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The Gospel according to John...
"If God said 'Let there be a hippo on a cloud', then POOF and it would be there. God is powerful."

So true, John. So true.

On a sweet note, we ate dinner outside tonight because the weather was beautiful. John had finished and went to go play in the dirt (pictures to follow), and I had to go inside to feed Ellie and escape the mosquitoes that didn't seem to be bothering anyone else. A picture wouldn't have done it justice, but I just watched through the window as Buck and Eve had a very intense conversation...about things like "John is down the stairs. He is dirty." "Do you like pickles in ketchup?" "Mmm hmmm" and "See my boo boo?" Both were completely focused on each other and it was such a sweet moment to watch. Eve loves her Daddy, and he certainly loves her too.

School Days

What a handsome boy!!! Today was the first day of K4!

Look how big his backpack was last year!

And now this year, he's grown into it (hunched over running, so you can't tell as well, but grown into it)

Eve had to bring her backpack as well...to drop John off AND to pick him up. Poor thing, she wants so badly to go to school. It's right up her alley, but I didn't know she'd want to go so badly, so I thought I'd keep her home with me just one more year.

John is starting his second year at Simpsonville United Methodist Church Preschool. He's going 3 mornings a week again, from 8:30 or 9 until 12. His teachers are Mrs. Dean and Mrs. Medlen. I've only met them briefly, but they seem super nice and wonderful with kids. John was a little bit excited about school, which sort of surprised me. He went into the class great and didn't think twice about us leaving. When I picked him up he said he had a fun day, but then gave me the old "I don't want to talk about it" from last year. We went out for a special lunch, and with a little more prying, he started to tell me a little. I think he said his favorite part was gluing. The teachers both said he was so sweet today. He wanted to hold their hands and snuggle next to them while they were sitting. That's right, he's a lover. I forgot to mention in his birthday post, but everyone loves John because he's so very affectionate. He's always hugging and kissing, and snuggling up to read. In fact, when our church small group was finishing up last weekend, he planted one right on a little girl's lips. She's also in his class at school. We're going to have to watch out for them!

In other news, Eve has started to turn a corner and is being very sweet to Ellie again. She still craves attention, and often grabs my face in her hands and turns it toward her to make sure I'm paying attention, or last night grabbed me by the nose to turn my head and said "no talking" while I was in conversation with some guests. When it comes to Ellie, though, she's back to being concerned about making sure she's not crying and has what she needs. She gives her sweet kisses and hugs (I suppose Eve is quite the lover, too). I think she's starting to forget what life was like without her, and is starting to embrace her new reality and the fun of being sisters. She and John have started playing very rough with each other, but a majority of the time it's all in fun and they laugh and laugh. Ellie has laughed a few more times. Today I didn't even have to tickle her.

Lordy Lordy, John is FOUR!

I know I'll say this every year, but I can hardly believe John is FOUR! On the other hand, I can hardly remember he was a "tiny" baby. Yesterday he had the big 4-year well check. Yep, that's the one with all the shots, when they know and remember what shots are. I told him about a week before that we were going to see Dr. Belvin. No problem. A bit later he asked me if he was going to get a shot. Yep. No problem (surprised me!). A bit later he asked if he was going to get a Transformer band-aid. Absolutely! We have some at home and I made sure to take them to the nurse. So, he did fine while the nurse took his blood pressure for the first time (80/50). He wasn't so keen on taking his clothes off for the doctor, though (again, surprised me). So he covered up whatever Dr. Belvin was trying to look at and acted shy the whole time, but still did alright. Even when the nurse came in with the shots he did fine...until we started to pin him down. He cried for quite a while, but I offered so many bribes that eventually he was fine. He weighed in at 44 pounds (94th percentile) and 42 inches (85th percentile).
On to the fun stuff...
His party was last Saturday at Giggle Bugs, a bouncy house place. I didn't realize how many friends John has until I started making a guest list. We could only invite a spattering of his friends, and ended up with 19 kids! It was a little chaotic, but lots of fun. The pictures didn't turn out well so I'm only posting a few.

