Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!

Saturday we went "over the river & through the woods to Grandmother's house we go"- we sang the song lots along the way & saw a little bit of the snow from Friday on the way home. The only bummer of the day was didn't get to see Uncle Brian much- we got to Grandma's house right after he left for work. T is positive he's a big kid now- he looked right at home playing with all the toys. After a little playing, pottying, & leg stretching, we went to see Great Grandma. C gave her a sweet kiss & K & C both sang "Happy Birthday" before getting chocolate cupcake crumbs all over her room. Then we went to Brian's work & got to see him for a few minutes- long enough to ride the escalator up & down. Grandma made a very yummy lunch that we all enjoyed- the boys especially loved the ribs & banana pudding. T made his rounds around the room looking for any food he could find! The boys were also happy that Leon drove up to spend the day. After a big lunch, I snuck in a nap & the boys played- we all had a great afternoon.

Sunday we were super excited to have some friends go with us to church & then we all went on a walk on the nature trail by our house. T loved watching our friends' dogs run. K & C both pet the dogs and liked them from a distance. That was the closest C has stayed to me on a walk- I think to keep the stroller between him & the dogs.
Monday was another speech/ karate day. K has graduated from working on F and is now trying to work on slowing down to "talk like a turtle". When his speech teacher told him that, he told me "turtles don't talk" so we'll see how that works out! K loved his karate again- I think the sparring (wrestling) part has been his favorite- he was trying to get extra turns. C &T & I went to the playing spot for a while where T flirted with everyone & tried to see how far away he could go.


For our preschool this morning, we made dinner with what was left in our refrigerator. C helped make carrot pancakes & K made leftover oatmeal pancakes (I found another use for old-fashioned oatmeal.) Pancakes were a big hit- the boys asked if we could have pancakes every Monday. Now, I'm procrastinating finishing packing- you'd think I'd be finished by now with all the help I got. Reason 679 we miss James- loading the van!

Awesome God

Tonight T starting singing C's favorite song "Awesome God " on his own. Here's a clip of the boys singing- T has the first motion down right!
His singing made me feel better than C's choice of songs- he asked me to sing "God's American Pie". He said the one about "men drinking whiskey and dying." It made me think twice about what songs I sing around the house!



So somehow I think I missed that Pirates of the Carribean is a pretty goofy movie. I started wondering when the previews played- now I'm not crazy about the movie but I can't send it back without watching it- can I? I think I just saw a talking crab/ man.

Since Feb when I first saw this house, we've liked the neighborhood, but I think we like it more and more as we get to know some of the people in it. Yesterday I was standing outside watching our three boys and a friend's little running around our yard on a beautiful fall day and thought how good it is. They were having a blast. I tried to take some pictures but they just don't show how beautiful & fun it was. K was so excited that we get to see them 3 days in a row! We went to a neighborhood playgroup this morning and then had more fall fun after naps today as we got to see our friends down the street. I'm so thankful for all the people God has put into our lives especially with James deployed.

Chilly Days

So I've been thinking that it must be harder on parents to live up north because these days that we stay inside more bc it's colder are harder! K wasn't ready to begin wearing coats today so we had a few rough minutes this morning. We all got much happier while we were at PWOC- so we were able to go to lunch with Erin. I realized my boys eat more than I think as we polished off all the food I ordered, all the chips (& C ate lots of the hot salsa), and some of Erin's food. It was great catching up with Erin and she brought a CD with pics from our trip up to VA in Sep. Later this afternoon, we got to take our Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes to the pickup spot. The boys were excited to pack their boxes Sunday & really enjoyed taking the boxes today. The chocolate and stickers probably helped too!

better Day

So today wasn't perfect, but it was much better than yesterday. First we got a couple pictures from James and got to see him on Skype wearing the dinosaur mask that K made him. Then, I got another good update on Ty- he has been laughing & today returned a salute from a Marine CPL who saluted when leaving his room today. I got a nap today too! The pumpkin pie with whipped cream I just ate made me think less about a 4 year old saying too often "I don't want to", a 2 year old not wanting to go to bed, and a printer that is sure that there's paper still stuck in it. Other good things, K & C really liked packing their Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes this morning. We tried to drop them off this afternoon but got there a little too late- we could use a project for tomorrow!
K's speech went really well. He was so excited to tell his teacher that he can say "Four & Five" very loud & without biting his lip (the speech trick that helped him start saying F right.) K loved his karate class today- they did play sparring where they tried to pull two belts off their opponent- K had a blast & won his turn. We did stop by a karate place on our side of town but couldn't schedule a first session bc the scheduler had just gone to the Golden Corral. I must have forgotten our earlier attempts at eating free Veteran's Day dinner at the Golden Corral since I told the boys hurry & we'll eat there. So they hurried, then I drove up & saw the line that went way way way into the parking lot so we went home. The boys weren't too thrilled to go home for beans when they thought we were going to eat out. they ended up liking our dinner- my version of taco salad- this time the only thing I substituted was peas instead of meat- pretty close!

