Kordsmeier Family

Good Old-Fashioned Fun

2010-06-22T09:12:00.003-05:00

Whoa! Easter was the last time I updated my blog??? Really?? I actually have a few unfinished posts waiting in the drafts, but the writing vibe just hasn't been flowing! I have been creating! I've been sewing like crazy! I've made tutus, outfits for my kids, and some diaper bags for a friend of mine that sells them! Okay I can't get the pictures in the order that I want them so we'll just have to deal with them in this order!

This is a set my friend Shelly, my sister April, and I did together for a little girl's first birthday! It turned out so cute!! We're going to do a pink/lime green one soon, and I really want to do a hot pink/zebra set!

These are some of the bags that I'm sewing for Shelly. She sells these on different websites and to people around here. Aren't they sooo cute?? See the zebra/polka dot one?? That one is one of my favorites, and I want one just like it with a monogrammed K and royal blue trim for a school bag! This is a tutu I did for my cousin Crystal's little girl, Haven! She is such a cutie, and she's turning 1!! And this is an outfit I made for my girls yesterday! I had found this fabric 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby, and bought all they had of it! I still have some left that I'm not sure yet what I'm going to use it for! I might make Ainslee a skirt and with an appliqued shirt to match!

So there's a recap of some of the things I've been doing lately. But that's not why I'm posting today! Today I want to document for forever in history a game that Trey and I play that I DOMINATE! It's a little game that we like to call Google! Here's what happens: Trey and I will be driving in the car or talking, and we'll disagree about something (like the origins of qwerty, or alliteration, or Forrest Gump's home town, or the lyrics to a song), and we'll say, "When we get home, we're going to Google that." Here's where Internet (I'm not sure why spell-check makes me capitalize that...maybe I should Google it!) on our phones would come in SOO handy, but we aren't in the modern cell phone age just yet so we wait like they did in Little House days until we get home to look up random things on our favorite search engine! And like I said, I ROCK THIS GAME!!! I won all of the aforementioned searches! I'm sure he's won some, but I've chosen not to recall those, and this is my blog, so I don't have to mention them! ;0)

Happy Easter, Everybody!!

2010-04-02T16:57:00.000-05:00

Just another day...

2010-03-17T08:16:00.002-05:00

Today is mine and Trey's 9 year anniversary! I loved every minute of our wedding day! I got up early and prayed and read my bible. I met my friends at Stoby's for breakfast. Then I spent the rest of the day getting ready for our 2:00 wedding. We got married in a small Methodist church that was exactly what I pictured. I had always said that I wanted to get married in a small, packed old wooden church instead of a big, seemingly empty modern church. We had daisies, which are my favorite flower, and the bride's maids wore yellow dresses. Trey gave me a bible with my new married name on it, and I gave him a picture of me, his mom and grandmother that I had secretly taken months before when his grandmother had started to get sick and we weren't sure if she'd make it to the wedding.

But as I sit here at the kitchen table nine years later, it feels like just any other day! Layton is laying on the couch, running a fever, and coughing. He must have come down with a virus yesterday. Ainslee and Ava are running through the house in their dress-up clothes, pretending there's a dog chasing them. Trey's at work. I'm back and forth between facebook, texting my sister, and reading my favorite blogs. Nine years ago, I had no idea that we would be the parents of three kids! Or that we would be back in Redwater. Or that I would teach in the same classroom that I went to school in. Trey had NO idea what he was getting himself into! ha! But we are absolutely content and happy with our plain ol', ordinary, nothing-special, perfectly wonderful life together!

Yesterday my Melaleuca Value Pack came in, and let me tell you! I am so excited about the products that were in it! I should have taken a picture of it because it was like Christmas! I even texted my friend, who then told me I need to get a life because it was sad that I was so excited about cleaning products! Ha! BUT I knew she was teasing me because she had experienced the same joy just a few days before and had cleaned her house from top to bottom and had texted ME about how much she loved everything!! It was 30+ of the most useful products they have!! Laundry detergent, Tub and Tile cleaner, Lotion, Dishwashing detergent, Fabric Softener, Whole-grain crackers just to name a few. So far, I've loved everything I've tried!! If you are not a Melaleuca customer yet, get with me, and I can get you set up! Exchanging harmful chemical-heavy products with all-natural, high-quality, budget-friendly Melaleuca products will be a decision you'll be glad you made now and years down the road!

Last night my sister and I were sitting at the table talking while she was figuring her order from her Scentsy party, and I was watching the Melaleuca webcast, and we looked in the play room and saw the funniest,sweetest thing! Again, I was wishing for a camera. I have got to replace the batteries! I'm missing so much! Anyway, Ainslee had three chairs lined up, with a baby doll in each chair. She was sitting in a chair in front of them, holding a book, pretending to be their Sunday school teacher. She was "reading" them their lesson and talking just her like her teacher does. Then she got up to give them each a piece of candy! She'll make such a good teacher one day! She already knows what kids want: a short lesson followed by a piece of candy!

Going through the Big D...

2010-03-15T21:23:00.002-05:00

And I do mean Dallas! ha! We started out our spring break with a 3-night trip to see some of our best friends, the Ashlocks. We met them in Conway in college and have stayed close since then! We were actually only in-town friends for about a year and a half and have been long-distance friends ever since then!

In the spring we always have a Rankin/Ashlock/Kordsmeier reunion, but the Rankins couldn't make it this year so we moved the party to Dallas to help us out since we had to make a trip that way anyway!

We decided to take the kids to the airport to watch the planes and have a picnic. They had so much fun watching those planes take off!

The kids played so well together the entire time we were in Dallas. Here are Nathan, Layton, and Daniel. Surely one of those boys will be a future son-in-law! =) It was pretty windy so we moved the picnic inside the cars. The boys dined in the back of this car, and the girls took over the back of ours. They felt like sitting in the trunk instead of the actual seats while eating jelly sandwiches and BBQ chips adds some form of excitement to the whole experience.

Trey and I opted for the eating-while-standing-up-so-that-we-could-get-to-the-juice-spills-and-fetch-more-chips experience. Here's us at the airport looking a little wind-blown in our matching Razorback garb. We are definitely not that couple that plans to coordinate our clothes, but the thing is that we have enough Razorback red shirts to fill an entire large load in the washing machine! I just discovered that the other day and was saddened by the realization. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hogs, but it might be time to introduce another color into our closet! It's not the best picture of us, but we rarely get a picture of the two of us so I thought I'd include it.

Here's the whole gang! Nathan and Layton are in the back; Ava, Ainslee, and Daniel are in the front. I have to state again how well-behaved everyone was! We really have some great kids! I'm so glad they all get along so well!

They were so funny! Everytime one would take off, they would run like they were chasing it and would cheer for it as it ascended! Here's Daniel and Layton jumping up and down cheering it on.

I didn't intentionally dress the girls alike, but they both did end up in their yellow shirts and khacki capris! It's not going to be too long before they're mistaken for twins! Ava's only a few inches shorter. The baby face and baby mullet keep her noticably in the 2's, though! Notice the white bows...I'm thinking it's time to take some clothes to my sister so she can work her magic and make them some really cute bows to match!

My new business venture...

2010-03-02T16:54:00.003-06:00

I am so excited to tell you all about this new business (ad)venture that I'm on!!! I've been looking for something for a while to supplement our income because we REALLY want to be 100% debt free and we REALLY want to buy or build a house! And soon! But we need some extra mu-llah!

Enter Ainslee's persistent eczema and my dear friend Alexi who also has a daughter who suffers from eczema. Alexi calls me one day out of the blue and starts telling me about this stuff that they've tried on Kyra and how great it's working. Skeptical me kind of put Alexi off a little and just never found time to listen to the information about the product. Well, thankfully, Alexi is more persistent than that eczema, and she caught me on a weekend when I did in fact have some time. So I sat down and watched this webcast about Melaleuca.

Oh my gosh, y'all! I'm so glad I watched that video! Long story short, we are in the process of totally converting our home to all-natural, zero-chemical Melaleuca products and Ainslee's skin is looking and feeling great! I'm so totally, over-the-top, excited about this company and can't believe I hadn't heard of it before. (Well actually someone had casually mentioned it before, but I didn't get what they were saying so I blew them off too!...I think that may be something I need to work on..I'll put it on my to-do list!)

So anyway...the point of this post is that I want to tell all of my friends and family about this wonderful company, and I would love to share it with you too! If I haven't already talked to you, email me, call me, stop me at church, and I will set you up to watch this video! You'll be so glad you did!

Has it really been 5 years??

2010-02-22T21:22:00.000-06:00

This is me 5 years ago! I was 25 years old, had just had my first baby, and had not even imagined how wonderful my life was about to become! Oh sure! We had prayed for a baby, we had longed for a baby, we had ached for a baby, we had lost a baby. But none of that had prepared me for how truly wonderful motherhood would be. None of that prepared for the emptiness I would feel when I was away from him. Or for the pure joy when I see him smile. Or for the rage the fills me when I hear of someone who has hurt a child.

Becoming a mother completely intensifies every emotion I've ever felt. I've loved before...but not in the complex way that mothers love. I'd hurt before....but not like I do when he hurts. I'd cried before...but not like I do when he hurts and I can't fix it. I'd felt anxiety before...but not like I do thinking of all the things that I could do wrong. I'd laughed before...but not like I do when he says things that are so funny, and I wonder where he gets his sense of humor. Oh how I love that boy!

There are no words adequate enough to completely describe how I feel about being a mother. It's everything I've ever wanted. And more. Much. Much. More.

Snow day in NE Texas

2010-02-12T13:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning it started snowing!! The kids in my class went crazy! I tried to figure out how many times in their 10 or so years on this earth they've seen snow. I think this might be the 2nd or 3rd time! You wouldn't believe how many pencils needed to be sharpened, noses needed to be blown, hands needed to be sanitized, bathroom emergencies that just couldn't wait for the bell, and things that needed to be thrown away just so they could get to the window to sneak a peek! Well we aren't heartless, mean teachers so we let the kids out to play in the quarter inch of snow, and they had the best time! We took pictures, and I wish I could post some of them here! I loved how excited they were. Of course, my Texas, post-civil war class discussion that I had planned didn't hold a candlestick to what was happening outside the window so I had to adjust my lesson plans slightly! Oh well! They can learn about Reconstruction any day, but here in Northeast Texas, they may not see snow again for a few years! Seize the moment!

My own kids were even more excited than my 4th graders!! None of them had ever touched, tasted, or played in the snow! When Layton got off the bus at the middle school yesterday, the first thing he wanted to do was see what it felt like. "Oh, soft..." was his reaction. I think he was built for colder climates, though, because later he crawled, rolled, and plopped himself down in it without a flinch. A few years ago, when I first became a mother, my friend gave me a helpful tip. She said when taking my kids out to play in the snow, to put one pair of socks one their hands and feet, then cover it with a plastic bag, then cover that with mittens on their hands and another pair of socks on their feet. That way they can stay out much longer because their hands and feet won't get cold and wet! It worked!! Dry hands and feet make for much longer playtime!

Ainslee looked like a little snow princess. She laughed and giggled and threw snow everywhere! She made lots and lots of snow angels. She didn't last quite as long as Layton would have, but she really had fun while we were out there!

Ava wanted nothing to do with the snow. Even while I was bundling them up, she told me she didn't want to go because it was too cold! I thought I could convince her once we got out there, but it was no use! I held her for a little while and then put her inside the play house where snow hadn't gotten. She lasted in there for a few mintues. Eventually, I just took her next door to my mom's house and she happily watched from the window!

Well now the sun is trying to poke through the clouds, and this year's snow will soon be gone! It was fun while it lasted, but spring is just around the corner! We can't wait for t-ball and Easter and day lasting until 8:00!!!

Did I really just talk about cows???

2010-02-07T20:34:00.003-06:00

We had a kid-less weekend this weekend, and it was great! I had big, big plans to get the house totally clean and organized and to throw a bunch of junk toys away while the kids couldn't see. None of that happened! Not even a little bit! In fact the basket of laundry sitting on the couch didn't even get folded! ha! Friday night we went to bed EARLY, like both-of-us-asleep-by-8:30 early! Saturday morning I got up and gave the ACT. That's an easy $100 right there!! Then I came home, sat down, tried to get motivated, and my mom called and asked if I wanted to go see Dear John so of course I said yes!! So, you see, I didn't have TIME to clean. I don't know how I thought I was going to get that much done anyway! I only actually had a few hours!

On a side note, Trey is watching the Super Bowl while I'm typing this, and he keeps making random comments to me about what's going on. I haven't responded yet, but I don't think he's noticed! He loves football! I do not!

Anyway back to my totally boring recap of the weekend...After I went to the movies with my mom, I met Trey at Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping. We were unsuccessful in that endeavor because neither of us could make a decision about what we wanted to eat. I was thinking pasta and sweet, romantic movie; he was thinking hamburgers and The Office reruns. Oh he knows how to romance me! ha! We ended up renting The Proposal, which was my 5th or 6th time to see it, but it was Trey's first. I told him he would laugh his head off, and I truly believed that he would, but for some reason he didn't. I guess he doesn't have an appreciation for Ryan Reynolds' antics like I do.

When we got home, we drove by our neighbor-down-the-road's house, and there were two cows in their yard. COWS! I could not believe that they had gotten cows! I mean we live in the country and are surrounded by pasture, but cows?? I texted her "Did you get cows???" She didn't write back, but as we pulled in our driveway, I noticed something very strange. WE had cows! Five of them! We stopped the car, and they started walking toward it! We had no idea what to do, but I knew I wasn't about to get charged by a bunch cows! Did I mention that a couple of them had horns??? Well, they did! They got a little sidetracked on the way to our car by some grass and crepe myrtles so we just sat there, watching them for a minute. Well then something even stranger than having cows in our yard happened. Apparently there's some signal to come home because the owner came out and started yelling and we heard a few gunshots and all the cows came running down the road! There were at least 10 of them plus a bull. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen! I just have to stop and wonder if the men of the old Texas cattle drives had known about that secret signal that made the cows run home, would they have had to have all the cowhands and cow dogs?? It could have been a one-man show! I teach Texas history so sometimes thoughts like that enter my head! Well on the cows' way back to their own yard, they managed to trip over our phone line (phone line isn't buried..I'm not sure why...I can't even come up with a guess!) so now we have no phone line, but this was the perfect excuse for discovering that my dad's wireless Internet reaches our house!

I can't imagine what someone reading this is thinking about where we live! Picture an old dirt road with pasture on one side and woods on the other. Now sprinkle in about 5 houses and evidently some cows, and you've just pictured my world!

I'm in the kitchen

2010-01-17T11:32:00.006-06:00

Do you remember when I posted this post about our favorite breakfast?? In that post I said that the "recipe" called for two cans of biscuits, but if you were a memaw, you could use homemade...remember?? Well I went all memaw on my family this weekend and made that fabulous Monkey Bread-ish breakfast using homemade biscuits! Well...if you consider Bisquick to be homemade, which I do because I didn't have to tear the wrapper off of a can and then beat the can on the side of my counter to make it pop.

I decided to make a full-all-out Monkey Bread instead of the modified muffin cup monkey bread simply because I got a Pampered Chef Fluted something or another for Christmas. It's a bundt pan I think. On a side note, my sister is now selling Pampered Chef and would love your business! Anyway so I wanted to try out my new fluted bundt pan, and I knew it would actually be a full recipe, meaning that it would take four cans of biscuits instead of just two. Well I didn't have four, but I did have a box of Bisquick. On the box it said that the recipe made nine biscuits so I doubled it...because I think that's what all other culinary geniuses would do. I just rolled that dough into little balls, dropped them in the cinnamon and sugar and then strategically placed them in the flute. Then I poured that buttery-brown sugar goodness all over it and let it bake. Now since I didn't have an actual recipe I didn't know how long to let it cook, and I was afraid that the middle biscuits wouldn't get done. But let me tell you that if I hadn't overcooked that monkey bread, it would have been DELICIOUS! The middle ones were cooked well so I could tell what it would have tasted like all over! It was addicting! The outside was a little hard. I think I'm going to have to experiment with this to get the perfect cooking time and then I'll share. I'm in a weight-loss challenge right now so I can't experiment TOO much, but I did buy the heart smart Bisquick for when I try it next time.

Did y'all know that there's pretty much a low-fat version to anything you want to eat?? I was reading something the other day that said when going low-fat to definitely buy the low-fat version for meat and dairy. I can't remember the exact rationale, but it just makes good sense. I also have discovered and fallen in love with Morning Star products. They are vegetable products that taste amazingly similar to your favorite high-fat meat products! They have substitutes for hamburger patties, ground beef, sausage, corny dogs. I'm sure there's more, but those things caught my eye. I've tried the hamburger patties and the veggie crumbles that you use instead of the ground beef, and I am SOLD! They're incredible!

