my own personal shoppers.

just some cute pics i took of the kids this morning!

i figured it out! how to get through target without spending too much! just take my 3 kids with you! i'll gladly lend them to you anytime you'd like, free of charge. we went to target this morning. i've known for awhile now that i will have to get used to taking all 3 kids with me to target and country mart. these are the things that i always did while ellie was at preschool. preschool is over (listen to me weep.) so now i have all 3 all the time. so last night i decided to stop putting it off and just go. this morning we loaded up and headed to target. on the way i went over the rules. no slushies today, no asking for anything, we are sticking to the list. we started off pretty good and made it all the way to the diaper/baby isles before they forgot the rules.
ellie: mommy can i have . . .(insert one of many request here.)
me: no, it's not on the list.
ellie: but. . .(insert one of many reasons she thinks will change my mind here.)
me: no, it's not on the list.
ellie: but. . .(insert one of many reasons she thinks will change my mind here.)
i quickly grab diapers and wipes and start walking, hoping she will follow me before she finds anything else to ask for. too late.
ellie: mommy can i have . . .(insert one of many request here.)
me: no, it's not on the list.
i keep walking, we pass the lovely "outdoor room" section, but i barely glance because ellie has spotted all the cute kids gardening stuff.
ellie: MOMMY THEY HAVE STUFF WITH CATS ON IT!
me: (crap.) no, i didn't say it out loud.
sure enough, they have an entire line of adorable gardening things for kids that are pink with cats on them. boy do they know their market.
me: maybe for christmas, let's keep walking!
ellie: but. . .(insert one of many reasons she thinks will change my mind here.)
i keep walking, she eventually gives up and runs to catch up with me.
we repeated this scene several more times with the beach towells, the food isles, the craft isles, the pet isles. each time i rushed to get through as fast as possible so the insanity would be over. we finally made it to the blessed check-out, where (you guessed it!) the scene was repeated again.
ellie: mommy can i have . . .(insert one of many request here.)
me: no, it's not on the list.
hurray, we were done and heading out the door when, (crap.) it was pouring down rain. and of course, my adorable umbrella that i got at target a couple of weeks ago is in the car. now tell me, how do you get 3 kids across the parking lot and into the car without getting drenched? you don't. but we didn't melt, and we made it. we stuck to the list (well, almost. there were a couple of things that we needed that i forgot to put on the list. just a couple!) and we made it out alive! thanks to my own personal shoppers, i was so busy trying to keep them out of everything, that i didn't have time to be distracted by all the wonderful things target has to offer. so, like i said, you're welcome to borrow them the next time you enter the black hole!

another black hole.

my good friend alana just blogged about needing a personal shopper to keep her from spending to much at the black hole, aka, target. i think i might need someone to help me with another addiction, blogging. what would she be called? a personal blogger? anyway, this has been my morning:
it started off innocently enough, i got home from taking jason to work, got the kids settled with breakfast and the disney channel, and then came to check my email. as i sat down i told myself, "no blogging, you can do that later while the little ones are napping." so, i quickly checked my email and started to get up. then i noticed how well the kids were behaving and smiled and then. . .that's when it happened. "i'll just read what alana's up to", i thought, and i sat back down. an hour later i was still here, at my computer, when the phone rang. i was jolted back to reality, and jumped up to grab the phone. as i answered it i checked on the girls, who were still watching the disney channel, with that glazed over look on their faces. and don't worry, austin was napping during all of this. "whew" i thought, "how did i spend that much time checking on my friends blogs? i didn't even get to mine!" so, a bit later after i actually mothered my kids, and did some chores, i found myself being drawn back towards the computer. this time they were all 3 awake. annie and ellie were playing nicely, so i picked up austin and sat down, "just for a second" i told myself. 20 minutes later, i hear annie crying and she runs in to me and crawls up on my lap. i am now holding 2 kids, but do i stop? nope. i calm annie down and continue to read and comment, and no, i still haven't gotten to my own blog! i know by this time, that i really need to stop. austin is getting fussy, he really needs a nap, and it's past nap time for annie also, but i have to make one more comment! just then i feel something running down my leg. "what is that?" i think, "did annie spill something on me?" and then i realize, "ooooh, that's pee." i suddenly remembered that a couple of hours earlier, annie had found the beach bag with the swim diapers in it, and she put one on. i remember thinking, i'll change her into a regular diaper in just a minute. i forgot. just a note folks, i'm pretty sure that those swim diapers don't work on pee at all. i mean, if it can't hold anything when we're not in the water, what's in gonna hold in the water! so, i finally stopped blogging, and got up to clean myself and annie up, and to put both annie and austin down for naps. but note, that it took getting peed on to get me up! and note that now i'm back at my computer, finally posting on my own blog! so, i think i might have a problem! the thing is, i'm pretty sure all my friends have this problem too!

