visiting away

we're having a great time at my parent's house for the week, only a few days left before we head home. my little guys are loving all the attention, but lacking on some sleep time... we'll catch up back home. we've visited family in Enfield, which was great, church family in Milford, where the kids foot raced from one side of the sanctuary to the other- so cute having a lot of little ones together.
We spent the night with Patrick and April at their house, and the boys really enjoyed their dog, Cona. April took the day off to spend the day with us, and we had a great trip to Erin and Genes, Cathy's for lunch, Joanne's for a quick visit with little Michael.
We had some amazing dishes at sarah's place that night- I found out that I do like blue cheese, and that Carson doesn't like eggplant. Logan, being Logan, ate everything and loved it. However, when Sarah made a thai dish - a spin off butter chicken with rice... we found out how much Carson wasn't a fan. he sat for 30 minutes while we ate, and ate around 3 bites the entire time. We made a deal that he would go to bed and finish his food when he woke up, which he was really happy about. he woke up and spent the next two and a half hours holding rice in his cheeks, until I finally felt bad enough for him that I just took it away... he still only got half of it down. I told him that that wouldn't happen again- if he is given something he needs to eat it. he looked me in the eyes and said "okay mommy, but could you please never make that again?" so cute.
Logan has been entertaining, asking everyone if they know what he's thinking, and then saying "I'm finkin, go to the beach! with STICKERS." makes no sence at all, but he laughs as if he's said the funniest thing ever!
he's also taken to calling Jon Josh- he prays every night before he goes to sleep, prays for Mommy, Carson, Daddy, Nana, papa, Sewa (sarah) daniel, and JOSH. lol. so funny.
I've been enjoying having my dad around, he fixed various things that were wrong with my car, and even got new tires for it ! he's a great guy to have around.
mom has been spoiling us with turkey dinners, butter tarts and meatballs... its great. I miss home!!

"so why do you still call me 3??"

Carson has been wanting to grow up desperately so that he can join the big guys in football and basketball. One day after being told he couldn't play basketball with Daniel and Josh, he came to me more than a little frustrated.
"mom," he began with a frown on his face and determination in his voice,
"Every day I try so hard to be a big boy. I clean my room, I do my work. I eat my food and drink my water. And every day when I go to Ikea, they tell me at the playplace that I am getting so big, and getting to be a big boy. SO WHY DO YOU STILL CALL ME THREE???"
I tried hard not to laugh straight in his face, and explained that three years old lasts for an entire year which is a long time. I explained that he is almost four, and that he is getting to be very big and he is doing well with his chores. He wasn't satisfied.
He asked again why I was always going to call him three, and reminded me again that he was doing his best to grow up, and then proceeded to sit down at the piano and compose a song.
He played a few notes low, and then a few notes high. he started by singing about how the trees change, how the leaves change, about swimming in his pool, and now its too cold to do that too. He sang about how if he could change "something into something else" then he would be really big and grown up. He sang "I could let you play my tuba, yeah yeah, I could let you play my trombone, yeah yeah. but its really big, yeah yeah, and it has lots of buttons. You have to be strong to play it, yeah yeah"
he sang about the shows that he likes and dislikes on TV, and when he was finished, he got up and asked to go outside like nothing had happened.
he's my little minstrel I guess- with a good touch on the piano, and a great head for lyrics-and I still call him three.

the whole Mendes family

whack that thang!!

Birthday fun

Here is Carson at his cousin's birthday party. he loves birthday parties and can't wait until he has his next birthday party. we did temporary tattoos, and Carson wanted three on each arm. they are gone now and he is quite disappointed.
Carson visited his grandparents for the weekend while we were away, and got to go to a bible study with Grandma. before they went in, Grandma told him and Logan that they were to play nicely and behave themselves. once they got in there, there were some other kids playing, so she thought it would be best for them to sit on the couch for a while instead of getting too excited playing. After a few minutes of patient waiting Carson leaned over and asked:
"why did you say that we get to play nicely if we don't get to play at all?"

Yeah, I'm awesome.

