Gerhart Gang

Stolen Post of lists vs. kindness

2012-01-12T09:48:00.004-06:00

I read this post on another blog and it was taken from another one as well. I loved it so much that I want to post it for myself to go back and re-read each day. Here is the passage:

i was a young mother.

i had a 2 year old, a 1 year old and i was pregnant with Anna.

i had just finished folding baskets and baskets of laundry.

they were ready to be put away, sitting in a line at the top of my upstairs balcony.

the next thing i knew, my boys were laughing and throwing all my laundry off the balcony.

like 6 loads.

in a heap on my entryway floor.

i was devestated and SO MAD.

i was convinced that they knew better.

that they had to be taught.

i remember wanting to throw them off the balcony.

{i know, horrible mommy... they were BABIES!}

right when i was about to YELL... to TEACH them not to make MESSES... to TEACH them to respect their mother and all MY hard work... when i was just about to give it to them and feel completely justified in all my rage because what they had done was WRONG!!!...

right at that moment, i felt a still, small voice that asked me...what is more important? teaching them to be clean, or teaching them to be kind?

i wondered if my children went off to college and had no idea how to clean a bathroom, or f

old their laundry, could they still be good, functioning adults?

i remembered my college room-mates.

they were good girls.

one had a father who was a general authority.

they were messy.

they once cleaned the bathroom with windex and toilet paper.

i remember being surprised that they didn't really know how to clean.

{maybe this was just my impression...}

i KNEW at that moment, that it was NOT important to teach my kids to be clean.

i NEEDED to teach them to be KIND even when they were ANGRY.

i NEEDED to teach MYSELF to BE KIND, even when i'm ANGRY.

and... LOVE is more important.

i will always remember that moment. sitting at the steps, with my boys in my lap and the mountain of laundry strewn below us.

i hugged them and i cried.

for my weakness and their purity.

i learned that day to tell myself... love them today, you can teach them that tomorrow.

and. today, my boys are wonderful.

they don't ever throw clean, folded clothes around the house.

ever.

they have learned.

and... i have learned.

be consistent. yes.

consistently LOVING.

and, if you cannot teach cleanliness and kindness, pick kindness...

they can learn cleanliness another day.

if you cannot teach potty training and kindness.

pick kindness...

they can learn potty training another day.

if you cannot teach your grand scriptural insights and be kind.

pick kindness... they can learn scriptural wisdom another day.

because if you can't teach with love, you aren't really teaching at all.

you're just enforcing.

so, i guess i am for consistency... just depends on what your trying to be consistent in.

when it comes to most of life's tasks... i am consistently inconsistent.when it comes to teaching my kids, loving my kids, keeping calm and carrying on...

i'm pretty dang consistent.

and surprisingly, when i choose kindness... the other things happen more consistently than you would expect.

it's the loose yourself and you shall find yourself principle. give up control and you'll find control.

ahhh... the lessons i'm learning...

NOTHING teaches you more than being a mom.

"He taketh the barren woman and maketh her a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord."

{psalms something...}

I am struggling with this right now, well actually for a while now. For some reason it's hard for me when people (my family mostly) make my life harder by making mistakes. I know how harsh that sounds, believe me! I, like so many mothers, have so much housework to do along with trying to work part time and homeschool and volunteer and be a good mother, wife, etc. that when something falls out of whack I feel very frustrated. It sounds like a cliche but it's like I'm juggling and if someone as much as 'blinks' all the balls come falling down. That's when I feel mad because it then makes more work for me. I have a home business that I do mostly at night. When the kids go to bed about 4 nights a week I am up working for hours and hours until the wee hours of the night. If household tasks don't get completed during the day then there isn't time to do them at night. It's not like when people say "I don't have time for..." There actually isn't the time. Only 24 hours in a day, even though I keep wishing for more. I have customers counting on me and these are not the tasks that can be pushed aside until another day. I want to have an attitude of calmness. I want to love the "blinks". I want to be okay if a task doesn't get done that day. I want to be able to sit on the stairs and laugh at the mess. Oh how hard this is for me. I am such a task driven person. I have always measured my self-worth with how many tasks I can mark off my list for the day. I realize this needs to stop and I am working on it. This is my goal for 2012. I want to not worry about the junk that can wait till tomorrow or next week or when my kids go to college. So what if we have to sort through a pile of clean clothes for socks, right? So what if the pictures from Christmas don't get framed, so what if I don't get the thank you notes written, so what if my desk doesn't get cleaned off, so what if I don't get to hang my new plates on the wall, well that's where I draw the line. That WILL get done soon! Ha ha! I want to enjoy my babes while they are in my house. I want to enjoy having them at home during the day while we homeschool. I want to laugh at the laundry. I'll try that and let you know how it goes. Maybe the laundry will laugh back at me. I'll have to wait and see. Or, maybe I should just go to Target and have a slurpee, this always makes my babes happy!

