We are having a really hard time around here lately. Our little man is having a hard time with basic obedience and control of his emotions.

We don't know if it's the missing routine of preschool or if it's lack of sleep or too much sugar or just being 4 or something else we haven't explored yet.

We are at a loss.

We have cut out sugar (although since it's VBS week--not entirely). We have disciplined. We have taken activities away. We have taken toys away. We have swatted. We have given time-outs. We have done early bedtimes. We have skipped T-ball. We have given praise. We have used rewards. We have had long talks.

None of the above seem to work.

He's tender, loving and can be a good kid. We are in a rough patch right now and crying out to the Lord for help. Our hope is that this too shall pass. We'd love for it to be sooner than later.

We love this boy more than words could ever express. He brings us tears of joy and tears of frustration.

We know this is worth it and because of that we are hanging on.

You are SO worth this, Brooks.

We love you.

XOXO

I didn't do a Father's Day post. It's pretty fitting that I didn't have time, though. We don't have time to do anything around here these days. We are in the most challenging journey of our lives raising these beautiful children. It's tough stuff. But, I know that Greg wouldn't change a thing. I know that although we don't classify the last few months as "fun", Greg would never want a Father's Day to come and go without being able to be call himself "daddy".

Chloe loves to take care of her Daddy.

(We left out the pictures of her ripping this massage stick out of another person's hand in order to get what she wanted. If we were to post that, it would just ruin the Father's Day post..right?)

Father's Day morning Brooks and I made Daddy pancakes and we gave him lots of loves. Brooks and his Daddy have a great relationship and because Greg loves Brooks enough to discipline many times you may overhear Brooks saying, "I am not your friend. I do not like you. I am not living at this house anymore." Tonight, when Brooks went to bed he told his Daddy, "Tomorrow, Daddy, I am going to love you again (sweet) and then I am going to push you into the wall (not sweet)!"

The intensity of this boy is unreal. If we do things right and channel his intensity in the right way, he might just rule this world someday.

Oh, and truth be told: BROOKS ADORES HIS DADDY. THEY ARE BEST BUDS.

I am so glad I am married to this man. Although we have not had a complete conversation in months, I know that when the kids are 18 and we get to talk to each other again, we'll have lots to say and lots of love to share. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with this daddy.

Dearest little baby girl:

You are not a baby anymore. You are a stubborn little lady. You cross your arms, cry and throw your body on the ground in pure dissatisfaction when you don't get your way.

You know what you want and when you want it.

You need to get your way or nobody can have peace.

You are so dear, though. In so many ways you are easier than we remember a two year old being.

In so many situations we see amazing obedience that we never saw with your high-energy brother.

We will take the good with the bad and always remind ourselves that the good far outweighs the bad, Chloe-Belle.

We love you.

Thank you Lord for this blessing, even when we think we can't take it for one more second.

Greg takes lot of pictures I don't see until later. Here are two of them. I laughed out loud. Remember before when I was assuring my readers that we don't let Brooks kill, shoot, stab, hurt...anything other than animals?

See?

I told you we were good parents!

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to keep Chloe looking clean and "put-together". I don't really see the point in fixing her hair, except I want to at least be able to say I've tried to have her look well-kept.

She's a total tom-boy, seldom maintains a clean outfit for more than a few minutes and is rarely seen without dirt on her face.

I swore that would never be my child.

Then, I had Chloe.

There are times when she looks more like an "Izzy" (side note: her middle name is Isabelle) than a Chloe. Lately, I've been more inclined to call her Izzy. We love the nickname because it matches her cute buck teeth, dirty face and uneven pig-tails so perfectly.

Whether Izzy or Chloe or Belle or Chloe-Belle, she's the most amazing baby girl we know.

She is smart, stubborn, obedient and loving.

She is silly, cute, strong and sweet.

She is our baby girl (who just so happens to be turning TWO next month!).

Brooks graduated from Preschool recently. Well, he didn't really graduate because he goes back again next year to the same class (for his third year), but they called it a graduation anyhow. He got a diploma and sang his heart out in front of the class.

His Preschool is more expensive than most and Greg and I have gone back and forth wondering if it's really worth sending Brooks another year or if we should look somewhere else. When we saw Brooks at his graduation, in front of the room singing his heart out and praising the name of Jesus in so many different songs and versus our answer was clear.

It is worth every penny.

We are so convinced of this that Brooks is eager to go 3 full days a week next year to prepare him for Kindergarten.

Brooks has his fair share of time-out time. Chloe gets upset when he is in time-out. She tries to console him, which leads to more screaming from Brooks. Here is her attempt at consoling her Brother. He wasn't having it.

Chloe must keep up with her Brother. Therefore, you may find her at any moment ready to shoot.

We call Brooks "Mini-Opa" because he looks just like my dad when my dad was 4. It's amazing the resemblance, really.

Originally, we bought the Squinkies for Brooks. Yes, they are pink and he loved them. They quickly got old, but Chloe loves to organize them. She'll spend long periods of time at the table putting them each in their place.

The differences between my little girl and my big boy are obvious. My little girl prefers snuggles, tummy rubs, footie jammies and feeding her dollies. My big boy prefers to make fake guns out of everything, break most of his toys and run wild on the "property" (our yard). I love the difference and feel blessed to have the best of both worlds.

*For those who are concerned: We don't teach Brooks to shoot guns at people. We only shoot animals at our house and we really avoid violence at all costs. So, before you start to worry about our parenting...We've got it under control.

My girl. So beautiful.

Brooks and Chloe are buddies. When they want to be. If we can capture the moment on film, we do. The funny thing about his picture...it was taken this morning, before school and before our big adventure to "Minneapolis to go to the Waterpark". At this moment, we are still at home with a little boy who is very ill and will miss out on the adventure (until next time).

He doesn't look sick in this picture. Actually, he looks awesome and is even holding his Sister's hand. How quickly things change.

We went on a hike on the Superior Hiking Trail last week. It was very nice to be outside enjoying God's creation. Brooks would really like to live in the woods now. He asked several times if that was a possibility. He said to me, "Mom, I really want to live in the woods. And we can park our van nearby, so in case we need to go watch a show (referring to the TV) or something we can."

Brooks used his wood as a gun. Imagine that.

Chloe had to wear the Vikings hat. She grunted (remember she doesn't talk--that's another story) until we put it on her. As long as she was representing the Vikings, she was all good. Greg thought it made for "not so cute" pictures, but I think she looks like a little ragamuffin. I love it.

Have I mentioned that my kids like to fight over things? One of the things they like to fight for it Mommy. I could pretend this picture is of us loving each other and having a bonding time before bed, but that wouldn't be fair. Actually, Chloe was getting some snuggles and Brooks wasn't having that. This is the result of two kids fighting for their Mommy.

We've been trying to enjoy any moment of nice weather around this place. We've had a very cold Spring and are ready to get HOT! The kids love to be busy (shocker...they are 1 and 4), and Greg is the master at finding them projects that keep them busy for hours.

The latest is washing bikes just like Daddy.