Carson and Logan have been sick, so we took them to the doctors to get checked out. They get on the scale to be weighed, and Carson goes first. The nurses tell him that he did a great job, and he smiles and says "thanks."
Logan gets on the scale and hops to see what happens. Then he pulls on the pole and makes himself heavier and then lighter, and then he stomps each foot... finally after getting a semi-accurate weight on him, we tell him he's all done.
"see? I DID it!" he proclaimed for the whole office to hear, smiling from ear to ear and celebrating himself excitedly.
"yes, you did" one nurse told him.
"you did awesome!" another nurse praised.
"see? I'm AWESOME." Logan said, doing a little dance.

its fall already?

well, the summer has flown by with so many things going on it seemed impossible to sit and write it all down... and now its nippy outside and beach days are gone! We had a few great trips this summer, camping with my family in Maine, to a wedding in New Jersey, and a few trips to local beaches... we also had a trip to the hospital overnight with Logan, who had an asthmatic attack, brought on by a virus, he was so cute in his little johnny shirt and saying "thank you" to everything the doctors and nurses did for him. He even said thank you after getting a painful IV in his arm, tears welling in his eyes and all. He had a few nurses crying right along with him!
We've been doing a lot of reading lately, and Carson has picked up on the fact that too much TV is no good, and junk food is terrible for you. I tried to give him and his brother Veggie chips the other day (they are organic and made with vegetables, not too junky) and he refused. he accepted a glass of water, and then finally told me he was really hungry and could he have something else? I told him that he already had a snack in front of him, and he could eat that. his face fell as he said "but that's junk food... and I don't eat junk food!" I explained that these were healthy, so he ate the rest of the bag.
Nathan and I are heading to Maine this weekend for a wilderness camping experience... we'll only have electricity for 3 hours every evening apparently. I'm bringing every sweater and pair of socks I own... maybe even a snowsuit for night time, we'll see. its getting so cold- and I don't want to be done with summer yet!
The kids are excited to be spending the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, Carson started packing the minute I told him about it.
it seems that there is much much more to write about, but that will have to come another time.

summer fun

Logan and I watching Carson and daddy on the schoolbus ride- Logan was terrified that they were so high up, but tried to hold back his tears while we looked on.

Logan's words for the week

"THAT'S NASTY!!"

"stinky winky!"

"sir, yes sir!!"

"kiss meee!!"

"exactly."

"lets pray."

"NO! that's mommy's!"

"uhhuh. its mine."

"watch Diego? GOOO rescue!!"

"bananna?" (Mommy answers) "you want a bananna?"
(Logan) "NO!" like its the funniest thing he's ever said. then he composes himself and says:
"no wank you." (thank you) then, waving his hand expressively he says- "I'm all set. "

juicey juicey

Yesterday evening the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. we heard thunder a few times, and the kids were wondering what was going on. Logan climbed up beside Nathan and pointed out the window and said, "Dad! look! LOOK! out a window, what is it???"
"That's rain." Nathan said. Logan looked at Nathan, back out the window and shook his head emphatically.
"NO." he said, pointing his little finger outside, "its Juicey-juicey! "
Now we know for sure that when Logan asks for juice, (which happens more times a day than I can count,) he's just asking for a drink.

horrible nicknack

This morning (sunday) as we are getting ready for church Carson found a bead. He proclaimed it to be a seed, and decided to give it as a surprise to his friend Jack at church. he talked about watching it grow after they planted it in the ground, and thought it would be nice if he could find another one for Jack's younger sister Mary and Logan to share.
He put it down beside a pair of swim shorts (it was laundry day yesterday and there are still a few things out of place) and the bead got stuck in the cloth somewhere.
"this is what you call a horrible nicknack." Carson said after a moment of searching, "it hides in horrible places."
As I am writing this, after finding the bead and having Carson so relieved to have his gift back "because everyone just loves a gift," he has just lost it again under the heater. "Mom, I just lost my horrible nicknack" he said again, "could you please hurry up before that horrible nicknack is gone for good??"
so here I go to save the day again, and restore something that isn't really horrible at all to my generous little guy.

RING BEARER!!

here he is as the cutest ring bearer ever... with the cutest flower girl ever, cousin Francesca.
they had a ball... the wedding was awesome, I'll put more pics up later.

is this going to work.....

I'm THIS excited about the boat ride!

here are the kids at camp dunn, where we spent the weekend. we were all suited up, and took a row boat accross the lake to a sand bar (the one you can see to the right of Logan's head) where we found a stick, a golf ball, and a few fish swimming near the shore.

quotes from this week

Logan:

"are you kiddin' me??"

"are you SERIOUS?"

"Mom, I'm talkin to you."

"no thank you!" (accompanied by a grimace and a large shake of his head)

" Carson! wheeh ahh you??"

Carson:

"mom, what is a house? what is a tree? what is salvation? what is baptism? what is water? what is blue? what is extremely? what is ultimate? "

"mom, you're not feeling good? maybe daddy should cook tonight."

"daddy. mommy's not feeling good. can we get takeout?"

"of course I wanted to win. what, did you think we were just playing around out here?? " -after we raced around the bush 30 times, and he was still asking for more, I finally realized that he hadn't won too many times... he was honest with his answer!

