But I REALLY....

We are at my parents house visiting. This always poses a problem when it comes to sleeping. My kids go to bed late and wake at the crack of dawn. After 5 years, sister has finally figured it out and will sleep.....IF her brothers don't wake her up. So, trying to keep them quiet is always a challenge in the mornings. I can't even speak the ungodly hour that little g woke up. He was using every excuse to get out of the bed. His primary choice was, "I'm really hungry! I really want to get up!" Then he said something that reminded me of something he would say at least 20 times a day when he very first started talking and didn't know how else to express himself. He still bust it out every now and then when he is begging or REALLY wants something. "BUT I REALLY!!" I.E. Me: We are not going to do that right now. We will do it in a few minutes. g: BUT I REALLY!! This means: But I REALLY want it. I REALLY want to. I REALLY REALLY WANT WHAT I WANT! and you know what....sometimes I feel the exact same way. BUT I REALLLLLLY!

As baby G is sitting in my lap, g decides to climb all over us. He comes very close to kicking baby G in the head. I tell him not to do that because he almost kicked his brother in the face. His response: it'll be ok! I'll give him a kiss. And he preceded to kiss him on the head. I love this stage where they think that a simple kiss from mommy makes it all better! ( Yes, I know that he needs to be aware of his surroundings and that there are real consequences and that sometimes kisses can't fix everything) BUT in the meantime if my baby needs me to kiss a scratched knee( which he had plenty of) by golly I'm gonna smooch away!

Easter 2013 Part 1

As I am typing this post, I am stealing glances of my kids running around the yard playing who knows what. Today I am thanking Jesus for this GORGEOUS sunshine! *on a side note, I must say "Thank you Jesus" often, because I have overheard both boys belt out on occasion, THANK YOUUUUU LORD JESUS, in their best southern preacher voice. Last week was cold, rainy, and dreary. I was bummed out because we didn't get to have our Easter Egg hunt with friends. Then I was perturbed because I knew their new clothes were going to get muddy for the church Egg Hunt. REALLY??? THESE are my concerns. Can you imagine what the day was like for Jesus and his friends on that "Good Friday" so many years ago. As I read from our Jesus Storybook Bible, the kids had so many questions as to why the soldiers beat and mocked Jesus. WHY would they put nails in his hands and feet? As sister and I cried, G wanted to know why they would put a crown of THORNS on his head and why he had to carry his own cross. Yes, that day was a sad sad day, and Saturday, well....can you imagine how everyone was feeling that day? Crumby ole Saturday. BUT so much JOY comes in the morning. Thanking God for sending his son JESUS to take the blame and punishment for all of my wrong doing. To die on the cross as punishment for my sins. And mostly that he is RISEN! Christ the Lord is risen indeed! Lila has been singing the Old Rugged Cross with tear filled eyes. This week she has been singing When I survey the Wondrous Cross. I'll be real honest and say I am not sure where she learned that one. She said not from school. Maybe I sing that more than I realize??? It is so precious to see the wheels turning and knowing that she understands what Jesus did for all of us. Graham has been glued to the TV series, The Bible. I did make SuperDad turn it off during the crucifixion because I was afraid it was too much for a 4 year old to be watching. He cried and cried that he did not get to finish watching. Some days I think he is going to be my bible scholar. Right now I just pray that he comes to know Jesus and loves him and shares that with others. Graham is also my one who had zero interest in making the resurrection rolls. He was too busy playing, but after we got started he quickly joined in. He was the one who was the most excited about Jesus being alive and wanted to tell everyone that the tomb was EMPTY! Well, despite the wet and muddy ground, we made it to the church egg hunt. And yes, they did get their clothes I made for them dirty, but I did not care....they had the best time! The bigs were super sweet in helping GT with his eggs. He just wanted to eat them: If I ever needed my video camera it would've been when it was g's turn to hunt. He all the sudden decided he did not want to go get his eggs. I think Pastor Bunny freaked him out a little. :) When they blew the whistle for his group to go, he just stood there! Both I and the bigs tried showing him what to do by putting eggs in his basket. He did NOT like that! He stuck out those pouty lips, furrowed his brows, reached down in his basket and THREW the eggs out and back onto the ground. I finally had a flashback to last Easter remembering that he would not move on to a new egg until he had eaten the candy in the one he had. So, I opened up an egg, showed him that candy and gave him a few pieces. It was like a lightbulb went off! A grin slowly started to spread back on his face. He tucked that candy into his pocket and took off hunting. He still wanted me with him, so I think he was a little overwhelmed by all the people and was actually being a little shy. He even found a money egg with a dime in it! He was super excited to come home and put it in his "Penny bank." It cracks me up to hear him call it that, but I totally think that Penny Bank makes much more sense than Piggy Bank anyway! Big G was so funny hunting his eggs. He had a perma-grin on his face the whole time. He would pick up an egg, shake it, and only keep it if he heard it rattle. If it didn't rattle, he just threw it back down. He also wanted nothing to do with the pink eggs! Sister was on a mission. There was a HUGE egg right in the middle of the field. She decided she wanted to try for it. At first we were all about it, however after Superdad and I scouted the competition and our starting location, we tried to coax her to go for all the eggs that were right in front of her that no one else would be getting. She said No and was determined to go for the BIG one. Secretly, I loved this, but I also didn't want to see her fail and get her feelings hurt. Here is the thing...I think she totally could've gotten it, IF momma would have put her in some real running shoes. Poor girl had on 2 sizes too big boots, so they started to come off as soon as she started running. She didn't get the egg, but she was totally fine with it and was a super speed egg picker upper. In previous years, she was like her brother in that that she was very selective as to which eggs she wanted. She would only go for the pink or purple or sparkly or flower eggs. This year, it was all about getting as many as she could! g even chased her all the way across the field to put a pink egg in that he found for her: As usual, the egg hunt was a total success! The kids loved the hunt, but they also enjoyed all the bounce houses, slides, and obstacle courses, and of course getting to see the Easter Bunny! I'm pretty sure GT is saying, "What are you talkin' about Preacher Bunny??" Even I got my picture made with that Trickster Bunny:

