Lately we've been watching a lot of football so the boys have not only been watching a lot of t.v. but lots of commercials. We really need to get a dvr so we can fast forward through them and not have to worry about what little eyes are watching - it's quite ridiculous what you might see just watching a football game! Anyhoo - last night Jeremy and the boys were sitting outside by the fire and James was talking and talking about the alligator that has fire in his mouth and spits it out. Jeremy had no idea what he was talking about. Then he said "but it's ok, he's a doctor" to which Jeremy cracked up because he realized he was talking about the Dr. Pepper commercial with Kiss - if you haven't seen it you've got Kiss on the stage in their get-up and pyrotechnics are going off all around them and at the end Gene Simmons says "it's ok - I'm a Dr"
May be a little too much tv - what do you think?
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
CBS performance :)
I've raved about Community Bible Study on here before but let me just say again how much I love it and how thankful I am for it - not only for me but for my babies. They are learning so much of God's word each week that I am able to build on. I am so thankful for everyone that gives up their time and talents to bless my babies each week.
Last week they had their end of the semester "recital" and all the kids over 3 got on stage and quoted their memory scriptures and sang songs of praise. I cried the whole time - even when my babies weren't even performing. The 4th graders memorized all of Revelation 5! Impressive! I can't even imagine how much it touches our Lord's heart to hear these sweet little ones praising and singing his Word. James' class memorized Psalm 119:42 "I will trust in your word" and Hebrews 13:6 "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid". Then they sang two songs - Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." and a song called "Thankful". James did a great job and of course was moving to the beat as soon as the music started :) Precious! Here are a few pics
Singing his heart out
Doing some of the hand motions - praising God!
Here's my social bug waving at someone in the audience
Random - here's a pic of James and Gracie - do these two look like fun or what?!?
Last week they had their end of the semester "recital" and all the kids over 3 got on stage and quoted their memory scriptures and sang songs of praise. I cried the whole time - even when my babies weren't even performing. The 4th graders memorized all of Revelation 5! Impressive! I can't even imagine how much it touches our Lord's heart to hear these sweet little ones praising and singing his Word. James' class memorized Psalm 119:42 "I will trust in your word" and Hebrews 13:6 "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid". Then they sang two songs - Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." and a song called "Thankful". James did a great job and of course was moving to the beat as soon as the music started :) Precious! Here are a few pics
Singing his heart out
Doing some of the hand motions - praising God!
Here's my social bug waving at someone in the audience
Random - here's a pic of James and Gracie - do these two look like fun or what?!?
Brag, Brag, Brag
I need to do a post just to update on what is going on with each baby - I feel like I haven't done that in a while so this post will mostly just be brag, brag, brag :) (Also, I may repeat myself. I can never remember what all I've posted about and I never have time to go back and read through to see if I've already posted something or not - so bare with me :)
James is such a big boy. He is totally able to dress himself even down to his shoes (velcro of course) and he is so proud of himself. He tells us all the time "I can do it myself". He continues to be a virtual mini me of his daddy in almost every way. He is a talk, talk, talker and never meets a stranger. He loves to ask me "why" about 1,000x a day and eventually it gets to the point where I have to turn the questions around on him to get him to stop! I know this is part of learning but there comes a point when you just can't answer another question - especially when it's the same one you've already been asked. When I don't answer him he'll often say, "you already told me, mommy?" It appears that his primary love language right now is quality time. He LOVES to be with you and have your full attention. When we're outside and he's playing ball if I look away for even a second he catches me and calls me back to his attention. He also has a very sensitive heart. He doesn't like to see others hurt or crying (unless it's his brother sometimes:) and he himself can get a little sensitive at times - which can be hard when I have 3 babies vying for my attention but sometimes you just have to stop and hold the one that needs you the most :) He is starting to really love to "read". Often when it's bedtime story time he wants to be the one to do the reading. He's getting a couple new Leap Frog learning to read videos for Christmas that should help him start to put letters together to make words and then he's well on his way! I recently bought the Jesus Storybook Bible and we read from it every night and they both love it and often I will find him in his room looking over the stories again - melt a mommy's heart!