why i'm glad i don't have 11 three year olds.

ok, well i guess ANYONE would be glad that they don't have 11 three year olds, but after this morning, i'm especially glad!

jason and i helped in the 3 year old class at church this morning.

now, you must fully understand the weight the previous sentence carries. first of all, not only did i help, but jason did too. this was his first experience helping in the chidrens department at our church. i have helped in the past, but he always graciously declined, stating that he felt he was better suited to serve in other capacities. knowing how he felt, i never pressured him to volunteer, and assumed he never would. so, when brenda called to remind US that WE had agreed to work in the 3 year old class this sunday, i realized that i had inadvertently signed us BOTH up to help! i carefully broached the subject with jason a few days ago. i told him the truth, that i had agreed to help out this sunday, but apparently our children's director assumed he was helping with me. i waited for the "there's no way in ----" speach, but instead, he calmly said, "ok, no big deal." i was surprised and greatly relieved.
so this morning we helped.
or should i say, we wrangled, corralled, entertained, and tried to teach a lesson to 11 three year olds. during the chaos i heard more than one child ask Mr. Jason why he was sweating. we had 4 VERY active boys in the class, and he did his best to keep them from hurting each other. most of my time was spent trying to do the lesson and the craft with the rest of the class, 5 girls and 2 less active boys. might i just say, that it is next to impossible to attach feathers to a coffee filter with glue sticks. the feathers just kept sticking to the glue sticks, oh, and then we discovered we had no wipes to clean hands with! we made it through, finally! in the car on the way to eat lunch, jason had one thing to say about the morning. i figured it would be something like "don't ever make me do that again!" but actually he said "next time lets help with the 5 year olds." wow honey, i'm impressed! i have to say, he was awesome with those boys. it's one of those moments when you realize what a great man your husband is! and we both have a new appreciation of the people who help in that class! i've helped in the baby class, and the ones and twos class, but never the 3's. it was by far the hardest class i've ever helped with! so, to all the volunteers of church nurseries and children's classes everywhere, especially the 3 year old classes, thank you!

the panty issue.

i am the mommy of a daughter with a panty issue. my close friends and family know how i have struggled with this, but i feel like i should put it in print, lest i ever forget it. yeah, right! Ellie, my darling, super strong willed, 5 year old daughter potty trained when she was just over 3. "yeah!" we thought, "no more diapers!" and we bought the cute little panties with princessess and butterflies and we thought we had conquered the most challenging of all childhood issues, USING THE POTTY ALL THE TIME! boy were we wrong. about 2 months into wearing panties, we started having issues. "these are too tight" or "i don't like the way those feel" were phrases we began hearing daily. no big deal, i thought, and we'd find a pair of panties that felt good and go on. by now it was summer, and we began having issues with our swimming suits too. she would tug and pull at them, she would beg me to "stretch it out". in july of that year, this was 2 years ago now, we went to texas to my cousins wedding. little did i know i was about to come face to face with the most strong willed child ever known to man, or at least to me! as we got ready for the rehersal, i proceeded to put Ellie in the "super cute april cornell dress" that matched her baby sisters "super cute april cornell dress". i was in mommy heaven with how adorable my 2 precious girls looked until. . . ."i don't wanna wear panties!" ellie was screaming, and i mean SCREAMING, as she yanked off the panties. after an hour of pleading with her, stretching the panties out, threatening her, giving her time outs, and even spanking her, we (and by WE i mean, me, daddy, and grammie!) were at our wits end. and ellie? she was sitting on the floor with a tear stained face, and no panties. she had actually ripped, with her bare hands, RIPPED the panties apart. this is how strong her will is, and it was the first time i realized i had a child who was stronger than me. we caved. we let her go without panties for the next couple of days, vowing to deal with it when we got home. i noticed after we were home that her "parts" were looking kind of irratated. we went to the doctor who told us that she has very sensitive skin, and that any soap, or sweat, or lotion, could cause that. so after years of watching how she reacts, we've figured out how to keep her skin healthy. For the last 2 years we have gone back and forth with the panty issue. we started by substituting pj shorts for panties, we've rewarded and punished, we've had weeks where we were ok with wearing the panties, only to find ourselves battling again. we gave up for awhile taking the "as long as she's covered up, who cares." approach. and then monday night, something in me snapped. Over the last few months i have slowly, but steadily, taken back control of our house from our 5 year old. I have realized that while i'm not naturally a strong willed person, I HAVE TO BE for Ellie's sake. So, i should have seen this coming. i have taken on every other battle she has thrown at me lately, this one was next. and by far, i knew it would be the biggest and most drawn out battle we've ever had. i just had to mentally get myself ready for it. so monday night, i decided that i was ready. it wasn't something i thought through a lot, i just decided, i'm done with this. i don't care if she never leaves this house again, SHE WILL WEAR PANTIES! So, has she worn panties, you ask? YES! This is how monday nights conversation went:
Me: Ellie, i'm about to tell you something and you're not going to like it.
Ellie: What?
Me: Starting tomorrow, you will wear panties, all the time.
Ellie: NO!
Me: Yes. You will wear them all the time, under dresses, skirts, shorts and pants. No exceptions.
Ellie: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Me: Yes, you will.
Ellie: How about when I'm 6.
Me: No, now.
Ellie: NO, I WON"T AND YOU CAN"T MAKE ME.
Me: Well, you have a choice, you can wear them, and have fun tomorrow at our friends birthday party, or not wear them, and you'll sit in the car with me, while your sister goes in to the party.

