Sunday nights.

When I was younger and I imagined the perfect husband, I thought of many things I would want him to do. Or say. Or be like.

I never realized that the small things would really be the big things.

Sunday nights mean true blood. And we watch together. Alone.

I've been in the bed with Pratt. Letting him fall asleep. It's 845. And I worried Clint had started watching without me.

I was wrong.





So if I could tell young girls out there what to look for in a husband, this would be it.

He really is a gem.

Brianna's birthday.

between the geese, the goats an the magic show, this was the best birthday party Pratt has ever been to!

And max just loved grandma Teddie holding him the entire time. Oh, and the ice cream cake.



































Happy 2nd birthday, Brianna! We love you!

mimi.

today was an emotionally overwhelming day.  i won't go into details because i really just want to hit the hay. i'll just say that some days are long.  and i cry a lot.  in the bathroom or shower (because i don't want the boys to see me).  today was a crying day.

it got better because i actually got to get away for a while.  i had a junior auxiliary meeting tonight.  pratt wanted to go with me.  so he did.

for some reason we were discussing grandparents.  i think he mentioned max's entire name, max wesley, and wanted to know where wesley came from.  i told him it was from grandpa joe.  that his name was actually joe wesley.  he told me that that was fine...but that he just called him grandpa joe.  i said yes.  and that actually grandma teddie and grandpa joe were his GREAT grandparents.  that they were clint's grandparents.  (and mine.  i always say they are mine too.  because they are.  they introduced me as "our granddaughter" one time in front of a group of their friends and it moved me to tears.  i cannot remember ever being introduced as that.  both sets of my grandparents passed away when i was young).

so we are almost to the church when we start to discuss my parents.  he thinks it's so funny that cookie is my mom.  and that pop pop is my dad.  and that sugar is my sister.  he cannot imagine a time when i didn't live with clint.  :)

so he says, "mom, where is your grandmother?  where is cookie's mom?"  actually he calls her "tookie" because he can't pronounce the "c".  i told him that she got sick when i was a little girl.  that she and cookie's daddy both had heart attacks and that they are in heaven.

this immediately worried him.  what's a heartattack?  when does that happen?  what causes that to happen?  how do you know when it's gonna happen?

i tried to explain that to him.  and then he said, "we should say a prayer."

i sort of choked up.  because i've often uttered that phrase.  but i don't think he ever has.  not on his own.

i asked who we were praying for.  i thought he was praying for my mom.  because she misses them.  but no.

"we should pray for cookie's mommy.  because she's sick.  and in heaven."

so i told him that would be great.  and best i can remember....here was his prayer.

dear god, please be with tookie's mom.  what is her name, mommy?  mimi.  otay.  god, be with mimi.  make her feel a lot better.  and please send tookie a text message so that she knows that mimi is okay.  and feeling better.  fank you god.  amen.


if you have dry eyes after that, you have something wrong with you.

he's an angel from the Lord.  he really, really is.

parenting.

i was looking at pratt last night and for some reason, i remembered when he was in his biting phase.  i know i talked about it on here.  he would go to mdo, and when i'd get there to pick him up, he would have bitten someone.  i don't think he ever broke the skin...but that was irrelevant.  putting his mouth on someone else, intentionally being mean...it killed me.

my friend stacy told me over and over again, "he will not be in the 6th grade and still be biting people, hannah.  it's a phase.  it will pass."

and while i knew it to be true, (at least, i hoped she was right) it was still hard.  because at the core of it was this bright red, glowing, blinking sign that read: "failure!!!"  and if you got really close, in small text underneath was, "hannah cannot even keep her kid from biting other kids.  how in the world will she raise him to be an upstanding member of this community.  stay far away from her if you want your kids to be any different than her kids".

i swear this is what went through my mind every single time i would pick him up and get that report.  or any report for that matter.

fast forward 2 years, and well, things are different.  not totally different.  but different.

i now realize that everything REALLY IS a phase.  and that no two children are alike.  and that a child isn't defined by one bad habit they pick up.  or one mistake they make.  or even 20.