This is John with his friend Aidan Turner from school. They were good buddies at school and haven't seen each other much over the summer, so they made up for lost time.

You can see by the red sweaty face...I think he enjoyed it!

John, Bella, Maggie (neighbor), and Aidan Turner

John had a Transformer cake. Of course. Afterward he tore through his presents so fast I have no idea which people to thank for what, but he had a blast ripping it all apart. Fortunately 99% of his gifts were transformers of some sort (exactly what he wanted), so I can almost bank on that for each of the thank-you notes.

On his actual birthday we went to Moe's for dinner (his choice) and had a cake at home with Grandma. He enjoyed opening even MORE presents. Now that he's opened them all, I think he's suffering from a little withdrawl.

So, John is 4. He's an interesting mix between sweet, sensitive, cautious, and all-boy bull in a china shop. He is still very nervous around things that are loud, crowds, and new places. He's still very strong willed and can do anything he sets his mind to...but only when he sets his mind to it. He has no tolerance to the head, and says he's tired to get out of doing things, but he's a great helper and almost always follows through when asked a favor. He often has surprisingly good manners. He's amusingly socially awkward (as are all 4-year-olds, or so I've noticed so far). He sleeps with Spiderman bear and a bunny that we made recently at Build-a-Bear. He's not so much on snuggling anymore, but still gives me some here and there, especially when we're reading. He loves books. He loves solving puzzles (I think one of the reasons he loves Transformers so much). He likes to pick out his own clothes...sometimes, and does and OK job...usually. He loves "fun TV" and his video and computer games. He learns really well from the video and computer games...not so well from Mom and Dad. He loves his sisters and knows well that his job is to protect them, but is, at the same time, a typical brother.
He learns the words to songs rediculously fast, and likes to sing, but will immediately stop when he realizes someone is paying attention, or he'll start to use silly made up words and voices instead. He's trying to master the knock knock joke, but isn't there yet. He's good at cleaning up when he wants to be, and once on task, will always finish the job. He loves one-on-one time (as do I). That's when we have some of our most precious time and conversations. He still has that special genuine smile with one dimple, and that genuine belly laugh that I love so much. He is still very expressive, another thing I love about him. He likes to be silly a lot, and makes us laugh a lot by what he says, but also thinks a lot and often melts my heart with what he says. I may have already mentioned that one morning we were eating breakfast (fresh peaches on yogurt) and his blessing was "Thank you, God, for growing peaches". I loved that. He is my sweet sweet boy and is growing so fast, and we all love him so much.

Happy Birthday John Winthrop!

UPDATES!

Today is John's big #4 birthday, and that, of course, deserves its own post, which I will do once I have pictures uploaded. BUT these two things cannot go unrecorded. Yesterday...
Ellie laughed! It was a little gut chuckle. It didn't even sound like it could've come from her, but it did.
Eve went peepee next to the potty! That doesn't sound like a big deal, but I'm pretty sure she intended to go in the potty and just wasn't sitting back far enough. She crawled by herself on the stool and up to the potty right before her bath, and I came in to see a big mess on the stool. Close enough for a HUGE celebration for us.

1-2-3 Chatterboxes!

