There is more to the Torti saga I told you about in the last post. James and Kinley found Torti and we took him to a park to let him go (b/c our neighbor asked that we let him go in the opposite direction of her garden but when he escaped we found him by the fence next to her garden. I think he had a homing device for it). James carried him ever so carefully in his box until we found the perfect tree to put him under. Before we even got to the tree James stopped walking and burst into tears saying "I just want a pet!!!" He looked at me with the most pathetic sweet eyes I've ever seen and said "why can't I just have a pet better than a fish?!!!" It completely broke my heart and it was all I could do to not give in and drive to the pet store to let him pick whatever he wanted. I cried too because it was so sad. He is such a sensitive sweet little boy. We prayed for Torti, rubbed his back, then James put him under the tree and we watched him explore the new place. James finally pulled it together and was able to leave only because we started talking about the next turtle Miss Betty might find in her garden and give us.

That night James came in our room around 2am and said he couldn't sleep because he was worried about Torti, I told him God was taking care of him and he was happy in the wild. He went back to bed. He told me in the morning that he had a dream that we put Torti on a gun stand and shot him. No wonder he was worried about him. That is the first dream James has ever had that woke him up and he remembered the next day. I'm a little worried that it had to do with me being involved in hurting an animal???

James is very helpful around the house and thinks that doing chores is so much fun because he feels grown up. I am taking full advantage of this attitude because I know that in what will feel like a few days this will so not be cool anymore.

James had his first foot long hot dog last week. He ate the whole thing! I didn't have my phone or camera to take a pic but it was a crazy sight because it was so much bigger than he is - on a hot dog scale anyway.

He is also doing really well learning to swim - he will go all over the pool hanging on to his noodle and he can swim a few feet under water without any help! He read is first word last week too! He was reading the title on a book and "book" was the first word. He told me each letter and it's sound then put the sounds together. I didn't help him at all. He has been reading single words ever since but he does think the words have to be in big print for him to read them??

Josh and the kids were driving to Duncan and he asked James where the president lives and he said "the white house" then he asked him what the president's name was and he said "Obama" Josh asked him what his first name was and said it starts with a "b" and James said "Bobama". We were impressed that he knew the first two though because we haven't really worked on that. Now we really need to get him to learn our address and phone number.

One day I was sewing and James asked if we could make a dog Bjorn for Marley, so we did. James loves pushing the pedal to sew but we need a lot of work when it comes to keeping the fabric straight while sewing.

My girlfriends from college came to my house for the weekend while Josh and the kids went to Nana and Granddads. I had a wonderful break and the house stayed perfectly clean for three whole days - it was amazing! I am so blessed to have amazing friends that encourage, challenge and inspire me. I pray that my kids will have some great friends in their lives.

This last Saturday we had Kinley's birthday party at Quick Trip Park. We invited three of her two year old friends and their siblings. We ended up with 9 kids and they had a great time. We had dirt pudding just like for James' second birthday but in flower pots instead of a dump truck. The kids love this stuff because it's yummy and sooo messy but at least we were at a water park!

She got a new sprinkler, hair bows and dress up stuff. Her favorite was a little red coin purse with four quarters in it.

We went to a Tulsa Driller's baseball game at the new stadium downtown. We had a lot of fun. They sell tickets to sit on a grassy area. We took our blanket and were able to spread out and not make the kids sit the whole time. Then they had a fireworks show after they game. The fireworks were set off really close to us and James was very concerned and kept asking if we should move. Kinley sat very still with her hand in her mouth and for two days after kept saying "those fireworks sacred me bad" even though I'm pretty sure she liked them.

We have had a good couple of weeks. For Memorial Day weekend we went to Dallas to celebrate cousin Kate's first birthday. I somehow ended up with no pictures?? The kids had a great time playing with all of her toys and eating the cake she left behind.

Until that weekend both kids had been waking up before 6 every day. I was getting very tired of it but we drove home from Dallas late Sunday night and they slept until 9 on Monday! Since then they have been making it until at least 7 - Praise the Lord! One day we were playing in the back yard and Kinley asked me to take her swimsuit off so I did then she said go pee pee so I took her inside to the potty chair and she went! She has continued taking herself to the potty 80% of the time for the last week and a half! It has been really nice using and changing less diapers but I'm not holding my breath for complete training anytime soon. I don't want to get my hopes up then be disappointed. I have vowed not to do anything to potty train her except make it available and give her M&M's for a good job (which she LOVES). We'll see? She has also adjusted to her big bed wonderfully. We had a week that she decided to try getting out of bed but after big brother's chastisement and a few spanks from mommy I guess she decided it wasn't worth it. She has however moved on to causing a ruckus in most other areas of life. She has had bad behavior reports from the church nursery three weeks in a row. Every time we get to the door to pick her up she starts saying "timeout" because that is where she's been the whole hour. I guess she is depending on her good looks to get her friends. Kinley often says goodness gracious when she sneezes or coughs - she got it from Josh - so cute. He got this hat in Dallas - Grandad got it for him. Grandad and Dad both told him he might get some flak for wearing it in OK but he didn't seem to mind. The next week he was wearing it and we were going to my doctor appointment and I reminded him that people might make comments like "that's an ugly hat" or "why in the world are you wearing that". He decided he would just say he likes Texas when we are at home with family and not when we're out. We had a good conversation about caring what people think and deciding things for ourselves and being consistent no matter where we are. I think he got it a little but he still decided not to wear the hat in public. It is cool and scary watching him grow up and figure important issues out. It is going to be so hard to watch but I hope I can keep a good balance of guidance and freedom. It is going to involve lots of prayer! He is growing like a maturing like a weed in the spring! He has loved helping with Kinley's milestones and preparing for Mallory. I couldn't have a better first child (so far). He is really into imaginative play, story telling, and making up animals. Kinley has decided to start clawing him, pushing him, and hitting him whenever she feels like it and he is starting to get sick of it. However, she left a nice red scratch on his cheek and he has milked the sympathy. He is an amazing helper with whatever chores Josh or I have to do. I love having a big kid but it is challenging to keep up with stimulating him intellectually and imaginatively. Spiritually he is really starting to make sense of the gospel and how the verses and Bible stories he knows apply to his life. His questions and statements of understanding are really interesting.

We went to Edmond to stay with my parents for a couple of days this week and the kids had fun with Bop's Harley stuff as usual. We also got to hang out with cousin Tristan a lot.

We went to the kiddie park in Bartlesville with our friends the Henslee's Kinley called it "Elmo's Kitty Cat Park" because it had a ferris wheel like her Elmo book and kiddie must have meant kitty cat?? They had a great time riding every ride except the one that spins way to fast for any human to enjoy in my opinion.

Kinley working the carousel

James and Ezra on the big kid roller coaster (without an adult) ready for the thrills.

Look at their faces! They aren't so sure about the thrills. They ended up loving it.

Oh the boys are in trouble, look at that face. However, Levi has the "oh ignore her" technique down.

This gave Josh and I chills because we flashed forward 12 years! James was very cautious as usual so we were encouraged. It was hilarious though because I don't think they moved more than a foot or two because he couldn't make it to anything but turn in circles.

They are so good at sharing with each other. They got a cotton candy and an ice cream cone and shared both without incident!

They have been loving a Mallory a lot lately. Kinley so sweet listening to a book on my belly.

Not so excited about sharing Mallory with James. Her looks can kill!

Yesterday we were working in the yard and our neighbor gave us this turtle she found in her garden. James named him Torti and created a nice home in a diaper box for him. They went out to check on him this morning and he was gone because the rain made his box soft enough to bend so he could climb out. They are sad but determined to find him.