakes.

I see many parents insisting on fixing these little errors, and sometimes I find myself doing it. It's a constant reminder that it's okay for our children to make mistakes. It's part of learning and growing up. Mainly, this time in William's life has told me to just let the little things go, and laugh along with him. :)

Craftiness as a Cabin Fever Deterrent

Cabin fever has truly set in at the Roelfs house... I have been trying my very best to come up with ways to entertain William.. Recently he has become quite taken with crafts, which is so much fun for the teacher side of me! I picked up Crayola Window Markers at Target for $4, and some Valentines day window clings for $1.50. The window markers were somewhat expensive, but I knew that I could continue to use them for a LONG time! He has already colored most of our windows multiple times!

The other craft that always works is giving him glue, scissors, and misc things to use for crafts. Will loves construction paper, crayons, markers, paints, photos that I'm not using, old magazines, pipe cleaners, and the list goes on and on. Really, for this, all you need to do is hand him a bunch of misc. things and let him go to work! As you can see in this picture, it almost always works wonders! :)

William, Oh William...

Today William and I were in Target and had this interaction.. He walked up to a rack of Spanx and said "That's a shirt?"

Me: "Uhm, no, they're like underwear."

Will: "That's so cute!"

Me: "Hmm.. I guess.."

Will: "Mommy wants those?"

Me: "No, not really. Other mommies might though."

Then we walked on and he saw bras.. *sigh* He ran up to one, grabbed it, and said: "Mommy! What's that? That's so cute!"

Me: "That's a bra"

Will: "Mommy want a bra?"

Me: "No, not today."

Will: "Where's mommy's bra?" (You wouldn't believe all the looks I'm getting at this point)

Me: "They're at home."

Will starts pulling on my shirt and says "Mommy's bra's in there?"

Me: "Yeahh" (as I try to keep my shirt in place)

Will: "Mommy's milk's in there too?"

Me: "Yeah, Mommy's milk's in there too.. Look, a car!" Phew. That was the end of that conversation!

Wow.. How much life has changed....

Today is William's second birthday. Wow. Where has the time gone? I know that phrase is so cliche, but it's so true! This time two years ago I was laying in a hospital bed holding my newborn son; completely clueless about how much my life was going to change.

Before I had a baby it was nothing to say, run to the grocery store. Today it takes 1. courage 2. at least 45 minutes 3. Diaper bag packed with everything imaginable because the one item you forget (say extra outfit) is the one item you need (example; blowout) 4. LIST (you will IMMEDIATELY forget the reason you came to said store) 5. Logistical plan for the entire store to figure out how to get in and out as quickly as possible 6. The greatest amount of willpower EVER to avoid the lovely chocolate bars in the checkout lane...

I love my children though and would change nothing! Today for William's birthday I dropped Owen off at mom's and took him to meet daddy for lunch. He even got birthday ice cream! After Will's nap Grandma and I took the birthday boy to the bike trail to try out his brand new plasmacar *AWESOME*. We then decided to head to Baskin Robbins for EVEN MORE ICE CREAM! (Read "Happiest Boy Ever"). We timed our arrival perfectly with Daddy's and we were able to open his presents as a family before bed. Yaay birthdays! I am very excited for Nate's half day tomorrow so we can let William pick out his gifts from his Grandad and Great Mamaw, as well as his birthday party at Lion's Park. :)