Merry Christmas

I'm so thankful right now. And happy too. Sitting here on my comfy couch, a fire roaring in the fire place. I am so thankful to be in our new home for our first Christmashere. The girls are playing with their new hand held video games they got today. I say they are a hit since they haven't put them down much since this morning. The bub is watching a movie. He's getting to where he sits and watches for longer periods, it's nice most of the time. Bub asked Santa for something blue and that came true for him. Josh asked him who was coming to his house and Bub would say "Ho,ho, ho" He is talking so much lately. I love it. Except when he says "Mom-mom-mom" like a thousand times and then I feel like scratching my ears off. The I remind myself that he didn't say Mama until he was 18 months old and it becomes sweet music again.

We are being totally lazy today. Little Sis had a tummy bug yesterday so that cancelled our plans for getting together with my family in B-town. Thankfully, she is feeling much better today, a little pale, but much more herself.

Josh got me diamond hoop earrings which I LOVE. So pretty. He's a good guy. I gave him a tool he wanted. Doesn't sound to exciting to me, but he likes tools. He built a table for me a while back so I have to support his habit. I will post a picture soon.

Have a Merry Christmas. Thank God for his Son, Jesus. He's the best gift.

Catching Up: July, Belated Birthdays.

I am not exactly sure about this blog. I really want to keep up with what's going on but I don't. I look at the previous post and all the that has past. I feel guily for not posting again and overwhelmed about what to post. I don't want to pass up the important things that have gone on. So here goes with a catch up post. This is from July when Big Sis turned 9 and The Bub turned 2.

Big Sis and I talked about what kind of party she would want for her day. I like to give the girls friend parties. Josh and I talked about how the children have so many things (read toys) and they don't need a lot of gifts from us. We would rather spend money on a nice party for them. Big Sis and I decided for her day we would go to a tea room for a tea party followed by mani-pedis for her, one friend, one cousin and of course Little Sis. She loved the idea and so did I.

We met at the tea room. There we ate our lady like food and drank tea (or other beverage)from our own tea pot. Okay, I didn't get my own teapot, but all the girls did and I was okay with that. We had a yummy cake sampler and Big Sis opened the gifts from her friends and Nana (who came along with us) We had a good time.

The tea pary girls:Little Sis (in back), Cousin C, Big Sis, Friend J.

Big Sis opening presents.

Then we headed to the nail place and got our pampering on. My mom and I got pedicures only while the girls got the works. The were in girly heaven. The nail tech took time to give the girls flowers on their finger and toes with little rinestones on them. It was fun to see them enjoy their first pedicure experience.
Cousin C. She was a little hesitant but enjoyed it after it got going.


Big Sis and Little Sis got the special Kid pedi chairs with DVD players. So Fun!!!


Friend J

It's fun to watch my girls grow up, but a little sad too. Big Sis is getting so big right before our eyes.


I know I did a post on The Bub's birthday, but I wanted to share how we celebrated. We had a little party at home. My mom and dad came over for cake and presents.

The Bub opening gifts.


My lovely off-roading truck creation. Hey, he's two. He loved it!!!

The 4th day of 4th grade (and 2nd grade too)

I was checking up on FB this morning. Lots of friends and family have kiddos starting school today and they had pics up almost instantly. Made me feel just a tad guilty, nothing like a little mommy guilt to get you going. So I thought I would post some pics of the girls from their first day which was on Monday. Actually for a procrastinator like me 4 days late is really not that bad.

Since we bought a new house the girls had to go to a new school this year. We LOVED our old school, but we've heard lots of good things about this school too. I have been praying for the teachers these girls would have and that they would make some really great friends here. They were both a little nervous but mostly excited to start the year.

Photo session on the front porch:




In front of our new school:


Big Sis and her teacher:


Little Sis and her teacher:


The Bub ready to spend the day alone with mom.

An unwanted absence.

My darling son broke our Internet and it took us over two weeks to replace it. I've missed everyone.

Need to post another bday.

