tu-tu fun

what says GIRL more than a TU-TU???!!!!

we had so much fun with these pictures, I am finding it hard to pick which few I will post here. warning: picture overload ahead! :-)

once in a while, a girl kinda gets tired of all the fru-fru... and that makes adorable photos, too!

6 months old

oh my goodness, my precious little Joy is 1/2 year old! Time FLIES...

6/4/2009 -- I wanted to be sure to post the date these photos were taken just so you all could see, I was a little bit EARLY taking her 6-month photos, because she was not actually 6 months old until 6/9... so that is 5 DAYS early!!! woah! even I am flabbergasted! ha.

I guess the teeny weeny fact that I am nearly 2 MONTHS late posting them does sorta ruin the party... oh well... better late than never, that's my motto.

dedicated

May 31, 2009 ~ Baby Dedication Service ~ Calvary Baptist Church



we anticipated this service for a while, as we wanted to dedicate our precious baby girl to the Lord, just as we had dedicated Jax when he was just a wee one. the service was very nice, and special to us because our extended family was there. our children are definitely loved. we are so thankful that the Lord picked us to raise them up in his way here on Earth.



there were four other sweet babies (all girls!) dedicated on the same day as Joy. These girls will be friends as they grow up together, I'm sure.



here's a few pictures from the ceremony:

Jax is a wanna-be player...

an old wise man (who happens to have been my very first crush!) once said...

"Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys...."

But, what about guitar-players?????

buddies

Jax calls him Davin 50% of the time. (He intends to say Gavin, it just comes out as Davin)

The other half of the time?

"Buddy"

they are cousins but Jax doesn't really seem to care to hear about the family tree.
Buddy is good enough for him.

they make me think of the Fox and the Hound... such good friends... and SO CUTE when they call each other "Buddy"

big taste made by the little folk

Jax is at the age where he sincerely wants to help. Help clean. Help cook. Help anything. Just help. He is excited to exert his growing awareness of his independence, and loves to display his skills by helping me or his Daddy do just about anything.

Sometimes, help is just a hindrance. Too much help can actually slow you down. But I try to remember what it was like to be in this wonderful age of discovery (yes, I can actually remember wanting to help my mom in the kitchen), and allow him the opportunity. I know, like so many other things, this won't last for long... so I better enjoy the help, whether desired or not, while I can. More importantly, I cherish the time spent during all of those occasions that I'm receiving the unsolicited help. They really are sweet times.

If your toddler is ready to help, try these for a fun supper one night. The kids can do practically all of the preparation themselves, and they are oh-so-proud of the resulting meal. And, it's something they will actually eat themselves! yay - everyone wins

Jax loves to make little pizzas. We take English muffins and cut them in half (we like the sourdough ones best). Place them on a cookie sheet (I always ask Jax to count them as he places them on the sheet.... you know, just to make sure we have enough!). He uses a spoon to spread pizza sauce (from a jar) on each muffin. Next, he adds other toppings that each person in our family will enjoy. Canadian bacon, pepperoni... Josh likes mushrooms and black olives, so we aim to please, and customize a few with those yucky-looking things. Sometimes. Sometimes, we make Daddy eat only the "normal" stuff. ha ha. Anyway, Jax also loves to sprinkle "white cheese" and "yellow cheese" on top. I help him put them into the oven, and we bake them until the cheese is melted... they are yummy. These are great snacks or appetizers. Sometimes, we make these little boogers for our main meal! (It's sad to say, but being the picky eater that I have always been, we aren't a very nutritionally-conscious family... these little pizzas are very "healthy" compared to some of the other junk foods I have suggested for our meals in the past!)