"whats Itallian?" (me) " a language, like French, that Nana speaks, or like Spanish that Grandma speaks, or English like we are speaking right now."
(Carson) "whats a monster?" "there are no real monsters, but when we think of monsters we think of big things that are scary looking and go 'aarrgh'."
"oh." carson said, "they must speak French."

who do you follow?

a friend has recently inspired me to take a closer look at the methods of child-rearing that we all approach, and that in turn has brought me to think of how that relates to the rest of my life in general. What is the final authority in my life? what would it take for me to back down from a topic that I believe to be right? whose opinion is the most important to me?
This is a question that everyone answers in their own lives- whether realizing it or not.
Honestly, for most of my life I have looked to others for advice- my parents, friends etc. This in itself is not a bad thing- even biblical, to look for counsel from someone you believe to be wise. The reason that I am now looking back and regretting is that I didn't even involve God in decisions at all. I thought I did, because I would pray and ask "what do you think God?" in whichever way it was stated at the time. But I never searched the scriptures to see what God himself could have there for me. and honestly, what other way has God freely provided us with? Yes, he speaks to us in a still small voice, but how are we to hear that voice if we haven't hidden his word in our hearts that we might not sin against, and be separated from Him?
So, all of this to get on to the subject that I sat down to write about- who has the precedence in my life? do I still look exclusively to others for guidance? have those people just changed to new people that I am surrounded by? or am I actually placing my faith and my life in the hands of an almighty God that knows so much more than I can fathom... but sometimes can't figure out?? how exactly am I to know what God has for me as a mother, a wife, and a woman of God?
I think the answer comes in finding the correct view of God. I believe that we must come to God with a view of him, and how we can worship as HE wants, how we can live as HE would require, and the rest will fall into the correct order. When we get into petty arguments about things that the Bible is not completely clear on, we must learn to find the character of God, what it is HE would have for us in that situation. I think when we come to a situation and try to find scripture to back up our side of the argument we have lost already. God has blessed us with His Word to guide, and we need to read deeply and fellowship closely with him in order that HE would guide the "little" decisions. There will always be differences of opinions when it comes to interpreting the Bible. Thats okay! As long as we are seeking Gods face, his way for us, and not trying to fit Him into our lives so that it works out how WE were hoping, we will find the right way.
I encourage you to seek the scriptures, search your own heart- make sure your own calling and salvation! We have all been lulled into a lethargic spirituality- it is probably the worst thing that could happen to the church... so many people have a false sense of security in their salvation because they prayed a prayer... BEWARE! if there is no change in the life, there has not been a change in heart. Call out to God, test yourself to see if you are one of His own. Are you sensitive to sin? do you forsake and turn from that sin when you are confronted with it?
There is probably much more to come on this subject- one I have just begun to understand!

my relaxing day off ??

it was a stressful day. I woke up to the sink being clogged- so clogged that nothing at all was going through. Carson denied putting anything in it.
Logan drew all over the floor with a crayon, and on the wall too. last time the artistic side of the kids came out all over the hardwood floor I figured out that if you wiped it up with coloring book pages it cleaned well... unfortunately this time it was on the linoleum in the computer room that doesn't clean nearly as well.. there is still a large blue spot.
Carson decided to play with the turtle while I was trying to clean that, and when I finally made it back into the kitchen a few minutes later, I found a mess of mud and grass all over my counter, table and kitchen floor. upon closer inspection I found my darling turtle (that I have become quite attached to) helplessly kicking his feet and craning his neck, rocking back and forth on his back... poor little guy was terrified. I let him loose in the backyard after that, I felt so bad that he had been terrorized by my kids. I felt a twinge when he looked back at me with his tiny little eyes, but I knew it was for the best. maybe he'll come back to me.
when I was in the bathroom later on, I questioned Carson about the sink again, and he finally told the truth, he had put toilet tissue down the drain before I woke up.
Seeing that I couldn't take much more, I sent the kids to bed. (over an hour early for their nap, without lunch and all, but I couldn't take another minute!!)
I got out a pair of pliers, figured out how to make them big enough to be flush with the screw on the bottom of the sink where I saw the plumber open it up, and after a bit of effort if finally gave.
unfortunately there was hardly anything coming through still, and nothing at the bottom. so I found a curtain rod, took it apart and shoved it down the drain... and somehow dislodged the mass of tissue and gunk, flushed it to the bottom, and scooped it out with Q tips.
I then cleaned up the dirt and the grass from the kitchen floor, dumped the gross stuff from the sink outside, and made a PB&J sandwedge for the kids, got them up long enough to eat, and then put them to bed. when we all woke up things looked a lot better. we cleaned the car out, it looks great now; we made supper and everyone but Logan liked it, and then watched a game show that we copied in Carson's room on his request- "we're playing twenty-five," he said, "two strikes and you're outta my room."
questions like "A-rod." and "Block" followed, until we coached him a bit. he caught on fast, and asked some good ones in the end. I never did get booted from his room though!

