Happy Father's Day, Charles!

Well, our Father's Day so far has been very low key.  Charles came down with some kind of virus in the middle of the night so the first present he got today was a quiet morning to stay in bed and sleep while I took the boys to church! :)  But honestly, he deserves a day off every now and then.  I quickly forget just how blessed I am to have a husband like Charles.  He is more hands-on than a lot of dads are and he is so quick to help out with whatever needs to be done.  I am so thankful for all that he does for our family and for these boys.  I am so thankful for how much he has grown as a dad and how much he wants to keep growing so that he is the dad that these boys need.  There is one thing my mom tells me my dad has always wished he did differently when we were growing up and that is help with bedtime more.  Bedtime is such an important time of the day for us... it's when we settle down to read Bible stories with the boys, talk about the day and lessons learned, and a time when we all take turns talking to Jesus.  What a precious time it is with the boys and there is not one night that Charles is home where he isn't in there with us, leading his family.  There is a song that comes on the radio a lot by Phillips Craig Dean called "I Want to Be Just Like You" and it brings me to tears almost every time I hear it.  It talks about a dad and how he wants his little boy to see Jesus in him.  It is such a powerful song, especially for a family with boys because it is so true that they watch their daddies and they are learning from everything they do.  Charles will be the first to admit that he doesn't get it right some times but what I see in him and what I love so much about him is that he is the first to admit when he has done it wrong and has such a tender heart, that he wants to get it right for the sake of his 3 boys.  I am so thankful for the husband he is and also for the father he is for these boys.  God is using him to mold our 3 boys into who He wants them to be and I could not ask for a better man to lead our family.  Thank you, Charles, for loving the Lord with all of your heart, for loving me and showing the boys what it means to be a good husband, and for being a dad who strives every day to be the example that these boys need.

Here are the lyrics to the song I mentioned... what an amazing picture this paints of these little ones following in Charles' footsteps and our prayer every day is that the footsteps they follow of their Dad's will lead them straight to the Lord, the cross and His word!!

He climbs in my lap for a goodnight hug
He calls me Dad and I call him Bub
With his faded old pillow and a bear named Pooh
He snuggles up close and says, "I want to be like you"
I tuck him in bed and I kiss him goodnight
Trippin' over the toys as I turn out the light
And I whisper a prayer that someday he'll see
He's got a father in God 'cause he's seen Jesus in me

Lord, I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
'Cause he wants to be like me

Got to admit I've got so far to go
Make so many mistakes and I'm sure that You know
Sometimes it seems no matter how hard I try
With all the pressures in life I just can't get it all right
But I'm trying so hard to learn from the best
Being patient and kind, filled with Your tenderness
'Cause I know that he'll learn from the things that he sees
And the Jesus he finds will be the Jesus in me
Right now from where he stands I may seem mighty tall
But it's only 'cause I'm learning from the best Father of them all

Charles fell in love with his first born the second he saw him.
Here he is holding Chase for the first time!

Meeting his second son and realizing just how much
your love grows with each child. 

Christmas Eve 2009, after an evening at church, a great family dinner, and a time of thanking God for sending Jesus to the world as a tiny baby.  Charles had just finished prayer time with the boys and was enjoying the sweet time with them before bed.  What an amazing dad he is!!!




And I can't finish this post without a big thank you to my dad.  When I think back over my childhood, the things that come to mind of my Dad are: a dad who took his daughters on "dates", who was always so loving with us and was always telling us how much he loved us, and most importantly, I think of a strong, Godly man who lead his family spiritually.  I will never forget all of our family devotions as well as all the times I saw Jesus in him, through his actions and words.  Thank you, Dad, for being such an amazing father to us!!  I love you so much!!

Finished and ready in record time!! :)

So we bought the play set on Wednesday thinking it would be at least a few days before it was ready to be played on.  Charles was going to start with the wooden border around the play set but decided he would go ahead and set it up first and do the border later.  So, at 11:00 a.m. he began putting it together.  At 12:30 he decided it would be much easier and faster if he had some help so he called his brother.  Brian showed up around 3, they worked and worked and at 12:30 a.m. the play set was finished.  I couldn't believe they got it done in one day... our neighbors were probably hating us Wednesday night but neither of them wanted to stop until it was done.  The boys were able to go out and play the next day and they absolutely love it!!  Definitely money well spent and I know come August and September it will be a lifesaver to have back there.

The finished product :)

Jacob wasting no time!

Chase knew just what to do! 

Chase breaking in the swings!  Jacob is not a fan of the swings yet, but he'll get used to them quickly I'm sure!

      This is by far Chase's favorite thing... he spent well over an hour on one just like this at his cousin Emma's house a few weekends ago.  He has really gotten the hang of it and can go super high! :)

A HUGE thanks to Uncle Brian, Charles' brother, for sacrificing his time to come over and help Charles out.  It really is a 2 person job and was so much easier for Charles having his brother's help.  Now all that is left to do is the border around their play area and lots of mulch.  After that we're hoping to sod this fall and really have the backyard looking great!! :)

What a big boy!!!

 

Yep, we finally made the commitment and started potty training last weekend.  We attempted training him a few months ago, just after he turned 2, but he showed us very quickly that he was not ready!  During one of his diaper changes last week, I made up my mind that I was ready for him to be potty trained and that if he could at least be day time trained before the baby comes in August that would be better than nothing at all.  This time around, he showed us he is more ready now than he was a few months ago.  The first day it took him a long time to even put tee-tee in the potty but on day #2 he would sit down on the potty and go right away.  Thank goodness!!!  We still haven't figured out the whole pooping thing yet.  He will go a tiny bit after each meal but nothing like his normal that he'd do in his diapers so I'm hoping that begins soon.  I am starting to get a little worried about him getting too "backed up" (sorry if that is TMI)!  He is very proud that he is wearing big boy pants all day (except for naps and nighttime) and I am so proud that we have only had 2 minor accidents since starting 5 days ago.  He loves being like Chase so I'm hoping that will only keep helping our case. I couldn't be happier with his progress and I hope it will continue and get easier and easier with each day.
 

On a different note, we bought this play set today for the backyard.  I can't wait for the boys to be able to just go out our back door and have lots of fun playing, especially once Luke comes.