Decor

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the Voda house. We finally decorated our Christmas tree, and the kiddos were thrilled to hang the ornaments and admire the lights. They are at such a fun age where the sparkle of the Christmas tree is surprising to them every single time they see it. I love it. I will admit, I was not at all in the mood to tackle putting up decorations this year...I have been a bit worn down at being a mommy to three spirited little ones, but boy oh boy did these precious little ones change my heart as I watched them excitedly decorate the tree and bring in the Christmas cheer.

Pearly Whites

When I opened my computer this morning, this picture popped up. This was our beautiful Harper Grace on this day LAST year! How cute is she!?!? Oh that button nose. The smirk on her face...yummy!!

You can tell she is getting bigger, but she is still just as adorable as last year! The button nose, the smirk, the whole package. So thankful for this baby girl.....even if she did bite me this morning!! What the what...where did that come from?

The Littles

The little ones in our house are growing up. They are getting big and expressing their independence. 

For our littlest, her new found "growth" can be documented best in the following picture:

Yup, there you have sassy mcsassy sitting in timeout. Ugg she is expressing her opinions and her emotions in very no attractive ways resulting in a minute in timeout! (Luckily, the timeout works well to calm her down and move on to something else). Oh Lord help us. She will be the sweetest little handful!

Our middle child is growing into a mighty fine little boy. He truly is a little boy and no longer a toddler. He is becoming more and more independent, more social and he can be quite the stinker. Although, with a dietary change, he is gradually showing some improvements in some of the behavioral issues he has been expressing. I think the new growth in this little boy is best documented in the following two pictures:

Sweer little boy with his most current school picture. He looks so big....especially when you compare the picture from last year. He was just a baby. (He had one single tear in his eye in last years picture...but is all smiles in the new pic). Oh how far he has come in a single year!!!

This last picture is a favorite of mine. The two littles don't get along all that well, so when they do it's worth documenting!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Our morning started off super early as the boys bundled up and loaded the truck to go "hunting." Yep, Brad braved the cold outdoors with  three year old and 5 year old boys to go hunting for sandhill crane and make unforgettable memories with his sons on Thanksgiving! The boys had a blast...all three of them! The kids enjoyed shooting the bird, hunting for the said now dead bird, and even watching daddy get all the meat out. YUCK-O. I'm glad they enjoy their man time together and this is one adventure I am not sad I am not invited to participate!
While the boys hunted, Harper and I watched the parade and prepared our thanksgiving feast! It was such a low key day and I think it turned out wonderfully!!!
I do have to say I think one of the best parts of the day was my precious, 3 day old, tiny little niece joining us!! Yes, Ruby Grace Jenkins made her grand entrance into this world on Monday, November 25 and at only 3 days of age, she joined our family for Thanksgiving!!! Such a blessing and a beautiful little lady! Her momma and daddy are amazing and have taken on the parenting roll with such class and grace!!

Such a wonderful day to step back and verbalize just how thankful we are for each other.
Maddox, Paxton and Harper Grace,
I pray you know everyday how thankful we are for the three of you. You are all so special and have so many unique talents and characteristics that make you special and absolutely perfect. You are the joy of our lives and we are so proud of each of you! Thank you for making our days brighter and for loving us even when we mess up from time to time! You all are so full of life and energy and you teach us new things every day. Your daddy and I are so thankful that God choose us to be your parents!! We love you guys!!