I just realized that I did a lot of brand-dropping in this post. Here's where I'd like to pretend like I'm a famous blogger and just let you know that I have not been compensated by any of these brands. Have you seen where people put that in their blogs?? Crazy isn't it!?! That companies pay bloggers to promote their products! Like a whole new advertising strategy. Hey...whatever works, ya know??

Bring on the New Year!

2010-01-06T18:44:00.001-06:00

We had a small, last minute get-together for New Year's. Small if you only count the adults! There were also nine kids running high on sugar and excitement so that was like having about 45 people! Those 45 people seemed like they had a blast and were very well behaved considering that I don't think any request for food was turned down! I love having laid back friends with well-behaved kids!!

The night came about when Trey and I were consuming way too much fried fish and shrimp at the Old Feed House and we were talking about how much we missed having game night with friends. Our minds went back to our college years where we were never far from a night of Trivial Pursuit or Catch Phrase. So I said, "Why don't we just host one??" So I called up a couple of friends and lucky for us some of our besties didn't have plans yet so they brought their kids on over and we feasted on snack food and played games! We played Wits and Wagers, which is new to us, but apparently, I'm a natural since I won 2 out of 3 games! E! True Hollywood Story and Entertainment Tonight come in handy when playing trivia games, as if you need an excuse to watch the classics!

This was the first New Years since parenthood consumed me that I have even attempted to watch the ball drop! We made it through two of them! First we watched along with the New Yorkers at 11:00. I'm not sure what we did to kill time until our own midnight, but I'm pretty sure that it involved saying, "Get this mess cleaned up!" no fewer than 100 times since 8 of the 9 kids were still up and full of energy! Ava was even still going strong!

Well they got the mess cleaned up and we gathered around our small dinosaur of a TV and counted down. We all kissed our kids and probably reflected internally on how lucky we were to have them! Although, about a millisecond later the mass exodus began and everyone parted ways!

In the picture above are Richard and Joanna, Trey, me and Ava, my sister April (do you think we look alike? Some say we do!), and our friends Brian and Amie.

Chirstmas #4

2010-01-05T21:42:00.002-06:00

The day after Christmas we got together at my Aunt and Uncle's house. At this gathering, the adults get stocking stuffers and everyone buys a little bit for the kids. There's a $5 limit to the stocking stuffers so it's fun every year to see what creative thing everyone's come up with! This year I decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls for everyone! I used Pioneer Woman's recipe. It makes so many that there were a couple of small tins left for our family, and let me just say, they're the best homemade cinnamon rolls I've ever made. And I'm not just saying that because they're the only ones I've ever made. They really were good! I hope everyone else enjoyed them too!

Here's a picture of my aunt reading Twas the Night Before Christmas to all of the kids. Well all if you don't count Ainslee who was acting a little bit shy that day and insisted on sitting in my lap. You can see Ava and Layton right in the middle of things! And look how nicely Tyler is sitting! If that's not kindergarten training, I don't know what is!

And here are Tyler and Layton with their footie pajamas! Layton was so embarrassed when he first opened these up, he wouldn't even take them out of the box. Once he saw that older, cooler Tyler got some too, he was all about showing them off! He has asked to wear those every single night since then! Even after he dripped breakfast on them and they didn't get washed that day. Of course, I do have my limits and had to say no, but I did wash them the very next day so that he could start all over the process of wearing them way too many nights in a row!

Christmas #3

2010-01-05T21:25:00.003-06:00

OK so I'm almost done blogging about Christmas Extravaganza 2009! I can't quit without mentioning the fun time we had with Trey's parents on Christmas day. We spend Christmas lunch with them, and we have a traditional Christmas lunch and I make all the sides! Yeah you read that right! I make my Nanny's dressing, real mashed potatoes (we usually eat instant!), and some sort of vegetable. This year I made green bean bundles, and they turned out fabulous! Trey's aunt Barbara came with them this year! We had plenty of room around our brand new kitchen table that they got us for an early Christmas present!

For some reason I didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple of the girls opening their presents! If I had taken any pictures of Layton, you would see that he and Ava both stayed in their pajamas all day! Ainslee had to change into her new Hello Kitty shirt. Usually I try to stick to pajamas and underwear when it comes to character clothes (before I had kids I SWORE that they would never ever never wear any clothes with characters on them! Boy have I eaten those words time and again!), but when she said that she really hoped that Santa brought her a shirt with a cat on it, I thought it was clever to go with Hello Kitty instead of some awful feline like the one that was on WalMart's 4th of July shirts this past summer!

Here's Ainslee with her new jewelry box! She's so girly. She and Ava both got one from Trey's parents, but now, looking at this picture, I think they must have gotten swapped when we put them in their rooms. Oh well, they'll never know the difference...unless of course, years from now they look back at this picture and Ava wonders why Ainslee posed with her jewelry box!

3 Christmases down! 1 to go!

Christmas Morning

2009-12-31T10:15:00.001-06:00

Christmas morning means one thing!! Waking up early to open presents! This year was so much fun! It took the kids forever to go to sleep the night before because the wind was howling outside and they were so excited about Santa coming! Layton came running in our room at about 1:30 in the morning to tell us that Santa had been there and that he had brought a castle! We finally let Layton and Ainslee get up at about 6:00, but they could only look at the presents that weren't wrapped and go through their stockings. Ava's a girl after my own heart! She loves her sleep, even on Christmas morning!

Here's Layton in his school bus tent! As soon as Santa saw this on ebay, he knew it would be perfect for this little guy! Layton loves to play school bus, and there's plenty of room in there for his sisters to ride along!

Once Ava finally woke up, she was pounced on by the other two to look at her kitchen! She now has her very own kitchen and doesn't have to share Ainslee's!

And here's Ainslee in front of her baby care station! It has a high chair, crib, sink, and swing. It also came with a baby that is dressed in Disney princess clothes. The baby is so cute! She even has a little twinkle in her eyes!

Santa also had a few wrapped presents for the kiddos. Layton got a scooter and Transformer's helmet. Ainslee got a Disney princess CD player and baby that is about as big as she is! Ava got a new little baby and high chair/swing set. They loved going through their stockings that Santa packed with new socks and underwear. He gave Layton a big thing of gum and the girls necklaces. He even managed to find those green panties that Ainslee wanted!

Christmas Recap #1

2009-12-31T10:01:00.002-06:00

Christmas started for us on Christmas Eve at my mom's house. We had Christmas-y finger foods like sausage balls and little smokies!! Yum! Then it was time for the presents!!!!

Tyler, Layton, Ainslee, and Ava in front of the tree before we passed out presents! Don't they look so cute in their pajamas???

Ava was so funny! She had no concept of waiting her turn! She wanted to rip into all of her presents at once! Here she's excited about something, but I couldn't tell you what! She loved all of her presents!

Here's Ainslee opening her laptop that my mom got her! She loves playing with that thing! Ava had gotten one for her birthday in November, and Layton also got on for Christmas.

Here's Layton opening a yo-yo that my sister got him! He loves to pretend like he's Mr. Lusk doing tricks with it!

Learn from each other

2009-12-28T14:26:00.004-06:00

Raising kids that are only a year and a few months apart sometimes feels like I'm raising triplets! Sure there are some pluses.... like they're all on the same schedule! They go to bed at the same time, they eat at the same time, nap at the same time (BIG plus!), snack at the same time. They're interested in the same things so it's easy to buy toys that they'll all like! Sharing clothes is almost a reality! They like the same movies and enjoy the same restaurants!

There are a few draw backs though. For example, you'd think that by the time you got to toddlerhood with your third child, it would be old hat, but since the first two are still in it too, it's like we're still rookies! Plus we still have lingering questions, like when will they be able to completely go to the bathroom by themselves??? I mean ALL by themselves, clean up and all!?! When will they learn to pick up their toys without making us sound like a broken record that's stuck on "Get in there and clean up"..."Get in there and clean up"...."Get in there and clean up"... When will they realize that sleep is a good thing and not something to be dreaded???

One good thing is that they can learn from each other! They learn how to dress themselves by watching each other, they learn how to feed themselves, they learn how to work the DVD player...oh wait that's not a good thing because now all of our DVDs have fingerprints! The following conversation is an example of Ainslee trying to teach Ava the proper pronunciation to a word:

Ava: ook dere's yeh-yo. (Look there's yellow)
Ainslee: UGH
Ava: yeh-yo, yeh-yo, yeh-yo
Ainslee: UGH! Ava! It is not YEH-YO!!! It is LELL-O!!!!!

Okay so they can't learn EVERYTHING from each other! But sometimes it's fun listening to them try!!

Oops...I did it again..

2009-12-26T21:54:00.005-06:00

Okay...bad title I know! But look at me! I've gone forever between posts again! My plan with the subtitle was to go back and update on each kid, and I started with Layton because he was the easiest, starting Pre-K and all, but it just didn't happen! The only thing I for sure want to add is that Ava did turn 2 in this midst of my blog neglect! She's such a sweet little rascal...by far the most outgoing of my group and oh so friendly! She's also very mischievous and loves to aggravate her older siblings! We love you sweet Ava!!!

Christmas is now over, and let me just say that this has definitely been my favorite one so far! I say that every year though! The older the kids get, the more they remember from the year before so they more they're excited!! Our kids believe in Santa, and Christmas Eve as I was sitting in the living room waiting for them to fall asleep, I was reminded of how sweet it is when you believe in magic! They really believe, without question, in a man that knows everything about them, down to the color of panties they're hoping for in their stocking! (Green for Ainslee!~who knows why!?!) Well there may be no real Santa, but there is someone who knows everything about them, right down to the number of hairs on their heads...and they believe in Him too! Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us to become like a child. I've heard countless sermons on this topic over the years, and I wasn't even planning on going there with this post tonight, but don't you think if we all had faith like children, we'd worry about far fewer things?!? It's something to think about I guess. I was listening to one of my old Acapella CDs this morning in the car, and these lyrics kind of brought the same thought: When you're up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams, and your hopes have been cruelly crushed by Satan's manifesting schemes, and you feel the urge within yourself to submit to earthly fears, don't let the faith you're standing in seem to disappear, Praise the Lord....

I always like to turn the radio up really loud with that one and pretend like I can sing! ;-)

Okay...favorite presents for the kids: For Layton it would have to be one of his many buses! He got a bus tent, a large play bus, and several small buses, and he loves them all! For Ainslee it was definitely her baby doll center that has a crib, swing, high chair, and sink all hooked together, and for Ava I think it was either one of her babies or her Barney that Trey's parents gave her! That girl loves her some Barney!

It's hard to pick my favorite part about Christmas this year. Up real close to the top though, was Ainslee's face when we were passing out presents at my mom's house on Christmas Eve. We tried to get it on camera, but we really needed a video camera! Her eyes were big and wide and she kept moving her tongue from side to side like she was getting ready to really dive into all those presents! It was the funniest thing!!

Well I guess that's it for tonight! After watching Julie and Julia tonight I feel like I have the motivation to do this a little more often! Now let's just see if I can find the time! Good night!

Going WAYYY back...all the way to Pre-K

2009-11-11T08:45:00.003-06:00

Subtitled: Catch-up part 1

Well looking at my blog, it's been about 3 months since I last posted anything. I think that indicates one of two things: either that I've fallen off the face of the earth, or that I'm a teacher and in between school starting and coming home in the afternoons and feeding, bathing, playing with, reading to, and rocking the kids, there's just not much time to self-reflect or whatever this is that I do! Plus there are lots and lots of new TV shows on right now, most of which I fall asleep while watching, which is why I am totally in LOVE with our new DVR. I still can't remember to fast forward through the commercials, but I really, really love getting to watch the second half of Castle on Tuesdays instead of just having to wonder whodunnit!

Anyway, so I logged on this morning because I've taken a comp day that I earned from my CPR training this summer, only to find that someone has been leaving totally weird, anonymous comments on one of my posts! They're long and crazy and not even in English. It might be in wing-ding font, but I really think it's in another language. I dont' know how they get a font for another language, but whoever it is, stop it!

OK so what's been going on with us?? Layton started Pre-K back in August. He actually had to start a couple of weeks late so it was really September. He is in Ms. Blackstone's class and totally LOVES school. Being at school has really heightened his love of buses! I thought it was kind of cute last year, but this year it's a full-blown obsession. Every bus we see he wants to know which bus it is. I try to outsmart him and just tell him just some bus name, but it doesn't work. The other day I told him the bus was the parrot bus (our buses are named after animals..aren't everybody's??), but he very quickly and emphatically told me I was wrong with a "NUH-UHHH...the Parrot bus has a different front!!!" Buses have different fronts?? Who knew?? And apparently the Little Dragon bus doesn't make the chhhh sound like the Turtle bus does so I couldn't fool him there either! He gets to ride the bus over to the Middle School in the afternoons, which was nerve-racking for me, but awesome for him! I thought he would be scared, but he wasn't at all! Of course, the middle school is nothing if not the dog-capital of the world so getting him OFF the bus proved to be tricky in the beginning. I'm very happy to announce that, with the help of a very understanding mother who walked her dog to the school each afternoon to pick up her children, Layton can now get OFF the bus and walk all the way down the sidewalk to my room without me! If you're wondering how that sweet mom helped me, at first when I met him at the bus stop, she would just stand back and let me get Layton before she got her kids. Now that I don't meet him, I trust that she's still standing back and letting him go before walking herself.

One thing I've noticed since he started school is that I never, ever get the full story! Now I'm really worried about what my students went home and told their moms about ME! Lucky for me, my sister is a pre-k teacher too so I can call her up and get the rest of the story! Like when he was whining because he didn't get to go to recess "like AA's and Mrs. Pullen's class did." Here's how the conversation went:
Me: Well, why didn't you get to go outside?
Layton: I don't know
Me: Where did you go instead?
Layton: I just had to go in a another little room.
Me: Where was your teacher:
Layton: I don't know..I looked for her but she wasn't there so that girl just took us to the other room but Ms. Blackstone was not there!
Me: So did you go outside then?
Layton: No, we just had to watch a movie while the other classes played
So when I talked to my sister later I asked her to please explain because I knew there was some sort of logical explanation here, and of course there was! During PE, Layton's class had hearing/vision screening so the other classes played outside while they did that. They watched a movie while they waited for their turn!

I could go on and on, like when he got time-out at recess just for going down the slide the right way (He wasn't supposed to go down the slide at all! HELLO big mud puddle!) and how now anytime he mentions the nurse's office, he equates it with a fire drill just because when he went for his flu shot, that just happened to be the same time that they had a fire drill. Poor kid thinks it will always happen that way!

Well I believe I've rambled on and on enough. How does that happen when you start talking about your kids!?! Just wait! I'll give a catch-up post on Ainslee and Ava shortly! Feel free to skim right over unless you're their grandparent and then you're supposed to be truly fascinated at the wonders that are your grandchildren!

Our Darling Ainslee

2009-08-10T13:46:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe that our little Ainslee just celebrated her 3rd birthday. Trey and I consider ourselves truly blessed by her. We are two of the very, very few people who get to see the real Ainslee. For those people that only see the shy, timid side of her in public settings, you might be surprised to learn what she's really like.

She is very complex and has many different sides to her personality. I never imagined that a three-year-old little girl could be so dynamic. She's sweet and bubbly and has such a great sense of humor. She's very silly. Laughter rolls out of her. She loves to make others laugh. I love to see her with her guard down, enjoying her brother and sister. They play so well together. She's very nurturing. She has a good imagination and loves to pretend. She tells everyone their parts in her imaginary world. (You be the sister, and I'll be the mama; you be the brudder, and you be the daddy.) She's fiesty. She's stubborn; headstrong. She's unpredictable, and she keeps our lives interesting. She's comfortable at home and worries about the unknown. She asks a lot of questions. She's smart. She doesn't like dogs, but she says she likes cats, even though she's never liked a cat that she's seen in real life. She loves to sing, and she does it all the time! She wants to please. When she's in a bad mood, she likes for me to rock and her tell her that I love her. (and I love that she'll let me rock her and love on her!!) She doesn't like men in general, but she loves her daddy. She responds better to praise than punishment. She doesn't like to be without one of her siblings. She's a middle-child, not the baby, not the big kid, searching for her place. She loves all things girly. She wants to be a princess or a ballerina. She loves pink and glitter and loves showing off her earrings! She likes to feel fancy. She feels pretty in a dress and insists, much to my delight, in always having a bow! She loves shoes and jewelry. She's good at puzzles and loves to color. She's a picky eater, and loves to drink sweet tea and chocolate milk.

We love her so much. We love every side of her. Our prayer for her is that she knows that even though she's not the baby or the big kid, that she's right where she belongs, in the middle, right in the heart of our family. We pray that she'll love God, that when she's big enough she'll choose to follow Him, and that she'll lead others to Him.

