A Little of Everything!!

Wow, I feel really behind on a lot of things. We just got back from a mini vacation over the Memorial Day weekend to Sea World. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon. We had a blast. The week before we left seems like a big blur. We had end of the year parties for school, soccer, and it seemed like a lot of other things. I will save you some time and just post a few pictures for now. Hope everyone had a great long weekend. It is wonderful to have an extra day off every now and then. Even though I don't officially have a "job" I get a Holiday when Jason gets one because it means he is home to help!! Too bad my Holiday is not paid time off!

Hannah had her last soccer game almost 2 weeks ago. The girls were so funny. They basically were fighting each other for the ball, which they have never done. I guess for the last game every girl wanted a little ball time and the opportunity to score one last time. In the picture above, a little girl on Hannah's team was trying to take the ball from her but the funny part was the little girl was trying to go the wrong way with it. I think Hannah got pretty frustrated because she would not let her run down the field. The little girl's parents seemed a little frustrated too because she was not listening to them tell her to take it the other way! Hannah had a great season overall. She has decided she wants to play again in the Fall. I just need to convince my sweet hubby to coach this time!

Hannah had her end of the year school party last week even though they have one day left this week. It was a lot of fun for the kids. They had a scavenger hunt with a Hawaiian theme. They ended up with the whole costume!

Luke's party was right up his alley. They had ice cream sundaes with sprinkles and all. You can't see her in this picture, but Hannah had begged and begged for me to pick her up before the boys parties and I soon found out why. She told me after we got to the party, "if they ask if I want some, I can tell them yes, but I won't ask, okay mom?". She wanted all their goods even though she had already had some. I did not object since she is 5 and weighs a whole 31 pounds. Yes, you read that right, all my kids weigh 29, 30, and 31 pounds. Luke may soon surpass them all at this rate.After Luke' s party we moved on to Logan's. Again, Hannah was right there to receive any goodies that they passed out. This time she was the recipient of frosted cookies, fruit, and juice boxes. She, and Logan, had a good time. Oh, and all three were super excited because Jason was working in his office in town and therefore came to all three parties. I guess they knew I would show up no matter what so they did not get too excited that mommy came.

Just what she waited all season for....her soccer trophy. Hannah's end of the season soccer party was at no other than a parents worst nightmare....Chuck E Cheeses. All the kids had a great time playing and eating the yucky pizza but the best time of the night was when their coach passed out trophies. She was so excited because the ball even spins around and around. We will see how long that lasts at my house. Her brothers are likely to try to give it a good kick around the house!

Oh, and did I mention that we decided spur of the moment to do a little "remodeling" of our bedroom and bathroom right in the middle of this crazy time. At some point I will post some pictures of what the previous owners thought was in style during their stay in our wonderful home. For those of you who don't know, we had a lot of work when we first moved in. Our idea of what looks good was not the same as the previous owners, but we loved the layout, the neighborhood, and the school so we thought we would give it a try. Our major work (okay really I should say Jason's work) slowed down after Luke's arrival, but it is time to start up again since he is TWO! More to come on that project.......

One of those days!!!!!

