Thursday, September 27, 2012

Up North

This month we got to go to Kerry's parents' cabin!  It was a long haul (almost 8 hours)--especially since we didn't leave until Friday at 3:30pm-- but so worth it.  Kerry's parents invited my parents, too, so, as Oakley excitedly pointed out, we had "two Papas!" there.

My favorite part about the cabin is that there is no road access. We park across the lake and take a boat to the other side.  Does it get any more exclusive?!

Here are a few photos.
Kerry and Oaks' butt.

My boys LOVE to throw rocks.  When I told Kerry that, he said, "Yeah, on our guys' trip last weekend we probably spent 3 hours total just throwing rocks."  Wow.  Boys will be boys apparently.
Emerson braving the water with Papa Tom.
KAYAKING!

Checking out the water with Daddy
More rock throwing
I thought I had more pictures to post but the VAST MAJORITY of them are nude photos of my children.  (Why would I bring swim trunks when the water is about 40 degrees?!)  Guess that's all for now!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Fish and Elephants

(I still haven't figured out how to import our old blog to this new site.  And I don't have time to make this one pretty right now. Thanks for bearing with me in the transition!)



Oakley and Emerson, my little jabber-mouths.  I LOVE the way they talk!  I thought I'd share some of their most recent adaptations to the English language as the intro to this post.  In addition to the phonetic spellings, I have included a translation and/or explanation.  It is also labeled "E" if Emerson says it, "O" if Oakley does, and "B" if they both do.  Enjoy!

B:  "keema-uppa, keema-uppa"  Do this in a sing-song voice and it stands for "Clean up, clean up!"  Though it is both boys who say it, Oakley does far more.  He is OBSESSED with cleanliness and gets a little irritable when there is too much mess. His initials are OCP, but we call him OCD.  :)  Of all the things that he could make such a stink about, I am NOT complaining about this one.

B:  "Tootoochain toofpaste."  Choo-choo train toothpaste, specifically Thomas the Tank Engine.

B: "No buzznwoody!" We fasted from Toy Story for 30 days.  When your kids routinely wake up and immediately say, "Buzznwoody?" as in, "Can we watch Toy Story now?" you find it necessary to say, "No buzznwoody," quite a bit, and after a while, they said it too! Kerry's parents recently brought down some real Toy Story figurines. Let's just say the boys think they are in paradise.

B: "No chicken nuggets."  We are on a[n indefinite] fast from chicken nuggets.  Way. Too. Many. on our last trip Up North.  I could vomit just at thinking about the smell of chicken nuggets.  So, every time we drive past McDonald's or Burger King we hear, "No chicken nuggets."

O: "Emmason's turn!"  This is how Oakley says, "Emerson's turn!" when they are shooting hoops, riding on something, going down the slide, jumping in the pool, etc.

E: "Oakwee's turn!"  You get the point.  Warms my heart at how good they can be at taking turns!

B: "Sowee.  Give you."  When someone in our house commits an offense, that person needs to say, "Sorry, ____________."  The offended replies with, "I forgive you, _____________."  Only, when they are saying it to each other, it comes out, "Sowee Oakwee," and "Give you, Emmason."  Does it get any cuter?!

E: "Dockow." I have no idea why, but that is how he says, "Thank you."

O: "Tahtum."  Again, really no clue here, but this is his version of "Thank you."

B: "Run fast!" In our house, we don't run.  We run fast.  Always.

B: "Jump high!" In our house, we don't jump.  We jump high. Always.

B: "Frow hard!" Throw hard... you get the point.

B: "I may never shoot anyone!"  Yes, that is verbatim their version of the Sunday school song, "I'm in the Lord's Army!" which has been labeled in our house as "Payton's song" or "Yesh, shir!".

E: "Want monkey cheese," is translated to, "I want macaroni and cheese."  He is his father's child!

B: "Chuch."  That's "church", minus the r.  Say it out loud.  I like it!

E: "Wanna go Wyan's hoouuuuuuuuuse!"  He only did this once, but it was at the top of his lungs, crying hysterically in his bed at nap time.  He was mad at me, so he said, "I wanna go to Ryan's hoouuuuuuuuse!"

O: "NO! No orange!" We're in the midst of learning our colors.  Oakley is convinced  that orange in really called pink.  He thinks every shirt he wears is pink and when I correct him he says, "NO!  No orange!"  