ok, so that's enough dialouge, long story short, she wore the panties. she cried, she screamed, she threatened to rip them apart, but at the end, she wore the panties. And she has, every day since. Now, i know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is not over. she has yet to wear them under pants or shorts. she has only worn dresses for the whole week. but, i feel good about it. i know how to battle her now. Over the past several months, God has shown me how to handle her. For years I stressed about that. I have read books, I have recieved TONS of advice from well meaning (for the most part) people. I have cried and I have prayed. I have come to many realizations one of which is she is a unique and awesome child. I feel prepared for our future battles, not really looking forward to them, but prepared!

graduation day!

Ellie is an official graduate of the Presbyterian Preschool! She even has a diploma to prove it! You can see her proud face in the pic above, she's on the left with her good friends from school. Yesterday, she marched onto the stage with her little preschool class and proudly stood there and smiled for pictures. Then when her name was called, she walked over to her teacher to recieve her diploma, and give her teacher a hug. I was so proud! She was well behaved (you just never know what to expect from her!) and she looked adroable! The rest of the day yesterday she kept saying "it's my graduation day!" She's excited that preschool's over and kindergarten is just around the corner. In fact, just after the ceremony concluded she informed me that she's now a kindergartner! It's bittersweet for me. I have loved her teacher, she's been awesome for Ellie and for me. I know Ellie is ready to move on, and needs to move on, i just pray that kindergarten is as wonderful for us as preschool has been. Ellie is a challenging child, and not everyone can handle her strong personality. We were blessed with a preschool teacher who saw her strong personality as an asset, and knew how to guide her and teach her in a way that Ellie responded to. Mrs. B has helped me to view Ellie's personality in a more positve light too. I've always thought that she was very bright and smart, and that someday that strong will of hers would do her good, but living with it day after day can wear a mommy down! When I would voice my concerns to Mrs. B, she would always help me to see the positive side of whatever situation we were in. A great friend told me recently that I should be Ellie's best advocate, and she's right! Ellie may be bossy, loud, hard to handle, picky, argumentitive, and sometimes even a bully, but she's also a fast learner, very smart, a leader, a good negotiator, and she'll never be one to give into peer pressure. It drives me crazy that some of the people that I feel should love her the most, and that should see her personality as a positive thing, are the people that are the most critical! Thankfully, the friends and family that we're closest to, usually do think positively. So thank you Mrs. B. , for giving Ellie a great start! I'll make sure when she's president, as you've predicited, that she rewards you!

13 questions I have.

Here's my thursday 13. These are some of the things that puzzle me.

1. Why is it that you have to go to college for at least 4 years to be qualified for anything, but it takes NO training to become a parent?

2. Why is it that my daughters cannot talk in any voice lower than a yell today? My children are driving me insane.

3. Why is it that I get nothing done when i'm always busy?

4. Why can't you reach your weight loss goal after counting points for 6 hours?

5. How is it that I can clean up after my kids all day, and yet the house is never REALLY clean?

6. How come my girls can be COMPLETELY happy playing with each other until I sit down at the computer, or get on the phone.

7. Why can't my 5 year old remember to flush the potty (alana!), but my 2 year old can't stop?

8. Why am I soooo addicted to chocolate?

9. Why, on the night that the baby sleeps through the night, does the 5 year old wake me up twice?

10. Why is it that i'm really hungry, but nothing sounds good?

11. Why is it that when i say, "do not make a mess!" they always do?

12. How can I be the mother of three. . . when did that happen. . . are they really mine?

13. Why, after chasing 3 kids, all day, every day, am i not SKINNY?

It's 9:00, do you know where your children are?

