Saturday Sentences - Apple Skin

I'm not sure I'll do Saturday Sentences every week, but we had dinner with Andrea and her family this evening and she made a good point... why not "capture" even the kids' silly (or enlightening) conversations so they can be remembered and shared:)

At lunch we had apple slices on the table. We try to encourage the kids to eat lots of fruits and veggies.... and we noticed that Christopher hadn't eaten any....

Christopher: I don't want any because it has skin on it.

Mommy or Daddy: Christopher, just try it, you've eaten the skin before:)

Christopher: No I don't like skin.

Anna: Christopher, to take the skin off all you have to do is turn the apple around and bite the skin off... like this. (She then shows him how; biting pieces of skin off and eating them.)

Christopher : Oh, OK...... (then he starts biting off chunks of skin and apple and eating the side with skin)

Hah ha haaa.... Guess he's grateful for a big sister that can "solve" any problem:)

Focus Friday

This is one mom's idea to have weekly goals for each week:) I have a LIST of goals from organzing to home tasks to goals with the kids:) So I thought it might be better to take care of these "little things" one week at a time:)

My goals for the next week are:

* Put together my coupon binder and organize my coupons in it:)

* Sort through Christopher's shelf:) Put NEW labels on the bins where needed:) Oh it's such a mess and all the toys are all mixed up in it.... maybe I should add another goal.....

* Train Christopher to put his toys in the right bins:)

So ask me Next friday if I got anything done:) LOL

The Electric Toothbrush

After our last (in Nov) visit with Brian's family, Anna started begging us to for a unusual request! An Electric Toothbrush???

This is strange because we DON'T have one in our house. But she had seen Uncle Scott's toothbrush. We asked Uncle Scott and he said that he doesn't travel with his powered toothbrush..... but Anna told us that she saw Uncle Scott using his toothbrush at Grandma's house in the bathrooom:) LOL

During a couple trips to Wally World Anna had spied out the toothbrush that she wanted... some kind of Bratz variety... great? She talked to Grandma and they decided during our last visit that they would try to find the toothbrush she wanted:) Gotta LOVE Grandmas and Grandaddies:)

Last Thursday, after pulling up at Grandma's house, Anna immediately tells Grandma, "OK, Grandma, lets get my carseat in your car so we can go to Walmart and get my toothbrush!" ha hahaaa

Needless to say, Anna did get her toothbrush. But she ended up getting Hello, Kitty which is much cuter:) And she was eager to demonstrate to everyone HOW she brushes her teeth with her electric toothbrush:

Brush YOUR teeth at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was just another example of how MUCH our kids are watching us!! And all the little things that can influence them.... at least this time it's something to keep her teeth clean:)

How many other 4 yr olds are begging for toothbrushes???

Kitchen Lurker, Messy Space

While schooling this morning the kids did really well:) I might have been a little more laid back because I wasn't feeling well and because I orginially thought school was out in order to get some groceries:)


Anyway I heard some noise in the kitchen... by then Christopher and Anna were giggling....

This is what we saw......

I know most people think Lydia is a sweet little angel.... but she can be soo goofy sometimes:)Gotta love the princess shoes that she got from Grandma and Grandaddy:)

For those of you who attempt to "do school" with your little ones....

I'm not sure where you mostly spend your time. But for now we've been working, playing, drawing, umm... basically everything at our kitchen table:)




And it works for us:)
But just LOOK at the MESS we make:)

NOt the start I was hoping for...., Learned something New

This morning I was checking sales trying to plan my grocery run today!!! I stretched and hear a big "crack"! I had been joking Brian this week about cracking and getting old...... but I am NOT that OLD...yet!

Anyway, I must have done something BAD... because now an hour and half after doing it, taking Tyelnol and a HOT shower... I am in PAIN...

Makes me want to pray even harder and more for my sweet friend who just had back surgery :( Praying for you Jordan!!!

I am thinking it's NOT a goood idea to take my "busy" little kids and attempt to go grocery shopping...

Onto something different...

Gotta LOVE the phrase: Learn something new everyday! (I only hear it constantly on PBS Kids.)

Yesterday the kids and I made muffins for Brian....


As the baked I made lunch. And as they all sat around the table waiting for lunch, I pulled the muffins out of the oven, stuck the candles in, lite them and then we sang Happy Birthday.