Consider this your warning

2009-07-26T14:27:00.002-05:00

I hate WebMD. Ok hate's a strong word. I dislike WebMD and all of the self-diagnosing that can occur. For a hypochondriac like myself, websites like that can really ruin your day and your ability to sleep peacefully. However, they can also be like..how does Edward put it?...a drug to me. Totally addicting. Now there's this other website that I've discovered that you can type in your symptoms, putting and or or, and it spits out a whole list of possible diseases! For example, I learned that I could have malaria, really, malaria, all because I experience dizzy spells while I'm on my period. Of course it could also be anemia, chronic kidney disease, excessive dieting (yeah right!), the flu, or hemorrhagic thrombocythemia.

So I was on WebMD the other day, trying to decide if a certain skin issue was cause for seeing a doctor, or if I just needed to put a little hydrocortisone on it and forget about it. (Honestly, though, what self-diagnosed hypochondriac could forget about any ailment!?! We always see a doctor!) Well I learned that, of course, the issue could be life-threatening, even in rare instances, cancer, so I better go on and get it checked! So I made an appointment with a dermatologist and sweated the days until I actually could get in. I don't know why dermatologists can't give you same day appointments. Don't they know that the sooner cancer is diagnosed, the more likely you are to survive!?!

I decided that while I was seeing a dermatologist, I might as well go ahead and get a total skin check. I mean, look at Izzy, hers almost went undetected! Plus Khloe Kardashian gets total skin checks every 3-6 months! Now my real-life friends have varying levels of skin care. Some of my friends get checked every year, some tan during the summer, and one of my friends owns her own tanning bed and tans year round. My mind went back to my 7th grade year when Mr. Spears was showing us the stages of Melanoma. He told us about how fair skinned people are more likely to get skin cancer. I remember very clearly, him pointing all around the room, and saying, "One of you WILL get skin cancer." And my friend, John Knight, (that's right John, I haven't forgotten!) pointed at me and silently mouthed the word, "You." Please keep in mind that the reason I made my appointment in the first place had nothing to do with skin cancer. I didn't have a scary mole or weird freckle that I was concerned about. My problem was more along the lines of eczema, but you see how my mind works.

Anyway so I went to my appoinment totally convinced that my eczema was cancer and the skin screen was just precautionary. For those of you who have never had a skin screen before, it's really not as bad as it sounds. It's not like you're lying totally exposed for the entire nursing staff and waiting room to see. The doctor lets you hang on to some bits of your dignity as she looks at one little section and calls out every freckle and stretch mark (why did she have to point that out!?!) so that a nurse can record it on your chart. Then, there it is, the small, but ever-present gasp, something you do not want to hear from you doctor. "What about this freckle?" she asks. "Oh that's nothing," I tell her, "My OBGYN dismissed that one already as nothing scary." Then she tells me that she dis-a-grees with him. She what?? Disagrees with him?? So it is something scary????? Images flash through my mind of all the melanoma pictures I've seen; pictures of Grey's Anatomy and all of Izzy's suffering; even John, pointing at me, picking me out as the one who would eventually get skin cancer. I couldn't believe it. This is it! This is how I will die. I'm usually not so dramatic. I've only proclaimed that this is how I will die two other times; one when I was in labor with Ainslee and my epidural wasn't working, and I didn't think it was possible to live through that amount of pain, and two, a few weeks ago when I was flying to KC. I don't know why. I was just convinced I would die on that plane ride. See...hardly ever dramatic!

So I went home clinging to may last days, waiting for the phone call with the results of the pathology. In the back of my mind, I really do know when I'm being irrational, and I think that's how I got through those days until she called. I rationalized in my head that chances are the spot really was fine, just like I did when I rationalized that women make it through deliveries every day and planes take off and land safely every day. So I really didn't sit by my phone waiting, and I didn't say my last good-byes. But then the phone rang. It was my home phone, and the only people that call me on my home phone are my mom or the Texas Association of State Troopers. My mom was at work, and the troopers usually wait until dinner time to call and collect their $50 donation so they can send me my awesome decal for my car. Of couse, I've only given that donation one time because my friend's husband is a trooper, and I thought I'd help him out in case he needed a new uniform or gun or car or something, but then my friend told me not to donate to TAST because her husband is a member of a different organization. I answered the phone, and sure enough, it was Candie from Texarkana Dermatology with my pathology report. My heart was racing, my head was spinning. I sat down for the news. Then she said, "The spot is benign." In my state, all I could think was, "Benign? What does that mean??? Cancer? Not cancer? Cancer? Not cancer? Oh why do they have to use real medical jargon????" It reminded me of the time that I was on the phone with Ava's dermatologist, and she was explaining to me that Ava had Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and all I could think was, "Oh thank goodness it's not staph!" Hello! Anyone ever hear of MRSA staph?? The bad kind?? The kind that doesn't respond to antibiotics!?! Yep that was me, breathing easy. Her doctor probably thought I was some kind of an idiot, sounding relieved that my daughter only had Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Luckily, though, I was able to settle my mind and remember that benign means no cancer. Yippee! I'm free! Free from worry!! But then she gave me the rest of the news that the spot did have moderate to severe change in it, and while this time it wasn't cancer, I should consider it my warning! (dum, dum, dum, dummmmm)

So friends I say all that to say, that I would like very much if you would consider my warning, your warning also. Go get checked! Seriously it doesn't take long, and it's not nearly as embarrassing as you might think. If you don't have a dermatologist in the Texarkana area, Antoinette at Dr. Parham's office is wonderful, Dr. Gaylor at Collom & Carney is great (but she's on maternity leave until September), and Dr Young with Dermatology Associates is also top-notch, if you feel more comfortable with a man looking you over. Call, make an appointment, get it done!

Our favorite breakfast

2009-07-13T13:37:00.005-05:00

This is my first attempt to do a recipe with pictures on my blog! Lots of other bloggers do it, and it's a real treat to see how theirs turn out. Like this pizza recipe that I told my sister we have to totally try out on our next girls' night! I could totally see us sitting on her couch, watching a sappy romantic comedy, eating this pizza, and drinking a glass of wine, except of course that we don't drink wine, but sweet tea just doesn't sound as sophisticated. Let me apologize in advance because I am 1) not a good picture-taker and 2) not a good cook! So why on earth would I risk the shame of the ~~whole world~~ few people that read my blog seeing my lack of skillz?? (That's right! With a Z...because I'm cool like that!) Because it's good I tell you! This is a good breakfast and your kids will totally eat it up! I'm sorry for those who are watching their waistlines! This one's not for you!

So here are the ingredients. You'll need 2 cans of biscuits (I guess if you're someone's memaw, you can make the buiscuits from scratch. Just be sure you make about 2 cans worth), 1 cup of white sugar, cinnamon to taste, 1 stick of margarine, 1 cup of packed brown sugar.

First, combine 1 stick of margarine with 1 cup of packed brown sugar over medium heat.

While that's cooking, combine 1 cup of white sugar and cinnamon in a gallon-size ziploc (brand not important) bag.

Next quarter your buiscuits one can at a time and drop them in the ziploc bag with sugar and cinnamon. Shake to coat and put the quarters in a greased muffin pan. (2 cans will make 12 muffin-sized whatever these are)

Then spoon your melted margarine/brown sugar mixture over each muffin cup and bake at 400 degrees for 10-13 minutes.

While that's cooking you can start the icing! No exact measurements here, but you'll need some powdered sugar (or for those who are food network-savvy, confectioners sugar), milk, margarine, and vanilla. I am very picky about my vanilla, and I have found Adam's best to taste, that's right, the best!

I'm too lazy to stir so I put it all in my milkshake maker and blend it. If I were to measure it, I would guess that I probably use about 1 cup of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), a few tablespoons of milk, a tablespoon of vanilla (I heart vanilla!), and a tablespoon of softened margarine. I just blend it all, and alternate adding more sugar, more milk, and more vanilla until it tastes like I want it to taste, is the right consistency, and there's enough! I suppose to you could water (milk) down some store-bought icing, but I've never tried that.

This is what your baked whatever these are called will look like.

Now, line a cookie sheet or sturdy flat surface with wax paper. Cover the muffin pan and very carefully flip it, so that the ooey gooey can run down! Yum!

Wal-lah!

Add your icing, and serve it up!

4th of July and maybe some other stuff...

2009-07-10T08:26:00.006-05:00

Obviously I titled this post before I actually wrote it so who knows what will come out!

We'll start with the 4th of July. Our fourth of July started way to early in the morning. I got up at 3 AM so that Sara, Shanda, and I could go see our friend Suzanne get married!!! (None of us liked this picture of ourselves, but obviously I am the only one that can truly complain!) The four of us were so close in high school, and we all went to UCA together! Suzanne and I were roomates our freshman and sophomore years! (Then I got married our junior year so Trey was my roomate!) Suzanne married a really nice guy named Tad, and now they're moving to Philadelphia. She just received her PhD in speech pathology! (and here I am reciting the "i before e except after c" so that I could spell received correctly...no I do not feel inferior in the least!) I loved Suzanne's wedding! It was so sweet and so personal. They had a unity candle. Tad's parents lit his side, and Suzanne's brother and sister lit her side. Suzanne's mom passed away our freshman year of college, and her dad was in the hospital and couldn't be there. They had a web cam set up though so he could watch, and they could see him too. *Suzanne's dad passed away this week. Our prayers are with you Suzanne, Eric, and Lauren.* There was a break between her 2:00 wedding and her 5:30 reception. We just went back to the hotel and crashed, because remember we had gotten up at 3 AM!!!! The reception was so much fun! They had a full dinner and dancing. One of the dances they had was the married couples dance. All the married couples got on the dance floor, and the DJ would call off a year and if you had been married longer than that year, you stayed on the floor. The last couple was this little old couple that had been married over 65 years. Shanda, Sara and I have all been married 8 years to our husbands, but we didn't get to show that off. :-( At 9:45 the city fireworks started and there was a perfect view from her venue. We didn't stay for the whole thing because Sara and I were feeling a little doomsdayish and couldn't get the thought of the balcony collapsing out of our heads. The photographer took a picture of the four of us before we left so I'll post that after Suzanne sends it to me. The next morning our flight out wasn't until 10:00 so we were able to sleep in until 6:00. Did I mention that our rental car was a Hundai?? That little go-cart/lawn mower (that's how it felt anyway) got like 40 or 45 miles per gallon!! We went 240 miles in it and only had to put $10.00 gas in!! We have got to get one of those! We made it home around 5:00 in the evening and I was so happy to see my sweet family! They had spent the weekend in Little Rock at Gram and Pawpaw's. I hear they had a wonderful time swimming at Aunt Kathy's and playing outside!

A few weeks ago we got the girls' ears pierced!! Ava had been called a boy one too many times! In WalMart that morning a lady said, "Well hi little man." I couldn't take it anymore! That afternoon I took both of them to Claire's and had it done. We had been going back and forth for a while; Ainslee asked for earrings a few times, and we kind of skirted around the issue. She did really well! She sat so still and didn't act the least bit scared until they put the marks on her ears. She only cried for a second and stopped when they gave her a mirror and sucker! She LOVES showing off her pink daisy earrings! Ava didn't do quite so well! I had to hold her down while she squirmed and tried to throw herself out of my arms. The passers-by gave us some pretty dirty looks, and an old couple sitting in front of the cookie place shook their heads at me! They finally got it done, and she has been so good at home letting me clean them!

Every now and then we'll hear some blasting from Red River Army Depot. ~~Urban~~ Rural legend is that they're detonating unused missiles or bombs or something like that. We've always called it a sonic boom or "blasting at the plant." This morning they've been blasting quite a bit, and Layton got a little scared because it can be pretty loud and usually shakes the house. This was his explanation to Ainslee: "It's just a man that has hiccups and he's jumping up and down to make them stop. It's nothing to be scared of, Ainslee." Now I, for one, find that a little more scary than "blasting at the plant." He also said the booms were yellow...or maybe orange.

The other day I was shopping. I've had my eye on this comforter set for a while. I really want new bedding in our room! It was originally set for like $150, and I noticed not long ago that it had been marked down again to $85. Well, I turned the corner, and there it was on the end of an aisle with a big red sticker on it loudly proclaiming, $50!! $50 for the bedding that I've been wanting that was orginally $150!! Can you believe such luck??? I texted Trey! (He didn't answer me.. for some reason he didn't share my enthusiasm.) Now the problem was that I haven't been putting back for that, and I didn't have any money allocated to new bedding. (i.e. Dave Ramsey budget). So I paced in front of it a few times...and counted how many they had left (5). I knew they wouldn't last for long. I knew I couldn't just cover from other places because we've already had a couple of unexpected expenses that I've had to pull to cover. The thought did cross my mind that we do have that $1000 emergency fund still in the bank. I could pay for the bedding with that and next month replace the money in the emergency fund. Sure, new bedding isn't quite an emergency, but the fact that I know next month when I do have the money, there won't be any bedding sets left does put a little added hurry-up pressure on me. So what did I do??? I held my head up high and kept walking! Next month I will start an envelope for new bedding, and when I have enough saved up, I will find something else that I like just as much. Who knows! Maybe that bedding set will still be online somewhere!

Blog Hop

2009-07-07T07:51:00.004-05:00

Today is Blog Hop Day!!! And this week's theme is Favorte Photograph.

This picture is Layton, 2 1/2, the day that Ava was born. When I was pregnant with her, we would tell him that I had a baby in my tummy, and he would say that he had a puppy in his tummy! When Layton and Ainslee came to see her for the first time, we had gifts for them from her. Ainslee's was a new baby doll, and Layton's was this puppy. He loved that puppy! Layton was really into the Wiggles at that time, so he named it Wags. He took it everywhere, including the hospital at his last asthma-related hospital stay. He held on to it the whole time so that he wouldn't be scared, but somehow it got left behind when we left. He was so sad when we got home and realized it wasn't with us. The hospital couldn't find it either. I can't imagine what happened to the puppy. We tried to replace it, but there weren't any more. We bought it at Cracker Barrell. Now, every time we go to a Cracker Barrell I look in their stuffed animals to see if there is one. No luck yet, but we'll keep looking!!

Now I lay me down to sleep

2009-06-27T20:31:00.002-05:00

I wish I could bottle up our night time prayers and keep them forever. I hope that when they're 24, 22, and 21 that I can still hear their sweet voices as they talk to God. Layton has outgrown the traditional "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer that we taught him when he was a baby. Here's how his goes (This is what he said tonight; each night is similar but not verbatim.)

Dear God...thank you for all the people that go to church that we get to meet. Thank you that Mama's going on a air plane. Keep her saved (safe) and bring her back home. Thank you that we get to go to Gram and Pawpaw's house. Please keep us safe so we can come home and hug and kiss and love each other. Amen.

Then it's Ainslee's turn.

Now I lay me down to sleep and pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning light. Dear God, thank you for my hair cut stuff. Amen.

Because evidentally her play haircut set is very important to her. Sometimes she says thank you for her ponies too.

Then we all say the Now I lay me down to sleep prayer for Ava. I wonder what she'll tell God thank you for when she's bigger.

Trey and I also pray outloud before the kids go to sleep. I always let them hear me tell God that I'm thankful for them and for Trey. Trey usually mentions something that's happened that day or something that's coming up.

I love that time in our night. I love that they're learning to tell God thank you for the things that they have and that they're learning to talk to Him about things that are one their minds.

Pictures

2009-06-19T09:20:00.003-05:00

We had pictures made last month for Mother's Day gifts for my mom, mother-in-law, and sister. Maegan Grant of Tatertots Photography took them, and she did a great job! I am having such a hard time deciding which pictures to buy. Click on over and see the slide show! (If you're on my facebook, this is the same link I already put over there!)

Lessons learned

2009-06-18T13:08:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look at your kids with such pride that you can barely hold back the tears? Okay...I know, I know that sounds very dramatic. I think since becoming a mom the tears come a lot more easily than they used to (although I've always been a pretty emotional person). My dad used to tell me that I wore my feelings on my sleeves. Sometimes when I'm at a program at school I even get a little knot in my throat because I think that one day my kids will be doing that, and already I feel so proud. That is extreme...maybe I should consider some sort of emotion-supressing medication. Anyway...

Today the kids were picking up their toys before lunch. We have a rule this summer that all toys have to be picked up before lunch is served. Layton and Ainslee are both big enough to pick up their toys without help, and mean ol' me also makes them pick up most of Ava's toys too. She puts a few up, but she's not quite at the point where she can be responsible for all of her toys. There was only one toy left: the US puzzle that Ainslee had gotten down. Now usually I do not have the rule that you put up what you get out because sometimes it's just impractical. But today it just happened that I assigned Ainslee the task of putting up that puzzle. She, in all her 2 year old glory and stubborness, decided she would not. Fine. She's not invited to the table. We sit down to eat while she sits on the floor, and you would have thought she hadn't eaten in DAYS! She screamed and cried and kicked and wailed, and at one point she even threw the puzzle and its pieces. She was screaming, "I WANT TO EAT!!!!" I, surprisingly calm (surprisingly because you know how toddler tantrums can get your blood pumping!), told her that I wanted her to eat too but that she had to pick up that puzzle first.

