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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ten on Tuesday

1. When you repeatedly tell someone how awesome you are, you're probably the only one that thinks so.

2. I am thankful for true friends that keep me grounded, make me laugh and always give sound advice and are just here for me whenever I need them. You know who you are and I love you girls.

3. My first week of teaching my own actual class went very well. I love it there and hope I stay for a long time. I love those kids and it was a great week.

4. We took the kids to the gardens for the annual egg hunt and their quest for a new pet continues. Will is interested in "goosies" and Amelia had a thing for turtles or ducks. I had pet ducks as a child so don't get any ideas Popstar.

5. My children do not like Mascots and only Bella would go near the Easter bunny. Amelia admired from afar and Will made a run for it as soon as he saw that Easter Bunny. He said, that Bunny man better not come over here.

6. This week I wore a pair of pants that had a very small hole in the leg. Bella said "why do these pants have a hole in them?" I answered, "These pants are older than you. I even wore them when I was pregnant with you." Bella thought about it for a minute and said, "How old are they 10,000 years old?" At least she's learning her numbers.

7. And out of no where Drew is back to sucking his thumb. I'm serious when I say we're going to need a "thumb sucking patch" to break this boy..

8. Drew is talking more and more. One of my favorite words he says is, "Wheel". We're staying in the south so I might as well work on the accents.

9. Jason downloaded a new version of IE for the laptop. Now to publish to the blog, I have to type of the posts and then log in through the Ipad to publish. Honestly, not a fan of this new process.

10. This ones for my MZBC friends..hopefully you'll enjoy the new section in the church magazine because someone, who reads here - and I will find you, recommended me to write a column there.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

locks..

The weather has been amazing here. I really can't say enough about how beautiful it has been..sunny and 85 degrees. On Saturday after there naps I took the boys outside to play for a little while. Jason was at the library studying for a final exam and the girls were the neighbor's house. The boys were playing on the deck and riding their bikes. I had just taken in the spare house key and my cell phone and gone back out to check on them. Will asked if they could stay out for five additional minutes before dinner and I agreed and sat down for a minute. Jason came home and wasn't even completely in the chair when Drew started in the house.

I said..I don't have my key.
Jason..me either.
Drew..closes the door as Jason gets up.
Me..he's locking us out
Jason..Yes, he did.

So for the next 30 minutes on the Saturday before Easter we tried to talk our 21 month old into unlocking the door. It didn't work. At first he remained calm and smiled and didn't think anything about the fact that he was inside and we were all outside. And then he realized that we weren't coming in and he couldn't come out. And the crying started. And then the screaming. And he started shaking the door handled and twisting himself in the blind. And beating on the glass like a prison inmate you see on TV. I'm not kidding either And there I sat on the other side of the glass, rubbing it and trying to calm him down. Seriously, the only thing missing was a telephone and orange jumpsuit.
Our neighbors tried to call a locksmith. No one answered on the Saturday before Easter. We called the FireDepartment and they could jimmy the door open. Jason called the Police Department who showed up and was willing to kick the door in. And then our neighbor came over with a trick he learned on CSI and he got into the house..thank the Lord. Our door frame is still in tact and I didn't have to keep eyes on the baby so my door could be kicked in..
It was a stressful 30 minutes. I've always expected one of my kids to do this but I have to say, I always thought it would be Will..

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!! Here are a few pictures we were able to take before church this morning. The kids were more interested in the RollyPollies that Jason had shown them than in getting their pictures taken. I hope everyone enjoyed the day!!




Saturday, April 16, 2011

Ten on Tuesday

1. So Will tells us last week that inside his underwear are some Pomegranates. And proceeds to ask if everyone has pomegranates in their underwear? Oh by the way, he's talking about the purple man on his Fruit of the Loom tag.

2. It was 85 degrees here and sunny today. Woohoo. Summer is a comin'. After all the snow this winter, bring it mother nature. We're ready to hit the pool.

3. Amelia is now not only afraid of the cat she's also afraid of a crow. I'm telling you we are animal people here. And the animals can feel it..

4. Last week I received a text from one of my best friends..Will's girl Chloe was at the eye doctor getting her eyes dialated and this is what she had to say, "I don't love anybody. I don't love anybody but Will."

5. Come August you're going to have to pick a certain 3 year old boy out of a great big puddle in the floor when his future wife pulls outta town. Amelia and I will probably be laying down beside him..

6. I feel like we've gotten more than our fair share of disappointing and stressful news lately. Best friends leaving, surgeries, medical procedures, unspoken prayer requests, dealing with the uncertainty of Jason's job. I try so very hard to be a positive, encouraging person for the people around me but lately I feel like we are being smothered from all sides. The smile on my face is getting a little tighter and inside my heart is almost breaking.