After singing, Brian pulled out the candles only to discover they had MELTED into the muffins... glad i only used 3 and not 34:)

Lesson Learned: Let the muffins cool before inserting candles:)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

With all the traveling, visiting and celebrating birthdays... we didn't want to "forget" Brian's Birthday!! We've actually been celebrating a little each day since Saturday at Gran-Grandma's house:)

With dinner and a movie with Scott and Bea. To shopping with me on MOnday afternoon:) Then Rice Kripie treats from his Momma on Tuesday as we headed home. He even enjoyed an McDonalds Apple Pie on the way home!!

Today the kids and I made him some muffins with lunch and sang Happy Birthday to him again:)

I have another surprise for Brian..... he has known I about it for over a week now but he DOESN't know what it is....LOL... He thought it was a blog about him and so he checked the blog all morning waiting for it...

So the birthday will go on until he gets his "secret" gift! Right now I'm just waiting for those responisble for it to complete it and get it to me..... but that it alll I can reveal until it comes... it really isn't a BIG deal... it's just NOT often I can "Surprise" Brian without him knowing about it!!!!

Anna and Brian June 2008
Originally uploaded by seethefam

Happy Birthday!!!

We love you!!!

Lydia: My Day as a 2-yr Old

Now that I'm 2.... There are many things I can "try" and do!!

Here is my 1st Day being 2 Years Old!!

I fed myself my Cheerios with soymilk!

I can use my spoon and scoop those little O's into my mouth. But just in case I miss, I removed my shirt so it wouldn't get wet:)









Don't let my Mommy fool you into thinking she's the only coupon-savvy lady in the house!! Anna and I LOVE to cut coupons!

So this morning, Grandma and I cut the coupons:) Boy, oh boy we had coupons and paper everywhere. And we had soo much fun that Christopher and Anna came to help us:)












I tried to dress myself,too!!! I tried and tried to get the dress over my head until....

I got stuck and had to go into the kitchen for some assistance!! Thank goodness Grandma helped as MOmmy took sme pictures of me.













I brushed my teeth by myself!! I really like brushing my teeth. My favorite part is sucking all the toothpaste off the toothbrush. And sometimes I'll try to "tickle" my teeth:)
















I went for a walk with my Grandma, Brother and Sister. They're not in the picture because Anna got cold and Christopher found a fire ant mound... he waited until Grandma and I were closer before he put sticks on top to "feed" to the fire ants.













I ate lunch with my Gran-Grandma, at her house. We got to eat one of my favorite meals (for today).... HOT DOGS!! Yummmy!! Gran-Grandma likes them too.....















After lunch and the adults tried to talk with Gran-Grandma, I wrestled with Christopher!

He is my favorite wrestling pal (because he lets me pin him to the ground and pretends he can't get upuntil Mommy and Daddy tell me to let him go).







I played chase in Grandma's house with Daddy. Oh, I LOVE to find him, say," Daddy, get me!" and go running in the opposite direction hoping I'll hear him growling behind me.

And then he catches me.... he tickles me and kisses me. And turns me upside down:) I squeal and squeal... and my face turns red. But I LOVE it;)












I had a great time in Grandma and Grandaddy's HUGE bathtub....

And Grandma lets us SPLASH and SPLASH!! It was soo much fun! Too bad Grandma got as wet as I did:)





I snuggled with Daddy for a little while before our bedtime reading. I LOVE snuggles and still like to crawl into any available and friendly lap.

Mommy didn't take any pictures of me sleeping (must have been her "mommy time"). But I look like a little angel when I sleep.

Vacation!!! And My Bug's Birthday

Can you tell I'm on VACATION!!!!! Ahh, it's relaxing.... sort of! I love being with our in-laws... Brian's family is wonderful:) BUt I don't have as much computer access or time.... which is GOOD...

I'll be back home blogging soo enough!!!

I just wanted to share that we had a GREAT time with Gran-Grandma on Sunday at her home church!! It was nice for all of her family to be joined together:) Her church family and her kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brother, neices and dear family friends:)

AND TODAY is........
LYDIA's 2nd BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet angel that was sent from Heaven.

I LOVE the story of my little Lydia.....

Brian and I had our little family in 2007... our little girl and our 5month old little boy!! Ahh, life was busy but sweet as we rejoiced over just "surviving" the "FIRST 3 MONTHS with a newborn" (which I still think is the hardest time, yet, of parenting)!

By the end of April, I had a cold and congestion that I could just NOT shake... I finally had to go to the doctor to get something to get it OUT of my system. Then after a week of medication I traveled with my MOm, my almost 2 yr old daughter and my 5 month old son to see my brother, uncles, aunt and cousins up north!! The entire time I was starving and thristy...LOL

Picking my mom up in the airport I made small talk with other moms that had 3 more children about having more children...LOL

Then we get back home, get settled and have Brian's family visit. And a few days later my family and Brian's family got to celebrate Anna's 2nd birthday! It was a great time and everyone helped soo much.... but I was EXHAUSTED..... I felt like an old woman!!

