Spring Cleaning and Kindergarten Orientation

Spring is in the air!  It finally turned 70 degrees and we were so excited.  Jax could proudly wear his "armpit shirts" again.  (translation:  tank tops)  And I decided that every closet needs some serious cleaning out.  So I have embarked on a journey that should be complete by spring of next year.  Ha!  I kid.  But it is a big task because we seem to accumulate a lot in two years of being here.  How does that happen?  My conclusion is that clutter breeds all by itself.  It needs no help from us at all.

In addition to spring cleaning, I've noticed that both Target and Walmart are having huge clearances in the home decoration section.  I found really cute frames, accent rugs, and candles all for....wait for it....$1 each!  It was a steal, in my opinion.  And then I found shoe organizers and two tiered shelves on clearance that would work great for organizing some toys.  And so, I've been having fun.  My motto is-if I haven't used it in a year, it's outta here!

And then last night, I took Jaxson to Kindergarten orientation.  I sat there in the school gym thinking, "How did this happen?  Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital in his cute newborn outfit?"  Jax was pretty excited.  They gave the kids snacks and a goody bag.  And then the kindergarten teachers took them to to the classrooms to read, play, and color.  Jax practically jumped up from his chair when they called the kids to follow the teachers.  Meanwhile, us parents could learn the ropes of the school.  

It was a good meeting.  We have a Kindergarten lunch social to go to next week.  The school works really hard in getting the kids used to the school even before they get there in the fall!  I'm thankful for that.

Well, back to the closets now.  I have a pile of junk that's calling my name!

2013 Goals {March}

Goal check up for February!

Financial

Buy a 2nd car.  Done in February.  I did not think we would accomplish this one so fast! 

School

Plan out the year for Tot School with Jaxson and Julianne.  (I have it planned to Letter D.)

Home Management

Use Little Green Notebook's cleaning schedule and stick to it!  (This is working great.)

Weekly:

Vacuum

Mop

Clean bathrooms

Monthly

Dust

Clean oven/microwave

Spot clean walls and carpets

Personal

Books

Here is the list I want to read.  I'm shooting under the table because if I finish this list, I can ADD MORE. 

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

The Fitting Room by Kelly Minter

Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin

Holy Parenting by Benjamen Kerns

Is the Bible True?:  How Modern Debates and Discoveries Affirm the Essence of the Scriptures by Jeffrey L. Sheler (Read in February.  This was super interesting!)

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Michal: A Novel by Jill Eileen Smith

Sticky Faith by Kara Powell

A Taste of Heaven by R.C. Sproul

Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews

Understanding Your Young Teen by Mark Oestreicher

The Year of Living Biblically:  One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs (Read in January.  This was really funny!) 

Books read at Bonhoeffer Babe's Book Club:

Life of the Beloved:  Spritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J. M. Nouwen  (Read in January.  This was ok.)

A Hole in the Gospel:  What does God Expect From Us?  The Answer That Changed My Life and Just Might Change the World by Richard Sterns  (I actually read this last year!  I think it will bring some great discussion.)  I didn't read it this time around.

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (read in March)

Bible Study time

Memorize the entire book of James.  I've memorized to 4:13.

Study the book of Luke with the Mars Hill podcasts.

Watch Doctrine series with Mars Hill podcasts.

Read the entire Bible chronologically.  I'm using this plan. (I'm in Numbers 1 Samuel 18.)

25 Months

Julianne is 25 Months!

Julianne is really into Dora right now.  Jaxson watched Dora and Diego once and while when he was younger, but never really got into it.  But Julianne-now there's a girl that really loves Dora.  But she gets really stressed when Swiper comes on the screen.  She can't say Swiper, but will motion for him to stop.  It seems like I have to reassure her to not worry about Swipper.  And if you tell her, "Swiper, no swiping!" she will say, "Oh man!" just like Swiper does.  It's pretty cute.  

Julianne loves to sing.  Jaxson comes home from Sunday School singing all his songs and she wants to sing along.  We've taught her the motions and every night before she goes to bed-we SING!  She gives me the song requests and we sing Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Dora's Theme song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, etc.  At the end of each song, she asks for "more" and I take one look into her big blue eyes and say yes.  

What can I say?  I'm a softie.

We've recently discovered that she loves the Vanilla Cupcake Flavored Goldfish.  One day we ran out.  It was very traumatic and she had some great big crocodile tears over that.  I ended up calling Justin and telling him to pick some up on the way home from work.  I learned an important lesson that day.  Vanilla Cupcake Flavored Goldfish can make or break your day when there is a toddler in the house.

Julianne has officially moved up from the nursery to the 2 year old play area at church.  She was pretty hesitant about moving up and it took a couple of tries.  I don't blame her-she had a good thing going in that nursery area....they rocked her, played with her, and told her how fantastic she was.  But in the play area, they tend to encourage the kids to play in centers with each other.  Luckily, Julie knows that any lap is basically an invitation to sit and cuddle.  It's funny.  One Sunday when I came to pick her up, they told me that she really loves to cuddle.