I really need to write a post about Big Sis' birthday, her's was the day before Bub's. I want to post pics as well and I'm being too lazy to upload them to my computer. Plus, my mom actually took some so I need them emailed from her too. So basically what this post is all about is the fact that I am lazy and a procrastinator. Now you really know the real me. Stay tuned, hopefully I'll get it done before her next birthday.

The other woman.

Is she thinking of him today?

It's been two years since she first saw his face, heard his cry. Did she hold him close and kiss his little cheeks. Did she think, "He looks like me"? Did he wrap his tiny fingers around one of her own? Did she cry? Did she tell him of her plan? What was going through her mind that day he was born?

Today, on this anniversary of his birth, I'm thinking of her. I have an ache in my heart for her. I know she loved him, she had a plan for him. Does she still feel the weight of his tiny body in her arms? Is she aching today too? May God give her peace, knowing he is growing, thriving. He is so smart and stubborn and funny and loving. Part her, part me.

Today I will give him two hugs at bedtime, an extra one for the woman who can't put her arms around him. Two kisses on his chubby, still baby-like cheeks. Two snuggles when he falls and gets a bump. I will push the trucks and throw the ball for two extra minutes, spending time playing when I have other things I could be doing, because her time is over. I will rock him a little longer, even though I know he's trying to get too big for rocking, I will rock him today for her. Because, she let him go on that day so I could have him in my arms. My son.

What God is teaching me these days.

I always know when God is trying to tell me something. The theme of my Bible study, the message at church or a song I hear all seem to point me in the same direction. Funny, these days, even "friends" facebook statuses remind me over and over.

Lately, my messages from God have been about pursuing a relationship with Him. Laying aside all of my failures, prejudice and guilt and seeking him. Putting my all before his throne and letting Him take it up for me and making something beautiful out of it. It is amazing how many times I've heard this idea over and over in the past few weeks. I hope God won't give up on me before I finally learn it. I know he won't. I appreciate the fact that He is so patient with me and how LONG it takes to get something through my head and heart.

What has God been teaching you lately?

Number 7.

My baby girl turned seven years old this past Sunday. I can't believe how big she it getting. So grown up. Her plans were originally to have a Christmas themed birthday. I kept hoping she would change her mind about that. Thankfully she did, and we proceeded to plan a Candy Party. It ended up being very fun. Here are a few pics of the day. In some pictures you can see the blank walls, an empty dining room and a pile of pictures that need to be hung. I'm not really settled in yet. Don't judge me:)

Fun for the summer.

Thanks to the girls who commented on my last post. Sorry for the whining. I think I'm going to keep up the blogging thing, for posterity (sp?) I really like going back and reading the older posts and I know someday I will be thankful I took the time to do this.

Can I just say that summer with all 3 kids home was kicking my tail? I was going INSANE everyday. So I have to admit to myself I could never be a home school mom. Okay, there I said it. I am not so good at keeping my kids constantly entertained, educated and stimulated. So, on Monday I broke down and took the kids to the community center of the town we just moved from. It has a big indoor pool with slides, a lazy river and all that fun stuff. I was happy to pay the $17 dollars it took to get the three of us in. Bub was free. We had a great time. As soon as I got home I called my hubby to tell him how great the day was. Not one time at the pool did the girls fuss, fight, or say "I'm bored." I told him I couldn't justify spending that kind of money more than once a week. Then, I got to thinking about possibly becoming a member. I looked into it and found we could get a family pass for 3 months for $110. Uh, yes please. This also includes a fitness center that Josh and I (yeah, right) could use. So needless to say, that night Josh signed us up.

The kids and I have been there four times this week. I believe it's going to help keep us all happy this summer. And, since it's indoor, no sunburns. This fact also helps when Bub gets tired of the water and he and I end up sitting on the side. We aren't sweating sitting in the hot sun. Perfect! Thank you Lord. Any IRL friends are welcome to come and join us. See you there.

