Their Bond

My boys fight. They fight over toys. They fight over candy. They fight over who gets to sit or lay with me. They fight over who gets taken to the car first every morning. They fight over who gets bathed first.  They fight over their daddy's attention.

They fight.

You know what, though?  They love each other so very much.

When they are not together, they are constantly asking when the other will be back, or when they'll be with the other again.  When awakening in the mornings, they lie down to snuggle with each other before starting their day.  They feel safe together.  They defend each other.

Jubal goes to Pre-K at our public elementary school and Gentry goes to daycare each day.  Jubal then rides the bus in the afternoons to the same daycare.  Each and every day, the first thing that occurs when he arrives is my boys want to see each other.

Mrs. Diane still sends me pictures.  She usually captures their reunion hugs and sends them to me.  My heart melts every time.

I hope this love only grows and they are always this close.  I know they have a bond that can never be broken.  Brothers.

What's Been Going On?

I feel the need to write down some things that my boys have been doing or saying lately that I want to remember later. The little things are sometimes easier to forget and I always want to be able to look back at this to jog my memory of these things.

We'll start with Gentry first.  This boy right here has some kind of vocabulary.  Jubal had a large vocabulary as well, and was very articulate, but Gentry just wows me with some of the words he uses.  He speaks in full sentences that sometimes make you feel like you could be talking to a ten year old.  I'll just look at him in amazement when he catches me off guard like that.  You know, the head all tilted to the side, mouth open kind of stare?  Ha!

When he is playing with his cars, he lines them up perfectly side by side.  He likes to be able to see each individual car.  He's so meticulous about how he lines them up.  I see a lot of me in that.  He must pick up on the way I do things like that.  

He loves Legos.  He loves building castles.  It something that makes him very proud.

He's good at it, too.

Some of my favorite things to hear him say in his little country twang is: Yep, pronounced yyyeep, real slow like molasses.  I love when he says, "Lay with me, Mama."  I'll ask him if he likes for me to lay with him and I always get that "Yyyeeep!"  I love the way he's says, "Love you, too."  Sometimes when he's speaking in a long sentence, he will take his time and say each word slowly, one syllable at a time.  Just the other day he told Larson, "Go- get- me- some- can- dy!"

Ha ha!  There's so many other things he says that makes me giggle.

Just for my sake I want to remember that right now he weighs in at 34 lbs. and is 36 1/4 inches tall.

Now, on to my big boy.  Jubal is really starting to look less like my little boy and more like a little grownup every day.  We took him to get his hair cut day before yesterday and he wanted a new style.  I've always kept him a simple "little boy" hair cut, but now he wants his hair spiked up in the front, which makes him look so much older to me.  Where is my baby??

He acts just as old as he looks, too.  He is too dang smart for his own good, which sometimes gets him in trouble.  He thinks he knows everything.  Just like his dad & I were when we were little, and every other person on the planet, I guess.  Ha!  

He got his first progress report about a week ago and I smiled with so much pride at all the wonderful things his teacher wrote about him.  He's one of the youngest ones in his class.  Most of the children are already five, but Jubal won't turn five until July, and yet he surpasses many of them on several different levels.  One way he amazes me is his use of adjectives.  I really appreciate good English, so this is a big one for me.  He uses them in sentences exactly how they should be used.  He's four.  He was trying on a pair of shoes he really wanted, and looked up at me and said, "They fit me perfectly."  That is just an example.  I rarely have to correct him, though.  He is very articulate.

Right now he weighs in at 34.6 lbs. and last time we measured his height he was right at 37-37 1/4 inches.  Baby brother may be on the verge of passing him.  Gentry has always been bigger at certain ages than Jubal was at the same age.  It's all good, though, because as much as these boys fight over the same toys, or just over who sits where, they genuinely love each other.  

I hope they always have the bond that they have now.

Lately

As January is quickly passing us by, we've been enjoying the slower pace it brings after the holidays. We are getting ready for the activities that spring will bring shortly, but until then we've been taking it pretty easy.

Lately, we've been going for walks down to the pond.  The boys like riding their bikes around the block and then walking to the pond,collecting rocks along the way to try and skip across the water.  There's a little trail all the way around the pond and they love walking around it, especially through the "forest", as Jubal calls it.

Lately, Jubal celebrated his 100th day of school.  The older kids get to dress up as their idea of 100 year old people, but Jubal & his class got to make crowns proclaiming they are 100 days smarter.