To add to those hilarious sayings, the boys hit a huge milestone a few weeks ago-- on the same day at two different times!  This really jazzed me, because they are as fraternal as fraternal boys can get and they NEVER develop at the same time.  While preparing to go to the zoo, I asked Oakley (his brother was still sleeping), "What are we going to see at the zoo today?" and he replied, "Fish and elephants!"  This was the first time he responded to an open-ended question without being prompted of the answer.  I was so happy Kerry was there to witness it.  Later that night, while eating dinner, I asked the boys, "What did we see at the zoo today?" and Emerson replied without prompting, "Fish and elephants!"  Kerry and I were (well, I will speak for myself here) shocked!  They seriously NEVER do stuff like that-- reach a milestone in the same day and using the exact same words to do so!  Now, they are able to respond to open-ended questions all the time.
"How does your chicken taste?"  "Good."
"What did you do at the park?"  "Slide. Swings."
Sometimes they answer incorrectly, like in, "Fish and elephants."  There are no elephants at the Blank Park Zoo. :)

One last monologue.  A good one.  You don't want to skim this!
Over the past 11 weeks, God has been using the Breaking Free Bible Study by Beth Moore to show me how much he longs for me to live a life that is free, joyful, and honoring to Him.  I've learned a lot about my own struggles with anger and now the truth of God's Word is actually creating a new way of thinking and behaving in my life.  Through this, I have had a heightened awareness of my sin, particularly in the issue of anger, and am pleased to say I deal with it much better now, thanks to the Lord's patient endurance with me.  My outbursts have become far less frequent and, when I am angry, my sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is higher so I am able to stop sooner and realize the root of my anger quicker.
Yes... I realize this blog is getting a little deep... You might be asking yourself, "What exactly does this have to do with Poucher, E&O??"  Well, everything, actually.  I didn't want to believe my children were affected by my anger as much as they truly are, even though in my heart of hearts, I couldn't get away from it.  I understand that children are sponges and are aware of far more than they can articulate.  I do not want to be their main example and, therefore, justification, for any future anger problems.
To put this in perspective, I have observed the following scenario many times over the last two weeks.

Me: [quietly, to myself] Ugh.
Emerson:  Sowee, Mommy.
Oakley: Give you, Mommy.

Get it?!  Emerson hears my frustration, no matter how minuscule it is, and takes it upon himself, assuming he did something wrong and must apologize for it.  Breaks. My. Heart... Tears are welling up in my eyes to know my two year old is blaming himself for my irritation.

Then, there's Oakley, who clearly understands I am not behaving correctly when I express my frustration like that, and he feels personally offended by it.  How do I know?  He's forgiving me!  "Give you, Mommy."

They understand!  They are watching everything I do.  They've picked up on my tendencies.  They know right from wrong.  They have feelings.  My precious little boys are going to do what I do, even when they know they should do as I say.  And that, my friends, puts the fear of the Lord in me.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying God says it's wrong to be angry ever. Ephesians 4:26 says, "In your anger do not sin."  There is a way to deal with anger while avoiding sin.  Even Jesus became angry (Matthew 21:12, for example), and the Bible says he never sinned and was totally perfect.

Ahhhh, feels so good to get that off my chest!  As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions/comments/concerns!


Now, on the to pictures!




Oakley, post-spaghetti

























Oakley's "bike".

Emerson, "riding a bike" as he said.













The boys love taking pictures with Mommy these days because they love to look at it on the screen after.
I definitely don't mind!


Emerson and Mommy! 
Emerson and Mommy again.  He thinks so hard about
it that he forgets to smile. :)

Emerson Crane Poucher and his pal Jon Crane.  One day, Emerson randomly
said, "JC's my friend."  Precious!


Getting ready for the pool!

Oakley in Daddy's boots.


Bros.


Gangsta!

Popping popcorn on the stove!



Their new room!  As promised, here are the details of their totally spacey room!

We bought a bunk bed with rolling trundle.  Emerson's bear takes up a huge portion of the bed and weighs about 50 pounds, so he gets the bottom bunk.  Oaks and his puppy get the trundle.  When we want more space, we just push the trundle in.  No one sleeps on the top bunk, yet!


Vintage bookshelf with sweet painting from Shelby! Also
we put a digital clock in their room (covered the minutes side)
and taught them how to recognize 7 from 8.  They aren't allowed
to get out of bed till 8!  It's working well!
The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their
expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Psalm 19:1

The map! E and O pick one nation to pray for each night!
I took this picture after Emerson woke up from peeing the bed,
can ya tell?  His exact words, "Mommy, I soakin' wet."


Bed with trundle out. 
Bed with trundle in.
O loves his new room! 


Kerry's awesome art skills.  Here you see Mars and Mercury (maybe) and the Little Dipper!

Here is Caseopea and some other planet...


Uncle Milton's Moon in My Room
goes thru all 12 phases of the moon.  Cool nightlight.



Monday, July 2, 2012

Las Fotos

 Here are the photos I planned to upload from the last update. I'm still getting a hang of this new site...Boring blog so far!


 Turning TWO was tons of FUN! Opening gifts, swimming with Mimi, chilling in our undies, hanging with Mommy.  Yeah, this is the LIFE!

STUD!




                   Friends' birthday party.  Monday, April 30th at 9:30am.  About 35 kids came!


                                               Doing the No More Diapers Dance







Munashe's parents came over for dinner the same night the boys 
decided to try out their new pool-- in their undies!



                                                    Costume Party.  Nough said.

                                                   Dylan.  Trooper or kid at heart?

                                              Emerson loves Great Grandpa Jensen!