Layton has a tender heart. He watched her, with his plate of food in front of him and tears starting to come to his eyes. Then he looked at me and said, "Mama, can I put the puzzle up for her?" I looked at Trey, and we were both thinking the same thing: How can we not let him? Sure, that won't help Ainslee learn that she has to put her toys up, but isn't kindess such a more important lesson? He got down and told her that she could go eat because he would put the puzzle up. She told him thank you and got in her seat and started to eat (actually she started to complain about the food that was on her plate, but I don't want to mention that because it just doesn't fit well with the story...maybe it does because sometimes aren't we ungrateful even though someone's doing something nice for us?).

I thought about what he was doing and the lesson that I hope he and Ainslee learned from it. It was such a simple act but still so meaningful to me. I hope they learned that sometimes you give, not because someone deserves to receive and not because we expect something in return and not because they're going to say thank you over and over and be so appreciative. You just give. You help even though it means that your food won't be as warm. You just do it.

I think Trey and I took something away too. I couldn't help but think about all that God has done for me, certainly not because I deserve any of it! He gives and blesses and there's not a thing in the world that we can do to repay him; it's all already His. It also made me think about how I can treat other people. I can give and show kindness, even when someone is kicking and screaming or complaining and being ungrateful. I can still be kind because what better way is there to show God's love?

It's summer!!!!!!

2009-06-10T13:26:00.002-05:00

Woohoo!!! It's summer!!! School's out! It's hot! The A/C runs non-stop, and I am loving every minute of it! We are off to a great start! Last year I told myself over and over and over that last summer would definitely be the hardest one! Ava was still taking a morning nap and Layton's and Ainslee's schedules weren't quite in sync. There was never a minute in the day when they were all asleep. They were all very, very needy and drained more out of me than I thought I had to give. But man, oh man, this year has been great so far. They play all morning, eat lunch, lay down for naps at the same time, wake up, have a snack and play some more! I'm trying not to worry about how I'll get in the important stuff like housework and TV. That kind of stuff can wait until the weekends or until the kids are old enough to clean the house themselves while I sit back, turn the TV on, and read a book during the commercials. Y'all don't mind if my house is a little messy or if my clothes aren't perfectly ironed, right??

OK so what have we been doing with ourselves since school is out and Mommy doesn't have to go to work??? Well this week is vacation bible school at church. Layton LOVES it...Ainslee...not so much. She must like it a little, though, because they came home and set up all the chairs and put on a puppet show and play "bacation bible school". We have big plans to do LOTS of bowling since a bowling alley in town offers two free games every day per child. Can't beat free! On Saturdays, I am planning on taking them to storytime at Books-a-Million. Other than that, we dont' have a lot planned! Just the normal, play outside, watch out for snakes, run through the sprinklers, lazy kind of days.

I'm hoping to fit in some scrapbooking too. I still have a gift certificate to the scrapbooking store that I need to redeem. When Trey works weekends, he'll have a day off during the week so I think those days will be perfect for me to hide out and work on my scrapbooks. I am pretty far behind. I have about 4 pages of 2005 done, and that's about all I've had time for since having kids!

I also like to plan the kids birthday parties in advance. Ainslee's birthday is August 3. I am planning an evening party on that day (it's a Monday) complete with a wading pool, a slip & slide, sand area, and maybe sponge throw. I think we'll serve hot dogs since that's around dinner time. I bought sand pails to give as party favors that they can use in the sand area. Do y'all have any other ideas? Games? Cake? I was thinking about either doing floats, an ice cream cake, or sundaes. I am going to start on the invitations this week.

My two friends and I are leaving the kids and husbands at home and going to Kansas City to see our good friend, Suzanne, get married. It's July 4 weekend. We'll fly out of Dallas Saturday morning and fly back in Sunday morning. It's going to be a quick trip, but we're looking forward to the time away. I'm a little nervous about flying. I've flown several times before, but I usually take enough Dramamine that I sleep for the whole flight. Since I need to be fairly coherent not long after landing, I don't know if that will be an option. I keep trying to think of friends that have flown recently (like ever!) and have made it there and back safe and sound. That makes me feel better when I hear success stories, ya know?

The Shred...Cute kids...Prayer request

2009-06-01T20:58:00.004-05:00

So I ordered the Shred...Ever heard of it?? No?? Well obviously you're new to the blog-o-sphere because every person whose blog I read that I don't actually know in real life (did you know people read people's blog that they don't even know! Do I have any readers that I don't know??? Probably not!) Anyway...Where was I? Oh yeah...The Shred...Everybody whose blog I read is talking about the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. It all started when I read this post a while a back on Big Mama's blog and read the post that she hyperlinked and decided that I needed to give that bad boy a try. So yesterday (a good month later) I ordered it off of a reputable website and paid for it with paypal just to be safe so that I don't relive the horrible 2daydietwholesaler.com debacle! (No! I still have not gotten my stinkin' diet pills!) So in the next week or so I expect to be shredding these pounds right off! Wish me luck!

Does anyone else think that their own kids are so stinking cute??? Oh my gosh! I just think I have the cutest kids EVER! Let me gush for just a moment! Layton, my darling, tender-hearted, Layton, upon hearing that we weren't going to church a couple of Sundays ago because the girls were sick and Daddy was having to go to work, got a little teary-eyed. He wiped his eyes and said, "I'm not going to cry; I don't know why my eyes are getting all wet." Bless his heart! He tries to be such a big boy! And did y'all know that he's fast??? Oh my word! That boy can run! I think we may put him in soccer just because he can run so fast! (Oh and Jason Rankin...if you're reading this....be sure to give Trey a super hard time about that!!!) And Ainslee has this cute little habit, when she's in an agreeable mood to answer everything with a simple, "Sure." It's very quick and a little high-pitched. "Ainslee, will you take Ava her cup?" Sure! lol...maybe you have to be there! Her life is a musical, usually to the tune of the Wonder Pets. She was...ahem..on the potty the other day singing, "There's Mama...in the mirror...I see Ava..." She's sings ALL the time! Speaking of Ava....she's gotten the cutest little personality. The other night she was making these dramatic, surprised faces where her mouth in a perfect oval and her eyes wide with shock. She expects you to mimic her face, and if you look away for a second, she gently grabs your chin to move your face back to hers and says, "Hey, hey." I was dying laughing. Every time I would look away, she would do it again! It was so funny...We should have videoed it! If you ever want to distract her from anything, all you have to do is say, "Want to go get some shoes???" Works like a charm! That girl loves shoes!

Oh we go back to Dallas next week for Layton's check-up with his asthma/allergy doctor! He's doing very well lately, but with t-ball, we're having to do more breathing treatments than we were before. I am thinking that the doctor may leave him where he is, medicinally speaking. (I didn't actually think that was a word, but speck checker didn't catch it!) I just hope he doesn't up his meds again. That stuff is expensive, and there's not a lot of generics! Say a little prayer for that, if you don't mind!

My thoughts on potty training...

2009-05-17T07:36:00.002-05:00

Let me first start this post by saying that I have absolutely no authority over potty-training rules, and I have no scientific evidence to back what I'm saying here. But I do have two potty-trained toddlers, and I have lots of friends with toddlers, some of whom have asked my advice, plus I have a 3rd child coming up in need of potty-training. So, if nothing else, I type this to refresh my own memory!

I consider a child potty-trained when they can wear panties/underwear in public. But how do we get to that point? Here are the phases as I have seen them.

Phase one--Are they ready?
During this phase, your diaper wearing baby will start to let you know when they need a new diaper. They may insist on being clean at all times, and they may even go to a private place in the house to hide while they use the bathroom in their diaper. Oh yes, my friend, they are ready to be potty-trained!

Phase two--Panties in the house
Pick a week or two when you can spend almost every waking hour at home. I know, I know it sounds impossible, but it's really not. This is to give your little darling as much panty/underwear time as possible. Stock up on all your favorite floor cleaners; you'll need them the first couple of days especially. On the first morning, if they wake up dry, have them sit on the potty to use the bathroom. It may take a while, and they may refuse to sit as long as it takes. If they do not use the bathroom in the potty, put their panties on them and retry every 10-15 minutes until they either use the bathroom in their panties or the potty. Either way they'll feel the sensation. For the next few days, focus on the potty. You know from changing their diaper regularly about how long they go between tee-tees so about 10 minutes before it would be time for a diaper change, have them sit on the potty. If they are truly potty-training ready, it won't take them long to figure out the feeling before the pottying, and they'll be getting to the potty in time with few accidents. It's important to remember that during this phase they are learning to know when to use the potty, but they may still not know how to hold it until they can get to the potty so accidents will still occur. When you do have to go out in public during this phase, strap on the diaper or a pull-up and hit the road. (Trips to town are the only time I suggest pull-ups!) If they tell you they need to use the bathroom while you're out, pull in to the first convenient store, bank, grocery store, friend's house, whatever and let them go.

Phase three--Panties in public
This phase comes on gradually. You'll be hopping along in the latter stages of phase one, where they're making it to the potty almost every time, but you're still not sure about car trips because you can't always guarantee that you'll be able to stop so they're still in their diapers or pull-ups, and then it will happen. You'll be driving to Wal-Mart; they'll tell you they need to use the bathroom. You'll say, "Oh honey, there's nowhere for Mama to stop. It's okay. Go ahead and use the bathroom in your pull-up." You'll cycle this conversation over and over again until you reach your destination, and there you'll realize that they haven't used their pull-up. You'll run in to the store, hold them over the cleanest toilet, and they'll let it flow. They've held it! Wow! They're such big kids! A few more times like this, and you'll get brave enough to pack an extra outfit and let them ride to town in panties! Eventually you'll forget the extra outfit because you never use it, and wall-lah they're potty-trained!

Keep in mind that during this phase they may still have night-time accidents and may still need overnight pull-ups or diapers.

Phase four: Panties at night
This is the long awaited phase, where you can stop buying diapers and pull-ups altogether. They're wearing panties, or underwear, at home all the time, you never even consider not letting them wear panties or underwear in public, but those night times still make you nervous. They still wake up wet every now and then, so you don't want to risk them wetting the bed. Eventually, though, you'll realize that it's been a long time since they've woken up wet. You may have even made it through an entire package of pull-ups, and you'll think, "Good grief, what a waste of money!" If you're like us, you'll buy one more package, for just in case, but you'll go ahead and let them wear panties while they sleep. You'll freak out if they ask for a drink before bed, and you'll make them use the bathroom and really empty that bladder before they go to sleep. And in the morning, they'll wake up dry! And the next morning, they'll wake up dry, and the next morning they'll wake up dry! Whew! The potty training is done!

Keep in mind that children get to these phases at different ages and will spend different amounts of time in each phase. For example, our son was potty-trained at 22 months, but now at four years old, he still sleeps in a pull-up. Our daughter was potty trained at 18 months, and now at 2 1/2, she sleeps in panties and never has an accident. My now 18 month daughter is in phase one. We're not convinced that she's ready for phase two just yet.

Don't try to push them to or through the phases. You'll only frustrate yourself. Go with the flow, poor pun intended! Happy pottying!

Not Me! Monday

2009-05-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

As for me, here's what I have not been doing!

*I have not rocked my Ferberized 18 month old to sleep the last..umm..3 or 4 nights because she's teething, and I can't bare to hear her cry when I think she might be in some sort of pain!

*I did not bring my grade book and lesson plans home to do over the weekend, only to take them back to work this morning and do them very quickly while 1st period took a test!

*I did not substitute a can of chili for taco meat in a recipe tonight because I was afraid our hamburger meat might not have withstood Saturday's power outage! (by the way, if you ever do think that you can substitute a can of chili for taco meat in a recipe, you would be mistaken!)

*We did not take McDonald's in to Red Lobster yesterday simply to avoid paying out the rear for food my kids won't eat anyway!!

*I did not just use the expression "out the rear!"

*I did not feel just the tiniest bit nostalgic today while looking at videos that we took just a year ago of our kids who have grown up so much in that little bitty year! Where does the time go?

Show of homes

2009-05-08T17:10:00.005-05:00

I have fallen in love with this blog so I thought I would participate in her show of homes! (Even though mine is really nothing to show!)

We'll begin with an overview of the living room as looking from the kitchen. Pardon the four year and one year old making their city. I have the furniture so spread out to allow for lots of play room for our three tots.

This is a bookshelf that my sister had in her house when she was single. I love it! It's so big. On top the picture in the middle (that should be hanging) was given to us by our young married group as a going away present when we moved from Conway to Texarkana like 6 years ago!

This chair my mother-in-law gave me after I found out I was pregnant with my second child, Ainslee. I love it! The pictures on the wall are some of my favorites too. They are each of the kids when they were exactly one month old. They're in almost the same position with almost the same background!

This is our end table with one of our nebulizers. I should have turned that picture around because it's one of my favorites. It's of Layton kissing Ainslee's forehead when she was just a few weeks old, and he was about 18 months old.

This is probably my least favorite part of my living room. I'm a horrible decorator, and it shows right here!

This is one of my favorite things. I wanted a chest like this the whole time I was living single, and my parents got it for me when I graduated from college. It was made in 1880. It used to be more of a focal point in our living room, back when I had a focal point and decorations. Now it's tucked to the side and is holding the second nebulizer. The mirror I also love for some reason. My mom bought it at a garage sale when I was like in middle school, and I put it in our house when Trey and I first go married.

Ainslee, the little mother

2009-05-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

Based on these two pictures and Ainslee's play habits, I truly believe she will either run a day care, a foster home, or give birth to may children!

Here she is ready to accomodate six babies. Notice how she's watching over them as they sleep. She does this all time! She'll usually tell us to be quiet so the babies can sleep!

This picture was back in December! She has a double stroller, and Ava is pushing the single stroller. Sometimes Ainslee will get the double stroller and have the grocery cart beside her and will tell Ava to push the single stroller! She's going to be a great mom!

Easter morning

2009-05-07T16:25:00.004-05:00

I know..I know..Easter was like a month ago, but I haven't posted pictures of them in their cute, coordinated Easter outfits!! Layton's shorts and Ava's outfit were actually from last year (Ava wore Ainslee's from last year). I found Ainslee's on Ebay and bought Layton a new shirt to go with the shorts, and my sister made their bows!

A few pictures...

2009-05-07T16:23:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've posted some pictures on here so ....

Here are the kids before Layton's first t-ball game. Ainslee's and Ava's shirts have Layton's number and say "sister" on the back!

This was a cute sister moment I couldn't help but capture! Ainslee told Ava to sit in her lap!

Then Ainslee moved over to the chair, and Ava followed!

This was on a Saturday, and the kids were in Ainslee's room playing. When I walked in, I asked them what they were doing, and Layton replied, "We're pretending that we're watching TV." Something just doesn't seem right about that! =)

Not Me Monday...

2009-05-04T17:19:00.003-05:00

Let me just say that I LOVE Not Me! Monday on McMama's blog! I love reading everybody's posts and laughing at what everybody certainly did not do this week! So here goes...

*I am not posting this in a last minute effort to win a prize!

*I did not try to check all my favorite blogs at work today, knowing that blogs are blocked, just because I was having blog withdrawals! I only work at work!

*I have not read the online verson of the rough draft of Midnight Sun twice because I was having Twilight withdrawals! Isn't Twilight just for teenage girls???

*I did not go crazy, thinking that maybe, just maybe I might be pregnant with my fourth child, even though I had my tubes tied 18 months ago! And I certainly did not have my facebook, twitter, and myspace status change already in my head! Luckily I will definitely NOT (seriously not!!!) have to use that status change! (Does everyone get that that particular not is not part of Not Me! Monday???? I'm not pregnant, people! Lay off!)

*I did not use the word chillax this week! That's definitely only for the teenagers!!

*And I did not tell my two year old to wait just a minute to use the bathroom so that I could finish this post, and I did not snap at my husband for his impatience while I type!

UPDATE

2009-04-20T17:18:00.002-05:00

Well thank you all so much for praying for me! We had a very good weekend! We made it to the store, I budgeted for the month, my sister and I got a lot done, not one tear was shed while my in-laws were here, and Ava's lip looks remarkably better!! I wish I had a picture to show y'all! Church was still a little rocky. Ainslee & Ava cried so much that their teachers called us to come stay with them in their classes. We'll keep working on that one! ;-)

Thanks again for the prayers!!!

I'm stressed...

2009-04-17T16:27:00.002-05:00

and feeling completely overwhelmed right now! But I just took some of the wonderful herbal stress pills that Joanna gave me and said a very specific prayer so I am feeling better. If you would like to pray for my stress level here are some specifics you might want to mention:
*that we can make it to the grocery store tonight (all 5 of us) in the pouring down rain
*that I can get the budget budgeted tonight
*that the kids will have some great quality time tomorrow with my in-laws instead of displaying their separation anxiety that has come on rather suddenly
*that I will be able to help my sister get a lot done at her house tomorrow
*that Ava's lip will heal already
*that we can go to church Sunday without kids crying in their classes (see...separation anxiety)
*also thank you to God that we have a grocery store, money to budget, kids that love us so much they don't want to be apart from us, 2 sets of grandparents that love our kids, my sister & her new house, doctors and medications to treat Ava's lip, freedom of religion, and wonderful congregations in town!