S to the T to the L: Full Post

We went to St. Louis in April. We had an awesome time and great weather. My in-laws and I drove in on Saturday, Josh was in Dallas and would fly in to town later that evening. The drive there was good and uneventful. We arrived in St. Louis a little early to check in to our rooms, so we passed the time by exploring the lobby area. Josh made it into town about the time our rooms were ready. One of the rooms faced the stadium, which was really cool. There was a game going on at that time. Little did we know it would go on to set a record for the most innings played in a Cardinal game.




After we got settled we set out to walk to Laclede's Landing for dinner. The walk took us through the park surrounding the Arch. It was a nice walk and the weather was perfect. We saw a lot of High school kids out for the Prom. My girls were so excited to see all the princess dresses. We got to our destination The Old Spaghetti Factory. It is one of our favorites and we MUST eat there when we travel to St. Louis. The meal was wonderful. We did have on little issue. Bub had a dirty diaper and I realized I forgot to put diapers and wipes in the stroller. Great Mom! I proceeded to clean him up with wet paper towels and he rode "commando" on the way back to our hotel.





The next day was Sunday. We woke up and had a small breakfast in the room. Thankfully, Josh made a S*bucks run to the lobby, Dark Cherry Mocha everyday for me. We took our time getting ready and went to The City Museum. We've been there before and have had a blast. Little Sis was there when she was about two, so I thought there would be no problem with Bub coming along. WRONG! He refused to be held or even hold hands and the "leash" was a no go. This was not good. I found myself filling with anxiety and getting very grouchy as I followed him around in fear. I just knew he was going to get away from us or fall down a slide hole. I proceeded to take him up to have a snack and the two of us spent a lot of time in the toddler friendly area. All in all we ended up having a good time, but it will be a while before Bub goes there again.





We went to Union Station for lunch and ate at Houlihan's very yummy. We ate outside by the Koi pond and Bub slept in his stroller, which made for a peaceful lunch. The kids fed fish and then Mamaw and Pawpaw let the girls jump on the trampoline thingys. Later that evening we went to the Cardinal game. We were all decked out in our gear. Unfortunately, Bub wasn't into baseball that day and only allowed me to sit still while we ate our hot dogs. We got up to walk around. Josh and I ended up taking Bub and Little Sis back to the hotel after about the third inning. Big Sis and the grandparents stayed through the whole game and the Cardinals Won!!!



Monday was Zoo day. We had a great time and saw all of our favorites. I haven't had a more enjoyable time there. We would stop at all the little stations where the older volunteers were standing. Some had fur to pet, others had bones or replicas of a bear's claw. They would tell us all about the animals. You could tell the people were very excited about helping children learn. From there we went to Delmar's Loop. I had never been there, interesting and unique area. We ate at Fitz's an old Rootbeer bottling company. Unfortunately they weren't bottling that day but the atmoshphere was fun and the food was delicious. Black and Bleu Burger, nom-nom.





Tuesday we checked out of our hotel and went to The Science Center. It was fun but I think we were all ready to get home. The drive home went okay. We were in two vehicles, so Josh and Pawpaw rode in his truck and Mamaw rode with the kids and me. Why does the ride home always seem so take so long? I guess it would've been better if a certain boy had not gotten car sickness. All in all we had a great trip. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We want to take that trip again soon.

A year in bullet points.

I have been overwhelmed with how to catch up the old blog. I want to cover everything I missed, but every time I log in I stare at the screen and decide to do it later. So, I decided to do my best to catch up by highlighting events/thoughts of the almost year that passed between posts. When I'm done I will be able to start fresh with new recent goings on here. Here goes in no particular order (oh yeah, and don't expect complete sentences):

*House on the market from February 20th 2009-February 4th 2010. Finally sold! A woman from WI who had been looking on the net and finally sold her place. So glad to be outta there. We loved it, just out grew it. May God bless her life there.

*Made an offer on our new house. It was bank owned and I never realized what a pain it was to buy that sort of home. In all it took us about two months from offer to closing. Then it needed a lot of work (neglect)and we stayed in a two bed room apartment in the meantime.