When they're asleep is the only time there's silence. We now have 3 chatterboxes on our hands. Ellie has started babbling away over the past few days. She's a sweet talker. It's the sweetest little sound you ever heard. Sometimes it sounds like she's singing and John and/or Eve join in. What fun!
John has changed the focus of his chatterboxing to his birthday and what he'd like us to buy for him. He's very specific, and fortunately has only asked for 3 very reasonable things. Transformers, of course. Today he raced to answer the phone (a nice trick to avoid telemarketers). By his side of the conversation I could tell he was talking to someone we knew. He talked for 20 or 30 seconds, then asked who it was (it was our friend Jan). She asked about his birthday and he told her how many days until his party, etc. etc. She asked what he wanted and he was more than happy to tell her exactly, then finish off with "could you buy that for me please?" At least he said please! After I grabbed the phone, I asked him who he was talking to. He didn't know. I suppose we need a few more lessons in manners.
All 3 kids started new classes at church Sunday because it was promotion Sunday. John moved to a 4 year old class upstairs. He also gets to spend one service in Quest. Since we serve one service, the kids go to "class" for two services. To keep the kids from having to do the same thing twice, once they turn 4, during one service they go to Quest. In Quest they do crafts, play games, etc. It's a less structured time for play rather than giving a Bible lesson. Eve moved up to the preschool side, so she gets to have a lesson, craft, and big group time for the first time. After church we asked them both about it. John said he loved Quest. There was a transformer. He doesn't want to go to class next time because he likes playing with transformers rather than learning about God. There was a moment of silence in the car because neither of us quite knew how to respond. I suppose honesty is good. Eve was so excited about big group. She said she sang, clapped, and danced, and showed us by rolling her arms. John hated big group, but Eve is absolutely going to love it. Singing along and dancing along are right up her alley. I suppose Ellie had a good time. She's still in the room where she gets held or swings the whole time. Not too bad.

A Handful, A Heartful

A few days ago I realized that rarely does a day go by that I don't hear at least once "My, you've got your hands full." One time, though, I was leaving the gym and a gentleman said "My, you've got a heartful." I like that better, although both are definitely true. Seems like everyone has their hands full of something, and at least mine are full of these sweet little ones. What a blessing!

A sweet neighbor of ours gave them shirts when Ellie was born. "I'm the big brother John", "I'm the middle sister Eve", and "I'm the little sister Ellie". The shirts are so cute and have little stick figures. Ellie has finally grown into hers, so I tried to capture a picture. Typically I try to select just one, but looking through the progression just cracked me up, so I chose just a few (I took lots more). So, you can get an idea of how hard it is to get everyone in the picture, much less smiling and leaning back so you can see what's on the shirt. Here goes...

And that's just going to have to do.

Ellie recently passed the 3 month mark! What a big smiley girl she's become! She's even given me a full week of sleeping through the night. And by sleeping through the night, I mean she's been going to bed between 8 and 9, and not getting up until 7:30 or later. I didn't even have to give her tough love at night to get her to this point. She just started it on her own. She's definitely tracking and enjoying faces a lot now. She's not quite reaching for things yet, but sometimes she gets lucky and hits a toy. Her favorite place seems to be the dining room table (she loves the light fixture over the table). She still spits a lot, but usually smiles before she spits. You can't get much sweeter than that.

Oh, and she's managed to become quite chubby, which I think is wonderful!


John and Eve love playing together. Not that they don't fight, but when they aren't fighting, they enjoy each other's company. The other day John was the horse and Eve was riding. She couldn't stay on for long, but they kept trying, and cackling.

Just to show how rough Eve is...you can imagine where that cup ended up.

Almost up!


John and Eve will read this one day and be very bitter. A friend of ours had a birthday party at the beach...no kids invited. We managed to get a special pass for Ellie. We only stayed one day, and John and Eve were thrilled to have a sleepover at Grandma's. I felt so guilty, though, that I promptly booked a weekend at the beach in September. Ellie did great. Everyone went on and on about how great a baby she is. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we didn't have the camera out at the beach. I put her in the water once and she HATED it! Each time a tiny wave come she screamed, and when I just placed her in the calm water between waves, she screamed. She was much happier hanging out in the shade of her little cabana. She's officially seen the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans before reaching 3 months. Not bad. Oh, and she got to sit in a limo...

Yesterday I decided to take the kids to pick blueberries and the Happy Berry Farm. It was a long drive, but we had a great time and got to meet Daddy for lunch in Clemson. We used to meet him for lunch almost every day, and I miss that, so this was a special treat. The Happy Berry was fun because the bushes were so big we could fit under them and pick from the shade. They were unbeleivably yummy, too (this coming from someone that's not a big blueberry fan).