Lately, the boys have been having a blast taking their baths with bubbles.  Larson asked me to pick up some bubbles for them last week and the boys love playing with them.  I guess I've always thought bubbles were a "girl thing", but my boys love them just as much as I did when I was little.  Since the bottle of bubbles I got for them has Spiderman on the label, they definitely think they're awesome.

Lately, after cold & rainy days that lasted almost two weeks, the weather has been beautiful.  It's been near 70° and sunny, so we've been enjoying staying outside as much as possible.  The boys love jumping on their trampoline, and especially the static electricity it causes.

Lately, I took the boys to the park this past Monday when Jubal was out of school for MLK day.  We stopped by Mickey D's to pick up some food and spent the rest of the afternoon, until we had to pick up Larson, at the park.  When we arrived, there wasn't anyone there, but maybe 5 minutes later it seemed every other parent had the same idea...Happy Meals & play time at the park.  

Both boys had so much fun, and it made my heart feel so much joy to see how my boys stick together in a crowd.  Gentry really looks up to Jubal, and Jubal really looks out for Gentry.  We had a wonderful day together.  I need to do this more often with them.

I didn't get but one picture at the park because I was too busy pushing the swing or helping them cross the monkey bars, but I know I'll remember this day in my heart.  I love seeing happiness all over my boys' faces.

Lately, we've just been hanging out with each other.  Jubal makes me smile every time he says, "My family is all together."  We can all just be sitting in the same room together and it makes him happy that we're all there...together. 

 I love my family.  There's no other place I'd rather be than together.  

Our Year~2014

I created a little picture video using Flipagram to sum up our year. I enjoy watching my boys grow. It's always fun to look back on pictures taken throughout the year and actually see how much they've grown. I love these little things. :)

NYE~2014

Our New Year's Eve was a very quiet one this year. I am thankful, too. Used to, you couldn't keep me from going out to a party or to hang with friends. I even went to Central Market in Savannah one year for NYE. I loved the balloon drop, but hated the elbow-to-elbow people, and pushing & shoving all night to get from point A to point B.

All that being said, I would much rather be at home with Larson and our boys than anywhere else on NYE.  Our neighbor, Raymond, came over and he & Larson built a fire in our barrel while the boys and their friend played outside for awhile.  It was very cool out, so we didn't stay out long.  I made some sandwiches and chips & dip, and we drank some Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice.  The boys loved it, and I let them drink out of wine glasses and make toasts to the new year.

It was precious.

Gentry was asleep by 8:45, Jubal by 9:30, Larson by 10, and I was down for the count myself by 11.  I would love to stay up to see the ball drop, but I must be getting old because I just can't make it.

New Year's Day was a day of tradition.  I country fried some pork chops, made some collard greens, black-eyed peas, rice, and cornbread.  We feasted and then took naps.  Just us.  It was just what I needed for the start of the new year.  My little family, together, safe, and blessed.



Our Christmas~2014

We had a good Christmas. It seems like it got here so quickly this year, but also passed quickly, too. It came & left in the blink of an eye. I'm not sure I had time to take it all in. There was so much going on. I do know that I loved spending it with my people, though. Our boys are at such a fun age. They made this Christmas extra special. The glow in their little eyes is worth everything to me.

First, I want to share Jubal's letter to Santa that was printed in our local newspaper.  I was so surprised at his simple request since he had already seen Santa and asked for a remote-controlled truck, a guitar, and a brown gun "this big" (as wide as his arms would stretch).  He had told his dad & I he wanted some Ninja Turtle sunglasses, but when I saw this, I smiled.  Also, only my child would tell Santa he was going to leave him a sandwich & french fries. Haha!

We always go to my mama's and open gifts with her on Christmas Eve.  We are not a big "commercial" Christmas family.  I know it brings the boys joy to receive gifts, but I also want them to understand why we, as Christians, celebrate Christmas.  It's not just about presents.  So, anyway, my mama got them each a single gift.  Jubal got a police car and Gentry got a fire truck, and both were thrilled.  We gave my mama a 3 lbs. of fruitcake since she had been mentioning how much she wanted some.  We just enjoyed being together for the evening before going home to let the boys open their gifts from us.

The boys each get to ask for three gifts from us and three gifts from Santa.  Gentry isn't really at the age yet that he understands, so he only had a couple of requests.  The rest was up to us. :)

We go ahead and open gifts on Christmas Eve so they can enjoy playing with their new goodies before waking up to find what Santa has brought them. 