These are really quick (great for those little attention-spans!) and easy (no measuring; no right or wrong way to do it)... plus, what kid doesn't love PIZZA??? Even the big kids in your household will love them. Sometimes, you just gotta forget about the nutritional meal stuff and let the kid come out! YUM

an afternoon abbenture

"Momma?" he said, randomly, out of the blue, "Can we go on an abBENture [adventure]?"
Um, like what, Jax?
"An AbBENNNture! C'mon, Momma, it's a dreat [great] idea! Let's doe [go]!"

and, so, we spent the majority of the afternoon outside, walking around the yard, on an adventure. Jax, donning only shorts, and Joy, happy-go-lucky as usual, riding along in the wagon.
Where did our spontaneous adventure take us?
well, we never ventured out of the yard, but we visited every tree in this exquisite jungle. Our mission: to collect as many different leaf specimen as we could, and also to check for fruits and/or flowers ("gold" or "flags") before the squirrels ("sharks") eat them up. We let our imaginations lead us on this adventure... so much so, I honestly have forgotten all of the stops that we made.
But we had a blast all the while.
Thanks, Jax, for the wonderful abBENture.

the Leggett Playground

Oh! In all of my haste as I was playing "catch up" with my blog (and I'm STILL behind - more catching up to come, goodness) I somehow forgot to give some very important kuddos and share the corresponding story with you bloggies out there.


So, without further ado:



THANK YOU, DADDY!



Don't let the small font fool you. It is not small based on importance, no, nothing could be further from the truth. It is small font, you see, because it is a message of gratitude from the little voices of two little people, Jax and Joy.
For his third birthday, which was in January, ahem, Jax received a swingset. It was really cute in the picture.... but when the delivery truck brought it, it was somehow mistakenly in two teeny-tiny boxes. I could have swore that thing said ASSEMBLED when I purchased it. Well, it did, Josh. I don't know WHAT happened... those dang Made-In-China Products! They must not have known what they were saying!


ha ha, ahem, ha ha.

Anyway, Jax got the swingset in two tiny boxes for his birthday in January. And, FINALLY, four months later, in May, it was totally assembled and ready for little feet to operate all the gadgets.

Uncle Mike and Paw-Paw Johnny are to thank for getting the ball rolling. Josh would have never attempted to assemble the thing on his own. He needed the extra hands, but he also needed the extra encouragement. (I still have no idea why the box said that 2-3 adults should assemble the product in approximately 8 hours. Maybe Webster has a new definition of assembled ??!!!)
Jax bounced all over the place while the men were trying to put the swing set together. He would ask occasionally, (about every 5 minutes) if it was almost done. I was busy feeding Joy when they began the project but joined them outside as soon as she was finished. Joy was happy to play in her Exersaucer nearby, while Jax jumped around, and I organized all the pieces and insisted on taking the Instruction booklet out of the plastic and read it to them. All the while, the men ignored my dictated instructions and kept making statements that began with "I can't believe..." About 8 hours later (hhhmm., those crazy lying china people may be hitting it right on afterall!), the product was FINISHED!

It took me several days to get Jax to slow down enough to get some pictures. And, these are not the best, but they will do - you get the point. He calls it his "playground". Ha, I'm glad that he has a playground of his very own. Joy likes to watch him play on it, and we even added a little swing for her but it's still a little overwhelming for her. She doesn't do the slide too well yet, and the rock climbing wall and trapeze is for boys only, as per Jax -- he says it's too "dangerous" for her. He's a smart little dude - I totally agree.

Let us know when you're in the area, and you can certainly come over to play on the playground. Jax will not let you leave the premises without the grand tour (featuring, playground, garden, and firetruck!) Come on down!

love the dress, tolerate the rest

She tolerates the bow and shoes....
But only for a little while.

The dress... she loves.

Mostly because dresses are lose, and easy to chew on when there is absolutely nothing else handy.

Such as, when MaMa has already confiscated the tasty bow and shoes.

she's a perfect lil doll

This picture of Joy makes me think of a porcelin doll. She's perfect. I love her.

