just like that

(This Photo, Courtesy of my dear friend, Greer.)

Our boys~ June 2011
Jack (5 1/2), Sam (8 months) and Bodie (3 1/2)

In the past week, Sam has started crawling. Ahem, Jack has started reading, (my life's work is done) and I have just rung in 10 years of marriage with my best friend. Oh Voy~ Ye Vepraskas Clan! Hooray! :)

Firstly, Sam has been such a docile kid, in no rush to move around and certainly in no rush to push out of my arms. Until now. He is making sudden moves and jerks and inching, stretching and moving all around, there's no stopping him. He holds his face in an expression on wonderment and purpose. It is precious to behold.

He is also cutting SIX teeth on top at one time! Poor baby. He doesn't complain a bit, though. David and I are tied with the boys on who loves him the most. It's a 4 way split. :) Jack and Bodie could not be more smitten with their little brother. The morning welcoming committee when Sam wakes is fit for a king. HE MATCHES THEM COO FOR COO.

Secondly, as Bodie can often steal the show with his Spiderman make believe and general spunky zest for life, this update is solely for Bodie's favorite big brother, Jack.

Jack is reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so proud and he is semi annoyed/surprised/delighted by my celebratory spin on his progress. He starts kindergarten in just 4 short weeks. So, last week, we began sounding out words, then stringing the sentences together. We started with nursery rhymes and moved to a great beginner book called "Dick and Jane." It's a classic. A very long book with many short stories full of beginner words.


When I was given the book when Jack was born, by a dear lady named Jaye Batchelor, I thought, "well this book isn't fun to read to Jack. It's got no flow, rhythm and the words are so simple." But, five years later, it is very fun for him to read and helps build his confidence and build his reading muscles. It's funny when your children are younger, you can/could never imagine them at the stage five years later when he would need a book just like this. A book for reading "self serve"... We have called all of his grandparents and aunts and read to them over the phone and in person. The only thing I haven't done so far is my triple toe touch. :)




A little background. I was talking with Erin W., just catching up last week. She mentioned that her nephews read the whole time they were on their vacation--for a week. Her twin nephews are 7, almost 8. It dawned on me --that if I was going to get Jack excited about reading, I needed to get going. How wonderful to give Jack the gift of reading and falling in love with books.

Also, he was going to be learning how to read in kindergarten and I, selfishly, wanted to be the one who taught him. I started that day working with him. June 21st. He was ready, too. After a year of Pre-K, it was just a matter of him actually reading. He just needed my help. We did it together. I. Am. So. Proud. Folks!

Finally, I married my best friend 10 years ago today. What a milestone! The road through the past 10 years has certainly, sometimes been rocky. We had a lot to figure out about this husband/wife job we started + parenting, oh my! In those first years of figuring each other out, and growing up... I could not have ever imagined the life he would give me.




I love him. I laugh with him. I feel so blessed that we love and adore our children in exactly the same way. (Let me explain, "baby look at his little curl, isn't it so cute?" {insert David indulging me for 5 minutes about how adorable said adorable thing is, squared.} I respect him. (Which I hear is a critical component.) I think he is SO smart and he protects us and takes care of us. He means everything to me and then he fathers our three boys in a way that melts my heart each day.

We had a great dinner at our favorite place, marking this milestone with some excellent food
at The Capital Grille. David asked me a pointed question, "what will the next ten years look like?" He went on, "In ten years we will have a 15 year old son, a 13 year old son and a 10 year old son." After laughing with him a little about a career change, I answered, "Mostly, in the next ten years, I just want to focus on Jack and Bodie and Sam, and raising them to be well rounded, confident and happy gentlemen. I said, it is hard to believe they will be formed in concrete in the next 10 years, all of their intellectual, moral wiring and their personality traits are going to hard wired by then. Then, I realized that they already are. The boys are forming everything and have formed almost everything now. It makes me/us realize the job at hand is nothing we can wait on. It's here, it's now. David and I continue to ready ourselves for this uphill challenge. It never ends. That's okay, these boys are very worth every amount of effort it takes.

I know I am blessed and I thank my Savior for his goodness and grace. And for four of the best boyfriends in the whole wide world. :) Everything is not perfect. But in the moments I can remember to be mindful and thankful for exactly where I am, I am so eternally grateful.