Sometimes love hurts...

Curious about the title? Let me start with last Monday. I was pushing Noah on the swing when Wyatt zoomed between us and Noah came back, slammed right into the side of Wyatt's head, knocking him totally off his feet. Without a thought, I dove for Wyatt, putting my hand out to stop Noah, picked up Wyatt, turned around and to have my nose smashed by a still swinging Noah- guess I only slowed him down. I heard a horrible crunching sound and was momentarily blinded by pain. All three of us are now crying (Noah, because by big old nose bruised his back!). Noah and Wyatt quickly recovered and returned to playing, while my nose swelled up and my whole face ached. Thankfully, I have a fairly prominent nose and most of the damage was done towards the tip so I did not suffer any black eyes. I'm not sure if I broke it (I could still breath) but it still hurts. Maybe I just smashed up all the cartilage in it. Last night while I was dressing Noah, he swung his arm around and whacked me right in the nose and sent a searing pain through my whole head. The moral of the story: little boys are harder to break than their parents are. Tuesday was Daddy Joe's funeral. Below is the eulogy Greg gave. He did an awesome job and I am very proud of him for how he honored Daddy Joe. We had to take Wyatt with us because he woke up that morning with the beginnings of pink eye. I gave him my homeopathic pink eye preventer drops that work really well if you catch it early. After two doses, though, Wyatt got ahold of the bottle and broke it. By that point his eyes looked okay. Wednesday night I was pulled out of my Bible study at church because Wyatt had fallen head first into the corner of a bookshelf in child care. She said he had a huge goose egg on his head. I told her he already had a small one there from a fall he took on Tues. (picture on the left, holding ice to his boo boo) and asked her if he was upset and needed comforting. She replied that he was fine and went right back to playing but she thought with a bump that big he might need some tylenol. I told her if it wasn't bothering him then he didn't need anything. She looked a little aprehensive. He was fine and that night at home he hit his head on something else and got a matching bump on the onther side. Gotta be even right? By Thursday his eyes were starting to look gooey again but my local store did not have the drops I like. I also began feeling a little under the weather that day too. Did I mention Greg flew out of town immediately following the funeral and was gone until the wee hours of Sat morning? Friday morning I woke up, well I tried to but my eyes were gooed shut. So I took Wyatt to the doctor that morning, got a prescription for $60 drops and used them on both he and I (shhhh, don't tell my doctor). Since then, I made it a point to find my herbal eyes drops. By friday I was beginning to feel really sick. That night I had both boys ready for bed by eight. Noah went running to his bed, tripped and fell face first into the bunkbed ladder. He is much more dramatic than Wyatt and required cuddles, Mr. Bump and a lot of kisses on his purpling cheek. Since then I have been really sick. I think I have some sort of virus I probably got from Noah- the kind that gives a toddler a runny nose for a few days and makes an adult feel like walking death for two weeks. Because of it, my pink eye won't totally clear up. I will post more pictures later tonight when I have more time. So much for more time. Greg and I are watching a movie right now (Facing the Giants - I highly reccomend it) so I thought I'd catch up a little. Today was Cowboy day at Noah's school. The kids dressed western and had a cowboy cookout. Noah was the cutest little cowboy ever. Tonight we went for a walk and Noah wanted to wear his boots and both boys insisted on their cowboy hats. Wyatt looks more like a little hillbilly than a long tall cowboy. Still, he is just as cute of a hillbilly as Noah is a cowboy. This last picture is of Wyatt enjoying his first smoothie. Maybe blueberry wasn't such a great choice... Yesterday Wyatt learned to say 'Godsey'. He is surprisingly clear. He says 'I-ah' for 'Wyatt'. I can't believe how much he is talking already. Noah wasn't saying as much when he was 2. Noah and Wyatt are officially sharing a room now. We bought bunkbeds about a month ago. Advice for new moms of siblings: if they fight all the time- try bunkbeds. Seems counter intuitive but it really changed Noah and Wyatt. Noah was so excited to have Wyatt sleep on the bottom bunk that he has become more generous with all his stuff. Of course, it took a few weeks for Wyatt to prove that he could handle the new arrangement- he would talk and make noise until Noah would get up and ask us to take him out. He finally realized to sleep in the bunk he had to keep quiet. Today I moved Wyatt's stuff from his room to Noah's and turned Wyatt's room in to the guest/'Learning-Fun' room. It's where we can all play games together and the boys have a place to do some 'quiet' play. Most people have a game room for noisy play, but we have one room for quiet play because the other way just seems impossible. So, you can all come and visit (well, no more than two at a time if you want a bed) if you don't mind stayin' in a room with frogs and dragonflies painted on the walls.