Wow, it has been one of those days. Those days where every time you turn around you have a child who is either telling you "no" or hitting one of their siblings or just plain screaming at each other. We do our best to ensure our children treat each other nicely, but you know how that goes sometimes. Today Jason was in his office here in town and he came home for lunch. The kids were so excited because he does not get to do that a lot right now. He could tell after being home just a few minutes that the kids, alright mainly Luke, had started to wear on mommy a little. The last few days Luke has really decided to show us how independent he is. I know he is two, but you have to understand with our other two children, the twos were not too bad. We always thought the threes were worse at times. This will give you a brief look into his recent behavior: On Sunday we had a few families over after church. All the kids were running between the backyard and the house. Some of the kids had run into Hannah's room to play. Luke had also run in there with a chocolate chip cookie in his hands. A little boy came running out saying that another little boy was bleeding. So we run in and find exactly what he said, a bloody headed little boy. It just happens that this little boy had busted his head open a week ago and had to have it glued. Well, the story is told about what happened and it was my little 2 year old boy who threw a metal serving tray from our little kitchen set and yep you guessed it, hit him square on his glued spot. It looks a little meaty and won't quit bleeding so his parents take him to the Dr. again. We start questioning Luke as to what happened and he tells us that this little boy "was trying to eat my cookie so I threw something". He's honest I guess, but that may give you a glimpse of what we are dealing with. Back to today.....Luke had gotten in trouble a few times before we left for the store but I thought it would be a quick trip so it was manageable. The store went fairly well. Luke likes to stand in the cart while Logan likes to ride in the actual seat. Hannah usually walks which works well with our situation. There were a few times when Luke tries to grab things off the shelf, I tell him no, he tries to yell at me that he "don't like you". I was ready to be done, actually ready for all of them to be in bed for a long nap. HAHA! We were checking out and of course the boys are going crazy. They are making noises at each other while I am dealing with the unfriendly cashier who cannot find a price on something and thinks I should know how to do it. Luke starts saying, "he's not talking" about the cashier. I just reply I know and pay. I thought things were going fairly okay. When I am pushing my cart away I feel someone touch my shoulder. It is the lady behind me. My first thought is I forgot something. I am ready to say thank you and move on. She simply says, "you have a beautiful family, I know things are hard right now, but it won't last long". Funny because as Jason was walking out the door after lunch, he starts singing that country song, your gonna miss this. I say thank you and moved out the door. It made me so sad. I never want people to think that my children are a burden to me or that I don't enjoy them. I guess the look on my face told her what I was feeling. I didn't enjoy them going crazy in the store, but I do enjoy them. I know that I will look back and wonder where the days went. I know that I will want to remember every funny thing that they say or do. I will probably even look back and laugh at the times when my 2 year old told me that he didn't like me. I know that the Lord had that stranger tell me something I needed to hear. I guess He tried to say it through my hubby, but I didn't listen then. My kids are so much fun, so sweet, and so tiring at the same time. Today probably should have been one of those days where I waited until Jason got home before I went to the store. I have about 20 more minutes before Hannah comes out of her "rest time" and then another hour before Jason gets home. I know once he gets home and I will forget how crazy my day was and I will think what was I so upset about, it was not that bad!!!!

Hannah's Field Trip

Hannah had a good time playing around with her friends.
All the kids loved this baby camel. He was only 24 hours old.

Hannah had a field trip this week at school. They went to a place where they have a lot of animals to feed. Most of them would eat the bread or pellets out of your hands. The kids had a great time. It was also western day at school so she got to wear her red boots. She was excited about that too. This was the last field trip of the year. The countdown begins to the last day of school now.

He Learns to Ride!

Luke loves to ride Hannah and Logan's bikes. Well, because they are too big for him, he likes to sit on them, listen to them whine about him being on their bike, and have someone push him around. The other day we decided that he might be able to ride Hannah's old bike because it is smaller than Logan's and Hannah's. We lowered the seat and helped him out a little. He did great. He seams to grasp the concept that you have to push your feet forward, but there are still times that he pushes his feet backwards and makes himself stop. Well, he does not quite have the steering and riding at the same time either. We are just happen that he can half way do it. He did not even seem to mind that the bike was pink and purple. Logan made sure that he was aware of it though! Look out neighborhood, here he comes.

Because he is so dang cute....

This was rare to catch so many smiles like this from Logan. Don't get me wrong, he smiles a lot, but sometimes he tries to hide his smiles when I am intentionally trying to catch it on camera. These pictures truly show our little Logan. Now, of course it does not show all sides to him. Some of you personally know he can throw a fit better than others, but it did show his sweet little personality. There are times you have to dig deep to find it and other times it shines right through. Sometimes we feel really bad for Logan though. He is our middle child which sometimes means he gets overlooked. I think in some ways the boys being so close in age has been harder on Logan. He was only 13 months old when Luke was born. At just a year old, he had to be a little more independent than other one year olds because his parents had a newborn AND a three year old. I think that all of this contributes to his personality. There are times that Logan gets so frustrated at a toy etc and he will just cry instead of asking for help. We are really working on helping him verbalize his feelings/frustrations. Some of this may have nothing to do with being the middle child, I realize that. I think some it may be just the fact that he is a boy and he naturally may not be able to express himself the way that Hannah always has. We have always been told that boys are different than girls, but I think until they start growing up, you don't really pay that much attention. All and all, boy or girl, first born or middle, they are just very different. Different and lots of FUN.

