the hilarity of Josiah

Don't think I have a favorite kid. I will post about Layla after her 2nd birthday in a couple days. Josiah is a true sweetheart. He gets sweeter as the days go by. The other day I was watching him and Layla and Josiah picked her up kissed her cheek and said "you're my favorite girl". He didn't know I was watching, so that makes it all the sweeter. As soon as I pick him up from school he kisses my face, says "hi sweetie, how was your day?". I could go on and on. He is also HILARIOUS! Today I was on the phone with my mother and 5 minutes into the conversation Josiah says "I want to talk to Bebe", so I handed him the phone and he hung up. I said "Josiah, you hung up on Bebe". His response? "That's enough time on the phone!" On the way home from school today Josiah was talking about his friend Scarlett in his class (he is the only boy, but I don't think he minds). He said that she was nice and that they take a nap at the same time and then he covered his face and said she's pretty. I did not ask if she was pretty nor have I ever covered my face when saying someone was pretty, so I think it's pretty sweet that he has his first crush. He also has has this awesome dance move that he does, that I did not teach him. It must be engrained in him to love Elvis because he does Elvis's pelvis move. He also has great comedic timing and laughs at things that are actually funny. I hope he has his daddy's sense of humor because is one of the many things I love about Chris.

 Josiah, the ringbearer, and me

 He loves 10 gallon hats for some reason

His new favorite game. Setting up his pigs and Angry birds using daddy's guitar stand as a launcher. He spends hours playing this.

Saturday treasure hunt

I believe, as all wives should, that my husband is the BEST father in the whole world (with the exception of my father, of course :)). We didn't have any plans on Saturday except to hang out by the pool and spend time together as a family. Josiah has really been into Jake and the Neverland Pirates lately. We watch about one episode a day. Honestly, the show is not all that bad. It's fun and Josiah uses his imagination long after the show is over. Yesterday, Father's Day, we went to Sprouts to get some steaks to grill and the entire car ride Josiah pretended like he was Jake, Chris was Cubbie, I was Izzy, and Layla was Skully. Our car was Bucky and we had many obstacles to overcome on the 15 minute ride, including MANY coconuts to fly over using my pixie dust. It was awesome. And at some points, I think Chris and I were having more fun than Josiah. Who doesn't want to relive their childhood adventures?? Anyways, back to Saturday... Josiah and I were just chilling and Chris was at the kitchen table drawing. He then brings over this awesome map that he drew for Josiah to go on a treasure hunt for his squinkies (yes that is a word. they are rubber and Josiah has about 20 of them from Cars). Josiah thought that it was the coolest thing ever, and I was impressed at his drawings, because a donkey could draw a better stick figure than me. That's it. That's the whole story. I just wanted to give a huge shout to my baby daddy! The map is below. BTW... Josiah loved the first treasure hunt so much that he had his daddy draw another map for another treasure hunt.

My little ring bearer

The first weekend in May my dear friend, Kelly Bosse Burslem, got married in Brenham. Kelly and I met 7 years ago in Lusaka, Zambia where we served with Family Legacy Missions for a month. It was an amazing experience and Kelly and I bonded very fast as we wandered the streets of Lusaka trying to find a doctor for my staph infection. It was hilarious and I am forever grateful to her. Kelly met and fell in love with a wonderful English man and moved to London not too long ago. They got married a month ago in her home town and she asked Josiah to be the ring bearer. He was the cutest ring bearer the world has ever seen. Chris and I were extremely nervous that he was going to cry his way down the aisle, so we packed TONS of prizes and rewards for him. We tried to rehearse, but that was kind of pointless since there were no people to rehearse in front of. Cut to the ceremony and he was flawless. He pumped his chest out like he owned the place. It was awesome. Here's a picture (with the beautiful bride in the background).

Isn't he just the CUTEST thing ever?!?!

Mom fail

Today I tried to be a fun mom and failed. We live in an apartment, so we don't have a backyard and our patio isn't huge. The kids love playing in water and I haven't yet been able to find a water toy for the kids that fits well on the patio. So instead, like a genius, I bought a blow up pool. It rained pretty hard in our neighborhood last night so it was gross out this morning and the mosquitos are starting to creep back into our lives, so I thought it would be fun to put the pool in the living room (Chris helped lead worship this morning and was gone from 7am-3pm so I was alone in this). Josiah and I filled the pool with about 4 inches of water (which took a good 45 pitchers full back and forth from the bathtub) and the kids played in it for over 30 minutes. They had a really good time. They love bath time and going to the pool in our apartment complex, so I knew they would love this. Well, the water got cold, as it does, so I took them out and put them in their room to play while I moved the pool to the patio to drain it. Fast forward 1 hour and the pool is in our bathtub and the living room and carpet in our bedroom is soaked. I didn't get mad once because I could only blame myself for being so dumb as to think it wouldn't be hard to transport 4 inches of water (about 4 feet wide) by myself. However, the good thing out of this hilarious situation is that my kids spent one whole hour in their bedroom (they share a room) without fighting, reading. I really wish there was a camera on me during this because it would have provided people many hours of entertainment. Chris laughed pretty hard at this and is laughing as I type this. He sweetly pointed out that there is no difference between the pool in the living room and the bathtub 10 feet away and that I had my I Love Lucy moment. If you can't laugh at yourself, then what's it all for??