Why yes.  I am well aware of that.

But Julie is adjusting well in there and has plenty of "friends" to play with. 

Julie is starting to play dress up.  She saw that Jaxson was a pirate and wanted to be one as well.  She grabbed the headband and eye patch and put them on the best she could.  Then she ran up to us saying, "Argh!"  She was a pretty cute, I mean scary, pirate!

Happy 25 Months Julianne!

Goals for this Week

Personal

Read Deuteronomy 11-Joshua 8 with my Bible in a Year plan.

Finish Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin 

School

No Tot School this week.  Too busy so I will just have some back up activities planned.

Home Management

Clean house

Dust

Clean out fridge

And here are this week's goals:

Personal

Read Joshua 1-Judges 5 with my Bible in a Year plan.

Finish Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin

School

Easter activities

Plan letter Cc

Home Management

Dust

Clean out fridge

I'm linking to Money Saving Mom!

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the Easter Egg hunt at church!  Both kids were pretty excited.

When we got there, Jax immediately ran to work on crafts.

He was gluing tissue paper to a cross.  This was by far his favorite thing to do!

Julie's age group was up first to hunt!

She gathered up a few eggs.  I think she was mostely wondering why she was gathering eggs in the first place!  But she seemed to have fun!

Jax's group was up next.

He was very much in "hunting mode" and he was off like lightning!

After all that hard work, Julie really needed a snack....

Love her plan of attack on that messy cupcake.  And yes, she was wearing it as well in the end!

Lastly, Julie joined in the crafts too.  Jax had was making his third creation and Julie realized she was missing out!

Afterwards, we came home and hung up our creations.  Jax really wanted to hang them on the front door so everyone could see them, but we settled for the front window instead.  You know, in case it rains or snows (shudders) because you know...it is Spring!

Hmmm...I think they add a lovely touch to our window....

Mama? No. Mama? No?

Yesterday the kids went to their Well Child check up!  Sounds so much fun, doesn't it?

I mean, look at those excited faces!

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It was funny.  Julianne wanted to do EVERYTHING that Jax was doing.  So when Jax got weighed, she wanted to jump on the scale too.  In fact, she did after he was done.  Poor girl still had to be weighed on the baby scale, much to her dismay. 

Afterwards, the kids both had blood work done and Jaxson went first.  They just poked his finger and gathered up drops of blood.  He didn't cry or whine about it.  So when it was Julie's turn, I thought she would turn into a drama queen.  I was wrong.  She sat there so patiently and was so happy to have a bandaid.

I think she was more concerned about doing the same things as Jaxson that she wasn't about to complain!  The nurse doing this was so surprised by Julianne's bravery. 

Julie didn't need any shots, but Jax needed 3!  Earlier we told him he was only getting one shot, so I felt bad that there were two extras.  But he was very brave.  When the nurse gave him his shots, he would just say "ow."  Again, she let me know I had some brave kids!

Seriously.  I'm not sure where their courage came from, but I won't complain!

We promised him ice cream, so later in the day we went to Sugarland and Jax got the Cookies and Cream Gelato.  Justin and I got the Pistachio.  I have yet to find a gelato there that is just mediocre.  That place is just that good!

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Here are the "lefties" eating their gelato. Jax is explaining to Justin that he can't eat it fast or he will get a headache.  I wonder how he knows that?

[[posterous-content:pid___2]]Want some?

[[posterous-content:pid___3]]Us girls really enjoyed it too!

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While going out for ice cream and running errands, Julianne was playing with the binoculars.  She kept saying, "Mama?  No.  Mama? No.  After a while, I turned around to see this:

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I figured out she was playing a game.  She was looking for me in the binoculars!  And so I played along with her and when she found me through the binoculars she said, "Mama?  Yes!"  Way too funny.  I'm glad she was having fun in the backseat.

It was busier than I intended it to be yesterday.  But the gelato made up for it!

 

Goals for this Week

Personal

Read Numbers 31-Deuteronomy 20 with my Bible in a Year plan.  (I'm three days behind.  Only on chapter 11 of Deuteronomy.)

Read up to 50% of Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin  (I'm reading this on the kindle...that's why my goal is a percentage.  I have no concept of how big or small the book really is.)

School

Letter Cc with Jax and Julie

Plan Letter Dd

Home Management

Change batteries in the smoke detector

Catch up on Project Life...two weeks worth!

And now onto this week's goals:

Personal

Read Deuteronomy 11-Joshua 8 with my Bible in a Year plan.

Finish Gods and Kings by Lynn Austin 

School

No Tot School this week.  Too busy so I will just have some back up activities planned.

Home Management

Clean house

Dust

Clean out fridge

I'm linking to Money Saving Mom!