Wizard of Oz play

Although you can't really tell it by looking at this picture, Jax really, really enjoyed going to see Brookhaven Little Theater's production of The Wizard of Oz. Jax has been a fan of the Wizard of Oz for a while now (and never once frightened by the storyline or the characters!). In the BLT production, Jax personally knew the Wicked Witch of the West. He kept saying, "that witch (his pronunciation almost compromised!) made my birthday take [cake]." And he was right about that! Ms. Lisa is a very crafty and creative person. She bakes and decorates cakes, paints/draws, sings, and now, her newest discovered talent: she acts! Ms. Lisa's personality is nowhere near "witch-like" but she definitely knows how to act, and she even had the witch-y laugh down pat!!!
I think Jax (aka - the little politician who never meets a stranger) was trying to drum up some extra business for Ms. Lisa. ha ha He told everyone he saw "that witch made my birthday take! that one - the dreen [green] one - the mean one - yeah, her - she made my birthday take!"
After the show, Jax had only one question for the Wicked Witch of the West (Ms. Lisa) - he wanted to know what happened to her sister and if she was ok (only her legs were shown in one scene sticking out from under the house - the house fell on her). Now, isn't that observative and thoughtful for a 3-year-old!!?? Of all the things to remember from the 3-hour play!
We also had a picture made with "Dorfy" [Dorothy] but Jax's eyes were closed, so it's not even worth posting.
We are ready for the next BLT play! If it's something age-appropriate for Jax, we'll be there!

Mother's Day

I know, I know. Mother's Day has come and gone. But, I think we have already established that "Late" is my middle name. I took pictures and even thought about what I wanted to blog for Mother's Day... and then... I never got around to doing the actual post.

Part of the problem lately is that I am home for the summer (yay! - that's really NOT a problem... just when it comes to blogging) and dealing with Dial-Up, which is so, so frustrating. Yeah, they're still saying we are too deep in the boonies for DSL. Still. Hhheeeeeellll-llllllloooooooo out there! can anybody hear me? hello?!! If any BellSouth people happen to be lurking around my blog, please have mercy on me! I desperately need DSL. Us people in the boonies need it more than you city people! You know, so we can get online and buy shoes and research the DIY for indoor plumbing. help! (p.s., would it help if I also threw in that I teach a couple online classes? and that your dial-up is hindering the learning of tomorrow's leaders?!!) :-)

Ok, sorry folks, just had to take a moment to appeal to the imaginary BellSouth Blog Reader guy. I hope he will leave a comment this time... hey, I can't continue to give shout-outs if you don't ever comment! y'all understand.

anyway, mother's day. yeah, I took pictures, thought about the post, was inspired, and just never found the time in between. So, I'm posting now. So there. More evidence that I am late, in the Blogosphere just like in the Real World. The good thing is that being late in the Blog world doesn't really change anything; not really. So, here's pictures from Mother's Day. Taken on Mother's Day. Posted Late. As in, not on Mother's Day. Or, the day after. But, nevertheless, posted, and that's all that matters. I received the sweetest gifts from my children and husband. I just couldn't resist sharing the sweetness. Posting late just allows me to enjoy them all over again. So, maybe, just maybe, my tardiness was on purpose.

Pictures Above: Jax made this sweet gift for me at school, brought it home on Friday, and gave it to me to open on Sunday. Look at the wrapping! The "flowers" are his actual hands, traced and cut out of construction paper. I knew I'd love it before I even opened it. I didn't want to open it, but I did, and I managed to save the flower hands - they look great in a vase in my kitchen window. Inside the adorable wrapping was a little candleholder - a glass jar, painted green and decorated with little ladybugs - made from his very own thumb prints! LOVE IT! The next two pictures are more handmade gifts from my beautiful children. These were made at church. The first is a picture of flowers, made by Jax, with his thumb prints (flower petals), finger (flower stem), and finger prints (grass). Adorable! And, sweet little Joy made the cute pink footprints in her Sunday School class, with a sweet poem attached. Both are definite framers!!! love these!! Josh came up the the charm bracelet idea all on his own. I LOVE IT. The bracelet features a little boy head and a little girl head, each with their names and birthdates inscribed, and also a charm with my initials. This was perfect.... so ME! And lastly, a rare picture of me with both of my children - not everyone has a perfect smile in this photo, but at least we all have eyes open! ha. Thank you, Josh, for honoring me on Mother's Day. Being a Mother is the "hat" that I cherish most.