Daddy Joe's Eulogy

Here is the eulogy Greg gave at Daddy Joe's graveside service. Some of you requested a copy. I know how hard it was for him to do it, but he did an awesome job and just the way Daddy Joe would have wanted it.

Like Joe, let's get right to the point.
We believe Joe Godsey knows Jesus Christ as his personal savior the way the Bible describes. Let me read John chapter 3.
(reading)
... But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (Jn 3:21)
If you believe the words of Christ, then you may know Joe is with Jesus now, in heaven living as the young man many of you remember, the young man I've always wanted to meet. We know Joe lived by the truth and was in the light and we could plainly see God's work through him.
Knowing his life is eternal with Christ, let's celebrate his time on earth, where he made decisions for himself and his family that affected eternity.
90 years and a few months on earth.
66 years with the love of his life, Ann.
Joe Godsey tenaciously sucked the marrow out of life.
Did he ever tell you how he proposed to his wife? He once told me. He said he had had his eye on this girl who was coming to see him once in a while. At some point, without a great deal of discussion with her, he decided he wanted her to be with him until the end. In his recounting the story he asked her, "I'm going to see and travel the world, do you want to come?" Ann, in her equally direct approach, asked "as your spouse or chauffer?" We know Joe's answer...
Joe and Ann raised 3 children. One West Point graduate and one Fightin' Texas Aggie. I remember him as my Daddy Joe. Working on his giant RV and building furniture in his workshop. I remember an old man with a young heart. Many of you remember a young man with an unquenchable zest for life. Never lazy, never tired, never negative. Always courageous, always true, always fair, always giving, always intentional, always decisive. A man driven by a purpose.
Joe didn't miss a moment. He lived 90 years and a few months fully self sufficient and in good health right to the end with his wife by his side. I figure if I'm lucky enough to get 90 years on this earth and it goes about like Joe Godsey's story, that would be alright with me. Let's live that we may be remembered the same way as Joe. We miss you here Daddy Joe- we'll see you soon.

A New Look!

I am creating a new look for my blog. It may change a few more times before I get it right. The boys and I had a fun week playing, working in the garden and running errands. Friday, Noah's friend, Taylor, turned five. We went with her and some of her family to Gattitown. It was our first experience with a Gattitown but even though it is a little loud and wild, we had a lot of fun. Noah and Taylor had a blast. They ran from game to game and loved eating pizza in the 'cartoon room'. Taylor's little sister, Skylar, is about the same age as Wyatt. Skylar and Wyatt were a little overwhelmed by the arcade but were more than happy to chase each other and chow down on bread, pasta, cottage cheese and peaches. Yum. As you can see, Taylor and Noah visited the photo booth. I think these pictures are hilarious because they made the same spontaneous face in every picture without any coaxing from us and no planning on their part. There was a big indoor carousel that we all enjoyed. Wyatt rode the elephant and did his elephant impression the whole time. Monica and I decided to have a little fun too and handed the little ones over to Matt while we paddled a virtual raft and went crazy on the bumper cars.
Greg and I made Saturday family day. All four of us actually slept in. We had pancakes, went for a big family walk around the neighborhood, went to Sears for more carpet cleaner (as important as milk around here) and had a fun lunch at Red Robin. It was a really good day with the boys. Today is church day. We are at church from 9-12, eating lunch with the youth leaders from 12-2, and doing our own dicipleship classes and youth activities from 3-6. Sunday is always so hectic. The boys actually love it. They both enjoy Sunday school, playing with the other youth leaders and their kids, and then going to evening childcare with church ladies that shower them with attention.

In Loving Memory...

Joseph Daughety Godsey
9/26/1916 - 2/15/2007
We will miss you Daddy Joe!

Happy 4th Birthday Noah!

