Thursday Fun

When we first joined a church 25 miles away, I was concerned that no one would ever be willing to drive out to Canton to play with us. Man, was I wrong. Several families have come out - many multiple times, and I am so thankful.

Today was one of those days - the Allens and the Moores came out. They've become our regular little Thursday morning posse. In fact, later today, Joy texted me to see what days the boys would be in preschool next year, so that she could compare it with Ramsey's schedule and still keep a day free for fun together.

Again, Y'all. I am BEYOND grateful for local friendships. After nearly six years here, they've been a long time coming.

Fwower Power

One day a couple of weeks ago, Freckle gave me a dandelion. He brought it from the front yard to where I stood at the kitchen sink. I made over this flower - the first I remember him ever giving me - and put it in a plastic orange cup of water, placing it on the windowsill, so he could see how much I loved it every time he passed by.

Since then, whenever he's in "hot water," he'll ask me, "You wike your fwower?" as if to remind me that, amidst the bad, he does a lot of good, too.

Lesson: Learned?

What a difference a day makes!

Sara Grace decided to do the boys' swim lessons together again today. This was MUCH to their delight. Towards the end of the hour, she brought a plate of treats to me with a ribbon that said, "Personal Best." On the back, she'd written, "TO JONES, YOU'RE AWESOME. SARA GRACE."

TO JONES?!

FOR REAL?!?!

Turns out, as Sara Grace put it, he'd done everything she'd asked him to today, so the stark change in his behavior warranted the treat.

You'll notice Freddie DIDN'T get a treat. He didn't pitch a Jones Pressley kind of fit, but he also wasn't as willing to jump into the deep-end as Jones was.

Maybe next week.

Oh, and Nana came to watch this week's lesson, which was AWESOME!

Happy Birthday, E!

For about as long as he could talk, Jones has called his cousin Ellery "E." For awhile there, he called both Ellery and Evan "E," but soon enough, Evan was "Evan," but "E" remained "E."

Why he did the was bewildering - surely, my 2 year old couldn't have guessed the letter that starts the two names. Right?

Anyway, I never thought much of it, until we were celebrating E's 12th birthday tonite. That's when it hit me. "Hmmm. I wonder if 'E' is actually the 'y' of 'Ellery'?" Maybe "Ellery" was too tough a sound for his little mouth to make, so he just said what he could, instead.

We will likely never know the answer to this question, but for now, that's my theory, and I think it's a pretty darn good one, though it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that sweet E is now 12.

Happy birthday to one of my boys' best budd-Es.

For the Birds

This morning, Jeremy walked out the front door on his way to "Jingle Bells" for our Saturday biscuits. As soon as he stepped on to the porch, he noticed a dead bird lying smack in the center of the terra cotta tile. We were talking about what to do with it when Freddie offered his solution: 

"We gonna pray for him" he said. 

And so we did.

____________

Dear Father, please help my tender-hearted boy to always believe in the power of prayer. Let him practice it multiple times a day that he may be close to the God Who created him and Who longs to work His glory through the answered prayers of little guys like mine. Thank You again for his tenderness. May his heart - and Jones's - always be soft spots for the seeds of Your Word to land and grow into mighty oaks of faith. In Jesus's name, Amen.

Going swimmingly

I have often said - somewhat jokingly - that God gave us Freddie, because He knew how much Jones needed him. Today definitely helped to prove my point.

The boys and I were at swim class. I'd done all of my work to prep Jones for his lesson - encouraging, threatening, bribing, you name it; I've not been above it. We'd even sung "the Bravest Cat" from the "PJ Masks" soundtrack approximately 3,000 times between our house and the Fitness Center. Still, as soon as (the unbelievably wonderful) Sarah Grace came over to collect the older of her two charges, he started to tense up.

I could tell that the promise of new goggles or the suggestion of a strawberry milkshake would not help to calm him down. Luckily, though, Sarah Grace came up with something. She suggested teaching both boys together, since she had a trainee observing her all afternoon. As soon as she asked Jones if he wanted Freddie with him, his entire demeanor changed.

He went from nervous and beginning-to-be-bulligerant to chatty and charming. The entire lesson was INCREDIBLE, a credit to Sarah Grace's unwillingness to give up on Jones - or to be swayed by how difficult it can be to convince him to do something that he just doesn't want to do.

I was so, so thankful.

She's decided to keep training them together, having unlocked the key to success with the bigger of the brothers, and if today's lesson as any indication, Jones will be swimming in time for Summer days at Lake Chatuge.

After his lesson, he did the funniest thing. He'd taken his tractor umbrella into the lesson, for some reason - it wasn't raining when we went in. As soon as he got out of the pool, he grabbed it, hunched over, put his hand on his back, and started walking like an old person.

Where he has seen this to even emulate it, I don't know, but it was hilarious. Of course, I couldn't get my camera out in time to capture the original walk, but I DID convince him to recreate it for me, if only for a few seconds. On his own, he then walked out of the Fitness Center, hand on his back, umbrella in the air.

