So Thankful

Even though it's not quite Thanksgiving yet, I wanted to share how Thankful I am.

I'm especially thankful right now for my Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma generously offered to take me shopping to buy new clothes for my kids. 

Initially I thought we'd be okay, but as the cold season approached, and my kids were evidently taking lessons on how to grown out of clothes quickly, I decided to take her up on her offer.

Looks can be deceiving. 

It doesn't look like much, but it was A TON!

It was like Clothing Christmas!

The best part of it all was I got to buy what I KNEW my kids would love and wear, not what was the cheapest.  

And I was smart enough to have the kids actually try on each and every piece of clothing.  Because holy cow.....they both went thru a growth spurt!

Josh is in a 6 and Macey is in a 4T.  

I thought those sizes would be too big, but no, they were just right!

So after a while, the kids got fussy.  And I've said it before and I'll say it again, a good parent bribes to get good results.

After they tried on a piece of clothing, they would come to me or Chad, have it looked at, then get a Skittle.

Yep. 

Thats how we got thru it.


Rock on good parents.  Rock on.

And thanks Rockin' Grandparents!

Painting Pumpkins

This year, I bought some Tempera Paint to keep at home.   

I thought I'd start doing more art with the kids.

They LOVE to do art.  

And like typical kids....the messier the better.

So this year, when my wonderful Sister-In-Law took me to "THE BARN SALE", I bought some small pumpkins.   Three for $1!  

If I'd have know how much fun the kids would have painting them, I'd have bought $5 worth!

So one day, when I was in a fabulous mood, the kids were both home, and the stars aligned....they painted.

Notice how the OCD mom had to have each color have their own paint brush.  And she even drew little squares as to where they should be placed when not in use.  (I eventually just had to leave the room and let them be artistic!  Couldn't take it!)

They loved it!

Eventually, there wasn't enough blank pumpkin left, so we elevated them on coffee mugs.  White ones no less.

They had more fun than I'd even hoped.

And even though it didn't last long because they're fast painters (and messy painters go faster), they still enjoyed every minute of it!

I even bought 4 more pumpkins to do!

Happy Halloween!

Future Shirt for Chad

This would make an excellent Christmas present for Chad in about 10 years.......

Purpose

So lately I've struggled with purpose. 

I know I'm where I'm supposed to be.

Wiping butts, noses, cleaning, and most importantly-shaping the future.

I'm so lucky to be a stay-at-home mom.

Chad and I worked H-A-R-D to get here.  

We saved, scrimped, did a trial run financially to make sure we could make it.

We W-O-R-K-E-D to have me be home.  It wasn't easy, but we're here.

So....somedays can be overwhelming. 

Overwhelming because my life is 3 little ones.  

The only adult interaction I get is with Chad and Dog the Bounty Hunter on TV.

So somedays it's easy to focus on the here-and-now.  

The kids that are loud and wake up the baby.  The kids that won't play more than 10 feet from me.

The baby who refuses to go back to sleep at 3:30 like she's going to miss something.

The baby who has decided that 4:20 she'll cry for no good reason.

It's easy to lose sight of why it was important for me to be home.

I ran across this blog.  

http://teachmetobraid.blogspot.com/2014/09/if-my-child-marries-yours.html

The post about "if my child marries yours" had me in tears.

It was great to have another mom, in the trenches with me, give me more purpose and focus. 

It was refreshing.

I'm ready for those loud, clingy, crying kids that I love.

Bring it!

Funny Animals

I saw this the other day, and all I could think about was Zoey.

Oh how I wonder how many of these she'd like to try on the kids.

http://news.distractify.com/megan-mccormick/animals-who-arent-thrilled-with-kids/?v=1


Poor girl has gone thru so much.

Getting a kid at age 7.

A loud rambunctious kid.

I remember her hiding on the back of the couch to get away from him!

Then another kid at age 9.

A kid who wants to squeeze and kiss you.

And then, just when you think all is well.....

we moved her houses.

And then added another kid.

It's a wonder why we don't constantly have 'retaliation poop' on our carpet.

Take Time To Slow Down.....

Lately, I've been so stinkin' busy. 

And nothing has really changed!

Except I have a baby.

Who needs to eat every 2.5-3 hours.  

Which requires me to be present.

And I have 2 other children, whom the M-O-M-E-N-T I sit down with the baby.....scramble to get a view of her.

I'm getting claustrophobic!

Sometimes I just want to yell, "BACK UP!  LET ME BREATHE!"

But it's times like the ones I'm about to tell you, stop and make me realize that this is MY LIFE.  

Not just a list of things to do, not just people walking in and out of my life, BUT MY LIFE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other night we were all sitting down to do the devotional that goes with Josh's Wednesday night program.

Chad was leading it and we were supposed to be quiet and think in our head about how we can have more Jesus in our lives.  (Or something like that.)

Chad asked Josh and he had a good answer.  

Then he asked Macey, "What were you thinking about?'

And without missing a beat, she replies, "Bubble Guppies!"  (It's her new fave cartoon.)

We both just giggled.

Then later it came time to pray and he asked Macey if she had anything she'd like to ask God for.

And again, without missing a beat, she replies, "A Mermaid!"

Oh golly.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the next day, we were practicing our school stuff (sight words for Josh and letters for Macey),

I told Josh to say the words outloud as I point to them.  (We have them on our cabinets in the kitchen.)

So he starts YELLING his words!

I stop him after a few and ask why he's so loud.

'Well mom, you said to say them out LOUD."

Oh boy........

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But those are my kids.  That I made. 

And I'm so proud of them.

First Kindergarten WORK!

Josh got on the big, bad school bus today.

Ok.  

So it's not the big, bad school bus, but it is big.  

And it did take my kid away.

Josh was scared and started to balk at 7:15, but we talked through it.

The school bus picks Josh up at the end of our driveway!

The bus driver seemed nice.  

I cried as I walked back to the porch because he looked so scared when I looked at him thru the window.  

I wanted to go yank him off the bus and yell, "Oh screw it.  It won't be that hard to load an infant, an opinionated 3 year old, and Josh in the care at the butt crack of dawn every day to take him."

But I didn't.  I just went back inside and sulked in my bed.

But he made it to school.  How do I know?  Chad picked him up!  Ha!

When I checked his book bag, there were a couple of things in there.  

And here was one of them:

That's right ladies and gentleman!!!!!  

After a year and a half practicing at home with mom....

And ONLY ONE DAY IN KINDERGARTEN.....

Josh F-I-N-AL-L-Y knows how to write the "S" in his name!

He wrote it correctly on all 3 pages!

And then here was the last page of the assignment.  He had to draw a picture using all 3 shapes.

And notice the hearts for me!

I'm so proud of him.  

He did say that today wasn't as much fun as the first day because they didn't have as much time to play and more work to do.

Welcome to life, Buddy.  

Welcome to life......