In desperation, Brian and I decided I needed to visit the Dr! But as a last effort to "self diagnose" I grabbed a pregnancy test......

And we found out we were expecting my "surprise" baby....LYDIA!!

What a blessing this baby has been to us! She is still such a sweet, lovable and happy but spunky little girl! Just tonight she went around and gave us ALL good-night kisses:)

Here's the slide show I did last year of my little BUG (short for Lydia-bug).

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

We Love U ,

Daddy, Mommy, Anna and Christopher:)

Armed with a Camera

We gave Anna the camera to see the room from her view point and this is what we got:)
Lydia

Mommy

Grandaddy napping:)

Uncle Scott snoozing with Aunt Bea:)

DAddy and Chris hiding under the blanket:) A little camera shy:)

Uncle Larry

The Birthday Girl!! Gran-Grandma!

*** Somehow Anna didn't get a pic of Grandma....

Celebrating All Together

This afternoon we traveled to Gran-Grandma's house to have a family party. We had Brian's whole family!! And also a couple friend and a cousin!

It's amazing to think that tomorrow will be Gran-Grandma's 100th birthday!! Could you imagine living for 100 years??? She has seen and lived through soo much in our nation's history.... especially growing up in the SOUTH in light of our recent president's inauguration!

It was nice to be able to have a "quiet" family party with her. She's having a HUGE party after church tomorrow at her church.... so this special and smaller group was fun! And the kids kept it very lively:)

One thing that we got to share with Grandma was going through all her cards:) Her birthday was shared with a member of a previous church of Brian's parents and Gran-Grandma has been receiving at least 5 cards a day... one package had over 25 cards made by some of the children of the church:)

Because we have three birthdays in a row at the end of January.... we celebrated everyone's birthdays all together:) So when we sang, we sang to Gran-Grandma, Lydia and Brian!! And we even had them open gifts all together:)

This was one of my favorite pictures around the dinner table!! I just LOVE the fact that my children have gotten to know their GREAT grandmother!! Not many children have that chance or parents make it possible to visit. We've tried to visit Gran-grandma at least 3 or 4 times a year and the kids have started to talk to her on the phone!!

I don feel a little guilt right now. I have sweet granfathers in far away states and nursing homes that I just DON'T make time to visit or connect with. It takes time. We put it off. They are far.

But I am just soo pleased to see them with Gran-Grandma that it encourages me everytime to attempt to keep up with Pop-pop and Pepere and even Grandpa Jack.

I LOVE Family Restrooms

With having young children, using the restroom while we're out is always..... hmmm fun?? LOL

Seriously. I have one Momma, one totally potty trained girl, one in-training boy and one little lady wanting to "try"!! All that "fun" can't happen in a itty bitty bathroom stall.... although it has before...LOL

There is nothing so welcoming to young families than "family restrooms" at our favorite stores and malls!! Although I'd never admit LOVING Walmart, I do love the family restroom at our new Walmart. Since we've been training Christopher, our Walmart's family restroom has been a "must" at each visit!!

Besides the space, family restrooms also have a little "big" potty (if that's possible). The kids LOVE sitting on the little potty just like MOmmy!! They actually ask to go first to sit on the potty... talk about motivation! And Mommy likes that there is more than one potty so everyone can have a turn more quickly:)

We also like that many has TP for the little potty and a lower sink for everyone to wash their own hands versus the taller sinks that the kids can't even reach:) With soo much to do and everyone occupied I have fewer corrections!

Today at Grandma and Grandaddy's mall, they had a beautiful family restroom.... it was soo cute and the kids were eager to "go potty"!! Ahh, a family friendly place and no soaked pants!!!

Yay for Family Restrooms!!!!

Easy Trip, but Left my Reader!!!!

We LOVE to leave the house EARLY when we have a LONG journey ahead of us, but this morning with the ice still lingering we decided to wait just a bit.... "out-of-the-house goal" was 9:30am (just after the school buses)...

When did we leave???? Hmm, more like 11am....LOL... ahhh, vacation:)

Minus a few swabbles in the back on the van... all having to do with "keeping our hands to ourselves", we had a very eaasy trip:) YAY!!