Easter Bunny & Oreo Balls

2009-04-11T20:53:00.003-05:00

I am so excited that the Easter bunny is coming to our house tonight!!! Does the Easter bunny (wink, wink) come to yours??? Our kids are getting candy (no chocolate), sunglasses, & umberellas. The bunny doesn't bring big gifts to our house; he brings small things that they've been wanting for a while that I really don't buy in our every day outings. What are your kids getting?

I'm also in the middle of making some fabulous oreo balls! I can't wait to rip into those bad boys! I have never actually made anything with almond bark before, and I'm not really enjoying waiting for it to melt on the stove. I should probably be stirring it right now since the package says in all caps DO NOT OVERHEAT!

More on the lip...

2009-04-11T14:35:00.003-05:00

Well Monday did roll around, and it still hadn't shown much improvement so I called the dermatologist again, and she was able to get us in that morning. (Can you say, "Wow!" Who ever heard of a same-day dermatologist appt???) She was not at all happy, although very professional, that the pediatrician had taken her off of her orginally-prescribed medicine in exchange for, what we learned, was actually a less-effective medicine! (And you remember how much it cost right???) So $90 worth of medicine got thrown in the trash, and we refilled the meds that Ava was originally on. We're on another 2 week round with another appt scheduled for April 23rd. I gotta say, though, it seems with this bug it's two steps forward, one step back. It, again, started to show real improvement, and then she woke up this morning with it oozing again. I think it must really itch her in the night, and she rubs it on her sheets. Who can blame her? But how can we stop her???

Update on Ava's lip

2009-04-04T20:49:00.002-05:00

After I posted about Ava's lip, it continued to not improve. It really didn't get any worse, but still, it showed no improvement. She continued to bleed at night and seemed to be in pain. On Monday after posting, I decided that I didn't want to wait until the following week to have her seen by her regular dermatologist. I called her pediatrician, and his nurse was very kind and got us an appointment for that very day for a dermatologist within their clinic. That doctor was wonderful, and in fact, we may switch because I liked her so well.

Anyway the lip...she preliminarily diagnosed her with impetigo and gave us an antibiotic and cream but still took a culture and said she would call us if it came back as something other than impetigo. Well she (not the nurse the actual doctor!) called our house phone 3 times Thursday. It was too late to talk to her by the time that I got home Thursday evening from work, but I was able to leave my work phone number with her nurse. Friday, she called me at work (I still can't believe the doctor called me herself! That makes me think a lot of her!) and told me that it was not impetigo, that it was actually MRSA. Well the only thing I knew about MRSA was that it had been all over the news a while back and that people had died from it. So naturally, my heart started racing and I was getting out of breath, but still trying to listen to everything she was trying to tell me about caring for the "super bug." Her lip had already begun to heal and looked tons better by then so she felt like we were on the right track, and continued the same treatment, only adding a topical antibiotic to the oral antibiotic and topical ointment we already had.

That night, after spending the afternoon googling (in between teaching of course) MRSA and now knowing just how contagious it is, I checked over my other two children, and to my dismay, found a spot on Ainslee's bottom that also looked like the dreaded staph. I took her directly to our urgent care clinic, where they confirmed my suspicions, and thanks to Walgreens (you know how I love my Target pharmacy, but they close at 9:00) we were able to get her on an antibiotic that night as well.

Then Wednesday when we picked the kids up from the babysitters, we noticed that Ava's face was starting to look infected again. It was looking so good! Pretty much healed. I don't know why the change of events, but through my reading, I learned that this strand of staph adapts rapidly and can become worse fast. We knew we needed to get her seen again. Well evidently dermatologists take off more than pediatricians so we weren't able to get her back into see the new doctor, but we were able to get her into a pediatrician (not our regular one but who cares) and she prescribed yet another antibiotic ($45 medicine!) and another cream (another $45 medicine). It's looking some better, but we're not blown away by the progress. I figure I will call the dermatologist again on Monday if things haven't improved.

Ainslee, on the other hand, is looking great. She has a persistent eczema spot on her bottom that she scratches a lot. I guess she came into contact with Ava's MRSA, got it under her fingernails, and transferred it to her bottom. Nevertheless, it is pretty much healed.

Thank for the emails and well-wishes. I really hope we get this taken care of soon!

Prayer request

2009-03-23T18:18:00.001-05:00

This is a blog that I follow regularly. Please click over and pray for their sweet baby.

Proof that Trey's the neat freak!

2009-03-20T14:37:00.003-05:00

As if you needed proof!!

I overheard this mini-conversation while Trey was dust-busting the edges of floor:
Layton: Can it be my turn next Daddy?
Trey: No way; this is all me!

And today while Ainslee was playing with her play cleaning things, I heard her say, "I'm cleaning...I'm cleaning just like Daddy."

I know that doesn't look good on me. I promise I do some cleaning, and I makes LOTS of lists of things that need to be cleaned, but by far Trey is the one that stresses about everything being clean!

Disclaimer: This post makes it sound like our house is immaculately kept, and it is NOT. If you come over unannounced, you will definitely find a cluttered counter, dishes in the sink, and beds unmade, but you will not find one crumb!

Ava has beautiful skin except....

2009-03-20T13:33:00.002-05:00

Ava has the most beautiful skin of all my children except for one problem area...her upper lip.

For the past few MONTHS it has been broken out all but maybe a day or two here and there. We'll get it cleared up, and then her nose runs (as always!) and it breaks right back out.

This morning when she woke up it was really bad. I guess it had been itching her during the night because it's pretty much raw and her sheets had blood on them.

I don't know what to do, and I am definitely open to suggestions! In fact, if you think someone you know might know something we can do, please forward this post on!

Here are the things that we already use because of Layton's and Ainslee's excema-prone skin:

*Tide or All Free & Clearn laundry detergent
*Bounce Free fabric softener
*Suave Free & Clear Children's shampoo
*Dove for Sensitive Skin soap
*Cetaphil cream
*Neither Trey nor I wear cologne or perfume
*We also have a variety of different Rx excema creams of different steroid strengths on hand(which are not approved for her from the Dr.) as well as Elidel (which hasn't been approved for her either); we are wiling to use them on her if we are told that they're safe for her skin. She wasn't old enough when they were prescribed.

I should also mention that she's seen her pediatrician twice already for this spot. He gave her an ointment (not for excema) and an anti-viral. I do have an appt scheduled with a dermatologist for April 2, but I don't know what to do until then with it being so bad right now!

Oh yeah and click on the pictures to see them closer up!

Where are my skinny pills????

2009-03-12T21:21:00.002-05:00

OK Y'all...I ordered these skinny pills like over a week ago, and last Thursday they said they'd be shipped in 24 hours! Well guess what! The status still says that they'll be shipped in less than 24 hours!

I know, I know...some of you skinny people out there may judge me, but my friend lost 27 pounds on these things, and she didn't even need to lose weight! Plus I saw my class picture today, and let's just say that it got neatly tucked away in a filing cabinet, and it will stay there until I've lost so much weight that I can look back and laugh at that sucker! Anyway just wondering where they are! I ordered them from www.2daydietwholesaler.com. Anybody else have any experience with them??? No? Well they're on my bad list until I get my order!

What's for dinner?

2009-03-07T18:13:00.002-06:00

Here's a new take on pizza that I found on www.cooks.com.
Ingredients:
2 cans crecent rolls
8 sticks string cheese
16 link sausage, cooked
pizza sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll the crescent rolls and spread about 1 tbsp pizza sauce. On long end, place cooked link sausage and 1/2 string cheese stick. Roll back up and place on ungreased cookie sheet. I would advise against using the beloved baking stone for this particular recipe. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crescents are brown. Cheese will not be completely melted but will be heated through.

My kids are skiddish when it comes to meat, so for theirs I left the sausage off. Also Layton wasn't feeling the pizza sauce so his consisted of just the crescent roll and cheese. They really turned out pretty good and were SO simple! A good Saturday night meal and kids could easily help!

Did you know Layton's 4???

2009-03-03T21:06:00.004-06:00

That's right! My oldest baby is not a baby anymore! It seems like over night he went from being a tantrum-throwing toddler to a more reasonable little boy. He even looks older! He is so much into pirates these days, and every TV show that he watches has a pirate episode so he's in hog heaven when they run those episodes. Have you ever noticed that? There's a Pirate Dora, Pirate Wonder Pets, and a Pirate Backyardigans! There's even a Pirate Mr. Potato Head! We, of course, had a pirate birthday party, complete with a treasure hunt! I felt very Martha Stewart-ish when planning his birthday party! I made the invitations on the print shop that I got for Christmas, and I made the cake! (with the help from a how-to video http://www.bettycrocker.com/.

We let him wear his pirate costume from Halloween, and several of the guests wore their own pirate gear too! Here's a picture of him and his cousin, Tyler. They are such cute little pirates together!

It just seems so hard to believe that it's been four years since we were so scared to bring this little (8 pound 14 ounce) baby home. Here are some things that we actually did (such rookies!):
1. I actually held him, while crying, and said, "I'm sorry that we're so poor, and I'm sorry that your Mama's fat!" Like he cares!
2. I actually put him in his swing, unbuckled, turned it on high to rock him asleep, fell asleep from pure exhaustion on the couch, and woke up to him on the floor. Then I went hysterical, crying again, and called Trey to come home because I just knew I had horribly injured our son!
3. I acutally boiled his bottles to the point of melting them so then I had to go buy completely new bottles!
4. I was actually afraid that my big huge mammoth b-words were so big that they would literally suffocate him so I quit nursing after 3 days and cried again when he took to the bottle so easily!

And some things that we still do, even though we're now more seasoned parents:
1. We still use All Free & Clear in the laundry, Dove soap for sensitive skin, and scent-free shampoo to keep their delicate skin soft as silk.
2. We still keep sanitizer on hand at home and have some stashed in my purse and the diaper bag. Although that may come from the teacher side of me, not just the neurotic parent.
3. I still have the nurse's line on speed dial, and they still know us by name, and I don't have to remind them of my children's dates of birth.
4. I still google every weird symptom or weird stage that they go through just to make sure that they're normal.

2009-03-02T20:57:00.002-06:00

I read this on McMama's blog and thought it was worth sharing. She says it was written in 1958 and first published in Ladies' Home Journal. I love it!

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Conversations you might overhear...

2009-02-19T21:02:00.002-06:00

Layton: When I grow up, I want to be a fireman.
Ainslee: When I grow up, I want to be a tractor.
---------------------------------------------------------
Me: Man, Ava's getting a lot of hair up top
Layton: But Daddy's not
Trey: That's one for the blog
--------------------------------------------------------
Trey: Why?
Ainslee: because
Trey: Why?
Ainslee: because
Trey: Why?
Ainslee: BE-AH-CAUSE
---------------------------------------------------------
Me: Layton, you can't always wait until you get home to go poo-poo
Layton: But I don't like poo-pooing at Mrs. Joyce's
Me: Why not?
Layton: Because I have to wipe myself, and I always get it on my finger
Me: Do you wash your hands???????????
Layton: No, I just wipe it on my jeans
Me: EWWWWW....WASH YOUR HANDS...NOWWWW...and change your pants!

Hmm...

2009-02-15T07:24:00.003-06:00

Okay so evidently, even FULLY potty-trained kids have an accident or two every now and then..And that's okay except it is leading me to have to completely remake my couch cushions. It's not totally his fault. Let me explain. Layton had skipped a nap and was VERY tired! He fell asleep on the couch and...had an accident. Well I'm totally grossed out by pee cushions so I had the brilliant idea to take the cover off and run it through the washing machine and soak the foam & batting in vinegar & water and then let it air dry in the beautiful day that was predicted. If you know anything about foam, you know more than me, and probably realize that fully soaked foam takes more like 20 years to dry, rather than just one nice day. So someone (ahem..Trey) left the cushions out overnight, and wouldn't you know it? A nice rain storm came through, and it rained ALL night. So now the cushions will probably never get dry all the way through; definitely not before they mildew, which is probably my least favorite smell in the whole world. So now I'm in the market for some really thick foam, like you see on those decorating shows. Does anybody know where to find that??? I think I can just cut out the shape of the cushion and will be all set. Wish me luck, and if you know of anything else to do when your child urinates on your furniture, send that my way too!

T-ball and FULLY potty trained

2009-02-07T13:19:00.003-06:00

We signed Layton up for T-ball the other night. I was totally ready to take pictures of him handing his form and check to the lady there, like any good scrapbooker and blogger would. It just didn't turn out as picturesque as I had imagined though. There were just a bunch of dads standing around talking like little league was their life and one woman shivering in the cold taking money. Oh well! There will still be plenty of photo-ops during the season!! He's so excited, and we're hoping that he'll be on the same team with his cousin and some of his friends.

Layton is FULLY potty-trained. He has actually be daytime potty trained since he was 20 months old, but we hadn't quite conquered the night time. However this week, with Dave Ramsey engrained on our mind, we were out of grocery money and he was out of pull-ups. So we braved the night. We didn't let him have anything to drink after like 6:30 and then when he got up in the night (like he always does) we made him go potty then too. So far he's made it 3 nights with no accidents, and he's so proud of himself. I think his little ego took a hit when we let Ainslee wear panties to bed before we let him wear underwear. She's been day time potty trained since she was about 18 months and went for a few months without tee-teeing in her pull-ups when she slept, but wouldn't you know it, the night we let her try to sleep in her panties, she had an accident. Now she's a little gun-shy and doesn't want to try that again. Oh well I have a sneaky suspicion, that won't last long. There's not much that Layton does that Ainslee doesn't want to try too! Ava's even been sitting on the potty (with her clothes on!) when the bigger kids use the bathroom. She's only 15 months, and we're not getting our hopes up, but whoa! the money we could save....

I wonder...

2009-01-31T17:44:00.002-06:00

--how my kids can go from happy as little critters one minute to feet-flailing, fist-throwing, screaming, temper-showing toddlers the next minute. Sometimes we look at them as if they've lost their minds, and then we wonder if we've lost ours.

--why the kid behind the counter at Dairy Queen laughed at us when we asked what a Dilly Bar was. Was some sort of sexual inuendo that we didn't get???

--why chasing the kids around the house isn't enough exercise to make me drop a few pounds?? I feel like I never get to sit down.

--how my kids can eat up a meal at one sitting like it was the most delicious thing to ever cross their lips and then snarl their noses up the next time I fix it and disgustedly proclaim, "I don't like it!!!"

--if there's anyone that doesn't know about the TV switch that going to happen in February!

--when I see people driving new cars, wearing name brands, building huge houses, if they're going into debt to afford that lifestyle, and then I thank God that I'm not going into debt anymore, and then I pray for those people that they ARE living within their means and that they actually CAN afford those luxuries!!!

Hi/Lo Thursday...

2009-01-22T16:30:00.002-06:00

This post is part of "Hi/Lo Thursday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Hi/Lo" posts.

This is my first attempt at Hi/Lo Thursday so it's taking a while to get the gears cranking. While I'm thinking, let me point you to the Riggs Family Blog and encourage you to check it out. I find myself returning just to read old posts and get the updates on their four-year old, Abby who is battling leukemia.

Okay so here goes. I think our high for the week would have to be our amazement and wonderment about how smart we think our two year old Ainslee is going to be. I know, I know, I'm biased; I'm her mother. But hear me out... on Wednesday (trash day) we were headed down the driveway, and when we got to the end, she said, "Daddy, did you take the trash out?" And he replied, "No, it's not Wednesday." (thrown off from the Monday holiday) Then all of a sudden he realized it was and we went back and got the trash can. How did she know?? See...pure genius!

And our low...I think that would have to be our daily struggle of being a family of five with only one vehicle and parents who work 20 miles apart with kids' day care in between. It's very hard to get out the door every morning by 6:30 to take Trey to work so that I can get back to my work by 7:35. We try not to complain too much about it, but it does really tire us.

It's been a while...

2009-01-18T21:06:00.002-06:00

I have been a bad blogger lately! I haven't even gotten on to read anybody else's posts in a while. Usually even I don't post anything, I at least stay caught up on all of you! First let me say that I'm am praying for a newborn that was mentioned on Robyn's, Shannon's and MckMama's blogs. Here's the button so you can click over and pray as well.

I've really been into reading other people's blogs lately, people that I don't even know. There's a whole world out there that I wasn't aware of. Here I thought people wrote blogs for their friends and families to read, but several blogs I've looked at they've actually become a little famous, or at least very well known, simply from their blogs, and most of them became well-known because they asked for prayer and word spread. I am always amazed at the power of prayer!