Competitive Much??

We may or may not be a just a little teeny weeny bit competitive around here. That trait may or may not have carried over to our precious offspring. Oh, forget it...Who am I kidding? We like to WIN!! It was hard enough competing just against Superdad, but now I've got little munchkins who make everything into a competition. This comes in handy sometimes. I.E. who can get dressed first, who can get their teeth brushed first, who can get in the bath first. But then the fighting begins and the loser throws a fit. That part, yeah...it's too fun. And then there is football season....Oh dear, even Superdad and I get tired of the constant fighting. I mean we all know who is the best team( ROLL TIDE) so I just don't understand the constant badgering. Lately, if we are in 2 vehicles and leaving the same location, the boys want to ride with daddy, but sister is loyal to her momma! We have recently been the winners ( OF COURSE!) on the trek home. Once again, we found ourselves in competition with the boys on a trip home. My car goes faster than Superdad's, so I try to make it fun for the boys by letting them get ahead and let them THINK that they just might win. Once when they passed us, sister turned her head around in her seat and said " I can't watch. I'm turning around." When i asked her why, she replied, " I can't stand to see them be in front of us!" Competitive Much?? :) The boys were calling us and telling us that we were cheaters. Sister says, "Winners that cheat are really the losers." I asked her who taught her that, and she told me she just said it. So profound for a 5 year old, yet such the truth!! May they all remember that lesson.

Even I make this gown look good!

I'm pretty sure that this little guy is the only one who could make this ugly yellow McDonald's gown still look cute! The poor little guy. He's had a rough winter. Between a sister starting Kindergarten, two brothers in MDO and a REALLY bad viral season, he has had ear infection after ear infections, bronchialitis, the flu, continual breathing treatments due to "reactive airways", countless trips to the pediatrician, ENT, and pulmonologist, and today...ear tubes. Yet, through it all, he continues to flash that amazing smile! Man oh man, This boy has my heart!

Love Day 2013

For the past year, Sister has asked for a slumber party. She has gone to several this year for birthday party's, and each time my heart hurts for Big G a little. He always asks why he can't go and wants to know when he can have a sleepover. Out of the blue, Lila askes when her friends were coming over for Valentine's Day. When I asked her what she meant, she said, "We always have friends over for Valentine's Day." Now that her friends are in school and daytime playdates with all the kids are harder to do, I decided that this would be a fun time to do her sleepover. She chose a few girlfriends, who have all spent the night together before, so I knew it was a good mix. NEXT, she looked at Graham and said, " Who are you going to invite?" UH-OH! I thought. However, I decided that he could invite the brothers of one of the girls. This group of friends have been spent the night together several times so it wasn't their first rodeo. Although I almost got a little excited and invited the whole world, I decided I better not interfere with a good mix. This just means I will have to have other sleepovers to invite everyone else they had on their lists. I went easy with pizza for dinner, but I had to add in the heartshaped jello. :) Most of the girls could have cared less, but E and L had multiple servings. I also found these really cute heart-shaped chocolate covered pretzels. I went fancy and made the cupcakes out of the box and used the sprinkles from the can. BUT, they were a hit and the kids went on and on about how good they were. Also on the menu was chocolate covered strawberries and of course, heart shaped ice. The girls wanted me to take it out and just give them regular water. Heart shaped Kool-aide ice=FAIL! How my heart hurt! I had the boys serve the girls. It didn't quite go as envisioned in my head, but sweet none the less. I seriously can't believe they all went to sleep after the amounts of sweets they consumed. I guess the dance party helped shake some of it out of them. Let me tell you, these kids got moves. My ipod has quite the ancient songs on it, so I was downloading request like crazy. Eliza sang her heart out to Taylor Swift. The rest of the girls belted out one awesome performance to Call Me Maybe. BUT the hit song of the night went to Gangham Style. The dance awards for that song went to Eliza and Oliver. Boy do they have some moves! These two loves birds were just adorable: I think there may a future.... One of my favorites. The gorgeous brown eyed girls dancing to Brown Eyed Girl: Crazy mustache boys: Big G: This captures the mood for the evening: Even GT got in on the love! The girls were crazy about him! After the Dance Party, it was teeth brushing and pajama time. They all curled up on the couch to watch a movie. Cutest thing I've ever seen: Lights out by 10, and eyes closed shortly after! What a fun night! I'm ready to do it again! :)