Last Saturday we celebrated Noah's 4th birthday with a small birthday party. Of course the theme was the movie Cars. Mama G made an awesome Lighnting McQueen cake. Between transferring my pictures from the camera to the computer and doing some editing, I somehow lost the really good picture of the cake. I have the worst camera luck. The party was a lot of fun. He and his friends played like crazy. Wyatt, Skylar and Ben are all about the same age and had fun playing too. Noah now has nearly every Cars item ever made. He loves every one of them.
This past week we just did our normal thing. Noah's actual birthday was Tuesday which was a school day. So we took cupcakes for his class, they sang Happy Birthday to him during Chapel and he got to wear the birthday crown all day. Now, the first thing he tells everyone is that he is four. He has decided this is a turning point in his little life. Tuesday he promised to be nicer to Wyatt from now on and help with him everyday. With the exception of punching Wyatt in the face today, he has actually done a pretty good job at upholding his promise. A few days ago I took the boys down to the San Marcos River for a fun walk. Instead, we spent an hour throwing rocks into the river. Boys are so funny. They only stopped out of hunger and because they wanted to go check out a huge standard poodle playing near our car. This past weekend we tore up our veggie garden and got it ready for the spring. I felt like I planted things too late last year so I started early this year. On Saturday we amended and turned over the soil, added compost and planted lettuce, potato, broccoli and kale. The lettuce, spinach, carrots and peas we planted in the fall actually survived the freezes and are still thriving and producing. This last picture is the morning after Noah's party. Wyatt's hair always looks charged and these balloons clung to him all morning.

First day of Preschool!

I just read Christie's blog about our day at the zoo. It's great, be sure to check it out.
Tuesday was Noah's first day of preschool (this is the corresponding scrapbook photo). He has been on the waiting list for our church's highly esteemed (at least that's the word in the yuppy mommy group) program since last summer. I was impatient, but God timed it perfectly. This week just so happened to be 'transportation week' and they are learning the letter 'N'. How perfect is that? Least to say, Noah Loves it and now, instead of waking up in the mornig and the first words out of his mouth being 'I'm hungry', he asks 'is it a school day?!' Of course the teachers love him. They were immediately impressed when he marched into the room, sat down with another little boy and played cars without even a glance back at me. His teacher told me she was a little nervous about adding another boy to a class of only 11 boys and only 4 girls, but that Noah fits right in and needs very little instruction. Such a good boy.
Here is a picture of his second day of school with his super cool lunch bag. I randomly decided to match the boys today. Notice they even have matching shoes. I was looking forward to the couple days a week I would have with only Wyatt in tow, but I have come to find out that it is not any easier, even harder in some ways, when the one boy is the more 'challenging' of the two. I almost feel like I am being less efficient because I now seem busier and I only have one kid. And, because I have to pick Noah up right about Wyatt's naptime, it looks like there will be days when Wyatt will not get more than just a nap in the car. Fortunately today I was able to transfer him from the car and not wake him. But Wyatt was crazy today. The only releif was the lack of intense disagreements he and Noah often get into. Wyatt wouldn't eat today, was cranky, mopped the dining area floor with his mop and dog water (I was on the phone- briefly), destroyed his room, and made a mess of my tubberware. When Noah was Wyatt's age we went on walks all the time. Sometimes he would walk along and sometimes he would sit peacefully in the stroller. So, I decided to take Wyatt on a fun little walk today- just me and him. Well, he got tired of the stroller after about 5 minutes so I let him walk. He wanted to push Riley by the behind, making Riley very nervous and getting me all tangled in leashes and an unused stroller. When I finally freed myself, tied the dogs to the stroller and got Wyatt to take my hand, he broke free in a mission to touch every trash can in the neighborhood and declare 'trash!'. Mental note- I should never take Wyatt for a walk on trash day. I was okay with this, I just walked slower. Then he preceded to pick up dog poop from a yard so he could put it in the trash. This stems from one of his favorite hobbies: helping Greg and I pooper scoop the backyard. Except on the walk we did not have the scooper. So that was gross and my only option was to wipe his hands as much as possible on my jeans. At that point I forced him in the stroller and took off as fast as I could so he didn't have a chance to jump out. Instead, he decide to wiggle out of the straps and stand- which turned into jumping. So now I'm bookin it through the neighborhood smelling like poo, pushing a stroller containing a jumping toddler and scolding two poor, tired, tangled, stressed out dogs just trying to stay out of the way of stroller wheels. My relief came in the form of a garbage truck making its way down our street which captivated Wyatt allowing me to slow down and make it home with no more incidents.
All that said, Wyatt is really a sweetie and all he really wants is someone to always play with and give lots of 'huggies'- as he calls them. I'd say he is fully talking now. He will repeat anything I ask him to and say two word sentences. He just won't talk much around other people. The last hour before it was time to go pick up Noah he walked around the house sadly saying 'Noah gone' and 'Noah school'. Finally he stood in the entry hall saying 'Car? Noah?' over and over. I was surprised to see how much he missed him. But he was asleep less than half way into the drive. He also learned two colors today- red and blue- while we were playing with play-doh. I think he knows yellow too.