I do. The girls are both sound asleep, and have been for at least an hour. Why then, am I still watching the disney channel? Oh Yeah, I just finished watching "The Cheetah Girls 2." It didn't occur to me to change the channel until I was 5 minutes into "The Emperors New School." That's pretty bad. I guess that's when you know your a mom. The first time you find yourself in the car, by yourself, be-boppin' to kindermusik, you know you've arrived! I have to admit though, i LOVE the Disney Princess music. "A Whole New World", "Kiss the Girl", "Can you feel the Love tonight", all favorites! Ellie used to think I was strange, singing at the top of my lungs to her music, thankfully now she just joins in! I think she's resigned herself to the fact that her mothers' a little nutty!

A coke, a cookie, and a big t-shirt.

Is there anything better than coming home for the night and getting comfy? you know what i mean, right? shedding the restrictive, "must look cute" clothes, the hair accesories, the shoes, and yes, the bra! trading all of that in for something comfy is just so freeing. tonight i chose one of jason's t-shirts, they're like the comfort food of clothing for me. so now i am sitting here, at my new favorite spot in the house, in the big t-shirt, with a coke, and a cookie. listen to me relax; ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
ok, movin' on. my answers to alana's questions:

low cost: mary kay (mk) crystalline eye shadow. i can be sooo tired and put a little of this here and there on my face, not just on my eyes, and look like i got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

splurge: my new obsession is mk's tinted moisturizer. it's fabulous! i'm not sure if it's really a splurge since it's 2 products in one, actually 3 if you count the sunscreen.

can't live without: mk's nouri-shine lip gloss. i use it about 10 times a day, i have REALLY dry lips, like, crack and bleed dry, and this is the only lip product that has kept them looking good. and believe me, i tried every lip balm know to man! i also love the great colors.

so, there you go. yes, there all mk products, but really, what do you expect, it's in my blood!

A Great Mood!

Yes, i'm in a great mood! Why, you ask? Well, after a very, and i mean VERY trying day yesterday with my children, grammie has offered to take them for 2 nights, well, the girls anyway! I'm seriously giddy! What, might you ask, will I EVER do without my two darling daughters? Hmmmm, maybe scrapbook, take a bath, take a nap, sit down to a quiet dinner with my hubby! Don't get me wrong, as ironic as it is, i will miss them. But, i'll survive! Right now i'm listening to them fuss and fight and argue as they play mommy and baby. "pause" ok, i'm back. Ellie is now in timeout for not listening to me, and for being mean and rude. and annie is crying so i think maybe i should stop typing. I'm still in a great mood!

Thursday 13

13 things I'm glad I did today:

1.Showered! Yes, it finally happened, my first shower in 3 days! Don't you dare judge, or you too could be blessed with 3 kids!
2.Got caught up on my chores. I cannot say how happy it makes me to have an empty sink and an empty laundry basket. At least for a few minutes!
3.Grocery shopped by myself! I put my ipod on and rocked out to bon jovi in country mart!
4. Spent some time with my in-laws. Yes, i enjoyed that, afterall, they did let Ellie spend the night there last night!
5. Prayed. That probably should have been the first thing i did, but it actually happened just before i picked up Ellie.
6. Kept my cool with Ellie. Thank you God!
7. Made cookies for my kids. (ok, and for me.)
8. Cooked my kids a nutritious dinner, to make up for the cookies.
9. Checked off everything on my "to do" list! I sooo did not think that would happen today, which makes it that much sweeter!
10. Told Jason, "I love you!"
11. Talked to my mama. We have great conversations.
12. Tucked all my kids in bed, what a wonderful feeling when they're all asleep at the same time!!!
13. Blogged! I just love this outlet for my crazy thoughts!

my children

i would like to write a bit about what each of my children is like right now. it's something that keeps coming to me to do. as much as i'd like to remember every little thing that they do and say, i know i won't, because i'm human. so every now and then i plan to write about who they are, so that in 25 years, when they're raising their own children, i can look back and say, "oh, that reminds me of you. . ."
Ellie, age 5
our first born, is well, a true FIRST BORN! she is strong willed, determined, high spirited, etc. . . her fabulous preschool teacher, Mrs. B is always saying she'll be president someday. Ellie is so smart and incredibly creative. She makes her own books, is learning to sound out words, and starting to learn math, all before kindergarten! you can't keep her from learning. However, with all her determination comes much frustration. She wants to be in control of everything, all the time. when you cross her, she explodes with anger. so, we try not to cross her often, but at the same time, we ARE her parents. she often wishes out loud that she was an adult. i truly believe she will be happier as an adult, she often seems trapped by childhood. She has a very strong personality, and yet she can be so very giving. she loves to give gifts to everyone. little tokens, shells, gum, whatever she can find. she likes to play with her sister, as long as she can dictate how and what they will play. she loves to care for her baby brother, and pretends she's his mommy sometimes. and she's a planner. she already has her next 2 birthdays planned out, knows who she wants to marry, wants to be a vet when she grows up, and is also planning on running a farm with help from the whole family. she loves cats. we're talking hero worship here. she has about 200 stuffed cats, and has been begging us for a new real cat for the last 2 years. we made a deal with her that she can have a kitten when she's 7. Right now Ellie loves to swim, play outside, and chase butterflies. I pray that we will be able to channel her determination into good things, and that her leadership spirit will grow into doing wonderful good someday.

