Errands

Yesterday I ran some errands with my boys and had to define "errands."

At the dry cleaners:

Now it's time for grocery shopping! There was a cuter sight of them sitting on the sidewalk waiting for me to get the reusable shopping bags from the car, but I failed to capture that memory. Judah was sucking his thumb, watching me walk back and Josiah and Jadon were goofing off next to him. Here they are walking from the parking lot into Albertson's:

Two Milestones

1. Josiah lost his first tooth!

Josiah: Mama, is the tooth fairy real?

Me: (hesitating) No.

Josiah: It's just for fun?

Me: Yeah, it's just for fun.

I'm so glad he was totally fine with that! He was telling me earlier about his friend Collin who received $5 from the tooth fairy last year. I said he would definitely not be getting $5!

Later on before bedtime...

Jadon: Is Goa-Goa going to put his tooth under his pillow?

Me: Probably
Josiah: Mama, can I have a reward for my tooth?

Me: We'll see. I have to talk with Baba about it first.

2. Judah poops in the toilet now! (Well, at least for the last couple of days...)

Judah: Poo-poo

Me: Ok, let's go to the chee-sau (bathroom in Chinese)

Judah: Tay! (ok)

I sat with him on the first day, left him alone for the second day, then sat with him today! Yay! He's 5 days shy of being 22-months old. I hope this continues so there will be no more diapers to buy!

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And here are all three of the boys on a walk around the block with Misty, then playing soccer in the front yard.

Poor Jadon

On Sunday after church, we brought lunch home from Jack in the Box. Jadon prayed and thanked God for dinner. :)

M: Jadon, you silly. You always get those mixed up. This is lunch. Later, we have dinner. What's the first meal you have in the morning?

Jadon and Jer: (in unison) Cereal.

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Just now Josiah walked down the hall towards the bathroom holding Judah in front of him. Jadon was sitting next to me on the floor playing with Mr. Potato Head.

Josiah: (passing by room) Judah always likes me to hold him.

Me: Judah likes everyone to hold him.

Jadon: (immediately) Except me.

Me: (hugging him) But I like to hold YOU, Jadon!

8 years

I love my JerBear! Well, I don't call him that anymore, but that was one of his first nicknames. :) 8 years and 4 kids later, we're celebrating our anniversary. Who knew we would have ONLY boys and a teenage foster daughter? I am thankful to the Lord for providing me my perfect match to encourage me to love Jesus more every day.

This post is a bit late, as our anniversary is July 5th. We had a nice outing on the 3rd and the 4th. The kids were all divvied up so we were kid-free, well most of the time.

First, we went to Newport Landing near Balboa Island. We won some gift certificates from an Olive Crest dinner last year and this was the best opportunity to use them!

Jer had the top sirloin.

I had the Hawaiian Nut Opakapaka. What a YUMMY fish dish!

Then we walked around the landing and browsed the souvenir shops. Came out of one with some personalized "Dream Rings" to add to our key chains. Jeremy wondered why I liked these things. The God Bless America sign was free, because I showed interest in it. I guess they weren't doing well, selling for $1.00 during Independence Day weekend! The cashier saw me looking at it and said it's FREE! LOL!

After leaving Newport, we went to The Hotel Hanford, just south of South Coast Plaza. Got a great deal from Screamin' Daily Deals for a night there, free breakfast, and some goodies for use at South Coast Plaza. Our favorite was a pass to hang out at the VIP lounge on the second floor of the mall!

We picked up Judah from Tiff and Randy's house the next morning so he got some time with us all by himself. The older boys were with their grandparents and our girl was at a friend's house.

Jeremy and Judah hang out in one of the rooms in the lounge watching TV.

I couldn't pry the goldfish away from the little one!

Judah napped in yet another room in the lounge while I went shopping all by myself! Jer stayed in the lounge watching tv and using the wi-fi. What a relaxing couple of days!

10:03 a.m.

On a rare and relaxed Thursday morning, here's one son:

Here are the other two. These two were just fighting over the green thing in Jadon's hand. Judah just turned around to give me a cheese. :)

5 years ago

After dropping off Jackie at a friend's house earlier tonight, Josiah initiated a conversation during the drive home and brought back some memories.

J: When did Gung-Gung die?

M: (surprised) Um...today! It was today, June 22, 2006. He died 5 years ago. (I hadn't remembered that this was the anniversary of my Daddy's death until Josiah brought it up!)

J: 5 years ago?

M: Yep.

J: Will we see Gung-Gung in heaven?

M: Yes, we will.

J: Yay!

Wow, the simple joy of a child looking forward to heaven already. I wish I could have that kind of reaction every day! Yay, I get to see my Daddy in heaven someday! Or YAY, I finally get to see Jesus in the flesh! Instead, I am preoccupied with my daily duties instead of yearning for the Lord.

Maybe Josiah thought of my dad because he saw a photo on my screen saver this morning. It was of my dad playing with Josiah on the floor in his house. Josiah was around 12-months old. He asked why Gung-Gung didn't have any hair. I explained that the poison killed it and made it fall out. The poison was also killing the sickness that he had.

I miss my Daddy. Crying for him now... I'm happy for the time he had with Josiah, up to 14 months of age. I'm heartbroken that he never got to meet Jadon, Judah, and Jackie. He would have loved them all, spoiling them with his time and with toys. He was so giving, so quiet, and so loving. Now he gets to rejoice in heaven with the Lord.

It was so hard at the end of his life. He couldn't stay awake for very long due to his meds and body shutting down. He was never one to voice his thoughts very much so he didn't give very many last words. He knew he was dying, but never complained. On June 4, just weeks away from death, he finally received Jesus! Praise God! We were all praying for his salvation and God granted it. I wish I would have asked more questions so I could hear more last words from him.

Josiah's simple request

I was walking around picking up things around the house before I returned to the kitchen to find this:

I had to chuckle at how neatly everything was set up! This was Josiah's silent request for his lunch. He had it all set up for me and all I had to do was cook and assemble it. It's his favorite meal for lunch, a "dahn-cheese burrito." I guess he took a break from his schoolwork and ransacked the fridge for these items.