Jesus is in Ruthie's Heart!

A few days ago Ruthie woke up with a bad attitude as she often does. I told her to go back upstairs and not to come down until she has a better one. I suggested that she pray and ask God to help her change her attitude and be happy. She went up and I didn't hear from her for awhile. She finally came down the stairs and smiled at me real big and said, "I asked Jesus into my heart!" I figured that was enough, and she was ready to come downstairs:)
I know she is young and may not even really understand what that means but she knows that she wants Jesus and that is awesome. I congratulated her and talked about it a little with her.
We love you Ruthie!

Lots of stuff!

There has been a little flooding up here in the Silver Valley! We took a drive a couple days before it had peaked , we went up the Little North Fork, and here are a couple of decent pictures I got. I saw pictures on the internet and could tell it had come up quite a bit from when I took these.
We finally got a little pool for the girls, if it ever gets warm enough they could go in it again. Ruthie was so freezing after she did this.
We went to Aunie Em's wedding to Paul, they had it at a Bible Camp. It was really fun. Matt could only get Ruthie to dance with him.
Lizzie loved dancing too.
Here's Lizzie in the wagon when we went for a walk to see some of the flooding. I don't know why but I love natural disasters. They are so cool to see.
Ruthie's turn while Lizzie pushes from behind, I think Daddy needed some help!
DON'T DO IT LIZZIE. You have your whole life ahead of you.
I captured a silly picture while Lizzie was sitting on the swing at TJ's house and playing with a toy gun that was laying around.
And with the warm weather Ruthie learned a new trick. To swing herself, thank goodness. We are so proud of Ruthie, she came in one day and told me she was swinging herself and to come watch and sure enough she had it down really well. Everyday for a few weeks she would go out first thing in the morning and start swining. They play outside whenever they can, and have great tans already.
We have been fishing several times and Ruthie caught this one at Bull Run!

I was trying to get some pictures of the girls together and I got about two pictures before Lizzie started crying and reaching for me.
At the Camp where the wedding was at they have a great big blue slide, it is awesome. We took the girls down, and Ruthie was a little nervous but liked it. Lizzie loved it because she has no comprehension of what could happen I think. Everyone started racing down it. Here is my nephews Preston and Nathan, I love the concentrated looks.
Nathan is a character, he is always getting people to laugh.
After a little while the big Jolley boys started playing; TJ, Matt, Joseph, Jordan, and Tyler. Oh my goodness, look out and stand back. They would wax the gunnysacks and get going so fast that at the bottom they couldn't hardly stop. Tyler would actually jump up and slow himself running, then he even hit the fence that swung open. He nearly took out Grandma Jolley one time. I got a few more pictures and have a flickr page now that I will try to put pictures on.

A Little Glimpse into a Kids Mind:
This morning Ruthie and Lizzie and I were laying in bed talking. Lizzie was saying "eye," so we asked where Ruthie's eye was, and she pointed to it. Then we asked her nose, mouth and ears, and she pointed to all of those too. Then Ruthie lifts her shirt and tells her "nipple," then "bellybutton." Then Ruthie asks me "Does God have a belly button?" I said I didn't know, but probably not. Anybody have a better answer, cause now I'm kinda curious.

And here is a video of Ruthie swinging while she sings.

Disciplining Children

http://64.13.218.251/shows/2006/05/raising_children_biblically.php

This is an interview on Crosstalk that a friend emailed me. It is excellent advise and I am going to order the seminar this lady does. I am at a point right now that I need to update my methods with Ruthie as she is growing and Lizzie is so different from Ruthie she needs something different altogether. Lizzie is taking to hitting every time she does not get what she wants. For some time now Lizzie would hit Ruthie for telling her no. My method with Ruthie that worked great was to give a spank on the hand and say not to do whatever it was she did wrong. Lizzie just hits more, which makes sense. Just this past week she is hitting the air when I don't go the direction she is pointing me, or hitting me when I tell her no milk. I started to hold her hand down after doing it and restrict her. Then she absolutely freaks out, screaming and crying. Then when she gets disciplined she always wants milk to comfort her, and I don't want to do that all the time, since I want to be weaning her soon. Any advice? I am excited to hear the seminar so I can learn some new tactics, and get a better perspective on raising the girls in a Godly way.