Annie, age 2 1/2
our middle child! Annie Grace's name means "blessed with the grace of God", and she truly seems that to me. she brings me so much joy with her sweet spirit and lovingness. she is starting to really bloom into a beautiful little girl. annie is easy to handle. she loves to play quitely, with others or alone. she is tiny and graceful and sweet, like a little daisy. Annie surprised me the other day with how well she could put puzzles together. She has a quick little mind that is growing leaps and bounds every day. Annie takes gymnastics and absolutely loves it. Her favorite things to do are rolling and swinging on the bars. She has these awesome little muscles in her arms and legs from constantly climbing and swinging on things. She's my little monkey! She makes me laugh with her funny faces and silly dances. She loves Dora, and wants her to come to our house to play. Annie loves family. She is always asking where Daddy, Grammie, Nana, Aunt Michelle, or her cousins are. She loves to love on you and be loved on by you. Kisses, hugs, head rubs and gentle pats are the ways she shows you she loves you. Usually the only time i have any problems with annie is when she's tired. When she's tired, we try to just stay out of her way, because boy can she get cranky! she also can get pretty mad at her sister when she gets to bossy. annie may be sweet, but she's no pushover. I pray that she will always keep her sweetness, and that she will show God's love through her gentle spirit.

Austin, age 8 months
Our baby! What a surprise it was to find out that we were having baby #3! You really should take those birth control pills every day! Oh, but what a blessing we have in our darling baby boy. After two girls, it's been lots of fun to have a little man. I really didn't think i would notice a big difference between him and the girls until toddlerhood. I was wrong! Everything about this baby screams boy! At just a few months old he would grunt instead of coo. Now at 8 months, he loves to bang things and make lots of noise. He's a go-getter. He is just learning to crawl, and wants to be on the floor all the time so he can practice his new skill. When I hold him he lunges for the floor, as if he were saying "just put me down so i can go!" He's a sweet baby, he loves kisses and hugs. He hardly ever fusses. He lights up when his sisters come to play with him. He loves to grab his daddy's hair, on his head and his face! and speaking of daddy, from the moment we laid eyes on him we realized he looked just like him! His legs, his chest, his face, all daddy! he got my blue eyes though, it makes a beautiful combination with his dark hair. Right now Austin's favorite activities are playing in his mega-saucer (loudly i might add), and exploring the floor. just a few minutes ago he was eating a piece of cardstock paper that annie had ripped off a dvd case and left in the floor! We've officially entered the "must scan the floor constantly" phase. Austin's favorite baby foods are bananas and peas, and he hates bottles. My prayer for him is that he will be a Godly man, a good husband, and someday, a good daddy.

my day

today did not go as planned. i had planned to spend the morning in my pj's. i had planned to have a friend over for lunch and a playdate. i had planned to not leave my house today. why, as a mother of 3 kids 5 years and under, do i think i can PLAN anything? you'd think i'd learn. last night Austin, the baby, was fussy. he's usually a very good baby, so this concerned me. i thought it was because his daddy fed him mashed potatoes with chives, it wasn't. after getting up with him 5 times, i realized at 6am that he had a fever. at that moment my first thought was, ear infection. and then the doubt crept in. i'm not sure why, but i'm not very good at trusting my own instincts, even though i'm usually right. it's just that the thought of taking one of my family members to the doctor for the 6th time in a month kind of got to me. i started worrying that they are going to think i'm some kind of crazy mom that needs her kids to be sick to get attention or something. seriously, in one month 4 out of 5 of us has had antibiotics! and none of us had the same thing! so there i was this morning, trying to figure out if i dared call the doctor. i mean, what were his symptoms? he kept crying, which was unusual for him, but babies cry. he had a low grade fever, but that in itself isn't usually enough to call. he wasn't pulling on his ears, he wasn't throwing up. but i had to. i called. and at 11:30am he was diagnosed with an acute ear infection. oh, and his fever was up to 102. so, what have i learned from this? trust your instincts! i suppose that's why God gave them to us. he's feeling better now, thanks to tylenol, motrin, and zithromax. and i did get to have lunch with that friend. just at her house instead of mine, and a bit late. so the day ended up being pretty good after all, even though it definately did not go as planned!