My Mother's Day

I never remember being too excited about Mother's Day when I was a kid. Maybe I was really inconsiderate or something. I mean I remember making lots of homemade cards etc, but I don't remember going over the top. So far, my sweet children have not inherited my lack of passion for Mother's Day. Sunday morning I was awakened by Hannah around 7am asking if she could bring me her present. She had a hard week, even mad at us at times, because she made a present for me at school and we would not let her give it to me the day she brought it home. The boys were the same way. We had to hide the presents they made at school because they wanted to open them and give them to me. All week Hannah spent time coloring, cutting, and gluing various cards/papers for me. She was so sweet. She even tried to spell out/sound out some words on her own so that I would not have to tell her how to spell them on my cards. I was able to make out the words though, she did great. We have been so amazed with her writing/spelling. She tries so hard and can write anything you tell her how to spell. Now, sounding things out, we are utterly impressed. Okay, back to Mother's day. When I told her we had to wait until everyone else was awake, she was mad again. She wanted to go wake up her brothers so she could give me my presents. Around 7:40am we could wait no longer. By then, both of the boys were up so sleeping later was a lost cause. They get so excited about someone opening presents. It was cute. Hannah had made a cement hand print and put pretty stones around the edges. Logan and Luke had their hands painted on a canvas and one of their teachers turned them into flowers. All very cute. After they gave me those, they wanted daddy to go get the other gifts they had bought with him. I got a beautiful corner shelf and a huge metal cross for the patio. They did good! I will forget that I gave Jason the idea etc. because after all, he did take 3 kids into Hobby Lobby by himself. When I go most of the time it is no big deal, but when he goes, it is a big task!!! Good job Jason. Thanks for making Mother's Day great! We made it to church on time, although it was our turn in the nursery. After church we headed back home for Jason's two sisters families, his mom, and his grandmother to come eat lunch. We tried to make it smooth, and just about everything was done ahead of time. We used a lot of crock pots, the grill, and things that did not need to be cooked to make it easier on Jason and me. It turned out well. Besides the fact that my children did not get a nap, it was a good day. They were all in bed by 8:45 and we sat down for the first time I think that day. Did I mention that my sweet hubby did ALL the dishes? Yep, you read it right, ALL the dishes. Thank goodness we had paper plates or he would have been in the kitchen even longer!!!

Five Fabulous Feelings For Friday

I realize that I am a little behind on my week but I thought I would add a few fab fives for the day. I feel like I say the same things every week, but I am going to try think differently today.

1. It's Friday....we only have a soccer game tomorrow and then our weekend is pretty open!!
2. The weather is supposed to be warm today, which is a change compared to the somewhat chilly wet weather we have had this week. My kids are going crazy not being outside.
3. We leave for our mini family vacation very soon. Please pray that the weather is nice....our kids will be devastated if we have to change plans.
4. As I was typing this, Luke ran over to me and game me a hug and said, "I love you" for no reason.
5. My house is fairly clean for the weekend. I know it will not last all weekend, but at least it started out good.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Our weekend

Watching and waiting for Hannah to play Hannah loves to volunteer to kick the ball back in
We are not sure how this happened....the boys managed to get outside without us noticing they had no shirts on. I am sure our neighbors were wondering too.
Luke thought it was cool to be outside without his shirt too.
Hannah enjoys riding Logan's bike because she thinks it goes faster than hers.