and most importantly....i have realized that i am not defined by every single thing my child does.  good or bad.

because he rolls his eyes, or takes something away from his brother...that does not mean that i have failed.  it's just a chance to remind him of the golden rule.  just a chance to remind him that we are not perfect.  but that kindness should come above all things.

i see myself in young parents.  parents of kids that are just starting to exert their independence.  i see the way some of them look at pratt.  like, "yikes.  he doesn't always listen."  things like that.  sure, it might be my imagination...but i don't think so.  because i was once thinking that same thing.

but i grew up.  and i learned from my mistakes.  and i realize that the minute you start to judge someone else's kid...you've just karma-d your own kid into something big and bad.  and i'm still trying to figure out what in the sam hill i did to karma myself into the r.kelly situation....but that's a different story.

anyway, in the end, grace must be given.  to our children.  to ourselves.  and to those parents who ask things like, "when did he start doing (fill in the blank)"!?

even though it's hard.  whoever said life was easy?  idk.  but apparently they weren't parents.

pratt's choir debut.

i know not everyone will want to watch this.  but i swear i've watched it like 10 times.  it's so sweet.  pratt is at the far left.  front row.  second from left.  wearing seersucker pants that look white.  he loves to sing.  and to dance.  he's totally my child.  i wish i could upload the video of me singing madonna when i was about 6.  good times.



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bobby clips.

so clint told me this morning that the other day pratt was in the shower while clint was doing something in the bathroom.  he opened the shower door, called clint over and handed him one of my bobby pins.  i have this horrible habit of taking them out in the shower.  then leaving them on the soap dish where they inevitably rust.  clint loves it.

anyway.  pratt said, "here dad.  will you dry this off for mom.  it's her bobby clip."

i mean, come on.  sweetest little baby boy ever.

and from now on they will be referred to as "bobby clips".  just like "the walmarts".  and "bnastics".

how i love him.

day two. vbs.

Today was our second day at vacation bible school. Or as Barbie always called it, bible vacation school.

I had to wake max to be at church by 830. But he stayed up all day and napped from 1 until 430. Yes please. And thank you. I'm thinking of skipping his morning maps if that's what his afternoon nap will be.

And here Pratt had take the keys from him. Which prompted max's birth face.




I got Pratt early from the little kid room and he got to sing and dance with the big kids. There he is. Front row. Far right. Not bothered. Wearing his mismatched shoes.










And here he is with Kimber. The scuba diver. We love Miss Kimber!




Also, apparently during music class, Pratt got up in front of the entire class and said, (with his arms out), "otay! I'm gonna be the teacher now!!"

When I asked you to pray for his future teachers, I was serious.

So Pratt has a fever. He took some Motrin and went to bed. When he woke he said, "wook mom! I fink I'm all better. The chicken bunks are gone!!"

He meant goose bumps. Which will forever be called chicken bunks.




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my pop pop.

tonight Pratt crawled into my parent's bed and said, "let me move these pillows around mom. I want to lay on the ones that smell like my pop pop."

there's nothing better in the world than seeing your babies grow up and love their wonderful grandparents.




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lake day.

so much fun on the lake.

fourth.

best fourth of july EVER!!

Steve Jenkins.

Okay. So I went on a girls trip to Dallas this past weekend. It was a mothers day gift to us girls. And it was aweeeeeesome! We shopped. We ate. We watched a really bad movie. We were girls. Girls without any responsibility for like, 48 hours. It was great.

I came across this book in anthropologie in the mall. It was supposed to be 16.95. But it turned out to be 4.55. Idk. I brought it home for Pratt and well, he's in love.




The facts about beetles are unreal. The drawings are incredible. There is even a section in the back that gives the scientific name and where in the world you can find each beetle discussed.

I got on amazon to search the author and turns out, he's a Caldecott winner. And he has several incredible books. I just ordered this one for Pratt.





So. Long road to small house: if your kiddo likes insects, bugs, etc, this is the book/author for you. He's very scientific. My kinda man.

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