                                            Blank Park Zoo with Kate, Jake and Ella!


 
                               Miss Emma Udey delighted us with her
                                presence one evening last week.
Mom's new bike!  

Basketball in the pool gets a bit rough sometimes. :S


A BIG thank you
to the purchaser of our aquatic center pass!  We've had it for less than 2 weeks and have already gone 5 times!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

My Mid-Year Blog Resolution (note a new web address)

And yet again I begin a blog lamenting over the time it took me to write since last time.  Ugh.  

No need to panic!  I have a plan. My mid-year resolution is to blog once per month..  You can hold me to it!  It's really not THAT difficult to get myself to the library for one hour, especially when you consider the average month has 720 hours in it, making it far less than a tenth of a percent of my time.  Yes, I can handle that.  I think. ;)

But for today, I will do April, May and June (I should technically do March but I have absolutely no idea what happened in March!). 

We started potty training in April.  Why didn't someone tell me not to do that?!  Hahaha... two not even 2-year old boys in 4.5 days. My oh my.  They did great, but I am not exaggerating when I say I was just as exhausted as I was when we brought them home from the hospital two years earlier. 

I stopped doing in-home day care the last Friday in April!  I had done it for a week shy of one year.  Can't believe how quickly that went.  I miss the kiddos but it's great to have flexibility in our schedule again! 

Emerson and Oakley turned TWO April 30th.  I went overboard again, and just like last year, took a week to recuperate from all the festivities.  It was a blast though!  Nana, Papa Tom, Uncle Jacob, Mimi, Papa Jack, Auntie Alyssa and her new booooooyfriend (whom we LOVE!) Paul, Uncle Richard and Auntie Em all came down for the celebration.  They stayed at the Stoney Creek Inn-- best hotel in DSM for anyone looking-- so we had the party in their ridiculously sweet pool area.  For their birthday they got lots of balls, a basketball hoop, a soccer net, a tent, some clothes, a tool bench, the cutest backpacks ever (brought all the way home from Cameroon, Africa by Auntie Alyssa) and a new room from Kerry and I.  On my next blog, I will feature the room because it is AWESOME!  I just don't have the photos taken.  The Monday after the family left we had all our stay-at-home mom friends over-  there were over 30 kids and about 15 moms at our house!  I was very blessed to have so many people who wanted to celebrate the boys' second birthday with us.  And the best decision made about that was asking everyone NOT to bring gifts.  Kerry and I are really simplifying our lives-- freeing up our schedules, getting rid of clutter, giving clothes away-- and it has been so helpful.  Acquiring 15 more gifts that day would have significantly reduced our ability to get organized!  

On May 1st, Oakley got Hand, Foot and Mouth, a horrible airborne virus that affects toddlers by making open sores on their hands, feet, mouth, and often bottom, which was true of poor Oaks, and is accompanied by a high fever. Needless to say, he wasn't thrilled about potty training after that (who could blame him!) and we are starting all over with him.

We also had family photos taken in May, which you may view on my Facebook.  We are having a hard time choosing which to put on the living room wall, and even though I never thought I'd do it, a smorgasbord of about 15 picture frames is definitely looking like the best option. I swore I'd never be THAT mom. :)

We also got a hard sided pool with a built in slide that fits on our patio in May, and have used it quite a bit since it has been so hot.  My favorite part about it is that when Oakley gets off the slide he exclaims, "Emerson's turn!" and when Emerson get's off the slide he shouts, "Oakley's turn!"  (Notice they call each other by their REAL names now... Co-co and Emma are long gone, and they look at me like I'm crazy when I try to use those terms!  Co-co is the CUTEST nick name ever and I will use it.  I will.)  My good friend Jenna is a twin, and is also one of the most humble people I know and is willing to share whatever she has.  She is truly selfless.  Obviously, the majority of that is the work of the Lord in her life, helping her to become like Jesus, but even she has said being a twin really built that into her.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to build Kingdom principles into our children simply because of their birth order.  

A couple highlights in June. West Town Church finally got our own building!  Daddy was there quite a bit getting it ready to inhabit, as it's former use was a club.  Hehe... It's on Westtown Pkwy across from Valley West Mall near Fitness World West.  (Just think West, West, West, West.)  Come check it out Saturdays at 5pm.  :)

Recently, I hurt my back working out, and I asked Emerson to pray for me.  "Jedus, peas Mommy back.  Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamem." I was instantly healed!  Just kidding, but it did bring me to tears, realizing before my eyes what Jesus meant when he said we need childlike faith to come to Him.  On a similar note, we hung up a map in their room so we could pray for the nations every night at bed time. We just ask them to point to the map and then pray that God would reveal His love for that particular people group to them and that they would be saved. The first night, they picked Saudi Arabia, second night: China, then Russia.  How perfect! 

Shoot.  My camera's battery died before I could upload the pictures.  Ha!  Maybe this blogging thing isn't for me after all...


Also, please note this is a new web address.  It's changed from kerryandkayla.com to kerryandkayla.blogspot.com.