7. I know that God doesn't give us more than He thinks we can handle but I keep asking him to lighten up a little. And I'm asking you "my people", if you've got sad, disappointing or bad news for me..see me in 2012.

8. Isabella/Nene and Amelia/Granny had an art contest on Saturday. They had to make a sky/nature scene completely out of construction paper. I will try to post pictures of their finished masterpieces.

9. Today at school Amelia caught a ladybug on the playground and carried that thing around for 15 minutes. She said is anyone allergic to ladybugs? Can this ladybug please be our pet?

10. And oh the budget. I pray that this mess is taken care of and our country can get back on track. I pray it is a country that I can once again be proud of. A country that will pay the soldiers protecting it's freedom regardless of what's going on in Washington. Our soldiers sacrifice enough..they don't need to give up their paychecks too.

an Easter tradition

It is no secret that I have a sweet tooth. I personally could do without the "vegetable" group and move right on over to "sweets and junk food". If you know me really well you know that I'm not kidding in the least bit. You also know that the Easter aisles of the local Targets stores almost make me giddy this time of year. All those brightly colored Peeps and Bunnies just waiting to be put into my shopping cart. Now, the Peeps are much better than the bunnies but I cannot and will not play favorites. It is probably also known, that once the package is home I slit open the cellophane so the peeps can start to get stale. Because nothing is better than a stale peep. Before I had kids and I wasn't as good at watching my blood sugar, I would buy multiple boxes of peeps and wait until June/July to eat those little birds. Oh were they good. Now, I have kids. And don't ya know they love a Peep too. And do you think that they have the patience to let my birds "cook" on the back of the counter? No. My children do not understand nor do they fully appreciate the way a Peep should be eaten. They just know they like them and they have no time for "cookin birds".
Here is my Drew-boy and his first Peep. It was a proud moment because he couldn't be bothered to even touch it. He just shoved the entire thing in his mouth. His immediate response was "More. Mine" and he pointed to the pink Peeps sitting on the counter. I'm doing my best to raise them right..






Wednesday, April 13, 2011

the one he loves the most

Drew is the fan favorite in our house. He really is spoiled by his sisters and brother. At preschool last week we had cake before school and there sit Will and Amelia feeding Drew like he is the King of England. Often times at dinner, they pull him up to the table and give him whatever he wants. They read him stories and play with him whenever he wants and are spoiling this kid rotten. Drew has a definite favorite too and chooses this person over anyone else.

He loves him more than the rest of us and he lets you know it.



Drew is the fan favorite in our house. He really is spoiled by his sisters and brother. At preschool last week we had cake before school and there sit Will and Amelia feeding Drew like he is the King of England. Often times at dinner, they pull him up to the table and give him whatever he wants. They read him stories and play with him whenever he wants and are spoiling this kid rotten. Drew has a definite favorite too and chooses this person over anyone else.

He loves him more than the rest of us and he lets you know when he swats you away and says "mine and no." when I try to take him away or even give him a hug.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Will's favorite color is orinch not to be confused with orange. He loves to wear orange as often as possible and you can usually spot him from across the room - or parking lot - the shirts are so bright. His shoes are also "orinch" if I haven't mentioned that before.

2. In the morning, after prayer meeting he gets two skittles from his Mrs. Laura. Every day he gets orange and on the really great days he says gets excited and says "Hey they match my shirt. Or hey they match my shoes." I love that Mrs Laura knows that my boy will ask for two orange skittles every day.

3. The point of the orange shirts.. One of his shirts has a very large Phoenix on it and a a bunch of stars. I didn't go for design, I went strictly for color. Will and Jason have had many discussions apparently about this bird and Will can tell you that it's a Phoenix on his shirt. Last Wednesday, he told my mother in his most serious voice: This bird on my shirt is very angry. This is a mean bird on my shirt. I seriously almost cried laughing.

4. It was a beautiful weekend here. Sunny and 85..everyone in the neighborhood was mowing their yards to include Will. Everyone else was swinging and sliding and Will was mowing.

5. Drew woke up in the middle of the night last night hysterically crying. The kid could not be calmed down and screamed for 45 minutes. We offered him water, tried to get him to go back to sleep, pulled out all our best tricks. Finally, desperate Jason set him down to see what he actually wanted and he ran into the kitchen for one specific sippy cup. I'm telling you this kid is stubborn.

6. I realized yesterday fall break and spring break have both been spent on my couch. My next break better be somewhere with a better view and ocean waves and not a pitstop at the hospital.