John-Mark continues to be our little fearless 2 year old that thinks he's 3. I told someone today that he's so focused he's clumsy if that makes any sense. He is always a little banged up and bruised somewhere from getting so focused on one thing that he misses the wall or table or stairs - you name it and boom! He is my slow walker that I have to keep close by at all times or he'll get focused on something and get left behind! In fact, last week he almost gave me a heart attack. We were at The Bass Pro Shop walking around and he and James were right behind me and within 5 seconds he wasn't. I went back thinking he had walked off in to a clothes isle and I couldn't see him - nothing. I began to panic which I think set James in to a panic because I'm yelling "John-Mark!" and he's running with me yelling "where' my brother! where's my brother!" Thankfully a store clerk got on the radio and found out he was at the front of the store. When we walked in I let them look at the four wheelers for a bit and he decided that's what he wanted to do again so when he saw his chance he B-lined it to the front of the store to play - No more free walking in the store - he must be in a cart at all times!
Our favorite new trick they do is singing The 50 Nifty United States song. They both know all 50 states and can sing it perfectly. John-Mark is the funniest because he doesn't pronunciate as clearly as James but it's super cute. Jeremy has been dying to teach it to them probably since James was born and I told him just to start singing it and they would learn it - and sure enough - in about 2 weeks they had it down. That is one family trait they get from both of us - they LOVE to sing. We are a singing family - we all love to sing. We listen to bible stories and songs in the car and it's amazing how much of it they know by heart! I love it! I'm working on getting a video of the 50 Nifty song on the blog - so stay tuned :)
It has become clear that while James is just like Jeremy, John-Mark is a lot like his mommy. He is just the cutest little thing ever (;) but he has a bit of a temper on him when things don't go his way. He's also much more thoughtful and deliberate in what he does (ie - planning his escape back to the 4-wheelers - he had been thinking about that for a while!) It's funny to see how we parent them differently and how I seem to have more grace for James' obedience issues and not so much for John-Mark and Jeremy is the opposite. Kind of crazy. I guess it's because we see so much of ourselves in them and we think we know the motivation behind their behavior and we want to correct it before it gets out of hand. As always - I can't imagine these boys without each other and they definitely keep me on my toes!
Gracie Belle is just our sweet little princess. We're not sure yet which way her personality is going to go. So far she seems to be a good balance of both of us through and through. Most of the time she is just a happy, laid back girl. However, it appears that ONLY with me can she get a bit demanding. She LOVES to yell at me when she wants or needs me. Just this loud, almost "hey!" thing she does. She also will follow me around the house crying when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner. She never does this with her daddy - she just plays and plays when she is with him. But as much as that drives me crazy she also melts my heart when I'm holding her and someone comes up and talks to her and she gives them a grin and then lays her head on my shoulder. It's like she's saying "you can talk to me but don't you dare try to take me from my mommy". She's my girl! One thing that has become very evident is that she also LOVES music and anytime she hears any she starts clapping and moving her shoulders side to side. I recently started letting her watch Miss Patty Cake and she LOVES her. That's my new way to get dinner cooked in peace :) We've also realized that while she started out not being a picky eater - the more food we introduce to her the pickier she gets - hmmm. Her favorite things right now are turkey hotdogs, turkey, ham, goldfish, applesauce, and any kind of babyfood. I have to keep giving her the babyfood to make sure she's getting her veggies! Oh- and chick-fil-a chicken nuggets! I swear she can eat about 6 in one sitting if I would let her! We took her for her 1 year check up about a month ago and she weighed about 18 1/2 pounds - Jeremy thinks as much as she eats she's going to put on some weight soon but pretty soon she'll be walking and probably eating more!
I know there are tons of things I am forgetting to blog about but that's all I've got time for for now!
