I Never Thought It Would Be Our Kids

Tonight we had the kids that all babysitters dread....you know the ones who take advantage of the "nice" babysitter.

I never thought our kids would do it


Tonight they did


Wow, they are not going to like what tomorrow brings =)

New Rules

Rule #1: You may not stick things up your brother's nose

Response to rule #1 by A: "really?!!!! I never knew that. I'll stop doing it then."


I guess this occurrence was more common than the one time I caught them.


Rule # 2: You may not call other people poo poo

Response to rule #2 by E: "OK!!!! Can I call Avery __________"

she picked random sounds and came up with the Spanish equivalent to the word poo poo. Of all the syllables she chose to put together! And no, neither Brent nor I speak Spanish or have used that word before! =)

I Miss Him

7 1/2 years ago I moved into an apartment 2 buildings away from him. There was never a day where we weren't together.
6 1/2 years ago I walked into his apartment to find this and a ring for my finger. 6 years ago we said "I do" and began our married life together. Right after we got married, we used to joke that it was like a slumber party every night. We would just lay in bed and talk for hours about absolutely nothing. We have always just loved to talk to each other. And now he's gone for a week...

After 7 1/2 years of sharing every moment with someone, not being able to talk to him is hard.

I really miss him this week. Every time the phone rings, my heart starts beating fast thinking it might be him only to remember he can't use a phone this week. Every time something happens, I go to reach for the phone only to remember I can't contact him this week. This week, 1 week seems like an eternity!!

Happy Halloween!

From our little pumpkin
and our two fairies...or butterflies...or princesses...or tinkerbells...or whatever it was they felt like being at that particular moment.Hope you had a great day!

The Best Invention Ever

There is nothing worse than a still quiet morning, a hot cup of coffee, spending time with Jesus, and then an ear shattering scream of

"I'M AWAKE!!!!!!! I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE, I'M AWAKE....."

Enter the best invention ever!
Yes it looks like a normal clock but...
We set it to turn yellow when its time to go to bedand turns green when they can get out of their bed!


Its the little things that make me happy =)

Quote of the Night

(this was said after Avery got in trouble for disobeying)

Me: "Mommy and daddy love you too much to let you disobey"

A: said perfectly innocently with a wide eyed disbelief on her face "Being in trouble isn't loving!!"

She then looked at me as if I were lying to her. This evening, she was definitely not buying my reasoning for why she gets in trouble!

First Day of School

Its official. Avery has started preschool. Deciding to let her go was pretty easy. Actually letting her go was hard!!!
She was so excited. Little sister wasn't so excited. E hugged Aves tight in the parking lot and then said, "I want to go to preschool too."I bought a special activity book for E and I to do together on the days Avery is in school. It was fun to just sit with E and have no one else compete for attention. The house was so quite though. When big sister isn't home, there's no chase happening, there's no screaming and laughter filling the house, there's no huge messes from hours of playing make believe. It was weird. I think we're all going to have to adjust to this.
The decision to send Avery to school came down to the middle child syndrome. I was a middle child so definitely have sympathy =) We realized that this next year will be the only time that I will ever get alone time with Elliana. With Avery at school and Justus taking a morning nap, I can spend my morning investing in Elliana. That fact was enough to motivate me to send my baby off to school for the first time.

This watching your kids grow up is going to be hard for me!!

Our Week

Tender Hearted

2 am was when the drama started.

After a bath, a couple trips over a trash can, and some fresh PJs, E was finally asleep in a sleeping bag next to my bed.

Not for long though. The drama persisted every 30 minutes until about 4:00am where she finally fell asleep for an hour without throwing up.

About 6am, she stood up next to my bed, grabbed my hand, gave me a hug, and said

"Sorry for waking you up in the night mommy."

In all her misery, she was thinking about me.

Makes me hope I'm that selfless when I'm dealing with them all day

Good Night

Said while getting off the potty after going #2

E: "Good night poo poo"

she turns around to wave good night to it and says

E: "Oh look, it has its own blankie. Sleep good poo poo with your blankie"

(the "blanket" was the toilet paper in case you were wondering)

Gentle Reminder

Dinner Tonight:

Me: "What was your favorite part of the day today?" (fully expecting to hear how wonderful a mom I was b/c I took them to this incredible 2 story playland place and let them play for a couple hours)

A: "Running and riding bikes with you this morning."

E: "Yeah, that my favorite too."

Me: "You liked that better than the playland?"

A: "That was a lot of fun, but I liked just playing with you best."
My gentle reminder of the important things to my kids...30 minutes of individual mommy time trumps 2 hours of playland time. Thanks Father for using the gentle voice of my kids to remind me of this valuable fact.

Memorable Moments

Dinner last night
Avery: "My tummy said its not hungry. Can I just put my plate in the fridge?"
Me: "That's fine." (Important to note that she was eating spaghetti!)

45 minutes later I was nursing Justus on the couch when I hear a clunk in the kitchen. This clunk was followed by Elliana running into the family room to see me. Suddenly I notice RED footprints on our WHITE carpet.
I guess Avery had pulled her plate out of the fridge and put it on the ground in the kitchen only to have Elliana run through the kitchen and step in the spaghetti. Still trying to figure out why she put the plate on the floor. I guess it made perfect sense to her 3 yr old brain.

Needless to say, I did not demonstrate Christlike behavior when I saw the sauce on my carpet!