mow mow mow the lawn

i did it! i mowed the lawn last night. well, at least part of the lawn. we have a really big lawn. and yes, i did it to get away from my children. today i have sore shoulder's and hands, because of course it was not a riding mower. actually, it was a brush mower. have you ever seen a brush mower? they are quite large and cumbersome. it kind of yanks you along as you try futily to steer it. i finally decided to let my hubby have his chore back when i got the mower stuck in a hole. we have lots of holes in our yard where large rocks used to be. we need to fill in the holes, but honestly we couldn't even see where they were since the grass was so tall. seriously, like 4 feet tall. i have to say though, i'd do it again. to get away from the children, that is. they were cranky yesterday. i got to listen to my ipod for an hour while i stumbled behind the mower. it beat listening to "she hit me" or "she won't do what i'm telling her to do." during my hour of yard work, jason fed them, bathed them and pj'd them. thank you honey! i came in to put them to bed. perfect. i wonder what else i could trade "kid care" for? maybe something with power tools!

my mother's day

this year my mother's day actually started early. i think jason was afraid of a repeat of last year. long story short, several weeks after mother's day i recieved a meat marinator as a gift. so, this year, a few days before mother's day, jason took the girls shopping one evening. just the evening to myself was a gift! they came back with ice cream, each girl brought me a half gallon, and a dust buster. now you may think a dust buster is not a step up from a meat marinator, but it is. i actually wanted a new dust buster. then on sunday morning, ellie actually remembered that it was mother's day on her own! i love that! she brought me breakfast, a cheese stick, yogurt, a banana, and fruit snacks on a paper plate. again, i love that! the girls wore matching dresses to church, which was another gift since i rarely get to have my way with what ellie is wearing. after church we went to silver dollar city with my parents and grandparents. we rode rides, played and had fun. at the end of the day we decided to ride the lost river. now, it's been about 2 years since i rode that ride, maybe longer. so i had forgotten how wet you really can get on that ride. i quickly remembered when a tidal wave of water crashed down over my head, soaking my completely, right down to the underwear. oh my, i thought, we're supposed to meet jason's parents for dinner in about 1 hour! of course i had brought extra clothes for the kids, but not for me! so we hightailed it back to the car to make a mad dash to wal-mart so that i could buy some dry clothes. and boy was i glad i did, because when i walked into the dressing room at wal-mart i realized just how bad i looked! my denim capris had dried just enough to make it look like i had wet my pants! we made it to dinner only 30 min. late, and miraculously the kids behaved even after a very full day. on the way home they fell apart. i knew it couldn't last long! finally at 10 pm we got the last kid tucked in, and we fell into bed. the baby only woke up once and the girls slept all night, now that's a happy mother's day!

happy mothers day, i think.

so, i was talking to my friend alana this morning about mother's day. she made me feel better about the fact that for the last 24 hours, i have wished that i didn't spend mother's day with my kids! she pointed out that when they're older, i will want to spend that day with them, but now. . . . not so much. i was feeling bad about that, until she reminded me that i'm with them ALL the time, oh yeah. so thanks alana, for putting things in perspective. so, i have mother's day next year already planned. i would like to wake up, get kisses and cards from my little darlings, go to church as a family, and then spend the rest of the day with my mom and grandma. how's that for planning ahead! anyway, i'd like to tell you about my mother's day, but right now the baby's hungry, the 2 year old just woke up, and the 5 year old, well she's acting like a teenager. actually, my husband just offered to let me mow the yard. i've never done that before, but it's looking better and better by the second.

more happy feet!

here is my expanded list, now that i've had more time to think. i also read my friends' and realized that some of their's are mine too!
12. my ipod
13. summertime
14. cute paper
15. all my kids napping at the same time!
16. a full nights sleep
17. my church
18. vacations, or the thought of them.
19. the beach
20. TIVO
21. warm chocolate chip cookies

happy feet

My friend Alana has asked what makes me happy, or as she put it "what gives me "happy feet". here are some that quickly come to mind:

1. My husband, when he gets up with the kids.
2. Spending time with close friends.
3. Smiles from my baby.
4. Watching my girls play with their daddy.
5. Miss Linda, our housekeeper.
6. Hearing Annie say "I wuv you mommy."
7. Watching Ellie be creative.
8. An empty sink.
9. An empty laundry basket.
10. Time to scrapbook.
11. Swimming, by myself.

i'm sure there's more, but i'm out of time!