The manly men

Harper girl enjoying her breakfast, watching the parade, and sporting her pink camo while the boys hunted

Happy Thanksgiving from the kids table

Gobble gobble

The joy of my soul

Sweetest, tiniest little turkey...Ruby Grace

Paxton, my Paxton

Our littlest boy is getting so big. Paxton James is growing up right before our eyes. He is maturing, he is getting smarter, he is getting more social, he is getting more talkative.....he is also getting grumpier, feisty-er, sassy-er and gaining a lot of attitude. I realize a majority of this is his personality, but I am also hoping he can outgrow some of it as he matures and gains better ways to express himself. Sheesh, right now is such a difficult time for me as a mom. He can be the sweetest, kindest little boy and then in a blink of an eye he can be so disrespectful and outright mean. I received a phone call from his school this week from his teacher expressing to me that he was having a very "emotional day". He yelled at other kids who wanted to play near him and he cried a lot. I know he definitely does not like to have his space invaded and for the most part he is perfectly content to play all by himself; however, that is never life! We are always forced to be around other people and it is my job as his mom to help him find ways to cope with what naturally feels very uncomfortable to him. And right now, as his mom, I am exhausted. I just reach my limit on how to discipline, and the desire to yell and scream overtake me. I am working on my own temper and my ability to handle him when he is at his feistiest....whew, it's been a wild month for him.
He is so creative and smart, he is also so darn stubborn that it takes a lot for him to actually "show" you what he knows. He can identify every letter of the alphabet by shape and sound. He can count to 100. He knows the english alphabet and the Greek alphabet. He knows all of his colors and most of them in both english and spanish. He is the best colorer I have ever seen for his age. He loves to "read" books and we recently started a new book that is actually teaching him how to read. He is able to sound out a few words like "S-T-O-P" and he can tell you what letter certain words start with.
He continues to struggle with being overwhelmingly afraid of new things; however, if you can ever force him to try, he usually likes them. Although, he might try new things, if he doesn't like it, there is NO convincing him otherwise. He is stubborn to his core. This quality will play out well as he grows and matures and is unwilling to give into peer pressure (it is my job to guide that stubbornness into something that strengthens him rather than limits him)
My days with this little man are long and exhausting, but they also bring me so much joy and laughter. What an amazing little man we have. He is so creative and loves to find new ways to play with his toys. He is super excited for other people when they achieve new things. This past week, Maddox got in trouble a few times at school for not paying attention and lying. On Thursday, Maddox got in the car and Paxton immediately asked "Madd did you get in trouble today?" When Maddox happily responded with "No." Paxton responded "Oh yippee, Maddox. I am so happy. I'm so proud of you! Give me a hug"
Such a sweet spirit he has....when he wants to.
Please join me in praying that we guide his personality to allow him to be the most amazing, world changing little man that the Lord created him to be....one that shares and tolerates other people. Ha.

It is easy to see how much bigger Harper has gotten, but good grief look at how "baby" Paxton was when his sister was born. Sweet little stinker!!

Such a handsome little fella. That smile certainly makes up for any frustration throughout the day

Sweet moments

Oh my mercy! My granny and Harper coloring while we waited for lunch!!! Such a sweet picture. Love these two little ladies!!

Brace yourself. You just might not ever be the same after seeing this next picture......oh my yumminess. She is the most adorable little thing I've ever seen!!!

Halloween 2013

Halloween 2013 was a major success. I am not a huge fan of this particular "holiday" but I certainly love watching our kiddos transform into super heros and overly cute tiny little bugs with costumes created by their amazing grandmom.

Maddox requested to be a military pilot, Paxton just wanted a cape....grandmom created Zoro...a three year old boys dream...a cape and a sword. And our sweet Harper Grace was the most adorable little lady bug. (I wish I would have gotten a video of her walking in her costume....it was so precious to watch her tiny body waddle along with wings flapping behind her). 

Paxton spent the week of Halloween in Oklahoma with grandmom and granddad voda. He was able to go to the okc zoo to trick or treat as well as a festival at a church near by. He had a blast and the grandparents were thrilled to see their little Zoro in action!!!

Maddox and Harper spent Halloween at a festival at Maddox's school and then finished the evening at my Granny's assisted living home. Such wonderful moments to watch my kids with my Granny!!!

The holiday as a whole isn't my fav...but these kids dressed, up using their imaginations and having a blast...I would say that is a fantastic evening for all!!!