James is such a big boy. He is totally able to dress himself even down to his shoes (velcro of course) and he is so proud of himself. He tells us all the time "I can do it myself". He continues to be a virtual mini me of his daddy in almost every way. He is a talk, talk, talker and never meets a stranger. He loves to ask me "why" about 1,000x a day and eventually it gets to the point where I have to turn the questions around on him to get him to stop! I know this is part of learning but there comes a point when you just can't answer another question - especially when it's the same one you've already been asked. When I don't answer him he'll often say, "you already told me, mommy?" It appears that his primary love language right now is quality time. He LOVES to be with you and have your full attention. When we're outside and he's playing ball if I look away for even a second he catches me and calls me back to his attention. He also has a very sensitive heart. He doesn't like to see others hurt or crying (unless it's his brother sometimes:) and he himself can get a little sensitive at times - which can be hard when I have 3 babies vying for my attention but sometimes you just have to stop and hold the one that needs you the most :) He is starting to really love to "read". Often when it's bedtime story time he wants to be the one to do the reading. He's getting a couple new Leap Frog learning to read videos for Christmas that should help him start to put letters together to make words and then he's well on his way! I recently bought the Jesus Storybook Bible and we read from it every night and they both love it and often I will find him in his room looking over the stories again - melt a mommy's heart!
John-Mark continues to be our little fearless 2 year old that thinks he's 3. I told someone today that he's so focused he's clumsy if that makes any sense. He is always a little banged up and bruised somewhere from getting so focused on one thing that he misses the wall or table or stairs - you name it and boom! He is my slow walker that I have to keep close by at all times or he'll get focused on something and get left behind! In fact, last week he almost gave me a heart attack. We were at The Bass Pro Shop walking around and he and James were right behind me and within 5 seconds he wasn't. I went back thinking he had walked off in to a clothes isle and I couldn't see him - nothing. I began to panic which I think set James in to a panic because I'm yelling "John-Mark!" and he's running with me yelling "where' my brother! where's my brother!" Thankfully a store clerk got on the radio and found out he was at the front of the store. When we walked in I let them look at the four wheelers for a bit and he decided that's what he wanted to do again so when he saw his chance he B-lined it to the front of the store to play - No more free walking in the store - he must be in a cart at all times!
Our favorite new trick they do is singing The 50 Nifty United States song. They both know all 50 states and can sing it perfectly. John-Mark is the funniest because he doesn't pronunciate as clearly as James but it's super cute. Jeremy has been dying to teach it to them probably since James was born and I told him just to start singing it and they would learn it - and sure enough - in about 2 weeks they had it down. That is one family trait they get from both of us - they LOVE to sing. We are a singing family - we all love to sing. We listen to bible stories and songs in the car and it's amazing how much of it they know by heart! I love it! I'm working on getting a video of the 50 Nifty song on the blog - so stay tuned :)
It has become clear that while James is just like Jeremy, John-Mark is a lot like his mommy. He is just the cutest little thing ever (;) but he has a bit of a temper on him when things don't go his way. He's also much more thoughtful and deliberate in what he does (ie - planning his escape back to the 4-wheelers - he had been thinking about that for a while!) It's funny to see how we parent them differently and how I seem to have more grace for James' obedience issues and not so much for John-Mark and Jeremy is the opposite. Kind of crazy. I guess it's because we see so much of ourselves in them and we think we know the motivation behind their behavior and we want to correct it before it gets out of hand. As always - I can't imagine these boys without each other and they definitely keep me on my toes!
Gracie Belle is just our sweet little princess. We're not sure yet which way her personality is going to go. So far she seems to be a good balance of both of us through and through. Most of the time she is just a happy, laid back girl. However, it appears that ONLY with me can she get a bit demanding. She LOVES to yell at me when she wants or needs me. Just this loud, almost "hey!" thing she does. She also will follow me around the house crying when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner. She never does this with her daddy - she just plays and plays when she is with him. But as much as that drives me crazy she also melts my heart when I'm holding her and someone comes up and talks to her and she gives them a grin and then lays her head on my shoulder. It's like she's saying "you can talk to me but don't you dare try to take me from my mommy". She's my girl! One thing that has become very evident is that she also LOVES music and anytime she hears any she starts clapping and moving her shoulders side to side. I recently started letting her watch Miss Patty Cake and she LOVES her. That's my new way to get dinner cooked in peace :) We've also realized that while she started out not being a picky eater - the more food we introduce to her the pickier she gets - hmmm. Her favorite things right now are turkey hotdogs, turkey, ham, goldfish, applesauce, and any kind of babyfood. I have to keep giving her the babyfood to make sure she's getting her veggies! Oh- and chick-fil-a chicken nuggets! I swear she can eat about 6 in one sitting if I would let her! We took her for her 1 year check up about a month ago and she weighed about 18 1/2 pounds - Jeremy thinks as much as she eats she's going to put on some weight soon but pretty soon she'll be walking and probably eating more!