when i'm a grammie

when i'm a grammie, i want to be just like my kids grammie (this is my mom.) today after kindermusik we met grammie and she took the girls home with her for the night. possibly even 2 nights. this is actually a regular occurance, and yes, i know i'm REALLY blessed! at least every other week and often every week the girls spend the night at grammies. it is amazing, the break it gives me. today i came home, did some laundry, straightened up a little, did the dishes, unloaded the car, and gave austin a bath, all in less than an hour. this is what i usually get done in a whole day, when the girls are home! amazing! austin is napping now, and i've actually got a little free time before we leave for a night out with friends! yeah!!! i don't know if grammie truly understands the awesome thing she does for me when she takes the girls overnight. i feel human again. like a person, not just a mommy. don't get me wrong, i love being a mommy, it's just that day and night, i'm on the job. no vacations, no days off, no sick days, no breaks! so, when grammie takes them, well, i feel like i can breathe! so when i'm a grammie, i want to be that for my kids. the person they can call so that they can have a break. the person they can rely on when they're about to go crazy. the person that they now really, truly appreciate, because now they know how hard it is to be a mommy sometimes! so thanks mom, for being such a great mom and grammie, i hope i can be like you when i grow up!

My relaxing afternoon.

today was supposed to be an easy day. ellie had preschool, and while she had preschool I ran errands and went to the grocery store. the errands took a bit longer than planned, which resulted in me being quite late to pick up ellie at preschool. thankfully i have friends who are more on time than I am, thanks alana, for getting her for me! so, at about noon, i head home. home, for a quiet, relaxing afternoon. right. first i had to unload the car, which is always an effort, but especially so on grocery store day. so i hauled bag after bag of groceries into the house wondering when the kids will be old enough to help me do this. the girls kept busy chasing butterflies and stomping ants, austin played on the floor, and i began to put the groceries away. i began to realize why the total at the store was signifigantly higher than i had thought it was going to be, what, did i buy the whole store? i must have been hungry. so, slowly i make a dent in the pile of bags at my feet. i discover that the girls stepped on one while getting out of the car. of course, it had eggs and bread in it. today i decided we're going to eat a lot more fresh veggies, another reason my total was high. why is it so much harder to eat healthy than to eat junk? it's more expensive, more time consuming, and stuff spoils so fast! anyway, so i finally put the food all away, and then proceeded to wash, cut, and prepare the fresh veggies for the tray that i plan to sit out everytime my kids want to eat. ok, so that took forever! i will say that when it was finally done, they dove right in and started munching away! i'm not sure if that was because they liked it, or because they we're starved since it was 1:20 and they didn't eat much breakfast! i cleaned up the kitchen (more work for trying to be healthy!) while the kids ate. then i remembered that i had planned on making a stepping stone for jason's mom for mother's day. she has one for each grandchild, except for my last 2 kids. so i decided that we needed to have annie make hers today. i figured it would take 30 minutes. wrong. seriously, this is not an undertaking for a 2 and a 5 yr. old. while i'm reading instructions, ellie is trying to open the dry cement bag. stop it ellie, she doesn't stop. i think i grasp the idea and decide to proceed quickly before dry cement is everywhere. too late. the bag tore. ok, so we scoop up the stuff and put it in a bucket. we add water, we mix. everyone takes a turn mixing. when it's annie's turn, she kind of flings it everywhere. mommmies turn. as i mix i say, it's kind of like stirring cookie dough. cookie dough? annie says, and proceeds to try and eat some. NO! i say, it's not really cookie dough! note to self, never describe craft projects in terms of food. finally, it looks like it's the right consistency, and we pour it into the mold. the instructions said it would take 5-15 minutes for it to set enough to put handprints in it. so, we wait. as we wait, i try to keep the girls from messing with it. this proves to be next to impossible. it pretty much went like this. . me: annie, don't touch.
annie: ok mama.
she touches it.
me: really annie, don't touch.
annie: ok mama.
she touches it.
me: ellie, don't try to pick it up.
ellie: i'm just trying to keep annie from touching it.
me: don't move it!
ellie: annie's touching it again.
so after that went on for 15 minutes, we try handprints. it doesn't work. they just filled right back in. so we tried to find something to do outside for a bit longer. we couldn't go inside since we were all covered in cement dust. after another 15 minutes we tried again. nope. an hour later it still wouldn't work! maybe we used too much water, but seriously, i followed the instructions! i gave up. maybe she can put her hand prints on it with paint in a couple of days, i don't know. i had to get them inside for nap and rest time or i was going to go insane. so at 3:15, i put ellie in the bath and annie down for a nap. i finally sat down at 4:00, just in time to get a phone call from my darling hubby wondering what was for dinner. i can't get too upset though, he took the girls shopping tonight for my mother's day gift. i love you honey! so, that was my relaxing afternoon!