summer happenings

It has been a while since I last blogged- it seems life has picked up some speed along the way, and the weeks are flying away from me faster then I can record the events in here! so this post is an overview of the happenings in our family for the past few weeks.
The most important thing that has happened in our kids lives happened on Monday evening just before bed time. Carson and Logan and I were doing devotions together, reading a children's version of the bible, and talking about the stories we read. Carson piped up and said:
"did Jesus die for my sins?" "yes" I told him.
"You know that Jesus and God are the same person," He answered emphatically, " they are the SAME person." "that's right" I answered.
"why did Jesus have to die?" I asked
"Because I sin." Carson said, his eyes on the floor.
"That's right. and even if we just sin once, we can't be with God, because He is completely WITHOUT sin, and there cannot be sin in heaven with Him. "
"yeah," Carson said. "and you sin, and Daddy sins, and so does Logan. and me too."
"yes we do." I said, noticing how closely Carson was listening, "so that means that we aren't going to be able to get into heaven, doesn't it?"
"yeah, because I don't have Jesus in my heart." Carson said, sounding a little defeated.
"and we have to have Jesus in our hearts to be saved from our sin," I said, "He died to take away all the sin that we have done when we follow him and have him in our hearts."
"well, I don't have him in my heart. and I can't because I'm not an adult" Carson said. (one thing that is typical of all unbelievers, even ones that are being drawn to Jesus, it seems that we all have excuses of why we can't come to him, even a three year old... )
"you don't have to be an adult to have Jesus in your heart" I told him. "you just have to believe on him, and want to follow him."
"oh." Carson said.
We continued our devotions, and went on to different subjects. Ten minutes later when we were finished I asked Carson if there was anything he wanted to pray about before we went to sleep. Usually the requests are to go to someones house, have company over, or see family members, but this night he surprised me by immediately saying:
"yeah. I want to ask Jesus to come into my heart." so I told him to go ahead and pray. he closed his eyes tight, and said "Jesus, do you think you could come into my heart?" Then he grabbed me and hugged me and said "I think he said yes!!!" I prayed with him, and have continued to pray for him, for understanding to be given to him, and for his heart to be responsive to the Word of God.

We had a movie night with the cousins, it went well until everyone decided it was more fun to run and scream than it was to sit and watch... we still had a great time.

Logan has been learning a lot of new words, and continuing to amaze me with the things he can do on his own. He is definitely a toddler and not a baby... growing quickly into a big boy. its hard to look at him with his (almost) full head of hair and remember what he looked like weighing less than 30 lbs and bald... he is now getting his own utensils and feeding himself, asking for specifics like apples out of the fridge, he's still asking for juice 40 times a day or so, but he is suffering it out on plain old water most of the time so that he doesn't keep refusing it. Daddy is still his favorite person, he asks for him numerous times throughout the day, and screams his name and runs for him when daddy finally gets home. He calls for Carson whenever he doesn't know where brother is, and can say his name well. his favorite word for this week is "again" - always referring to some kind of body slam performed by daddy or uncle Asa... which is a favorite of both my sons. Carson has been requesting the "choke slam." Logan can say the words "you hurt me" now, which he says even when he slams himself into someone and hurts himself...

We had a great visit with my parents and Lisa, they were down last week for 4 days. it was wonderful having them around. Dad fixed everything in my house that needed fixing... right down to the shower head that got duct taped. my house now seems so much more livable with the utensil drawer now being able to open without falling apart!! Mom made the most delicious
lasagna rolls, I'm going to attempt to reproduce those sometime in the coming week.

the 4th was spent at my place, we had a cookout with my parents and Nathans, it was a great time, with great food- mom Mendes made the greatest steaks that we bbq'd. We ended up watching fireworks on our new 52" plasma... it felt nice to have both our parents enjoy it with us. hopefully fun vacations like these won't be too far apart.

Main pit stop

On our way to my parent's place a few weeks ago, we stopped at a friends house, who has the nicest place I've ever seen. the kids fell in love with the dog- I think her name is Grace.
The whole trip Carson was so excited to get to Nanna and Papa's, but once we arrived at Betsy's house all he wanted to do was swim in their pool and play with the dogs, goats and cat. we finally pried him away, and after many more hours of driving we arrived at my parents house