I know there are tons of things I am forgetting to blog about but that's all I've got time for for now!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Are you ready for some football!?!
This past Saturday one of the boys favorite friends had his 3rd birthday and it was a football party! Everyone was decked out in their favorite team jerseys and they even put up a mini goal post and spray painted the yard like the end zone. I think everyone's favorite part was when the boys got to run out on to the field from the "locker room" and we all cheered, clapped, and waved our shakers and noise makers. They wanted to do it over and over. I wish I had video of their sweet happy faces running out and just eating up all the cheering! Here are some cute pics from the day:
Ofcourse we had to represent the family so we have a Florida and an Alabama football player and a Bama cheerleader :)
Giving me a big ROLL TIDE!!
James with two of his best friends - Beau and Zach-ie (the birthday boy:)
Refueling at half time :) (He was done with it after he ate all the icing off and wanted to give to me to finish so he could get another piece :)
Ofcourse we had to represent the family so we have a Florida and an Alabama football player and a Bama cheerleader :)
Giving me a big ROLL TIDE!!
James with two of his best friends - Beau and Zach-ie (the birthday boy:)
Refueling at half time :) (He was done with it after he ate all the icing off and wanted to give to me to finish so he could get another piece :)All my loves! What a lucky lady I am!!!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Birthday Party!
We just had a small family party for Gracie's 1st. I decided to do a little "princess tea party" for our princess. Who knows if she'll ever want something like this when she's older and since this was my first party for baby girl I had the liberty to do something girl-y and I had fun! I pulled out our china and made chicken salad croissants and had fancy cupcakes! Baby girl had a great time with everyone here and loved enjoying cake for the first time (as I've stated before - this girl LOVES to eat and cake was no exception!) Here are some pics from her party:
The day before the party we had to try on her birthday hat and James wanted a picture - anytime they are doing something cute he tells me "mommy, take a picture!"
I found out a couple days before her birthday that the lady who made our wedding cake has opened a bakery in town (Dreamcakes) - I have been craving our wedding cake for almost 7 years so I was super excited!! I splurged and went and got an assortment of cupcakes for the big day! They all were yummy but I think her wedding cake is by far my favorite (which she makes in a cupcake as well - YUMMY!!)
The birthday girl getting ready to dig in!
Making quick work of that cupcake!
All done mommy!
I think the boys were more excited than Gracie to see what she got for her birthday - she had lots of help opening her gifts :)
Going to check out the little tea set Mom-mom and Papa Steve got her. When you tip the tea kettle over it makes a sound like it's pouring out - Gracie always looks in the cup and then up at me, like "where is it!?!"
I was so excited to get Gracie a baby doll for her birthday. She has a little plush doll that my mom got her last Christmas and she loves her so I knew she would love a more real looking baby - she loves to love her baby and hug and kiss her! I love having a GIRL!!!
She loves to put the paci in her mouth - such a little mommy :)
The best family shot we could get!
Gracie with my mom and Pap Steve
The day before the party we had to try on her birthday hat and James wanted a picture - anytime they are doing something cute he tells me "mommy, take a picture!"
I found out a couple days before her birthday that the lady who made our wedding cake has opened a bakery in town (Dreamcakes) - I have been craving our wedding cake for almost 7 years so I was super excited!! I splurged and went and got an assortment of cupcakes for the big day! They all were yummy but I think her wedding cake is by far my favorite (which she makes in a cupcake as well - YUMMY!!)
The birthday girl getting ready to dig in!
Making quick work of that cupcake!
All done mommy!
I think the boys were more excited than Gracie to see what she got for her birthday - she had lots of help opening her gifts :)
Going to check out the little tea set Mom-mom and Papa Steve got her. When you tip the tea kettle over it makes a sound like it's pouring out - Gracie always looks in the cup and then up at me, like "where is it!?!"