what am i doing part 2

so, i've been sitting here at my computer for about 2 hours setting this thing up. in that 2 hours my 5 year old has watched several episodes of scooby doo, i'm such a good mom! at the beginning of the 2 hours my 2 little ones were asleep, now they're awake. the 2 year old is watching dora, the baby is watching a baby video with the 5 year old. i'm thinking maybe (just maybe) my kids might watch a bit too much tv. anyway, i've caught up with my friends blogs, i've let them know about mine, i've fought with my email, and i've been trying to think of something funny or poignant to write about today. blank. nothing seems extraordinary about today. or maybe that in itself is extraordinary! we had our last mops meeting of the year this morning, and then we came home. home, sometimes it feels so good just to be home. we've been going going going for about 5 days now. the baby just got his first full nap in 5 days. it was nice not to have to wake him up and stick him back in the car! anyway, i kinda enjoying just typing about my day, it feels therapuetic. one funny thing, ellie came in a little bit ago from being outside and said "mom, the heonies exploded!" what? you say, well of course she meant, "the peonies bloomed!"

I've got an itch!

This was one of my first blog posts in 2007. Since then we have learned a lot more about why our Ellie girl had so many "itches". In 2009 Ellie was evaluated and diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. In 2011 Ellie was diagnosed with Asperger's, an Autism Spectrum Disorder. It sure explains a lot of things as we look back! I continue to document our journey, with her and our other two children, on my little blog. Sometimes it's more of a personal journal, sometimes I hope and pray someone will be helped by it, but always I love having it to record my thoughts, my pictures, and our crazy/blessed life.


OK, for my first "official" post, I thought I'd explain my title. During phase 3 of a girls night out last Friday, we (my friends and I) exchanged funny stories about our darling children. Which is what inspired me to start this blog! This was one of my stories:

We had Easter pictures taken about 2 months ago. Now, I realize that to most people, taking pictures is not that big of a deal.

To us, it is.

My mother shops for the "perfect" dresses for the girls for several weeks in advance every year. This year she had to coordinate the girls dresses with the new baby boy's outfit, so as you can imagine it was quite the ordeal to get the perfect outfits! We arrive at the photo session, me, my mom, my dad, and all 3 kids (Jason was at work, blissfully unaware!). We have one bag of stuff per child, each bag containing shoes, socks, diapers, diaper cover or shorts, hair accessories and fixins, hats, and the outfit. So, I load up the double stroller and in we go. We manage to dress and accessorize each child with minimal chaos and we're ready! We got some really cute pictures of each child by themselves. They had live bunnies, (thank you God!) so the girls were So excited they forgot to misbehave, for awhile. Then it came time to attempt a picture of all 3 kids together. After all, this is why we shopped and shopped, so they would all coordinate! We began by placing the 5 year old where we wanted her, then the 2 year old...but no! The 2 year old doesn't want to sit there, so she jumps up immediately. OK, lets put the baby with the 5 year old and try to bribe the 2 year old to be where we need her. Good! Just when we get the 2 year old where we need her, the baby slips out of the 5 year olds' hand, and bonks his head. We calm the baby down and try again. The 2 year old is still sitting where she's been bribed to sit so she can have some candy...now where is that 5 year old. Ah, she's playing with the bunnies. OK, so let's round her up again, but wait! She wants to take a picture with the new bunny she's found, so we switch bunnies, and get everyone posed and. . . almost there, mommy steps out of the way just in time for the perfect picture to be captured and . . ."I'VE GOT AN ITCH!!!!" The 5 year old jumps up, drops the bunny, and proceeds to yank her dress up and scratch her bottom! In the meantime, the baby fell over again, and the 2 year old took off after the bunny. My mom, bless her heart, tried to gather the kids back together, but it was fruitless. A bit of background...My 5 year old is kind of known for her, well, quirks. She often stops in the middle of things to fix her clothes, or scratch an itch. She's always Very dramatic about it too. Lovely, I know. Added at a later date...When I started this little blog, I named it "I've Got an Itch!" Since then, I've modified it to "Itches and Scratches", because I think it fits better. We have lots of itches and scratches around here. Real, and metaphoric! Ellie still has lots of "Itches" all the time, and I kind of feel like I've got the "Itch" of blogging, and find myself needing to "Scratch" it a lot! We never got the perfect picture. Or did we? You decide! Here are some samples of that picture session...

There she is, scratching one itch! And the baby eating his toes...

Here she is looking beautiful!

My sweet 2 year old!

My absolute favorite picture of my baby that day!

And lastly, The one that ended it all...

Ahhh, memories.

what am i doing?

i must be crazy! ok, first of all, i'm not all that computer savvy, or good at typing! second, i'm not even good at checking my email everyday, let alone keep up with this thing! third, my dining room table is covered in scrapbook stuff and i'm supposed to be using whatever free time i might find, to work on that hobby! but here i am, blogging! thanks alana!