Roller Coaster Day

After a wonderful Saturday of lots of time with other moms & time that my kids played with other kids under the watchful eye of wonderful caregivers, today was quite the rollercoaster. Before I tell of some of her ups and downs of today, I should say what a great night we had yesterday. The boys all wore themselves out playing at Manna in the morning so we all took good naps and then headed to Home Fires (a program through a local church which supports wives of deployed soldiers through monthly dinners complete with free childcare.) We had a very yummy dinner & time talking while the kids ate and played with other kids. It was great!
all that said, I shouldn't complain about today, but it was such a rollercoaster! We started out great- K & C slept in until 7- yes that's sleeping in. Everyone loved my breakfast casserole. K picked out very cute clothes for all the boys for church (he still likes to match- I know one day he'll outgrow it but now it's cute!) Then the roller coaster started heading down- I really wanted to take pictures of these adorable boys with cute nondirty clothes, clean bodies, cut & washed hair. (I began my haircutting days yesterday- I don't think I'll go into business but they look pretty good if you don't look too close!) The boys were just not having anything to do with picture taking- no one looked at me, no one acted right, they didn't listen, ... Finally I gave up on the pics & we headed to church (the roller coaster was going back up! Michael Fletcher preached a good sermon, I saw lots of friends, the boys were in Sunday School!) We headed home (& T fell asleep which later turned out to be the beginning of downhill.) Still good James called, K & C ate their lunch nicely & then played together for a long time so nicely that I was able to have an uninterrupted phone call with James until the end of it when C hung up on James while I was picking up screaming T from his bed. Hindsight 20/20 I should have let him scream until K & C were in bed, bc T being up was way to exciting for the other boys to go to sleep. Again, I gave up & decided we'd go somewhere. Then the computer woes began, arguing/ not listening boys, ... so the smart person I am, we decided to go to walmart. I was still determined to get some pics of these cute boys. We didn't get pics taken but fortunately, the boys behaved amazingly well in Walmart. So well that I decided to stop at the library after Walmart (well, their good behavior plus I wanted to check out a book for me- I've given up on TV.) The library trip went ok until the rollercoaster reached the lowest part of the day as a man in the car next to us said to me "so you've got the grandkids for the day." :( On a positive note, I did NOT say to him- "just because your mother was 15 when you were born doesn't mean everyone is" (but I guess I did think about saying it to him.) But what a not great thing to hear. The rollercoaster is headed back up since I put all 3 boys in bed before 7, I'm blessed with a wonderful family (even if boys don't always behave), we miss James but he is safe even if far away, God is very good to us, my friend opened the rootbeer so I can have a rootbeer float tonight, and I have some chocolate in the house (even if it was supposed to go in a Christmas package.)

I posted that way too soon as it's after 7:30 now and I think C has climbed up K's ladder at least 10 times now. So... I know today's roller coaster will still end well- it just may take more prayers (and more chocolate!)

Fun Days

Wasn't it just yesterday that K & C were riding a bike like this.We continue to be blessed with fun with friends which helps to fill our days until James comes back home (which we're still praying for him to be home before Kayleigh is born.) Thursday morning after preschool (baking pumpkins & making pumpkin squares & 2 pumpkin pies) we went to Pine Valley Play Group. We're enjoying starting to get to know more neighbors & it's nice to not have to leave the neighborhood and still get kiddie playtime & mom talk time. After good naps for everyone, we had some friends come over for bread making & eating spaghetti & pumpkin pie. The kids had a blast & we made 5 loaves of bread & some rolls. The boys slept good after so much fun with friends- I was much happier with waking at 7 Friday instead of 5 am Thursday.
We had a rainy day Friday so we were very happy to have Fun Fridays go to the indoor playground at our church. Boys nap (and eat) so much when they get to burn off some energy. So more good naps & then the boys were so excited that friends were coming for dinner again. Three beautiful little s came for dinner & a movie; we're practicing having little s here :)
Here's the clip I tried to add the other day of T's new sign "more" which he used again tonight for more pizza. Mary Kay's s were shocked at how much pizza the boys ate.