I was so excited to get Gracie a baby doll for her birthday. She has a little plush doll that my mom got her last Christmas and she loves her so I knew she would love a more real looking baby - she loves to love her baby and hug and kiss her! I love having a GIRL!!!
She loves to put the paci in her mouth - such a little mommy :)
The best family shot we could get!
Gracie with my mom and Pap SteveI must add that the boys love her new toys maybe more than she does! They are constantly pouring the tea and feeding it to "baby". James likes to tell me he's taking the baby to school and carry her off on one of his riding toys. It's really quite sweet to see them "mimicking" me and being a good little care giver to the baby - we just may need to get a couple more if Gracie ever wants to be able to play with her!
Seriously, wasn't this just yesterday!
Seriously, wasn't this just yesterday!Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!!
Dear Gracie -
I will never forget the moment I heard your daddy say "it's a girl!" and the doctor laid you on my chest and I looked down at MY daughter! You were the sweetest surprise! You immediately stole all of our hearts and everyone was so excited that the Lord decided to add a little girl to the Allen clan. You are such a sweet, happy, loving little girl and I don't know how we made it without you!
Oh, sweet baby girl you are such a joy for all of us. Your brothers adore you and you them. As long as you can see where they are you are content to watch them run around for hours. You and your daddy have a special bond and you light up and squeal whenever you see him. However your favorite place in the world to be has always been in mommy's arms. It seems all is right with the world as long as you're wrapped around my arm. I pray I will always remember the feel of your little arm wrapped tightly around mine.
I can't believe your first year has already flown by! It seems like just yesterday we brought you home and you were sleeping in our closet :) You're still not walking yet which I really love because I feel like you're still my baby - I know soon enough you're going to be Miss Independent running all around with your big brothers so I'm just soaking you up right now :)
Your daddy and I are so blessed and thankful that the Lord chose us to be your parents. I pray that you will always know how much you are loved by us and even more so by Him. May you grow in the wisdom and confidence of who are in Christ and always know how extremely valuable you are.
You are loved Gracie Belle, sisser, princess, baby girl!
Happy Birthday!
Monday, November 1, 2010
Busy Weekend!
We had a jam packed weekend full of fun, fun, fun! First, on Friday we hit the road and headed north to visit my mom and Papa Steve. The above pic was the boys on the ride up - this is their "I'm tired and about to go to sleep hands behind the head" position. Mom got the boys tickets to go see Veggie Tales - not sure who loves them more - me or them :) It was their "Sing yourself silly" Tour so they sang all our favorite songs! James even got up and danced along in the isle - John-Mark loved it too but in his "watch and take it all in" way instead of dancing :)
My little Bob the Tomato :)
James showing me his new Bob the Tomato watch mom-mom bought for him - excited!Then the next morning we got up and went to Chuckee Cheese with Papa Steve and their cousin Peyton. This was their first visit here and they loved it. They were jumping from ride to ride they didn't even realize you could put tokens in them for even more fun at first! We played and played and got lots of tickets to get some silly fun prizes!
On a flying simulation - enthralled!
Giddy Up Horsey!
Up, Up, and Away!Then we headed home and had to get some rest for our big 2nd Annual Bonfire planned for Sunday. James (and his Daddy) were sooooo excited to have all their favorite friends over for chili dogs, smores and a big fire! :) Just like last year I failed to get any pics of the actual bonfire but it was great, again! Here are a few pictures I did get:
The play set was full of kids the entire night! There is nothing better than hearing all these sweet voices just laughing and having the best time!
A little night sliding - backwards:)
James enjoying his smore - mmm, mmm!
James and his new friend Ava - she and her sister were the only girls in the bunch but they hung in there with the boys.We had a very busy weekend but it was so much fun and look forward to doing it again next year!
Well, guess who has a birthday coming up!!! This big girl!
I honestly can barely believe it! I am in full princess party preparations as I type this! 
Seems like since we started with the table food she has eaten everything we have put in front of her. This was her first experience with avocado and she loved it as well!
Yummy mommy!! Also, much to my surprise John-Mark loved the avocado as well. I tried to feed it to him when he was probably Gracie's age and he wasn't interested and James still isn't a fan. Glad 2 out of 3 like it!
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