**Anna drew pictures

**Christopher kept his underwear DRY
We only stoppped twice and had him use the potty each time... pretty good for a 5.5 hr trip:)

**Lydia's slight fever went away and she napped:)

**We had lunch on the road
Little plastic storage cups make GREAT food holders for little guys on a trip!!

**Really enjoyed Daddy's "new" GPS.... (what did we do without these things)

**We ALL napped some

**EVen Chippies/Warren enjoyed his ride:)
Yes, we took the fish!!! I just never got around to making arrangements for him to stay with neighbors... and I wasn't about to see if he could last 5 days without food :( So he got to come to Grandma's too... the kids like having him with us:) And he has just gotten "normal" after staying at Andreas and being swatted and stared at by her Dinah....LOL!!!

It seems with traveling with young kiddies, any trip that is uneventful is a victory and good:) So we are thankful for our easy trip!! And that we are now with our family!!

My only sadness is that I left my SD card reader at home:( So the pics might be few this week as we try to get cameras, cards and cords working for us:)

What does an easy trip look like for you and your fam????

Our Winter Wonderland Walk

So after tracking up all the snow in our yard, the church yard and the backyard, the kids decided to go for a walk in the snow:)

We found "animal" prints... probably one of the many roaming cats in the area...LOL! They wanted to visit the pecan grove (AKA the lot behind the church)

Although I warned them it would be really hard to find pecans under the snow, they went hunting anyway! This is a fun pic showing them walking/running almost in a row according to age:) Precious memory:)


And this is what you do when you're hungry and Mommy can't make a snowman with the fluffy snow..... you EAT the carrot! LOL!


All three had some carrot to munch on and they asked for more when we got inside... I guess I don't have to wash, peel and cut it up anymore :)

We enjoyed our second day in the snow!! After naps we peaked outside and saw that MOST of our "winter wonderland" had melted.... Bye SNOW :(... we had fun while it lasted :)

And this weekend we are off to see family down south:) And celebrate Gran-Grandma's 100th birthday!!! And Lydia's birthday and maybe blow out some candles for Brian, too!!

Our Little Snowman and His Fate - Semi-Wordless Wednesday

The booted foot "got him" :(

More SNOW pictures:)

Got Picasa working... nothing like a "reboot"...LOL

Here are some more fun pictures:)

I posted more in my flickr account... HERE:)

It Snowed!! IT Snowed!!

Our snow started about 7am this morning!!!! It came down slow and then about 10-2pm it was really thick:) We did get out during the snowfall....

I'm only including THis picture right now. I do have more but my Picasa isn't working right now???? So I'll have to put them up later, if I can get it to work:(

And we're hoping to go back out SOON... especially since we've gotten another inch since our first trip:)

Stay cozy!!!

Do YOU know who THIS is??, Snow!

Brian held up the Parade magazine from the Sunday paper. He showed Anna the picture and asked her, "Do you know who this is?"

And the little genius immediately answered, "Barak Obama" (although it sounded more like "Iraq Obama"....LOL)

He then looked at me with the expression "did you teach her?"... And I just laughed! He then asked Anna, "Where did you learn about Barack Obama?"

She quickly answered back,"The news." WOW! Brian and I love to watch the news and know what is going on.... now our kids are learning from the news.

While we don't support many of Obama's positions.......

....we are looking forward to watching his Inauguration tomorrow. We will have our kids watch the Inauguration (if they sit still long enough). And we will continue to pray for Obama as our president and hope that his presidential term will be both good for all Americans, GOd-honoring and supportive of our allies around the world!

FOr added excitement tomorrow....

The "news" has been warning us about snow tomorrow.... Anna already knows the temperature and likelihood of snow ...

So maybe tomorrow we will have SNOW! SNOW!! SNOW!!!!

Very Expressive

When Andrea watched the kids on Thursday night she told us that Lydia was "silly". And she is! I'm not sure what she was doing that evening..... maybe rough-housing with Christopher? Maybe making silly sounds?

But I think some of her "silliness" comes from her expressions when she asks for stuff. I tried to get a video of her asking for "apple juice":

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What would you wear if it was 20 outside???

Hmmmm?? Gotta love "self-dressers"!!!

GIrls Night!!!

Well the girls and I went out and we made a NIGHT of it:)

First we had our pedicures locally.... PHEW!! I had to bring in soem of my childbirth breathing.... except I was soo distracted by the girls I never could relax enough...... I actually had tears rolling down my face... which made everyhting soo much funnier.