Middle names

I don't know who decided that people should have middle names. It must have been started by a mother who, in her infinite wisdom, decided that if you use their full name, the child knows you mean business. If you don't know, both our children have Spanish middle names, as will all our other children. This is because I want there to be some sort of Hispanic heritage associated with them. Probably once or twice a week I have to use their full name to either get their attention or to let them know they are fixing to be in trouble (I know you're thinking there is no way my children misbehave because they look like angels). Yesterday Layla was doing something to annoy Josiah.. surprise surprise. He clearly had had enough and looks at her and says "Layla Amada Munselle, stop it!". It took everything inside of me to not burst out laughing. Not only have I never heard Josiah say his last name before, but I was proud of him for using his words, not his hands (i.e he didn't push her). You probably don't find this funny, but I do and had to share it.

Life is but a zoo

Life with little ones is so freaking awesome. I love how they are always changing. Just when I think I've got them figured out, they do something that contradicts what I thought. Josiah still has just the sweetest heart and is so kind-natured. He genuinely cares about others, even at the ripe old age of 3. Yesterday when I got home from taking a math test I walked through the doors and he was on the couch watching cartoons while Chris was finishing cooking dinner. Josiah looked at me and said "mama, give me a kiss". I nearly melted. I can't count how many times a day I put my hands over my heart and just melt by things they do. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments (several of them) during the day when he acts his age and I have to get stern with him, or as he says "yell at him", but the good WAY out number the bad.
Layla is my little fireball. Her personality is coming through strong at just 19 months old. She will be as happy as can be and smiling and laughing at something, then out of nowhere she will give you a "go to you know where" look that I just think can't be coming from my sweet little angel. She doesn't let anyone boss her around. She puts up a good fight with her brother (and mother and father) when she doesn't want to do something. And she can hold her own. If Josiah starts to wrestle with her, she wrestles back... usually pulling his hair or scratching him, which gets her in a time out fast, but at least she recognizes she doesn't want to be played with that way. I feel sorry for any boy that has a crush on her.

As you may have noticed, I'm one of the worst moms when it comes to picture taking. Usually when they've done something picture worthy or posing wise, by the time I whip my phone out it's too late and the moment has passed. So I try very hard to take mental pictures and hopefully those will last my whole life. But here are some pictures that I did manage to capture.

 This is how Layla normally eats her food... smeared everywhere and in places that are hard to get out

 She's going to be a heart-breaker!

 Daddy and Layla in front of the monkeys at the zoo

 Layla's first finger painting excursion. She didn't really understand that the paint was for paper...

 ...maybe because her brother was not a good example

 Brother and sister playing together

Success on our Easter egg hunt!

A semi-working mama who is also in school's life...

I'm sure you're DYING to know how my life is going... because that's why you read this, right? To keep tabs on me? Wait... But I'll fill you in nonetheless. The first semester of me being back in school is almost to an end. I have 2 weeks left and then I will have a 3 week break before summer school starts. Somehow I have managed to maintain a 97 average in my Biology class and a 95 in my statistics class. I guess I really am learning something! I am pretty proud of myself. I was never really told that I was smart growing up, so I never put too much effort into getting high grades. But since I actually want to succeed in school this time around I am actually studying and really letting the information sink in and not just retain it for a test. Hopefully this will be a pattern for the rest of my higher education (and something I can pass down to my kids). I do miss being with my babies all the time. I have to break mid day on my non-work days to go to class because you can't take any science classes online. I am very grateful to my mother and mother in law as they watch my babies when I'm at school. This summer, however, I am only taking one class and it's not a science class so I won't have to go campus until the Fall. That I am super excited about. I will definitely need some suggestions on what to do during the summer to keep us from getting in a rut and not enjoying all that Dallas has to offer (preferably free or cheap suggestions). I am an absolute dufus when it comes to crafts, so maybe I can work on my craft skills as the kids work on theirs. You might actually mistake a craft I have made for one of Layla's, that's how sub-par my talent is. Since we are in an apartment complex, we are fortunate enough to have a swimming pool right behind our building, so the plan is to spend a lot of time at the pool and teaching my kids how to swim.
I'm still kicking butt with Jillian Michaels and Billy Blanks and now that the weather is awesome, I'm perfecting my running skills too. And just so you get a laugh, I fell the other day because I was trying to change the song on my phone and wasn't paying attention to the sidewalk and tripped over something. I got a few scrapes from it, but nothing too bad, and the worst part of all was that no one was around to witness it. I know that I love a good laugh at other peoples expense (if they haven't really hurt themselves of course), so I was sad no one could laugh at me or tell their friends about the idiot runner who got laid out on the sidewalk. So there you have it. My life in 500 words or less. Thanks and Gig 'Em.