7. This was my morning conversation with Bella yesterday. Names changed to protect the innocent.."Mama, did you know Sally and Suzie are BFF? They are BFF. And Frank broke up with Jane because she was too flashy. Frank doesn't like girls that show off."

8. The girls are coming to Nashville in just under a month. I am seriously beyond excited as I haven't seen them in over a year now. These were my best friends for years. We went everywhere together every single weekend and most days through the week. I know that laughing will be done until we cry and I can't wait.

9. Amelia was sitting on the deck eating her popsicle when the crazy cat lurked into our backyard. Amelia doesn't trust nor does she like the crazy cat. It jumps on our deck and poops on her toys. She's out there minding her own business and at this point so is the cat. She opens the door and says "that cat is bothering me". We really aren't animal lovers here. I don't know why that cat doesn't understand he's not welcome.

10. We are now a gate free household. We decided there wasn't really a point to having the gate up when Drew was climbing over them to get to what he wants. Or the girls were lifting him over them. This boys is growing up and it's making me sad.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Soccer

We began spring soccer three weeks ago. Our first game was rained out and the second week we were closed for field maintence so this week was actually our first game. Both girls are playing and have been beside themselves with excitement. Jason and I love soccer and so we're excited that this is the sport they've chosen to play. It was 82 degrees here for the first game and absolutely beautiful. I am trying to stay off my feet as much as possible and knew I would not be able to sit through two back to back games in the heat. I sent Jason with the camera and told him to take a lot of pictures. Y'all have heard me say before how important pictures are right? Especially of Amelia's very first soccer game ever? Well here is day captured in the eyes of Isabella.










Sunday, April 10, 2011

two boys

I took a few pictures when it was just the boys a few weeks ago. More pictures than I have time to take when it is two boys and two girls. Life with two boys is a piece of cake..even when they are my boys. I mean it seriously felt like I was on vacation that week with just two kids. The boys probably thought they were on vacation too except Will missed the girls (yes, that's really what he calls them) tremendously.

Will got to make an entire breakfast by himself. Now, if I was a better mother and most importantly a better cook, I would make said breakfast from scratch rather than a plastic bag. I would be making groundhog pancakes from scratch for crying out loud. My kids accept my kitchen abilities for what they are. As long as I buy the cinnamon rolls that come with the white in the bag and not the kind that come in the paper tube and they get to put them on the tray, they are pretty happy.



Will took his brother out for neighborhood drive. Take note of the two crazies standing up in the vehicle, yes those would be mine. Will insists on wearing a helmet every time he drives. He's concerned about his safety I guess.






Drew helps himself to whatever he wants in the pantry if the door isn't locked. If Will's around, the door usually isn't locked. Drew is smart enough and courteous enough to close the door behind him thinking it will buy him some time until he's caught.




Friday, April 8, 2011

Ten on Tuesday

1. These have not been the easiest two weeks for me - hence the lack of posts. Last Tuesday I had an unexpected colonoscopy. It was absolutely horrid and miserable.

2. Poor, sweet little Will was really worried about me and told me as I sat gagging and fighting back tears on the floor, "Just ask Daddy to get you some new juice Mama so you don't have to drink the yucky juice anymore."

3. Along with drinking the delicious gallon jug of juice, I got the added bonus of puking too. The nurse told me as I was waiting for the procedure and about to have another nervous breakdown that no one had ever thrown up before. I hadn't eaten 9 hours prior to even starting the "juice"..by the time of the actual procedure I was at 22 hours. I was sedated before I even entered the procedure room.

4. Hernia surgery was up next on Monday. It has been just about as much fun. I got sick coming out of the anesthesia and they admitted me. Apparently my insurance only pays for 24 after surgery and they discharged me at 4:53AM. You gotta love Tricare.

5. Up next in the long line of fun I'm having this week..an allergic reaction to the 14 steri-strips that are covering my stomach. I have hard, blistered welts all over.

6. Just when you think things can't get any worse, one of your best friends calls and tells you they will be moving by the end of the summer. I took the news in a medicated stupor and was just thankful I didn't start crying on the phone.

7. My friends don't move away from me. I move away from them. For me personally this is going to be miserable and I am going to miss my friend like crazy. And I will cry because I can't see her every day anymore. But deep down I am happy for her and I know that this is what they need right now.

8. Drew is enjoying his time with Nene and Granny. He is a little bossy with Granny and is always telling her "NO".

9. There is no use putting up a gate anymore, Drew climbs right over it and up the stairs.

10. Bella's reading is improving every single day. She gets off the bus most days reading her library book and still enjoys reading to her brothers and sisters.

11. Please pray that a budget is passed soon. Our family, along with countless others, livelihood depends on this.