To those who've asked if I'm going to put Jones in Drama classes, I may not have a choice in the matter.

One of those days ...

It's been one of those days when the boys' silly stuff has been coming at me a mile a minute.  Here are a few examples:

1) First, as they played outside this morning, the time came for a Gator ride. Freddie was in the driver's seat (of course), and Jones stood in his spot on the passenger's side. "'ey," Freck forcefully demanded. "Sit on your hiney." To be honest, I was surprised to hear Evil Knievel so concerned with safety.

A few minutes later, though, Freddie had had enough with Jones's pestering. "Jones, I'll drop you outta dis Alligator," he said.

THAT'S my boy.

2) On the way in to Wal-Mart:

FREDDIE: Hey! There's Jingle Bells.
JONES (slightly annoyed and, then, Mr. Salesman): It's BO-jangles. It's Bo Time.

3) When the receipt came out of the self check-out station, Freddie stood up in the back of the buggy and cheered, "Mama, you win! You win!" as if it were a game at Chuck E. Cheese dispensing tickets.

Finally, I've seen these "Kid Interviews" for years. I've always thought my boys were too young to do it. Well, I saw one this morning and gave it a shot:

JONES'S ANSWERS

Who is your favorite person? (To Jeremy) Not you, Romeo (the PJ Mask character Jones has cast Jeremy as). It's Pete (one of the characters Freddie plays; see previous post).

What is your favorite color? Blue 

What is your favorite TV show? "Mickey and the Roadster Racers"

What is your favorite toy? My favorite is a police car.

What is your favorite food? Chicken Pie 

What is your favorite animal?  My favorites a horse.

What is your favorite thing to do outside? My favorite is the little tiny John Deere Tractor.

Who makes you sad? Freddie

Who makes you happy? Mama

How old is Mama? (Taps nose, looks confused, never answers)

What do you want to be when you get big? Cowboy

What's your favorite thing Mama does?  Sing me ("Sing me" is how he says, "Sing to me").

What's your favorite thing Daddy does? My favorite is that he tucks me in.

FRECK'S ANSWERS

Who is your favorite person? I like you. (ME!)

What is your favorite color? Navy Dark Blue

What is your favorite TV show? "Special Agent Oso"

What is your favorite toy? gestures to Vaseline Jar sitting beside him

What is your favorite food? Chicken pie

What is your favorite animal? I wike a cow.

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my alligator,  the tractor

Who makes you sad? (sitting on couch beside Jones, he sticks his finger in Jones's belly and says ...) This guy does.

Who makes you happy? My tummy makes me happy.

How old is Mama? 4

What do you want to be when you get big? I be cowboy.

What's your favorite thing Mama does? Make wunch, and wots of fings.

What's your favorite thing Daddy does? Daddy wikes to hold me

Happy Easter!

We didn't invite Boogie to be in the picture;
he just showed up, but if you ask me, he makes the shot.
Also, this is one of my top five favorite pictures in history.

Unless you count the fit that Jones pitched before church or the fact that both Daddy and I thought Freddie wasn't breathing just before lunch, Easter was a spectacularly happy day for the Pressley family!

We got up and enjoyed our goodies and made it to church in time for the annual Balloon Launch. Neither of the boys were very sure of what to expect from this, but I absolutely loved it. The boys then stayed in "big church" with us for about six minutes before I took them down to Mr. John's class. I love having them on the pew with me, but I'll be honest: I don't get much out of the service when they are.

When we got to Mom and Daddy's for lunch, Freddie had fallen asleep. He was SO asleep that he didn't even wake up when we stopped the car. Daddy came out to carry him in. Even when Daddy got him out of his carseat, Freddie didn't wake up. "Should I take him upstairs (to bed)?" "I guess," I answered.

Then Daddy said the thing that signaled me that something was wrong: "Come up with me," he said. I immediately walked over to where he stood, holding my limp little boy over his shoulder. I put my hand on Freddie's back. There was no rise and fall. I took him and tried to rouse him, but even that took a few seconds. It was terrifying. And sure enough, I'd read Daddy's signal right. He couldn't feel Freddie breathing, either.

Thankfully - obviously - he was completely fine, just sleeping more soundly than I think he ever has before. Still, for the rest of the day, I couldn't shake that feeling of fear.

We had a wonderful lunch - followed by a family photo session. The boys played with Boogie, and Jeremy finally got to see what I'm talking about when I say, "We have GOT to get these guys a dog." After that, there was an Easter Egg Hunt and then a return to Canton where we got to do it all over again with the Pressleys'.

It was a wonderful day - and, for the record, I will probably never again love a pair of Easter suits as much as I loved the boys from this year.

a CATBOY book!

I know; I know.
I need lipstick and mascara. 

After finding an egg in one bush,
Jones proceeded to check every.
other.bush on my parents property.

Freck thinks Boogie is his best buddy.
Also, he was HILARIOUS in "training"
him. "I said STAY!"