Now my thoughts on my IRL (in real life) friends' blogs that I'm getting caught up on: Joanna, your boys are so funny! I love reading what they say, and I LOVE that you declared kitchen duty! Let me know how it turns out! We may have to try that too! Robyn--I actually laughed out loud at you getting on to someone else's kid at the mall (we play there too..shh)! No kidding: I am always tempted to tell kids to stop running or stop fighting at Wal-Mart. It's a just a habit I guess. Oh and I love the family pics! The girls' outfits are so cute!!! Jennifer--I am so glad you were able to come to decision. I hate that you had to spend all that money, but I pray that God give you peace about your decision. I'm glad it's every other weekend and not 1st, 3rd, and 5th. Does that mean that they'll be with you at the same time as Branden and Shyanne? I will pray for them. And as Beau's teacher, I hope that they study for their tests and don't leave their binder or AR book at their daddy's. That's what always seems to happen! Shannon--Your Ella is sooo cute! I keep looking at her pictures! I'm so glad she is healthy and all is well. Emily looks like she's going to be a great big sister! I love the baby sister gown! Too cute! Lisa--Wow! A stay-at-home-mom-to-be and foster parents! That's great! I didn't know you ever were foster parents! I guess that's what losing touch after college will do for you! I'm glad we're back in touch now, and I wish you the best of luck on your ventures! Be sure to keep us posted!

Well not much has been going on in our world lately. We spent yesterday doing a major overhaul on the overgrown ~~eyesore~~ landscaping that was the front of our house. We went totally bare bones on all of it and hopefully this spring beautiful plants will emerge. We also built our first fire! We really felt like country folk out there burning leaves! We decided that it was better than when we lived in the city limits and had to bag our yard waste to be hauled off by waste management.

Update on Layton's asthma

2009-01-10T21:37:00.003-06:00

Most of you know that we have battled Layton's asthma pretty heavily over the last year. He was hospitalized twice, had numerous chest x-rays, was in the doctor's office so much that we know them all by name, and had to use his rescue inhaler more times than I could possibly even begin to count. We saw a pediatric asthma doctor over my Christmas break, and he was so wonderful.

He came in sat down and just listened to us. He asked lots of questions, and we really felt like he was listening. He spent quite a while in the room with us and then excused himself to go "make a game plan." He also said that he was going to go read the small phone book that we brought him which was Layton's medical record. (Funny story there about when Trey went to get it...There was a dad ahead of him that got his son's record; they printed it off, stapled it, and handed it to the dad. Then Trey asked for Layton's and waited at the window like the other dad did, and the receptionist told him that he might want to sit down because "it would be a while." Trey said it printed and printed and printed, and finally it stopped so he got up to get it, and the girl just loaded more paper and it just kept on printing. Then it finally stopped, she got it out, and put it in a manilla envelope and gave it to him.) So anyway the doctor took the time to actually read the medical record and came back in with our game plan.

He suspects that acid reflux might be triggering Layton's asthma, which is something that was never suggested before and that we never considered. He really beefed up his night time routine and had us raise the head of Layton's bed about 6 inches. (Not prop him up of pillows, roll up towels, or use a wedge. He said actually put blocks under the posts of the bed.) Layton takes symbicort, pulmicort, and singulair at night and symbicort in the morning. So that means that every day he takes three breathing treatments for maintenance. That's a lot, but I really think it's all working because we haven't used his rescue inhaler once since that visit.

We go back in February to see how it's all working, and he wants to do a scratch test for peanuts, tree nuts, and shell fish. Of course you know that he's allergic to peanuts as determined by a blood test, but this time it will be the traditional scratch test.

I can't even begin to explain what a relief it's been to feel like we're starting to get on top of this. It's such a helpless feeling when your child is gasping for air and using major muscles just to get air in. It's even more helpless when it's only been 30 or 45 minutes since his last breathing treatment and he still can't breathe. For the last few months since his last hospital stay, we really felt like all we were doing was delaying the next hospital stay. It was like at any time it could turn and we'd be heading to the emergency room. We felt so defeated by it. I'm so thankful to have some hope now that that's not how his entire childhood will be. Like Layton put it the other night, he's going to breathe in all this good medicine so he can run and play all the time and Mama won't have to tell him to settle down.

Continued

2009-01-10T20:59:00.003-06:00

I think things are working out...We will stay put for a while unless God makes it clear that He has other plans for us...My sister has looked at a couple of houses but will stay with my parents for now and save some money. I really enjoy them living with my parents because that means that they're living right next to us! I love getting to spend time with her and getting to see Tyler all the time. We saw Bride Wars today, and the last line, I thought really summed up my relationship with my sister. I just love her so much.

I think she might dive into the Dave Ramsey plan as well. I am going to attempt to show her how to use the budgeting forms, but a Baptist church in town will be holding classes soon, and she might sign up for those.

Oh and on my blog roll, there's a caring bridge update for Bradie Cook. I went to high school with her dad and mom, and she is getting to come home from the hospital for a while. Please keep them in your prayers. She was born very early and weighed less than a pound. Now she's up to 3 1/2 pounds and doing well. She'll go back for surgery on the 28th and after recovery will be home for good I believe.

What to do...what to do...

2009-01-05T21:20:00.002-06:00

(Sigh)....I just don't know what to do...I keep playing the possibilities over and over in my head, and I have no idea what we're supposed to do... I don't even know where to start because I don't want to post anyone else's business but you must know just a tiny bit of background to understand my dilemma. My sister and her husband are getting a divorce. (BTW...I am very proud of her for giving it all she had and knowing when to say enough is enough! If you're reading this, I love you!) We rent my sister's house, and although it's in her name, and she said we're fine, I still feel like we need to try to vacate so that she'll have a place to live. She's staying with my mom and dad right now, and we're living in the house that's in her name. It just doesn't seem right to me. I feel like we should be the ones put out, not her. Our plan is/was to be financially ready to build a house when Ava is either in kindergarten or 1st grade, which is 5 or 6 years down the road. I REALLY don't feel like I could put her out for 5 or 6 more years so we're at a loss for what to do for those 5 or 6 years. My parents said we could put a trailer on their land (which is totally not uncommon for our part of the world and in fact is what my sister and her husband did when they first got married and is the house that we're living in right now). However I don't want to sink a lot of money into a brand new trailer that I know will have next to no resale value plus tear up their land in the process. My friend said that her sister is wanting to sell her single-wide trailer (that is stationed on their parents' land...see...not uncommon at all!), but could we all squeeze into a single-wide for that long, plus it would cost to have it moved out here and still would tear up my parents' land? It would drop our monthly payment significantly, though, and would put us closer to our house-building dream maybe sooner than 5 years! If we didn't got the trailer route, we might could buy a small house and squeeze in. Or should we find another place to rent. Although I should mention that rental property around here is crazy priced and we couldn't afford it! Ugh! What should we do??? I wish we knew someone that just had a house that they didn't need and wanted good people living in it but not permanently. I don't know...We'll keep praying...

A Look Ahead to 2009

2009-01-02T14:19:00.002-06:00

Trey and I were laying in bed the other night talking about where we hoped to be this time next year when we're looking back on 2009 and ahead to 2010. We listed several things that we want: We want to be well into step 2 on our Dave Ramsey plan, I want to be about 50 pounds lighter, we talked about how nice it would be to be in a place of our own instead of renting from my sister, and then I jokingly said "...and we'll still only have three children.." (Meaning that 2009 would be like 2008 in that I wouldn't get pregnant and wouldn't give birth...an inside joke because I had babies in 2005, 2006, and 2007) But then all of a sudden my mind went to our friends, little Konner's parents, who at the beginning of 2008 had no idea that their youngest child would leave this earth and go on to be with Jesus. And it struck me that we truly know nothing; we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. We're not promised another day on this earth. We're not promised another year or another day with our children or with our spouse. So what do we do with that? I don't have all the answers. I can only answer for myself for this point in my life. I hug and kiss and rock those sweet babies every chance I get, and I praise Jesus for giving me every single day that I have with them. So my New Year's Resolution is to treasure each day this year and enjoy them to the fullest. I will not wish their lives away by wishing they were more independent or wishing that they would just do this or could just do that or say that things will be easier when they can only..whatever. I will enjoy them now, at the stage where they are; I will enjoy the challenges and drink in those sweet moments that I have with my children. And when I'm starting to feel overwhelmed by their dependence on me, I will remember that the Lord is with me, and I will look above and let His presence flood my soul, and I will feel His peace.

Christmas Pics...Finally!

2008-12-28T13:57:00.004-06:00

This was the night we tried to go see Santa and look at Christmas lights. The Santa part went pretty well. We waited in line for quite a while, with Layton assuring us that he would sit in his lap, and then when it was time, he would only stand in front of him. It was so much like the movie A Christmas Story. Layton stared at him wide-eyed for a while until Santa finally said, "Would you like some trains or trucks for Christmas?" Layton, still wide-eyed, shook his head slowly yes and then realized that he actually wanted a guitar so quickly ~~through~~ threw that in before we left!

We let them each open one gift from us on Christmas Eve. Ava got her own set of dishes. Hers are Tinkerbell.

Ainslee got Candyland Castle, which is actually a pretty fun game for them!

Layton got a HotWheels pop-up shark attack set with some boats and beach trucks.Layton looking at his Woodland Express Lincoln Log Set

Ainslee in front of her new easel...What was Santa thinking!?!

Ava's new Little People doll house. They all love this one!

Not me! Monday

2008-12-22T20:29:00.004-06:00

Well we actually had a pretty slow week by way of kids getting sick, taking trips to the doctor, trying to figure out who will stay home. We actually DID make an entire 5 day work week. That being said, here are some thing I did NOT do!

**I definitely did not forget about the Christmas dress that I had bought for Ainslee two months ago until Saturday night and then scrounge around to find a pair of tights that would match. No I am an uberorganized mom, and I plan my children's holiday outfits well in advance and have things prepared.

**I then certainly did not call my mom in a panic because there was nothing for Ava to wear that even almost matched the forgotten Christmas dress (I keep wanting to type Easter so if it comes out that way, you know what I mean!) and beg her to let Ava wear the new Robeez that she had bought her as a Christmas present and promise that she can wrap them back up after church on Sunday.

**I would never "file" away some of the beautiful Christmas cards, pictures, and even some present that my students gave me. No I cherish every bottle of lotion, candle, and hand-drawn picture I get. (If any of my parents are reading this, I kept your child's gift; it was some of the other gifts that maybe didn't make it home.)--That sounds cold...I really do love my students; I am just not one of those people who hang on to things forever...I DO dislike clutter!

**I did NOT convince my kids at 7:15 that it was 8:00 and bedtime to get them to bed early! (And I did not just go on my myspace page and put that as my status! ...This is addictive I tell you!)

**I did not only get 1/2 of my Christmas cards mailed out! No, again, I'm organized! I get them all out on one day. Consequently, if you're my friend or family member that usually recieves a Christmas card, I have it sitting on my scrapbooking table. You're welcome to come by and get it because it looks like they're not making it out of the house by Christmas!

My favorite thing about Christmas

2008-12-14T22:19:00.001-06:00

Giving presents is definitely my favorite thing about Christmas. I love buying presents; I love wrapping presents; I love seeing someone's face when they open the present I've given them. I love seeing my tree with presents under it. That is something that I am definitely not taking for granted this year. Because, you see, last year, there weren't many presents under our tree. Last year I had just had Ava, was not working and not getting paid because I didn't have disability insurance, but we had made ourselves a promise that we would not go into debt because of Christmas. So we had to humbly ask just about everybody if we could be excused from gift-giving, just for one year. We didn't get our kids anything, although Santa did bring them one gift each; we gave our parents pictures of our kids. Even now, as I'm typing this, I am crying, because I remember how heart-broken last Christmas made me, because I couldn't buy for the ones that I love.

It means so much to me that this year we're in a better place. There are things that we are choosing to keep from last year. Santa will still only bring each child one gift. We LOVED how they spent the whole day playing with their new treasure; they weren't overwhelmed by a living room full of things that they threw aside. They were so thankful and so excited for what they had in front of them. My kids are still young enough that they don't know the ugly greed that can come with the holidays, and I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible. I'm very sure that there will come a day when they'll want more and when we'll want to buy more, but for now, one gift is enough.

This year shopping for presents has been even more fun than in the past. Not going into debt, while still buying presents, is such a freeing feeling. I know exactly how much I can spend on each person. I plan ahead, look for sales, and strike while the gettin's good. I should have kept a tally of retail prices as compared to what I've paid. Several presents that I've bought I got at like 80% off! I wish I knew how much I've saved. Oh well..Maybe next year! In a strange way, it even feels good to have the ability to tell people no. People have asked if I wanted to go in on certain people's gifts, and I've had to say that I'm sorry, I just don't have any more to spend. I can say it confidently this year. There's no pressure, no guilt. I am in control.

This may be my favorite Christmas so far. I will enjoy watching people open the presents that I've paid cash for. Come January, Christmas will be a memory, and monthly statements will NOT remind me of what I overspent!

Random thoughts...

2008-12-13T20:03:00.004-06:00

*Ava started walking

*She's cutting about 4 teeth...She is the teethingest child we've ever had...She's never cut just one tooth at a time!

*Layton has pneumonia...He's had two antibiotic shots, two rounds of oral antibiotics and two rounds of oral steroids, put countless number of breathing treatments. He's feeling better though.

*Trey did not get the job he interviewed for. We feel disappointed but know that God has other things in store for us.

*Ainslee's turning into a little girl...it seems like we turned around and she's no longer that fiesty toddler that kicks and screams when she doesn't get her way and is notorious for her fits....No, she's mature and caring and even a little mother hen to Layton and Ava! Layton was scared in his bed the other night, and she went running in there saying, "I coming Bubba. I coming."

*Layton can write his name! (He's only 3 and can write his name and upper and lower case A, B, C, and D.)

*I wish I could bottle up Ainslee's laugh for everyone to hear. She's so shy around other people, that most people don't get to see her true side. She's so happy and full of life. I wish everyone got to enjoy her the way we do.

2008-12-11T16:33:00.005-06:00

If you had come to our house back in August, you would have seen Ava slithering around on our floors, as shown in one of my August blogs. Today, however, if you came, this is what you would see!!!!

I (heart) Target pharmacy...

2008-12-08T21:19:00.001-06:00

Here’s why! This weekend Layton was having a really hard time breathing. Trey took him to Healthcare Express Friday night, and they gave him a shot, antibiotic, and steroid and told us to continue doing breathing treatments around the clock as needed. Since it was 10:00, the only pharmacy still open was Walgreen’s so he got the Rx filled there and came on home. When they got home we gave him his antibiotic, and he struggled to get his cherry-flavored steroid down. It was torture; you could tell by the look on his face! Well as soon as he swallowed the last drop, he said he felt sick and threw it right back up. We were frustrated, but it was late, and we thought he was probably tired. Saturday morning rolls around, and his breathing is still not great; we’re getting worried. We go ahead and give him another dose of his antibiotic and steroid (it was time for his steroid again, but we gave the antibiotic since he had thrown up the other dose), and again as soon as he swallowed the last drop, he said he felt sick and threw up again! We gave him several breathing treatments throughout the day, each one wondering if we should be taking him to the ER because it was so obvious that he was struggling to breathe. That night we, once again, tried the steroid, this time, hidden in a cup of milk, and he threw it up too. We were frustrated beyond belief; I was in tears because I did not want to go back to the hospital with him again. So I gave him some of Ava’s steroid (same brand, same dose, just from Target, not Walgreen’s so it was grape flavored). He kept it down! We were thrilled. Sunday morning, I only had enough to give Layton ½ dose, and I knew he would need another dose that night and Ava would need some that night too. I decided to go to Walgreens and plead my case to see if they could fill the Rx again, flavoring it with grape. The only thing they could do was to put grape flavor OVER the cherry. He wasn’t rude but was apathetic to my case. I left, again in tears, because I knew that without that steroid, Layton wouldn’t be well enough to hold out until Monday morning. I decided to go to Target, our usual pharmacy, and beg, plead, whatever it took for them to take the Rx off the bottle and fill it with their grape-flavored steroid. The pharmacist was very understanding, and although he couldn’t take the Rx off the bottle, he was personal friends with the doctor who wrote the Rx. So he called him and got him to write a new one and had it filled, and I was out the door in less than 30 minutes! That’s what I call going above and beyond; to call your friend on his day off to get him to write a new prescription! Anyway just wanted to send some kudos on. They are great there!

This was actually an email that I sent to some of my friends, but I thought it was worth blogging about!

Happy Birthday to Trey

2008-12-06T20:41:00.002-06:00

Happy birthday to Trey, Happy birthday to Trey, Happy birthday to Trey-ay, Happy birthday to Trey!!!! Today's Trey's birthday! He's the big 3-2!! I got him Seinfeld Scene-It? DVD game, and now we're off to play it! He has met his match! (I've payed closer attention than he thinks to all those seasons of Seifeld that run through our DVD player!)