One Day of Spring

Once upon a time there was some sunshine, so we made a run to the park. As I am writing this it is just a faded memory and I see snow covering everything outside...in late April!I love our park. It has all the old fashioned metal toys. I despise plastic. I'm sure it is safer, and these probably have leaded paint or something, but I just like them.

We must always try to defy the gravity and climb up the slides.
Even Lizzie tries, she does everything big sister is doing. The other day in the car I gave them each an invitation to look at and play with. Ruthie put hers in her mouth and said it was her beak. I look back a few minutes later and see that Lizzie's has a big soggy U shape out of hers. She had seen Ruthie put hers in her mouth and followed suit, assuming that Ruthie was eating hers too.

This little flicker made quite a ruckus when he pecked on the metal dome on this toy.





Weeee! Oh, I am getting dizzy.

Music Lesson

I never got around to posting the girls in their pretty Easter dresses, so here they are.

Matt's family came over and his Mom and Grandma cooked for everyone at our house, it was a huge blessing. Here is a picture of some goofy triplets: Grandma Rain, Tyler, and Jordan.

Ruthie discovered a way to join in while Matt plays guitar. Matt now has a cello too. How are you going to play that with him Ruthie?

Lizzie is joining in too! Oh, I hope they get their Daddy's music ability. They sure have his interest in it.



Here is a clip of some fun we had playing with a remote controlled snake. Lizzie is excited and nervous at the same time, Ruthie is just wound up.



The yelling Lizzie does is what I refer to as her "War Cry," she does it when she is excited. Fitting since she is part "indian," or at least she looks like it.

Patiently Awaiting the Thaw

When the snow was still high we dried out the buggy and took a walk to the Library. Luckily the girls have narrow bottoms and can fit, just barely together. And it was easy for me cause I made Tucker do the pullin'. The girls loved it he took them right through puddles and stuff. Lizzie found the little potty in the bathroom, thankfully it has been used only as a stool to reach the big toilet for quite some time!Oh yeah, did I forget to mention she walks now. It is her main mode of transportation, other than Mommy carrying her.
But my favorite thing she has learned recently is to pray. She picked it up herself, just watching us. She likes doing it now because it gets a good reaction. It was cool, cause I sometimes overly concern myself with desiring my kids to grow up loving Jesus. And I am learning that it is not something I can tell them that will make the difference it is me living it, and this was like God showing me, "it is working they are seeing it and they will follow your lead."

Ruthie is going to be a philosopher. She has been asking lots of interesting questions lately. Here's a few I can remember:
Can God get sick from me?
What does a star feel like?
and as she wiggled her bottom she said, "when I do this, God laughs, huh?"

We got a bird feeder, and Lizzie is obsessed with birds, she spots them in the sky like a hawk and says, "burr." One day when it was snowing out we had a flock of Evening Grosbeaks come and devour a full feeder, it was fun to see.

It will be a great Spring when it really does come!

Special Delivery

It has been a while since I posted, but have had pictures for some time now of Lizzies birthday gifts from Aunt Jenny. It came by mail and the girls were so excited to see what would be in it.

Anticipations ran high as they pried into the box...

And were thrilled to find...packing styrofoam!

No no, Lizzie, not in your mouth

I truly had to explain this stuff to them and show that there was better gifts inside.
Jenny and Eric sent Ruthie a little something too. Mini tea pots.

Lizzie got some really nice clothes and a kitty, which she loved.

Here is Ruthie testing out her new Eggplant and Carrot tea pots that were just the right size to go with the tea cups she already had. Very cute, she loves that kind of stuff.And Lizzie is trying to figure out the easter bicycles.Thank you Jenny, Eric, Jacob and Brennen. We love you!