Our first pink

So this afternoon we got our first pink thing in our house- my wonderful neighbor gave us his baby girl's carseat-it's pink & black and looks brand new. K thought it was pretty neat that we're going to have a baby girl & someone gave us something pink.

We had a good day. "Pops Leon" (as the boys call him) came for lunch- I think he may have been amazed by the amount of chilli that T & C each ate. The boys were excited that he came to visit. I was glad too- it's always good to catch up and he definitely made my errands easier this afternoon. I thought about staying longer after T's doctor appointment since it was so quiet with just one boy there :) and it's amazing how easy it is to pick up a few groceries by yourself! Very good afternoon! We went to K's karate & T's gymnastics after that. K enjoys his karate and T absolutely loves gymnastics- although I wasn't sure if we were ever going to leave the balance beam today.

Yesterday was another good day- we had new friends from our neighborhood over- an adorable little girl C's age & cute little boy T's age. The kids had a blast playing. I'm so glad God puts great new people in our lives. We had a great time and it helps me focus less on missing James. The boys always ask for "big Daddy"- the full screen skype picture. The boys have been doing lots of "preschool" (their favorite time of day besides snacks)- making granola & flourless cornbread today, making feltboard Thanksgiving story characters, lots of coloring and blocks (K made him playing soccer).

Great weekend!

After our wonderful ultrasound where we got to see our beautiful little Kayleigh for the first time, our weekend continued to be good. When I picked them up from Rodriguez CDC, the boys said they had a really good time and they ate lunch without me (a big deal to them!) They were a little too excited to nap- either about their baby sister or Grandma & Uncle Brian coming to visit. C was all over the place when they got here- a combo of excitement & exhaustion! The boys are always so excited to see our family visit that I don't get much time to visit- so it was nice to have a car ride with Brian to catch up with what he's up to. When we got home, the boys tried to rush me out the door which was okay with me since I'd been looking forward to my night out with the s for a while. 12 of us went to Olive Garden for Christy's baby shower. It was wonderful to have a meal where I could have whole conversations, only feed myself, & only use one napkin. We had a great time! I got home way past my bedtime. The boys went to bed "in the middle of the night." (After dinner, K saw how dark it was outside & said "it's the middle of the night," headed to his room, & got ready for bed.)
This morning the boys ate their weights in pancakes (although we saw today that C is up to 36 lbs so maybe he didn't!) It was nice to have people helping flip and cut all those pancakes too! T took a good nap & the big boys played with Grandma & Uncle Brian while I cleaned up our attic, ran some errands by myself, & got my haircut. Then we all had lunch at Chick-Fil-A (Sat lunch is a crazy time there) & went to Fascinate-U (the children's museum.) T now knows that he really likes to copy the big boys doing everything- driving firetrucks, demolishing construction sites, mailing packages, ... The boys were very happy to sing "Happy Birthday, Uncle Brian" again this afternoon (I missed the first singing last night.)C really wanted to go home with Grandma but K told him he'd have to go to work if he went home with her. T was our only napper this afternoon so he got to stay up a little later than his brothers & started putted shapes into the shape sorter tonight.

Beautiful Baby Girl!

We were so blessed this morning to go have a wonderful ultrasound. I knew this baby was wonderfully made & knit together by God, but it was so good to see. We're also very excited (and a little nervous) to find out we're having a baby girl! The boys are excited about their baby sister Kayleigh Grace. She was quite the busy girl- she's practicing going fast to keep up with her big brothers! She stayed still long enough to see that she is a baby girl and was on the go after that. What a blessing! And James got to call me soon after- he was excited to open the pink Cowboys' onesie.

Now I get to celebrate tonight- we're going to have cake to celebrate Brian's birthday. Then I'm going out with friends while the boys play with Grandma & Uncle Brian. What a good day!

Thankful Thursday

Since a dear friend reminded me to be thankful, here are some of the many things I'm thankful for.
Today we had an absolutely beautiful fall day & 3 boys who were well & could go out and enjoy the beautiful day!
We've met some great new people lately who I look forward to getting to know better. I was able to IM with James which is definitely not the same as him being here but it's good to be able to talk to each other. Tomorrow is my ultrasound and I will be able to see this baby that God knit together in my womb. I have some great friends who prayed for me while the boys and I were sick. I assume the political ads are off the air now (the good news from them is I mostly stopped watching TV & now have time at night for reading, blog updating, facebook time wasting, or I guess I could clean my house better!) I'm thankful to God who gives all the good things.
I could go on and on with things I'm thankful but right now I'm very thankful for a quiet house so I can go try to get some sleep before our big day tomorrow!