Oh and on December 4 it was 10 years since our first date! TEN YEARS!!! Who would have thought!?!

I love St Michael's and all but...

2008-12-02T21:39:00.003-06:00

Being in the hospital is getting old! Very old! Oh...if you didn't know, because it was such a whirlwind trip, Ava just got out of the hospital. "What for?" you say. Respiratory problems, what else? OK get this..we tallied it up. Since Layton was 3 months old, that is 3 1/2 years ago, our children have collectively been hospitalized a grand total of 7 times! Seven times in 3 1/2 years, people! The nurses there know us, we're on first-name basis with our pediatrician's nurses, and the pharmacistS (I capatalized that on purpose to emphasize its plurality) at Target all know us! Oh and let me not forget BOTH chapalans know us by name! When we got there to check in this time, the nurse jokingly said, "We don't have your usual room ready for you." This is sad! Oh then there were the three trips to the hospital that I made to have the little astmatics! So that's 10 times in 3 years and 9 months! But the thing is, my kids are healthy! They're not frail little failure to thrive children (thank God! who always takes care of us and gets us home swiftly!)...they're healthy children who just have trouble breathing every now and again (except Ainslee who only takes credit for one of those hospitalizations for a UTI).

Okay so I think I have some wisdom to impart based on these many hospitalizations. Tips, if you will, for if you ever find yourself needing to hospitalize your children.
First, believe it or not, 4 days with a 3 year old is about 100 times easier than 1 night with a 1 year old! Count your blessings if your child is old enough to sit in bed, watch TV, or color!

Secondly, take cash! The vending machines will be your friends.

Third, bring your own diapers, wipes, tylenol, orajel, formula, etc...It's pricey at the hospital if they're having to serve as your toiletry supplier.

Next, you may also want to bring your own toilet paper, especially if you will be there more than a night or two. Hospitals typically buy Pom brand, which is about the equivalent of notebook paper.

Next, moms: you will start a stress-induced period so come prepared for that too!

Oh and an absolute MUST!...Bring flip-flops or Crocs so that you can slip them off while you sit but easily slip them back on to help your toddler to the potty or stand up and bounce your baby.

Don't plan on getting any sleep. The night nurses come in more often and are typically louder than the day nurses. When they come on board at 7:00 their peppiness is refreshing, but by about midnight when you're still trying to rock your baby to sleep, and they come in talking to her, getting her more awake, it begins to get on your nerves!

When you get the all-clear that you're being discharged, plan to stay at least another hour to two hours to get your discharge papers all together and signed. I don't think that's anybody's fault. I think it just takes a while to process. We didn't know that when we went to have Layton so we sat, ready to leave, with a hungry newborn, for about an hour and a half.

Don't use this as an excuse to eat out for every meal! We did that the first few trips, and it gets VERY expensive. The hospital will provide (charge you for) a guest meal to accompany the patient meal so take advantage. They also have alternative choices besides what's offered on the menu so inquire about those. They'll send you just about whatever request your write down!

Always be nice to the cleaning lady, respiratory therapists, and of course the nurses. They're the ones taking care of you all day and night! The doctor only makes rounds at about 9:00 in the morning. And if you're ready to ahem go home a day early, it will be the nurse begging on your behalf. If your child (or worse someone else's child) throws up or wets the bed, it will be the cleaning staff helping make sure all the germs are wiped away. And if your child can't breathe, it will be the respiratory therapist who will bring in those wonderful Rx drugs! I should also add to be kind to the transport tech, X-ray tech, and account manager for various reasons...in addition to the fact that it's just Christian-like to treat everyone with respect and kindness!

OK that wraps it up for now...I'm tired and going to bed...If I think of more useful information I'll type an addendum. Hopefully you'll never need this information, but just in case...

2008-11-29T12:55:00.002-06:00

This post has been sloshing around in my head for a while, probably since this summer. The problem is that I don't know how to type it without sounding negative about my kids or ungrateful or at worst, like I don't love/like my children. I assume that only readers of my blog are my friends so you all know me well enough to know how totally upside-down, crazy in love with my kids I am. Therefore I will take the aforementioned risk and type this blog and show a small epiphany at the end.

On normal days, we have a morning routine that gets clothes on, hair fixed, teeth brushed, tummies full, and all of us out the door by 7:00 AM. Then Trey and I go to work and do our work thing. Then we have an evening routine (complete with graphics!) where we come home, fix and eat supper, have baths, playtime, stories, prayer, and off to bed at 8:00. So what's the problem? The problem is that I'm a teacher and that allows for 2 months off in the summer, 2 weeks off at Christmas, and random days off throughout the year. Still don't see the problem? The problem is that the days leading up to those days off, when I'll be home alone with 3 toddlers, yes I know they're my own, sends me into a complete panic. We don't have a daytime routine. We don't have a schedule telling us what to do, when to do it. Sounds great to an adult. A whole day to do whatever you want. Not so great to toddlers who thrive on structure. It totally throws them into a tailspin, and they don't know what to do. So what do they do? They follow me around wanting to be picked up and held most of the day. It's very difficult to hold three kids all at once. You almost have to be sitting on the couch, with one on each side and one on your lap. But that's no way to spend the day. Who wants to spend a whole day like that? Then comes when one of them has to use the bathroom, or I need to fix lunch, and they're still hanging on to my clothes wanting to be picked up. By the end of the day, I'm totally stressed, ready to scream, watching the clock so we can start our evening routine, where they know what's expected of them!

Now I'm not one to lay around and wallow in self-pity or throw my hands up in defeat. No...I did some research on stay-at-home moms since essentially on those days throughout the year, that's exactly what I am. Know what I discovered? Those stay-at-homes who love staying home, who have no idea how work-outside-of-the-home moms leave their babies, they have schedules! Just like we have in the morning and evening and just like I have for my students at school. So I made one. I wrote it out and put it on the refrigerator. (No graphics yet.) It has free-play time, where they can play either in their rooms or in the playroom; table-play time, where we get out puzzles, stickers, pencils, crayons, or play-doh; outside play time, because here in Texas it's still nice enough to play outside; and even a little cuddle in front of the TV and watch some Barney time. They love it! They even come ask me what time it is! They're napping better, eating better, getting along better, and they're more independent. I have no idea why it took me so long to try this or come up with it. Maybe they're just now old enough to even understand a schedule. I don't know. All I know is that I've enjoyed this time off with them, and thinking ahead to Christmas break doesn't make my heart race!

Update to Oh, no!

2008-11-28T11:57:00.002-06:00

We are in the process of weaning Ava over to whole milk, and she's doing GREAT! Her skin looks better than ever! Since we are buying it, and technically the other two have tested allergic to soy (even though they drink it every single day), we decided to switch them too! They're drinking half whole/half soy right now, and their skin is showing improvements too!

Oh, no!

2008-11-23T21:11:00.001-06:00

This is our attempt at switching her off of formula! Major face break-outage! What are we to do??? She was on soy-based formula because milk-based formula broke her skin out too! She's done great on soy-based formula, but something about the soy milk (we think!) did this to her face! Should I try her on whole milk?

Let them sleep...

2008-11-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

for when they wake, they will move mountains.

A new way to look at it...

2008-11-18T16:17:00.002-06:00

Trey is always applying for new jobs...jobs with better hours and, of course, jobs with more money. We always pray that he will get the job so that our money worries will be over. We have a whole list of wants that we would buy if only...We've stopped that. Now we pray that if we are ready to handle the responsibilites of having more money, that he get the job. Here's our thinking. We are told and shown in scripture that if we are good stewards with a little, we will be blessed with a lot. Well friends, we have not been good stewards of a little, but we're on the road to trying. So now our prayer is that when we reach the point where we are handling what we have in a Christ-like way, that then and only then will God give us more. So jobs have come and gone, and we know that as we grow and become better stewards of God's blessings, he will give us more, and until then, we will use what we have and will be thankful for what we have. We will not wish for something that we're not ready for.

Not Me! Monday

2008-11-17T07:06:00.004-06:00

I did not call in the tech guy at work TWICE to fix my blurry monitor, only to have him look at me like I'm crazy and then politely ask when was the last time I had my eyes checked. Then I did not slightly argue with him, showing him exactly where it was blurry. I did, however, schedule an eye appointment just in case, and to my excitement, learned that I still have near-perfect vision...just incredibly dry eyes! I did not let my 2 year old wear her 1 year old sister's diapers to bed for a week instead of making her wear her big girl night time pull-ups! Nope, a good mom would insist that big girls wear big girl pull-ups or panties and would never give in to such whining. I am a good mom so I would never do that! And one on my husband...My husband definitely did not tell our 3 year old, when he asked what Goliath says, that he was saying "Fe Fi Fo Fum." Nope..we would never do those things...not in a million years!

We spent our emergency fund...

2008-11-13T13:37:00.002-06:00

Well since becoming Dave Ramsey-ites, we have worked to build our emergency fund, which I must admit was not yet fully stocked when we learned on Tuesday that we had to buy a new water heater. However you all know how the Lord watches over us and gives us exactly what we need exactly when we need it, and low and behold, the total of the water heater came to almost the exact amount that we had put back. Now I, as much as anybody else, hate to spend every penny we have, but I couldn't help but see the Lord's hand at work in this situation. We had cut up our credit cards about a year ago, before ever even deciding to buy into this Dave Ramsey business, so putting it on a credit card would not have been an option. What would we have done withough our humble emergency fund??? I must thank the Lord for introducing us to this new found peace at the exact moment that He did so that now two months later, we had enough money put back to buy a water heater!

Not Me Monday...On Wednesday

2008-11-12T09:29:00.003-06:00

My first attempt!

*I did not, in a very stern voice, say to my three year old little boy, "STOP PLAYING WITH YOUR TEE-TEE," after he did NOT come running into the living room proudly telling his dad and me that he had been "in the bathroom for hours just playing with his tee-tee." Nope, not me, and not my son either!!

*I certainly did not then go google if toddlers playing with their tee-tees is normal, and I did not burst out laughing at one answer that said that boys start when they're toddlers and stop when they're 80. I would never find that funny!

How to Make a Tutu

2008-11-06T21:20:00.002-06:00

A few of my readers have written and asked me how to make a tutu. I got directions from a website, and I was just going to put a link, but when I went to the page, it had been deleted. So I will do my best to explain!

Materials:
6 inch rolled tulle (probably 2 rolls)
7/8 inch no-roll elastic

Measure your little darling's waist and cut that exact measurement in the 7/8 in. elastic. (If for some reason you got 1 in. no-roll elastic, add an inch to the measurement.) Overlap about an inch and sew it closed to form the waist band. The 7/8 in. will stretch to accomodte the overlap.

Decide how long you want your tutu. Ainslee's and Ava's skirt tutus were both 9-10 inches long, and Ava's tutu dress was 15 inches long. Cut strips of tulle 2 inches longer than double your desired length. For example for the 9 inch skirt, I cut 20 inch strips.

Then simply double-knot the tulle onto the elastic. Do not pull the knot completely tights against the elastic; I keep a finger between the tulle and elastic to keep the elastic from stretching out too much.

If you want an extra poofy tutu, use two strips of tulle, instead of one, each time you tie a knot.

If you want a satin ribbon around the waist, you'll need at least 3 yards of 1 1/2 inch satin ribbon. Leave enough for a tail and wrap the ribbon around each knot. Be sure to heat seal the ends to keep them from fraying.

Feel free to ask any questions. Give it a try! It's so easy, and they turn out so cute!

Happy Birthday Ava!!!

2008-11-02T10:19:00.004-06:00

My last baby turned one! Sad is not the word to describe how I feel, nostalgic maybe. I am so glad that the Lord knew we needed Ava. She is such a sweet bundle, and our family wouldn't be complete without her. She brings so much joy to her house and gives us so many laughs. My heart overflows with joy when I watch the three of them play together. I can only imagine what it's going to be like as they grow older. I am so blessed.

This is the outfit April and I made for her to wear to her party. April made the onesie, and I made the tutu.

Ava's cake (I only gave her a small piece of it!)

Cupcakes made into the shape of a 1. (I got very brave this year and did the cakes myself.)

Cupcakes for the no icing lovers.

Ava on the horsey Meme and Bop gave her. (And she's wearing the Halloween shirt that April made her...Ainslee has a matching shirt.)

Kids' Halloween Costumes...the finished products

2008-10-29T21:47:00.002-05:00

Ava the punkin...had to put black under...chilly outside tonight!

Ainslee the punk rocker saying, "Rock on..." (in her sweet, little, innocent voice, of course!) I don't think this picture does justice of how cute it really turned out! Those are pink capri length tights (size 12 mo!)

Layton the pirate, saying, "Errgghh." He kept saying pretend you're scared, and then when I would, he would say, "It's just me, Mama."

Ava's pumpkin tutu halter dress

2008-10-26T15:51:00.001-05:00

Goint tutu crazy!

2008-10-19T12:24:00.005-05:00

This blog is a little out of order because I still want to write a post about our weekend in the hospital, but this one if faster and more fun! If you know me and my sister, you know that she got ALL of the creative genes in our family. But I have a sudden urge to make stuff; I have even asked for a sewing machine for Christmas! Here's my first effort. I made a tutu for Ainslee's Halloween costume. She's going to be a punk rocker. The tutu is black with thin pink ribbon throughout and black/pink striped satin ribbon around the waist. I have three more tutus in mind to make probably in the next week. (See...really going crazy for tutus!) One is going to be an orange tutu halter dress with green satin ribbon around the top so as to look like a pumpkin. That's for Ava's costume. The other will be a pink tutu skirt with lime green satin ribbon that she'll wear for her birthday, that by the way is only 2 weeks away! I can't believe she's almost 1! The third that I have in mind will be a black tutu halter dress with black satin ribbon for a friend of ours that just had a baby. I thought it would make a good holiday dress if it turns out like I have pictured in my head!

Progress

2008-10-07T21:22:00.003-05:00

Trey and I have recently had two opportunites to grow stronger, both as a couple and individually. First we have decided to take part in Financial Peace University offered at the Baptist church here in town. Second we are taking the marriage enrichment class at our church that is based on the movie Fireproof, which if you haven't seen it yet, GO SEE IT!

FPU: We go on Monday nights from 6-8. We watch a 30-45 minute video of Dave Ramsey at a live class and then break into small groups for discussion. This is big for us. We are both HORRIBLE at money. We overspend, underplan, and don't budget! For the first time in our married life, we both feel like we're getting a plan. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can envision a house being built, no car payments, no sick feeling at the end of the month when I go online to see if there's enough money to last until the next payday. When Dave's talking in his videos, he says a lot, "When we were broke..." Trey and I decided that we can't wait to use that phrase! We can't wait to have broke in the past tense! The first step is getting $1,000 in an emergency fund. That's the step we're working on now. I was feeling very discouraged about it because it's harder than it sounds! But then last night in class, we anonymously wrote how much we had put back in the last 3 weeks toward that fund, and we were right smack dab in the middle! Then we anonymously wrote how much debt we all have, and we were a little north of the middle but definitely not at the top. That's very encouraging to me because a lot of times we have felt like we were the only ones struggling, that everybody else had it all together. I know this is not going to be an easy journey, but I really think we can do it!

Fireproof/Love Dare: For the marriage enrichment classes, we had to watch the movie Fireproof. It was so good. The acting wasn't that great, but the message was. The motto was "Never Leave Your Partner Behind." After seeing the movie, we pledged to go to six weeks of classes at our church and take part in the 40 day love dare. We are on day 2. On day one, you don't say anything negative to your partner. Done. Day 2 is all about "Love is kind," so you do some kind, unexpected gesture for your partner. The last few nights have been really rough for us because kids aren't sleeping so that means we're not sleeping...well I guess I should say Trey's not sleeping. I have been taking Benadryl for allergies so I'm sleeping like a baby. Once last night I woke up and he was asleep with Ainslee on the floor beside our bed. Such a good dad! So I made him a pot of coffee this morning to help wake him up. Not a big deal but not something that I normally do. Trey hasn't done anything 'unexpected' yet, but he does so much, I don't know how he'll fit anything else in. He gave all the kids their baths, did the dishes, and is now straightening the living room. But y'all, he does those things most nights! He is such a good husband! I'm not sure what Day 3 will bring. I'm off to read the next entry in the Love Dare!

Random pictuers...

2008-10-03T21:22:00.003-05:00

Ava in her Halloween shirt and Halloween bow.
Layton playing 'Daddy'
All three kids playing so well beside each other, but playing totally by themselves!
Trey showing Layton and Ainslee how to make a cake
Ainslee asleep under our bed

The Paci Fairy

2008-10-03T21:14:00.003-05:00

Well the Paci fairy finally made a visit to our house. I had heard of such a thing everywhere from some of my friends who had used her, to our pediatrician, to Rosie O'Donnell so I figured if so many people had success, maybe just maybe it would work for us too.