Eve doesn't really need a bucket because they all go straight to her mouth, but we give her one anyway

You can kind of see her hair curling in the back in this one. I'm a little biased, but I just think she's beautiful with those blue eyes and rosy pink cheeks

Of course we made our contribution to the sin bucket...we certainly ate more than our share

Certainly I can't remember or record everything they do that makes me laugh every day, but here are a few.

I was out the other night and came home to a hysterical video (hopefully we can post it). John was dancing to "Mr. Roboto" showing his robot moves. It was AWESOME!

Eve was drawing today. I asked her what she was drawing and she responded "Mr. Roboto".

This morning John asked the blessing "Thank you God for growing peaches." I couldn't have said it better myself.

John was coloring today (side note, he randomly started coloring in the lines today with very impressive skill. I don't think he's ever tried it before. He said some girl at the Y showed him and he doesn't like to scribble anymore. I'm still amazed.) Eve said to him "John, that's lovely, you did it!"

Today I overheard Eve putting a stuffed hippo in timeout and giving it a lecture "Time out, hippo, we don't hit John, it's not kind. Now go tell John you're sorry" and she proceeded to take it out of the chair, into the kitchen, and apologize to John for hitting. She may not change her behavior, but at least she's hearing what we're saying. Can you guess what she gets in trouble for most?

What a Weekend! Oh, and Peaches Too!

Recently I had a girl's night out or meeting or something. Buck captured this sweet moment. Eve must've been really tired to sit so still and snuggly, but apparently they were both tired enough that Ellie wasn't afraid. How sweet are those sisters?I completely forgot to post pictures of our peach picking! The peaches weren't quite ready, but that didn't stop us from having a blast...and eating a few anyway! Climbing the trees is also fun. Not sure if it's allowed, but it's fun. I always love how vibrant the colors are in the peach orchards - matched with red cheeks from a super hot day.

Peek-a-boo!

Can you tell who is the picker/climber and who is the taste tester???? John did eat his share.


The other night after bath time I just had to capture these beautiful eyes and lashes.

This weekend we realized it was our last "free" weekend for a while, so we made the most of it. Friday night we went to Fuddrucker's and Frankies Fun Park. It was John and Eve's first time (Ellie's too, but she slept in the stroller most of the time).

You can't really tell from the pictures (because they were going so fast) but the smile never really left John's face. Apparently the turns were a little intense for him, but he ran off the track screaming "MOM, THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" Poor Eve was 2 inches too short, and very disappointed.

The pictures are blurry because the camera wasn't as fast as the car, but I had to post anyway to kind of capture the thrill.

I think Daddy had a little fun, too.

After the go-carts, John and I faced off with Buck and Eve on the bumper boats. Eve tried to jump ship a few times, and we learned that John is a terrible bumper boat driver. He got us trapped in the corner for 3 pre-teens to destroy us, then moved to place me directly under the waterfall...come to think of it...maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. We were all completely soaked when all was said and done, but it was a blast. Fortunately there was a safe place inside the gate for Ellie to watch from the stroller, so we all got to go together. After that we moved inside for a few rides/games and managed to win enough tickets for 2 kazoos, which hummed along to Mr. Roboto all the way home. It really was a super duper fun night!

Aside: John and Eve's favorite songs these days are Eye of the Tiger, Obladi Oblada, Transformers, Mr. Roboto, Electric Avenue, and Another One Bites the Dust (Buck somehow managed to convince them that the last 3 were transformer songs). They also enjoy all the songs Buck plays at church.

To finish off the weekend we all went to see Toy Story 3 in the theater. This was John's second time in the theater, Eve and Ellie's first. It was a Sunday matinee, so we nearly had the theater to ourselves, which is good with an infant. Unfortunately the movie got a little too intense and scary for John, so I had to take him outside for a bit to regroup. He really was terrified, poor thing. I hope he remembers the rest of the movie because it really was fun for all of us.

Today after going to the Y we headed to Grandma's to visit, pick blueberries, and go for a walk through the woods. It's amazing how much fun the outdoors can be when the temperature drops below the upper 90s!