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.

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..

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!!

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..