What a weekend. We started out Friday night with two other couples on a much needed date night without our wonderful children. Saturday proved a little busy too. Hannah had another soccer game, however she got back in the game with this one. There were a few games where she just followed the crowd around chasing the ball, but never making contact. Maybe it was that her aunt and family and Jason's dad both attended, who knows! We were just proud of her that she played hard and got involved. She even scored!!! She was so proud of herself. We were proud of her too. She has definitely made progress this season. She has one more game next week then she will get her long awaited trophy. After the soccer game we went to watch one of their cousins playing baseball. The kids enjoyed watching, well, really being crazy on the bleachers was more like it. We all needed naps that day, however only the boys were lucky and got one. The rest of the day was spent cleaning and getting ready to host the mother's day lunch at our house for Jason's family. Oh, and how could I forget that we had another toddler at our house that night. His mommy was graduating from Law school and he probably would have sat a total of 2 minutes, so he came to our house instead. Keeping up with 4 kids ages 5 and under affirmed our decision for just three of our own!!!! The kids had a good time. Hannah loves having little ones over because who else could tell them what they can and cannot do!

Five Fabulous Feelings For Friday

1. Jason and I are going out tonight with some friends without our sweet kids!!!!!
2. The kids and I have some shopping to do for Mother's Day lunch at our house....AKA .....we will be cruising by Sonic to get a great refreshing COKE!
3. My boys slept until 8:20 this morning (Hannah was a different story and was fully awake by 7:50), and 2 of 3 woke up in their own beds. Usually we awake with at least 2 in our bed. They sneak in during the middle of the night, but not last night!
4. No one else in our family has had any eye issues like Hannah had earlier this week.
5. Our back yard is dry enough to let the kids play in. We had about 3 inches of much needed rain in a matter of 2 or 3 evenings this week. It was great to get the rain, but my kids LOVE playing outside so it was difficult. They don't see a problem with getting all muddy!

Have a great weekend!

Another Last Program

The Blond Tower was in front of Hannah most of the time Blond Tower Demolished, Temporarily
Smiles are not given out freely by Logan when he was on stage.

The kids and I attend a great Bible Study, Community Bible Study, during the school year. This year it is bittersweet because this is Hannah's last year to attend. She has had the same sweet, wonderful, loving teacher since we first started (she was 2 years old!!). When I first started going we were blown away by the amount of verses and Bible stories that she learned. They have a special way of somehow embedding the curriculum in a way that they remember it. I will never forget when Hannah was just 2 and I asked her what she played with that day after I picked her up. Her reply was "mom we don't play, we learn". She was so right. It is not a babysitting program. Now they do have "babysitters" for the kids ages 2 and under, but after that they have a curriculum and they do LEARN it. All that to say, if you need a good Bible study for you and your KIDS, check out Community Bible Study. It is the most wonderful kids program that you will find. You will enjoy the time with other women, both young and old! Anyway, the kids "sing" some of their Bible verses and other songs periodically throughout the year for the mommies (and other family members come too). It was their day to sing at the last Bible study. They are so cute to watch up on stage. Sometimes they sing and other times they just watch the 100+ women staring at them. At this one, Hannah sang and sang and sang. She did great. My only problem was there was a little boy the step below her and he took up some of my camera space designated for her little head. Before it began I had to remind her that it is okay to move (because it is pretty informal) if someone is taller than you and you cannot see. Apparently she did not remember this! Poor thing, that little boy was only in the 2 year old class and he still seemed to tower over her. I did my best at getting a few shots. I can only imagine what my camcorder recorded though. Maybe I should give my tape to his mom instead! Logan actually sang this time too! I have watched him progress from just standing there with maybe a finger in his mouth to opening his mouth when his music teacher tells him to. He has become a bigger boy in this regards. They get so proud of themselves because I not only take pictures but I also film it for daddy to watch. The kids wanted him to come, but with him officing out of town during the day it just has not been possible the last two times. It probably bothers me more than it bothers the kids. They are just as content sitting with him on the couch IMMEDIATELY when he gets home and watching themselves. They are pretty funny about that. Next year Luke will get to sing with the big kids as he is moving up from the nursery to the classes where they teach them. The boys will be on stage together. Stay tuned for those pictures, you are liable to see some physical action if they are close to each other. They think it is funny to push and bump to get a laugh. We will see how it goes. Overall it was a little sad, but great time. We are happy to have one more day where we don't have to rush out of the house, but sad because next year will be completely different without Hannah in tow. She LOVES Bible study and might initially be sad that she cannot go because of school. I was not supposed to mention any more changes until August, but it is inevitable. Have a great Thursday!! See you tomorrow for the 5 Feelings For Friday challenge!!!!!!!!!!!