Out of the house

You won't believe that I went shopping again- I used to think that I would go insane if I had to go shopping; today I went to stay sane. We were having quite the morning. I'm not sure if the boys were upset that I stayed up & watched a movie last night (Seabiscuit) or upset about the bad news on the election. Either way, T was up at 5:15 and C not long after him and neither one happy. When we all finished breakfast before 7 am- I thought we're in for a long day. When C didn't want to leave my lap, I was really worried. So we went shopping- three stores- none of them walmart or the commissary! I did find some great Christmas gifts at Tuesday morning- I have a good friend with four kids and found several instrument sets- drumset, horns, recorder, electric guitar- won't that be perfect! I also figured out the source of C's whining- he didn't like being up early either- he fell asleep in the car before we left our neighborhood.

Everyone took good naps & we had a much better afternoon. We went to C's first gymnastics class- he had a blast. Right up his alley- run, jump, knock things down (I'm not sure that he was supposed to do that.) Then off to the park- the first nice afternoon in a few days- everyone loved being outside. We saw a dog at the park and T walked right over and said "Dog". Neat to see him learning new words.

I got my camera back yesterday so soon I'll start adding pics again (although it's probably good that I haven't put pics from the last few days!)

It's not easy being green

Well, we painted the town red last week so I guess we can't complain much about being sick this week. But it's still not fun. We are praying that this is a 24 hour bug and we are all back to healthy tomorrow. Funny, when I was up for about an hour each night with C, I prayed to sleep all night; after being up so long last night, an hour doesn't sound bad!

We did enjoy some more fun things before this yucky bug caught up with me and the boys. Saturday morning was K's last soccer game. He didn't kick the ball much this season but he sure had fun playing which is definitely what counts especially when you're 4! Another good part of the weekend was all three boys went straight to sleep at 7- I think a week of lots of late nights drained all of us- and then an extra hour for Fall Back. Yeah!!

Sunday we went to church and then a neighbor's son had a birthday party- firetrucks everywhere. The boys all had a blast. T is definitely trying to keep up with his two big brothers now- he's even figured out how to put legos together! So fun to watch him learning new things.

Pray for us to all get better soon especially with my ultrasound Friday!

What a week cont.

Thursday we did our own pumpkin carving- K had been talking all during pumpkin season about Daddy carving the pumpkin and taking the sin out. Last year we talked through the Pumpkin Parable as James carved the pumpkin. This year the boys got to take the "mushy/gushy sin" out themselves- I roasted the pumpkin seeds but now they told me they don't want to eat sin. We also did lots of pumpkin painting- the boys painted 40-50 paperplates orange for their friends to decorate at our costume party.That afternoon was K's last soccer practice with a pizza party at CiCi's after practice. I'm very thankful for friends who help with kids bc otherwise it would be very hard to get started feeding 3 little boys at a buffet. K was very excited to get his soccer medal- he had a great time playing soccer this season. That night I followed my good friend's advice to not spend much time cleaning before having a houseful for a costume party Friday morning.

Our phone started ringing at 9 and didn't stop until 1030. As several women called to say they had sick kids, I started thinking we might have a small group. I didn't think they for long- I think we ended up with 57 people- 20 moms, 37 kids (30 were three & under). I guess my friend was a little right when she called me nutty for inviting so many. K & C were superman and flash gordon again- T dressed as sleeping baby (he slept from 9-1130.) I barely saw K & C- they had a blast decorating paper pumpkins, coloring, & playing with friends. We were blessed with awesome weather which meant some people could go outside. I was also blessed with plenty of friends who helped set up, clean up, and just keep things going ok. Another friend took a ton of pics which I'll add when I get them. It was a little crazy but a lot of fun!We were all worn out from all the fun & took good naps which was good since we had even more fun planned for that night. Our friends the lamb, butterfly, bumblebee, & their mommy went wiht us to the Cadence Hospitality House. On the way we stopped at one more trunk or treat where we got lots more candy. We were again blessed with great people who helped with our kids so we could fix food for 6 little ones. Everyone had a good time except little T who I thought was just tired until he got sick all over his borrowed Pooh costume. He seemed happier after that. The kids did relay races and bobbed for apples. Another fun, late night!