I knew if Santa was going to bring Jubal a remote-controlled truck, Gentry would want to play with one, too.  Just to make sure there was no fighting over it, we bought Gentry his own remote-controlled truck.  He had actually asked for a green truck so we made sure it was green.

We also got both of them a Spiderman hopper.  If you get something for one, it's usually best to get the other one the same or similar.  It eliminates fighting.  Just trust me on that. ;)

They each got a pair of Under Armour shoes, too.  Right now, they go through about three pair of tennis shoes a year.  They either wear them out or simply outgrow them.  I prefer name brand shoes.  I know most kids like cartoon character shoes, or light up shoes, but I just can't do it.  Not for me.  No offense.

The red on his nose is finger paint.  He was Rudolph at daycare.

I picked out this gun for Jubal.  I didn't know if Santa would be able to find him a gun like he asked for, so I made sure my boy had a gun.  Turns out, this is his favorite gun ever.

After opening presents and playing for a long time, we started settling down and it was time for me to uphold Jubal's promise to Santa.  Yes, I made Santa a sandwich & french fries.  I also put him some cookies I had made for the boys' parties at school that were left over on the plate, too.  Jubal wanted to leave him chocolate milk.  Alrighty then.  Yes sir!

After the boys were nestled in bed, Santa made his way to our house.  He was indeed able to find the brown gun "this big".  Jubal also got the guitar and remote-controlled truck he had asked for.

Gentry got a drum set, a magnetic, portable writing board, and an indoor/outdoor dinosaur tent.  He had mentioned a dinosaur so I guess this was Santa's dinosaur gift to him. ;)

Their stockings were packed with all kinds of little goodies, too.  Gentry got a blue dinosaur, a new big boy cup, Superman sunglasses, mittens, and lots & lots of candy.  Jubal got those Ninja Turtle sunglasses he asked for.  He also got new underwear, a green dinosaur, mittens, and lots & lots of candy, too.

Oh, and Santa?  Well, I think Santa got a little chubbier at our house.  He did a good job eating what was left for him.  I hope he liked it.

Jubal woke us up around like 4am, when he woke up to go to the bathroom and saw by the light of the Christmas tree that Santa had been there.  There was a lot of playing going on very early this Christmas morning.  Thankfully, we did all doze back off around 5:30, and got to sleep until about 8.  Jubal made sure we all got back up soon, though.



With all the excitement and us getting ready to go to Larson's mama's house for lunch, I didn't get but one picture of them that morning.  They had their shades & mittens on.  They looked like the Blues Brothers to me. Ha!

We enjoyed the rest of the day at Larson's mama's house.  Instead of the traditional meal this year, we decided to do a low-country boil.  I am so glad we did, too.  It was fairly nice weather, so we were able to sit around outside and laugh and talk while all the kids played.  My mama was there with us, and it was just a good, good day.

As always, I missed our family members that couldn't be there, or either spent their Christmas in Heaven.  Christmas is a lot different now that both of our families have gotten smaller over the years, but now that we have our boys, it's a lot more exciting for us, too.  There is absolutely nothing more precious than seeing happiness & joy in your children's eyes.

It was a good Christmas.  My heart is content.



Pre Christmas

The boys had a lot of little things they got to do before Christmas,
while they were at school & daycare.
It was a busy time for us, which is why I'm late getting any posting done.

 I want to keep up with these times, though, so
I'll post even if I am almost two weeks late. :)

Gentry wasn't too sure about seeing a second Santa,

 especially without his big brother there.

Also, this was immediately after nap, and my boys don't do stimulation

very well when first waking up. Ha!

Someone was supposed to be napping, but instead

he was making faces at Mrs. Mandy.

Jubal rode the bus to daycare after school.

He had fun at his school program that day.

Gentry told Mrs. Mandy he was tired.

She snapped this pic and sent it to me.

Last day of school before Christmas vacation.

I had lots of goodies in the bag that he had made throughout the school year.

Rudolph

Gabriel's birthday

Christmas Eve morning at daycare while Mama & Daddy had to work.

Thankfully, I only had to work half a day.

They had their little parties at daycare anyway so they

didn't mind being there for awhile.

The cookies I made for their parties at daycare.

So easy!

I'll share our Christmas in my next post. 

It was so much fun this year with both boys

knowing more about why we celebrate, and about Santa.

I don't know if they were more excited, or us.