EYES WIDE OPEN!!

Hannah awoke this morning with open eyes!!! No signs of infection in anyone!! Mommy was grateful because that meant that they were off off and away to school . I had many errands to run and did not need any tiny cute feet slowing me down. Wow, it is great to have some pink eye drops just hanging around the house. If only I could stock numerous medications like antibiotics, I would be one happy momma. I am getting good at the self diagnosis! Too bad the pay is dramatically different when you don't have an official DR. at the beginning of your name!!!! Have a great Wednesday.

The Verdict is PINK!

The image don't really speak for itself but nevertheless she has it. I am talking about gunk, redness, and probably highly contagious stuff. Within about 2 hours yesterday Hannah's eye went from white to red with green eye boogers in it. We are self diagnosing pick eye. She woke up this morning and could not open her eye. For about 10 minutes she laid in my bed with a warm rag over her eye. After that and some pink eye drops, she could open it. We have been on a hand washing frenzy. Telling a five year old to not touch her eye is like telling a bird not to chirp! It just does not happen. If it really is pink eye, then everyone will probably wait until Friday when we are supposed to go out on a date WITHOUT the kids to show any signs of it.

Cubbies Award Time!

Hannah getting her Cubbies Award
Logan showing his Cubbies Award
He was so happy
Hannah and Logan
Luke enjoying the cake
Both Hannah and Logan attend Cubbies at our church. Cubbies is the preschool version of Awanas. They have a lot of fun while learning bible verses, doing crafts, and just playing. This was Hannah's 2nd year and final year because she will move up to the Sparks class in the Fall. Logan just started attending since his birthday therefore he will have 2 more full years. I have to admit, there were times when we wanted to have Sunday nights free and both Hannah and Logan would throw a fit if they thought we were not going. For some reason, they LOVE going. Maybe it was because they were in the same class or maybe because it was a "special" thing for them. We can't figure it out, but we are happy that they enjoy going. As for the pictures, well they were a big disaster! Luke had been messing with my camera before the awards were given out and he apparently turned off my flash. When Hannah walked up to get hers, I started taking pictures and they were all blurry. Logan was next, so I flipped the flash on and it popped up on my screen as an ERROR. It would not let me take any pictures. I turned it off and on and of course it worked but by then, Logan was back to his seat. I could not believe it. One of our friends was next and his parents did not have a camera so I took a few pictures of him. It just happens that the only pictures of the awards being passed out that turned out good were of our little friend. So, I took a few pictures after and that will have to be sufficient. And, it would be that the only time Logan did not want to wear his vest was on awards day!!! That is what you get for putting in a child who just turned 3. Afterwards they had cake. Luke appreciated that since he did not get an award or he does not have a vest!

Five Fabulous Feelings For Friday!

I thought I would try something new this Friday. I have decided on Fridays that I need to find 5 things that I think are positive etc. This might be a challenge for me to do every Friday, but here goes.....

1. My hubby is possibly taking the kids out tonight to shop for my Mother's Day present, I won't make a big deal that it won't take long because I have told him the isle, color, price, etc... not because I like to be in control, but because he said he felt at a complete loss for Mother's Day!
2. Tomorrow is Saturday, which means I have reinforcement on Breakfast Duty
3. We did not have to rush getting ready for today because we don't have much on our schedule.
4. Happy Hour at Sonic is just 3 hours away!!!!
5. Everyone Slept in until 8:15 am. That is late!!!!

I challenge you to make a list of 5 things. It is harder than you think. Maybe next week mine will be a lot better! Have a great weekend.