I seriously don't let ANYONE touch my feet... they are extremely ticklish!! Anyway, when that poor lady tried to scrub my feet I just about lost it.... the girls got a good giggle in. I'm just glad all cameras were thought to have been left in the car:)

Then we headed out of town to the Japanese Steak House.... yummy for the mouth (kind of tough on my belly). It was fun and great to be eating a dinner without worrying about food allergies or what food was hitting the floor;)



Then we made a quick run to Target:) Too bad it closed at 10pm and they had to run us out then :(

WE had a good time, many laughs, many parenting tips shared and much encouragement!!! I praise God for these other young, pastor-wife moms:) And we pray little Josiah comes health and soon:)

Love ya ladies!

Cheerful look, girls' night!

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health"

Proverbs 15: 30

** This was one of my all time favorite pics from the early fall....

When I think of a cheerful look... I immediately think of one of my precious kids smiling!! And it definitely brings JOY to my heart:)

I'm off tonight having a ladies night with some girls. One is expecting VERY, VERY soon.... in fact she's already dilated 3 cm and we're bringing her out....LOL... she and her husband have already discussed what will happen if she goes into labor with us:)

The ladies decided to get pedicures which sounds great for our pregnant friend:) I always want my toes painted when I'm HUGE:) But to go somewhere to get it done is a little out of my comfort zone...LOL ... maybe we'll get some pics:)

Chores in Undies

Maybe because we're still in the potty training mode, or because he likes "swimming" (AKA taking off his clothes until his BBP and all the couch cushions and doing cannon balls into the stack of cushions... the couch- our inside trampoline)...

But I can not keep clothes on Christopher!! The other day the kids were "helping" me with chores and this is what I saw:



Ha ha haaa!! The good thing about him and Lydia wearing less clothing is that my laundry doesn't get piled as high:)

BTW... teaching 3-year olds chores is fun!!! They still want to "copy" us and so he thought it was a treat to sort the silverware:)

Off to get cleaned up for my date night with Brian:)YAY!!

Copywork, Not Pushing Too Hard

One the year goals I have for Anna's school-time is that she will be able to do "copywork". Which means to me that I give her a couple of sentences (hmm..... a poem, memory verse or lines of a book she wants to create) and she can copy them onto her own paper.

So with this being a goal... almost everyday she does some sort of writing. Usually it's on regular notebook paper with guide lines drawn by ME (like the picture on the right)! Or sometimes it on one of our wipe board books (paperless... LOVE it)!

During a recent trip to Walmart, her and I spied a writing tablet that had already lined paper! She immediately asked if we could get it for her schoolwork..... sometimes she is such a "little Kelly"! I told her that we would at a later time and that in the mean time we needed to practice how to write better between the lines.


Last night during a quick Walmart run after our dinner with the deacons of the church. Brian and I picked up the Tablet! And this morning as we were taking out our "school" stuff I showed Anna the tablet... she was soo excited and "ready"!


So I wrote a letter that the kids "dictated" to me for Miss Sue-Sue, the sweet neighbor who kept the kids for us last night! When I finished writing the letter, I got Anna started writing the letter on the writing tablet......


After she finished the first word I looked down at her work and cringed... she wasn't using lowercase letters and it was "sloppy". I almost started to take the tablet away..... but then I got a GRIP!


Here is my sweet four-year old writing a letter of thanks and maybe her heart isn't into it.... but the worse thing for me to do is harshly criticize her work. So I gently reminded her to use lowercase letters and to do her best work! And I demonstrated a couple of letters or reminded her to trace mine from the originial letter, if she needed help.

When she was finished I praised and praised and praised her! Even though I thought her first couple of words weren't as formed as I liked, I thought she did an amazing job. Especially for her 1st copywork assignment, which ended up being longer than I would have normally started with. But she did great!


I was reminded through this internal struggle of mine how my "job" as the kids' mom and teacher is to encourage and guide them. Sure, I need to instruct and teach them what is right but I need to do so with much love, gentleness and graciousness. I think of God's gentle ways with us..... "He leads me beside quiet waters.... He guides me in paths of righteousness..." (from Psalm 23).

This picture is one of my favorite "schooling" pictures....so far!! It looks like she is "just" coloring but it's actually a color-by-word number.... so she's using her reading skills! Anna loves our school-time. She is soo ready for some structured learning and so school-time can be soo fun and exciting.

My daily hope and prayer is that I can challenge and encourage my children in their "studies" without it being stressful or trying to accomplish what I want!! And I am able to enjoy this time with the kids when I'm not so "driven"!! And I'm able to model and encourage character traits - self-control, patience, hard-working, etc - during school-time which is a HUGE benefit to homeschooling....