Lions, Tigers & Bears... & Mimi!

Last week Greg and Papa were out of town all week so Mimi drove down for a visit. We had a great week of shopping, playing, eating at all our favorite Austin resturaunts and driving around looking at pretty houses just for fun. This first picture was taken on National Red Day. It really was, but we actually did not plan the outfits knowing that. Here is Wyatt with a busted lip. After about 5:00 in the evening the boys transform into little beasties (as my friend Christie would say). I guess that is nearing the time they are used to Greg getting home and playing with them- the dad way. Well, by the end of the day Mimi and I did not have the energy (or the flexibility, volume and strength) to involve the boys in intense physical activity. So they would just go wild every night and all we could do was try to keep up and prevent them from hurting themselves, the dogs or us. We survived- barely. Last Saturday Christie and Che invited us to go to the zoo. We had a blast. The Austin zoo is very small, but perfect for the kids to freely run around and there are so many animals they can really interact with. They even sell food you can feed many of them. The boys loved feeding the goats- well, Ben enjoyed watching Wyatt and Noah feed the goats, sheep, llama and deer. He was not keen on long tongues and llama slober. I don't blame him. Twice a goat snatched Noah's feed sack from him and ate it- bag and all. He fed the pigs some of Ben's banana that fell on the ground (and some that Che gave to him thinking he wanted a snack). Since most of the animals were rescued from neglect or abuse, they are a little... quirky. Like the llama with the severe underbite jutting out of his mouth, and the goat with only one twisted, knobby horn and the prematurely neutered lion with no mane. Ben and Wyatt really liked running around with the loosed chickens, roosters and peacocks. They got to hear first hand what rooster really sounds like. Wyatt made sure to point out every trash receptacle and anything that looked like one. Noah loved it all and got to ride the little zoo train. Afterwards we went to the Salt Lick for some ribs. They were so yummy I only left the bones for Wyatt to gnaw on. Not really, I gave him beans too, which he decided to wear from head to toe. By the end of the day, the boys were filthy, tired and perfectly content. I will try to get most of the good pictures Christie and I took posted on my Flickr as soon as I can.

Hmmmmm.... Where to Begin?

The last time I wrote we were in the middle of the big freeze, so I guess I will begin somewhere in there. My pictures are mainly just fun shots in our day to day routine. I know the second picture is a little gross but I think it is funny. Wyatt had fallen asleep in the car and, obviously, had a diaper malfunction somewhere along the way. I brought him into the house and laid him on the floor to change him and he continued to stay asleep, which is not like him. I just thought it was funny because he looks like he just passed out. Wyatt is getting so big. I walked into his room after naptime the other day and he suddenly looked huge laying in his crib. Like someone had come in while he slept and switched my baby with a kid. Noah is also growing at an incredible rate. Lately, his growth is most notably of his mind. I can't think of any examples (I should be writing these things down as they happen), but he is constantly surprising me with the phrases he uses that show he understands some pretty complex concepts and feelings. Many times I have to laugh because it is so funny to hear it coming from someone so small and he still has some unique toddler pronounciations. Anyhow, he is wonderful. He came in the room the other day, looked at me and said 'mom, you're lovely.' Of course I became weak in the knees. He is definitely a sweetheart, but as smart as he is, he is figuring out how his words affect people. Greg and I are going to have to really teach him to use his words and personality to be honest and uplift people and not be a schmoozer. In this picture he was telling me something very serious and I just had to get a shot of how expressive he is when he talks.