*Big sis started and completed 3rd grade, kind of hard year for her. She ended up doing fine and got the award for her class of most improved for the year. She isn't too crazy about school, but doesn't hate it either. She got glasses this year, for use at school and I think that helped some. She donated her hair to Locks of Love in the fall. She wants to grow it out again and donate again. She has a soft and kind heart (except when it comes to her sister)

*Little sis started and completed 1st grade, she loved her teacher, loved school and did well. She was chosen for the Young Author's Conference at C of O. She gets a little involved in the drama that can be a 1st grade girl, but that has always been her. We had one issue that needed to be dealt with but all is well now. Last night she lost one of her front top teeth, too cute.

*The Bub is as cute as ever, he's growing up so much. Getting to be a big boy. When we moved into the new house he moved to a big boy bed. It's going fine. He also started revolting eating in his highchair so I bought him a booster. He doesn't like to eat in that either. He likes to eat sitting at the bar, it's fine. I have to insist he join us at dinner time when we eat as a family. He is talking a little more. He finally says "Mama" now which makes my heart happy. Some other words he has: "Dad/Dada", "Bubble", "Baby", "Ball", "Bath", "Book", "Truck", "Hot","Diaper", "More". Of course, some of those words are harder to decipher than others. The other day I was getting the kids ready for church and Little Sis said "Oh, my Bible" and ran to find it. Bub said "My bi buh" and went to his little book basket to find his Jesus story book Bible. He blew me away. What a cutie.

*The girls have become quite the bike riders and so Josh and I decided to get some bikes. We've got out as a family a couple of times, it's a lot of fun and Bub enjoys riding in his kangaroo seat on my bike.

*I worked as a teacher for Parents Day Out at church this past year. It was fun. Bub did terrible the first few times (He was in my class, and had to share me) but he got better at it. Our class was 10 boys and 1 girl all ranging age 1-2. Not as bad as it sounds, they were a good little class.

*Josh is awesome. The move/apartment living was stressful for everyone especially him, but it's over now and we are both super excited to be here. We know it's a blessing. Josh is working hard and is such a great provider for our family.

*We took a vacation to St. Louis ( I will do a post on this later)

*Our newest niece, Taylor Grace was born in Dec. 2009. She's a doll, but we haven't seen her much. We need to do some traveling this summer.

*God has truly blessed us. We are determined to live our life in such away to bring him Glory and praise.

Not doin' so hot am I?

Okay, so I'm not really doing a very good job of picking up my blog. I think about it from time to time and never have enough minutes to put together a truly good post. We did buy a house, yay! Which is one of the reasons I've been otherwise occupied. Now the past two days I've had two sick kids, one throwing up, one feverish. I think they are on the mend now, but that really took away from my plans of cleaning up the new house. See, it was a foreclosure, so it hasn't been spotlessly polished while it was on the market. It has two years worth of dirt and grime and other lovely things that I get to take care of. Don't get me wrong, this house is a blessing and I KNOW it. I'm thankful that God is allowing us to get in this house, it has lots of room and it's beautiful. I think a little elbow grease on my part is not a lot to pay, but getting over there and getting it done is another matter. Yesterday, the Bub only wanted to sit on my lap and be rocked. Thankfully, my lovely friend from church came one day and we scrubbed the worst bathroom. What a friend. Thanks Melissa. If any of my real life friends want to come see the house in person, just email or call. I promise I won't make you scrub toilets. Maybe just wipe a baseboard or two;)

Here I am again.

I'm still not doing regular posting, but I am thinking about it. We just got back from a great trip to STL. It was awesome in everyway, well, except for the motion sickness on the way back. Other than that it was great. I will work on more details and pics soon. Also, I have some big (house related) news coming up very soon.

Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...

Just wondering if anyone out there might read again if I start posting. I know popularity isn't important, and I would love to post even if no one does. I've been secretly thinking of starting to blog again. So much has happened since I last posted. The girls have grown and Bub has grown. He is now an official part of our family as of March 24th. Here is a picture. Maybe I'll be back soon.