Plantin' time

In late April and early May, Josh and Jax began preparing our vegetable garden. Here in south Mississippi, it is necessary to have a garden... not because we can't buy the vegetables in the grocery store like everyone else, but because having a garden sort of becomes a greeting in the summer time. A right of passage for summer. Like this: You see ole So-and-So at church and he shakes your hand and says, "How's yer garden coming?" During the summertime, it's no longer "hello, how are you doing?"! Instead, it's "How's your garden?"! LOL Most of you already know this because 85% of my whopping 9 readers live right down the road from me, ha ha, and the other 15% probably used to. Anyway, just a little clarification for one of you and a reminder for the rest. ha. I have digressed. Back to the post:

Jax has become quite the little farmer. He's interested in digging and planting, and especially likes watering and the tractor! ha. This year, he has helped with all aspects of the garden. Josh let him plant seeds in the garden and we also let him get some seedlings started with some small in-house pods. He could watch the process of the seeds becoming little bitty plants better with the pods and containers. He has a little shovel, rake, and hoe -oh, AND a wheelbarrow!-- for use in the big garden outside. And, he's not scared to use any of it one bit! It's amazing, but he's not scared of the dirt either. I know, amazing. ha.

Here's a few early pics of "planting". The garden is looking great and we've got a good bit of blooms and green stuff on the plants... so, very soon, I'll have some "harvesting" pics to share, too.

Every good farmer knows you must have good dirt (aka "soil") in order to raise good crops. For our container gardening, Jax was happy to be the dirt dispenser. This year, we also tried a Topsy Turvy Tomato planter. It looks interesting and promises to be easy, easy. Looks like this is leading up to a future product review. Stay tuned.

I like these little pods for starting seeds. They are small enough that the kids can't possibly screw up the seed-planting, and they are great to keep indoors for constant monitoring by the little eyes! The young'uns can really take full ownership of these, and get a little science lesson too, without even realizing it.

The seedlings usually sprout very quickly and you can almost see them grow before your eyes. That's always great for impatient toddlers. Here's some of our little seedlings, just before we transplanted them to larger containers and some to the big garden.

After transplanting the seedlings to containers, Jax gains a new chore: to water them when needed. This is no chore to Jax - he loves it and looks forward to it! MoMo bought him this really cool watering can, so that adds a lot of fun to the chore of watering the plants and flowers. This watering can is made by Fisher Price and there are some other contraptions made very similar to it that we would love to have, but haven't been able to get our hands on yet (a sprinkler, pail, etc). Parents just attach the base to the end of the water hose, and the kiddos can simply set their pail on top of it, and it fills up in just a few seconds flat. Next, just lift the pail off of the base, and get to watering. The base stays attached to the water hose, and keeps the water from leaking everywhere while the little legs chug all over the yard to water the plants and flowers. This little contraption is handy, economical, and fun - and, it requires virtually no parental assistance after attaching the base to the waterhose for them. Cool stuff! I have even been know to borrow it!
When Jax can type, I will have to get him to explain all of the tractor stuff. I really do not know what is going on here, but I do know they are preparing the garden spot. Jax can tell you what every lever, button, shift, and pedal does on a tractor... AND he can also tell you WHY those activities are necessary! Me, I just take the pics, ok?We don't have a huge farm, just a small garden - big enough for us and a little bit of sharing and maybe even some to put up for the winter. So, the planting (and picking) is all done by hand. Here, the seeds go in.... soon, I hope to have some pictures of the end product!

Jax will be so proud to gather some fresh vegetables. Usually, he's not much of a vegetable-eater, but since he had a hand in growing some this summer, I hope his attitude will change. We shall see.