The Vara's: Taking it back to neutral

Go, go, go! We always seem to be on the go lately and it gets exhausting. This week we made an effort to not overdo everything and what a difference that makes. It was so nice not to be stressed out about everything and actually get the kids to bed on time. We might have missed a few social events but it was important to take time out for us and our family. Plus, the kids were so much happier, especially in the morning, which makes mommy and daddy happy.

So on to the fun stuff. Let's start with this crazy little man named Jackson. Wow, boys are so much different then girls, and this little boy is ALL BOY. If he can be wet or in mud, he is in Heaven. This week was "weaning off the bottle" week. We have allowed him to keep the bottle at night so it's really just during the day. The first day he refused to drink anything out of a sippy cup so when I picked him up from daycare that day he inhaled 5 oranges. It was so funny. Luckily the only one more stubborn then Jackson is his lead teacher at school. Ms. Tanja didn't give in and neither did we. We're happy to report Jackson loves water out of his cup now and is only on a milk bottle at night! Now to just get him to drink milk out of a cup and we're golden. Other then that, Jackson is a mess (in a good way). He's beat up and dirty all the time. Right now he has a cut over his eye, from pulling something down at daycare, road rash on his forehead, from face planting in to the cement, and road rash on the side of his head, from sprinting out the backdoor and forgetting there is a large step! Ugg, he gives me several heart attacks a day. I guess that is just boys. But he is so loving and gives the best hugs so that makes up for it.

Little Miss Haley is just the opposite. She doesn't like to get dirty and loves all things girly. She continues to amaze me with everything she is learning at school. Yesterday was her last soccer game and we had a party afterwards. One mom brought balloons. It was windy out and Haley let hers go on accident. We watched it fly far far away with tears. I explained it was ok and it was flying to Heaven and maybe Grandpa Ellery was going to get it. She responded that God was in Heaven and so was Jesus. She also said God was in your heart. How sweet!

Jackson loves airplanes and every time he sees or hears one he says "plane, plane" and points. To keep him entertained at Haley's soccer game we were finding the airplanes. Haley got in on the action and spotted one then asked us where it was going. I said, maybe the airport. Haley responded, "no, I think it's going to HEB". I then asked, really? What's at HEB? She cracked me up by saying, "everything we don't have." She's right!

One finally story for the week. Jackson was wet and dirty on Friday night so I proceeded to undress him prior to going inside the backdoor. Little did I know he had a surprise in his diaper and the back door was locked. After running the naked man with the stinky butt around to the front of the house and getting cleaned up we proceeded with the evening. Well, fast forward to the morning and I decided I needed to clean Jackson's shoes I left at the backdoor. I bring them in and get the first one cleaned in the sink. I reach for the other one and POOF - a frog jumped out of it! I screamed, backed away and told Matt to check it out. He showed the kids and they were both laughing hysterically. Then while Jackson was looking at it it jumped again and he freaked out! Matt scooped it up and took it outside where the kids had fun making it hop on out of the backyard. After I recovered from my heart attack Matt brought up the good point that at least I didn't try to put on Jackson's shoes with the frog inside! I think I would have been scared for life.

As always, fun times at The Vara's! Enjoy some pictures.

Little Aggie getting prepared for football season. It's never too early