Our run-in with the fairy came a little sooner than planned, though, when Ainslee lost her last paci! She was forced to go to sleep without it that night. Well after she went to bed, we found the lost paci, but decided instead of telling her, we'd just let the paci fairy take it away and leave a big girl present in its place. Ainslee had a trunk of dress-up clothes waiting on her bed for her when she got home that next afternoon.

She loved wearing the earrings, necklace, bangles, tiara, high heels, and fairy wings. The set also came with a few dresses, but she wasn't as interested in those.

Ainslee' first hair cut...

2008-09-20T20:53:00.001-05:00

Ainslee got her first hair cut today. She did really good. She didn't cry or fuss or anything. She climbed up in the chair like a big girl. I was VERY sad to see the curls go, but I think it will make bathtime a lot easier. She hated getting her hair washed because it would take us so long to get all of the shampoo out. Her hair isn't quite as short as I had pictured, but Dana said that as her hair gets heavier, we'll be able to get it shorter. It still turned out cute though! I think I might try to flat iron it in the morning for church and will take another picture.

Only at our house...

2008-09-20T14:19:00.002-05:00

I wonder if this pretend conversation has happened in other houses with babies with acid reflux...

Layton and Ainslee were playing with Ainslee's babies. They were pushing them around in buggies and talking like they were the mama and daddy. Then Layton said, "Uh oh...We have to go home...The baby is throwing up."

I guess it's just a normal part of our routine to have to go home due to throw up!

Table Cloth Skirt and Dinner Party Top GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-04T17:40:00.000-05:00

Table Cloth Skirt and Dinner Party Top GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Random update

2008-09-02T20:49:00.003-05:00

Well I think it's time, once again, for an overall update on the Kordsmeiers! The girls had doctor appointments today, and they went very well. Ainslee weighed in at 26 pounds, and Ava was a near 2nd at 25 pounds. Ainslee was 35 inches long, and Ava as 30. They're both tall for their age, but Ainslee is average weight (50th percentile), and Ava is a little on the husky side ( >97th percentile). They're both doing great developmentally, crawling for Ava, running and jumping for Ainslee. They drew blood to test Ainslee for anemia, and we have to bring Ava back in about a month because her head circumference jumped so much (from the 80th to the 95th percentile). If it's still growing at that rate, they'll do a CT scan to check on the inside. The doctor said, though, that it's very likely that they just caught her at a growth spurt and all is well.

Layton is still doing okay trying to figure out about Konner. It's very hard for him to understand. I think my explanations of things have contributed to his lack of understanding though. For example, it's confusing him that I told him that heaven is high up above the clouds. When I said that, it was beautiful day with white fluffy clouds in the sky. Now that we're having thunder and lightening, Layton's a little more concerned for Konner's well-being. He has lots of questions about heaven: are there dogs there? are there toys for Konner to play with? does he want his mommy? I'm trying to do my best to explain it, but sometimes he stumps me. Sometimes I just have to tell him that I don't know. Layton is still VERY clingy to me, especially when it's time for me to leave him at Mrs. Joyce's house. It's hard for me to leave him while he's crying like that.

Friday my van got hit by a bus. Luckily, none of us were in it, and funnily enough, no one was in the bus either. I had parked behind the school because I had morning duty, the bus driver parked her bus and went in to clock in. Her breaks went out, and it rolled right in to my van! Some kids got off of another bus saying, "Mrs. Kordsmeier, that bus just hit a van back there! Cool!" It wasn't cool. I knew it was my van! DPS came out and did the report, they towed my van, and now I'm waiting on it to be fixed. I am driving a rental right now, which isn't half bad. It's a 2008 Explorer with leather seats and a sun roof that Layton has fallen in love with!

Trey and I are going to participate in the Fireproof project at church and the 40 day love dare. We're very excited...well I am anyway; I don't know that Trey is 'excited' but he's not against the idea. More on that to come...

still concerned...

2008-08-26T17:53:00.003-05:00

Layton's having a hard time going to Mrs. Joyce's house. He's been very clingy and hasn't wanted me to leave him. This morning Mrs. Joyce said she thinks he's having a harder time with Konner not being there than we thought. Konner was his only same-age playmate. There are two boys a year older than him that will start kindergarten next year, but they're the big boys now and don't really want to play with Layton. Then there is one boy that will start the year after Layton that he plays OK with, but that little boy is more like Ainslee's age. Mrs. Joyce usually takes into consideration the ages of her kids when she's deciding which new ones she's going to take and which ones she's not. Layton and Konner were paired as playmates long before they were actually friends. So he's having a hard time finding a new play mate. I think he's stuck in the middle right now. Y'all pray for him. He needs a friend.

2008-08-20T22:14:00.002-05:00

I feel better about how Layton is handling losing Konner. Yesterday I was worried because he didn't want to talk about it and didn't have any questions; usually he asks a million questions even if he already knows the answers! Tonight, though, when we were about to say our prayer, he stopped me and said, "Mama, we don't have to pray for Konner anymore; he's all better now."

Then tonight he asked how Konner got in the boat. Puzzled? Yeah I was too. I asked him what boat, and he said with Jesus and God. I told him that Jesus and God weren't in a boat, and he got very defensive and said yes they were too; then he showed me his bible that showed Noah's ark and told me they were on that boat. So we got into a huge discussion about Noah and the ark and then found a page of what I felt best represented heaven, and he settled on Konner being there.

2008-08-19T21:49:00.003-05:00

I feel sad tonight. Layton's friend, Konner, passed away this evening. If you don't already know, he is a three year old little boy that stays with the same babysitter as Layton. He suffered a TBI. My sister called me while we were eating dinner; we had already prayed for Konner like we always do. She actually called during the prayer so I had to call her back. I went ahead and told Layton. Yesterday Layton had asked me where Jesus is, and I told him that he was in heaven with God and explained in 3 year old terms that heaven is in the sky above the clouds and that we can't see Jesus or God but that they're always there. So tonight I just told Layton that Konner went to live with Jesus and God in heaven. He asked if when he woke up (he had been in a coma and we had been praying for Konner to wake up then switched to praying that he would get better), he could come play at Mrs. Joyce's house. I told him that he wasn't going to wake up, that he was just going to go to heaven with Jesus and God. Layton kind of stared at me for a minute and then said he didn't want to talk about that anymore. So we didn't.

I don't really know what he thinks about it. I wondered if it was too much for his little mind to grasp so he just didn't want to think about it or if he wanted to think about and talk about it later. I'm not going to push him. He's never been shy about asking questions so I know if he has any, he'll ask. I think that kids have a better way of dealing with some things; sometimes they can see the big picture better than we can.

Layton's prayed this entire time. I don't know how to say this without it sounding like I'm thinking that God didn't answer our prayers; I know He hears our prayers and answers them according to His plan and that we don't always get the answer that we wanted, but I just never imagined that Layton's prayer, a prayer offered by an innocent three year old, wouldn't be answered just the way we expected. He's prayed that Konner would get better so he could come play with him at Mrs. Joyce's house; that's what he's said every single time. Well he won't be coming to Mrs. Joyce's house, but he is better.

Fear of Dogs

2008-08-16T23:09:00.004-05:00

Almost everyone that's been around Layton for more than say...2 minutes knows that he is very afraid of dogs. I don't know what to do about this, but it's getting pretty ridiculous! Everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE, we go Layton asks about a million times if there's going to be a dog there. Church, Wal-Mart, friends' houses, outside, anywhere! Today we went to a birthday party, and I couldn't tell him for sure if there was a dog or not, and he came as close to a panic attack as I have ever seen him. As we were getting closer to the house, he told me I was driving too fast, that he needed to use the bathroom, that he wanted to go home, that the little boy was mean to him; he was trying whatever he could think of to get me to turn around. When we got there the little boy's mom was standing outside, and I asked her if they had a dog, and she said no. You would think that would be the end of it, but no. He still stuck right by my side for the beginning of the pary until he was fairly certain there was definitely not a dog in the house. We also think that's why he won't sleep in his bed. He says that there's a dog. I guess he could have heard a dog bark outside sometime; I'm not sure. I really think his fear is getting worse. I know there's no reasoning with him. He can even self-talk and convince himself that he likes dogs; he's done that with my sister's dog. He'll tell himself that Luke's nice and a good dog and won't hurt him, but then when we pull in my sister's driveway, he goes crazy and we have to carry him in the house. He can't play outside over there even though they have an awesome swingset and a good driveway for bike-riding. He won't play outside over here because he thinks a dog might come up. We have to force him to go outside and play, and then we usually just end up getting on to him the whole time because he's glued to our legs. I have no idea what to do. I don't want this fear to get in the way of him enjoying his childhood. There are going to be dogs around. They will be at the park, at ballgames, at my sister's house, at our friends' houses. He's going to have to learn to cope. But on the other hand, I know this fear! I had it too when I was little. I actually saw my friend get attacked by a dog. I'm still not comfortable around dogs, or any animal for that matter, but I don't crawl up whoever is standing next to me to get away from them. My parents got a dog for me to help me with my fear. That didn't really help. I wasn't afraid of my dog, but I was still afraid of all other dogs. I'm at a loss.

2008-08-13T20:58:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Ava "crawling"

2008-08-09T18:30:00.003-05:00

Ava can finally get where she's wanting to go! Here's a video of how!

Ferber continued

2008-08-09T13:45:00.002-05:00

Well I told you I wouldn't post everyday, and I stuck to my word! I didn't put anything yesterday, but let me just say that the last two nights have been blissful for Ava! She has slept beautifully! And my friend Sara told me that they started the Ferber method with her son Tad, and he is also sleeping well! Yay Tad!

Now if we could just get the older two sleeping, we'd be all set! Ainslee's paci is about to get thrown out of the window! The last few nights she's woken up a couple of times crying because it's fallen out of her mouth, and she can't find it! She used to be such a good sleeper! What's happened!?! Maybe she's teething. I use that excuse for everything!

Layton still comes in our room around 2:30 or so, and he sleeps on a pallet. I guess that could be worse! Well I know it could be because he used to sleep in our bed! Our next mission is to get them to sleep in their beds all night. I have no idea how to accomplish that! Suggestions welcome!

Night 3

2008-08-07T12:48:00.002-05:00

I promise I won't post every day about how Ava slept the night before; maybe just a few more nights until she's good and acclamated to going to sleep by herself.

Last night started out much like night 2. She went to sleep fine; woke up about 8:15; played for a little while; went back to bed fine. Then she started crying at about 10:15. We didn't really know what to do because we didn't know how long to let her cry before going in to console her. We only waited five minutes because I thought she might need a diaper change. She didn't, so we went in again after 10 minutes. When nearly 15 more minutes had passed, I started to cave. I actually sent Trey in to get her to rock her. Luckily, she fell asleep before he got to her door! I know it's good for her to be able to get herself to sleep, but it's just so hard to listen to her cry!

Night 2

2008-08-05T21:44:00.002-05:00

I am so proud of Ava. She is such a fast-learner! At about 6:30 she started showing signs of being tired so we gave her a bath, fed her, etc and put her down at about 6:50. She went right to sleep! No crying whatsoever! She woke up, though, at about 8:15. We didn't really know what to do, but we thought since she went to bed so early, it would probably be okay to let her play for a little bit. She played until about 8:45 and started acting tired again. At that point we decided to redo the entire bedtime routine minus the bath. I offered her another bottle (which she refused), read her another book, sang another song, and said another prayer. I laid her down again, and wal-lah no crying! She's sound asleep right now! I can't believe it! I'm keeping my fingers crossd that she sleeps all night again!

Day after night 1 of Ferber method

2008-08-05T10:10:00.002-05:00

After many, many nights of fighting Ava to sleep (rocking her, putting her down, her waking up, rerocking her, putting her down, her waking up...), we have decided that it's time to enlist the Ferber method. We used this method on both of our other kids (although with Layton we used our own version because we were not educated in the ways of Ferber), and it worked for them. It's very difficult, and I look at it as a last resort. Using it does mean that you'll have to listen to your child cry, for often lengthy periods of time at first.

We decided that our night time routine, which is KEY with Ferber, would be modeled after the routines that we used for the other two kids. At the first sign of sleepiness, we jump into full bedtime routine mode. She gets a bath, a nice rub down with lotion, a bottle, a book, a song, a prayer, and then we lay her down. The whole account takes about 30 minutes.

Then she cries. And cries. And cries. She cried for about an hour and 15 minutes last night. We laid her down at 7:00. After 5 minutes, I went in to comfort her, careful not to touch or pick her up, even though I so badly wanted to. Then after 10 minutes, Trey went in. Then 15 minutes, and I went in. And so on. Finally at about 8:05, we only heard a small wimper, and by 8:15 she was asleep. She slept until about 6:45 this morning.

That hour and 15 minutes was brutal. However it was nice to have the next two hours. Usually we're rocking her until about 10:30 or 11:00, which means that the rest of the house has to be absolutely quiet: no dishes can be done, no laundry, etc. for fear that she'll wake up.

Tonight will be night number two. The first cry period will last 10 minutes, and the second 15. Wish us luck!

Our nighttime woes...

2008-08-01T14:16:00.002-05:00

My sister and I have similar woes; our boys won't sleep in their own beds. She came up with the idea that if Tyler slept in his own bed all night, she would buy him a new transformer. He made it and got his transformer. When Layton found out, he asked if I would buy him a transformer if he slept in his bed all night. Of course, I said YES!!! So that was our mission last night. We were pumped that he would make it all night, and today we would go buy his brand new transformer. However, at about 1:30 AM, I opened my eyes to see Layton standing right there, and he whispered, "Mama, I don't want a transformer." So he slept on his pallet on our floor.

Looking forward to my birthday

2008-08-01T14:13:00.003-05:00

I never really ask for anything for my birthday, not from Trey anyway. This year, though, I have a very specific request. I want a corner. I want a corner of the living room to be set up for me to scrapbook whenever I want without having to drag all of my stuff out! I asked for a table and chair, and he added that I might need a lamp! He has a whole month to get all this together! I am really hoping to get up-to-date!!!!

Our favorite eateries...

2008-07-24T21:38:00.003-05:00

Driving home tonight, we went our normal way and passed the normal fast food restaurants. Layton was pointing them out to Ainslee. He pointed to McDonald's and told her, "There's McDonald's." Then we passed Dairy Queen, and he said, "There's Ice Cream McDonald's."

Our Sweet Ainslee

2008-07-24T08:59:00.006-05:00

This post is dedicated to our sweet little, almost 2 year old! I feel like she doesn't get as much blog-tention as her big brother or baby sister so this one's for you, sweet girl!

**Ainslee is obsessed with cute! Some examples: When we buy a new package of Pull-Ups (White Cloud brand...love those!) she is so excited because there are two patterns: one with one fairy and one with two fairies. Ainslee will go through and pick out the one with two fairies until they're all gone because they're the "cute ones." She picks out her bows in the morning (No bow, no go, right Carrie?) she'll point to the one that she wants, and says, "Cute one!" Then when I fix her hair, she'll look in the mirror, and again say, "Cute!" If I ever want her to do something, I just put the word cute in front of it; like want to go sleep in your cute bed? Want to wear this cute shirt? Want to take a bath and use your cute towel? Works like a charm!

**Ainslee loves to help me with the laundry. Here is a picture of her helping me; she's wearing Daddy's sock and Ava's onesie. She's really good at putting laundry away too! She's going to be a big helper!

**She loves pretending to give haircuts. If you're sitting, she'll come and say, "Want care-cut?" and she'll get her dishes (why dishes, I don't know) and she'll pretend to wash your hair (which actually feels pretty good), and then she'll cut it with a spoon.

**The first thing she does every morning is go into the living room and say, "Build sassle?" And then she'll stack up all the books, and it's her castle.

**If you're talking about her when she's in the room or if you suddenly say, "Where's Ainslee?" she'll come up to you, pointing to herself, and say, "I dite dere."

It's hard to believe that she'll be two in just a little over a week. Where has the time gone? And lastly, I'll leave you with a video of her singing the Barney song.

Something I want to remember...

2008-07-22T12:47:00.003-05:00

I know I'm going to forget this when Layton grows up, and I don't keep a baby book so I'm putting this conversation in print here....

Layton (to me): Do you love me?
Me: Of course
Layton: I love when you tell me of course.

Pick Up Toys

2008-07-22T12:24:00.003-05:00

We have a problem in our house getting Layton and Ainslee to pick up their toys. Usually I have to repeat myself 100 times, and they would rather play or watch TV than pick up. I'm trying something new. Today when I told them to pick up, I let them pick up as much as they could (or would, I guess) and then let them go about their business. Then I went through with what we're calling "Mom's Toy Box" and picked up what was left. Now those toys are off-limits and can't be played with until...well, that part I haven't figured out. I don't know what's appropriate. This is only applying to the toys left out in shared areas like the living room, kitchen, and even the play rooom because of its location; the toys left out in their rooms I'm not going to get, yet. Here's my stash for today; it includes most of their favorite toys so hopefully when playtime rolls around again, they'll get the full effect.