Fast forward to this morning...
I read Avery a verse from I Thes. 5 and then explained what it meant and how mommy needed to apologize for last night. I was all prepared to have this big teachable moment with Avery. She interrupted and said...

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now that you've learned all that stuff can we just go play?"


I guess the moment was way more meaningful to me than it was to her =)

Weekends

We took a weekend trip to Duncan to see Brent's family

We spent Friday with Gramps and Grammy, and we got to swim, celebrate Gramps birthday, play with all the cousins, go to Kiddie Land, and just have fun.Saturday was spent with Nana and Pappaw, and we got to play at the park, play with all the cousins, enjoy tons of new toys, eat lunch with all the relatives, rotate the tires on the van, and just enjoy being with family.
Things I learned on this trip:

• Both Justus and Elliana are allergic to something in the Duncan air. Medicate them before we go next time!
• While Elliana may sleep in a big girl bed at home, a sleeping bag is still a little hard for her to sleep in. She doesn't quite understand how to keep her legs in the bag part.
• When allowing Elliana to sleep in the bed with you, put a pillow between you and her or else you will wake up with bruises along your side from her kicking you all night.
• Avery really is getting to be big! She can now sleep where ever I tell her, eat what's put before her, and she understands whats going on so doesn't freak out with every new situation. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Only 3 more years and all my kids will be able to travel a bit better!
• When you don't get home until 10pm on a Saturday night, don't plan on making your kids go to both services at church the next morning. You'll be 45 minutes late.
  

It was a fun trip, and it was so good to be able to see everyone! Thanks for letting us come visit and for all the fun memories.

Things are Looking Up

On a day where where nothing seemed to be going right, a surprise discovery in the back of a bathroom cupboard. A coupon book that I never cashed in on. Look out Brent. Its been a long week of taking care of sick kids. I'm cashing in on this one this weekend =)

Family Reunions

I love family reunions. Twice a year, over the 4th of July and over either Thanksgiving or Christmas, my sisters, parents and all our families get together for a reunion. I wouldn't miss it for the world. My mom is the lucky one whose birthday is always during our reunion. We love getting to celebrate her birthday together. This year the girls got to enjoy sparklers for the first time. They still haven't stayed up late enough to see their first fireworks though. Maybe next year =) Tons of time was spent outside this year. From jumping on the trampoline to playing in the playhouse to playing games like the bean bag toss and the ladder game, outside was the place to be.

As we sat on the deck one night enjoying the cool Iowan evenings, Brent and I looked at each other and decided we could definitely get used to the weather in the North! It was so enjoyable to be able to play outside all day long!

I think this reunion was my favorite one since having kids. Mostly because I've changed some since Avery was born. I used to think that she was the only kid who didn't sleep on vacation. I used to think I was the only one exhausted. I used to think I was the only one who was going to be miserable for the 2 weeks after vacation as I tried to get my kid back on some sort of schedule. I guess I've realized in the past 3 1/2 years that I'm not the only one who experiences these things, but I am the one who determines how fun the vacation is for our family. I've realized that I need to let go of my fears about what life will be like when we return home and just have fun. I've realized that I have a choice to either be exhausted and sit on the couch or to be exhausted, push through it, and have a blast with life. Yes, this year was a blast and I'm looking forward to it only getting better from here!

To see the rest of the pictures from our vacation, click here

Top Three Things I will Hopefully Never Do Again

1. Fly by myself with all three kids on a 6am flight.

2. Fly by myself with all three kids on a 6am flight.

3. Fly by myself with all three kids on a 6am flight.

But at least we finally made it home and its almost naptime for the kids and for me. I'm praying they all sleep at the same time so I can sleep! I'm exhausted.

Highlight of the flight:

• Halfway down the tunnel to get onto the airplane, Avery says: "I have to go back and give Grandpa a hug and a kiss and tell him how much I love him. " I told her we couldn't go back, so she yelled at the top of her lungs "I LOVE YOU GRANDPA!!!" and continued to walk onto the plane.
  

Low point in the flight:

• Elliana stretched out on the floor of the plane yelling at the top of her lungs "I DON'T WANT TO BE ON THE GROUND. I WANT TO FLY." She alternated between screaming this and just screaming for the last 15 minutes of the flight. I guess when you wake a 2 year old up at 4am, there's only so much they can handle before they flip out =)

Sorry to all you passengers on flight 3570 this morning who thought you were going to sleep on your 6am flight. My kids had other plans for you.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandma! We're so glad we get to spend the week with you for your birthday. We love you!!

Three Peas in a Pod

The girls had a blast playing with their cousin, Piper. We're sad that they had to go home today!! As we sat down to have lunch without Aunt Laura and Piper, Avery looked at me and then pointed to the calendar and asked, "Can we mark off the days until we get to see them again so it won't seem so long?"



Thanks for coming to visit! We'll see you at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Too Much Fun

My little sis and niece are here for the week! They got here Thursday night and look at all the fun we've already had!Avery rode a Long HornRode a mini merry go roundEnjoyed some snow cones to help us cool off!
Watched the cattle driveCelebrated Father's Day early since Brent is going to San Antonio for the week. The girls especially enjoyed eating his ice cream cake!And Laura is loving on Justus quite a bit.
And now I'm taking the rest of the week off to enjoy the time with my sis and niece. See you in a week!

Silly Faces

Because sometimes you're desperate to find something to do indoors