Poster loves

2011-12-17T21:37:00.000-06:00

These are my two favorite posters of the week from pinterest.

Mr. Prickle Pants

2011-12-14T08:55:00.000-06:00

Our elf, Prickle Pants has been up to lots of fun and mischief while we are asleep.

My Baby is 5!

2011-12-05T07:57:00.003-06:00

My baby girl is 5 years old today! How can that be? I just came home from the hospital with her. I just heard Layton say, "myyyy babyyyyy, myyyy babyyyy!" I just saw Logan hold her and smile so sweetly at her.

I was just nursing her and dressing her up in such gorgeous baby clothes. She just sat there and didn't want to take a step.

Where did the time go between then and now? She is a little mother to Plampia and so fancy and loves to put little "touches" when decorating. She loves attention and craves a loving touch by all of us.

To my sweetest baby girl, Happy Birthday and I can't imagine loving you more. I am so looking forward to the next 5 years to see the young woman that you become.

What does a 10 year old think?

2011-12-01T12:08:00.005-06:00

What does this 10 year old know? Well he of course knows his name and age and all those things it's fun to ask little ones. He still knows he is great at legos. I agree! I truly believe he could be a lego master as an adult if he still decides to.

Q: What are you NOT good at doing?

A: Barbies

Q: What is your favorite thing to do?

A: video games

Q: What does mommy do?

A: You bake cakes for celebrations.

Q: What chore do you have to do that you don't like doing?

A: I'm not really asked to do a lot of bad work.

(This is when he became my favorite child.)

Q: What will you be when you grow up?

A: Lego designer

(I hope you are, I hope you are!)

American Girl Store

2011-11-24T20:15:00.001-06:00

We love the American Girl Store!

Interview with a 6 year old

2011-11-15T11:58:00.004-06:00

I asked Layton a few questions. Here are his responses:

1. What are you great at doing?

Playing legos, mini guys and action figures

2. What are you NOT good at?

Playing with my sister.

3. What is your favorite thing to do?

Action figures, legos and mini guys.

4. What does daddy do?

He works a lot! He works on-line to get money to pay for our house. He plays with us.

5. What does mommy do?

You make cakes a lot and you work to get money too.

6. What is a chore that you do not like to do?

Setting and clearing the table

7. What do you want to be when you grow up?

an exterminator

This has been his answer to this question for almost 3 years now.

Happy 11-11-11

2011-11-11T17:00:00.001-06:00

CDO

2011-10-17T11:55:00.001-05:00

Okay, this is my motto! Is this a good trait or a bad trait to have? I can't decide.

Pinterest and my Sister

2011-10-07T08:36:00.002-05:00

Okay, we all love Pinterest so I'm not going to try to convince you of how wonderful it is! My favorite section to look in is the "sayings" or "humor". Here are a few that make me think about my sister.

Now isn't this the truth? This is actually factual. I was about 2 feet from her when she fell and broke her foot back in July. I didn't laugh (at least out loud) but yelled for her to get up. People were watching and running to help her. I knew she would hate this as much as falling!

Well if you know Allie at all you know how much she loves anything from the famous poet, Pooh!

Ain't that the truth?

Is that your opinion or mine? Sometimes I can't tell the difference.

Yes you will, and I'm kinda strong for a girl.

Well that's just a sweet sister quote.

Allie, I hope you know how much I love you and thank you for being a great sister and an even better Sis.

Is this sacrilegious?

2011-09-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

I just saw Landry's Bible and noticed Woody peaking at me from it. Is this sacrilegious? Well it made me giggle either way.

Last First...

2011-09-06T12:32:00.004-05:00

This is Landry's, I mean my last first day of preschool! I'm not trying to make this about me but this is the last time I will ever take a child of mine to the first day of preschool.

THIS IS MY LAST FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL EVER!

Some would find this a joyous occasion but not me. I love every stage of my kid's lives (so far) but this new stage means:

1. I don't have any more babies.

2. I am old!

3. I am one year closer to having my kids leave for college.

4. She is one year closer to not wearing hairbows.

Landry slept in sponge rollers last night. Looking at that precious little head asleep on her princess pillow in sponge rollers is the cutest thing ever! First day of school breakfast. She got to choose it. She chose a gourmet meal of strawberry toaster pastries.

All ready!
Posing

Usual front door pictureposing,
and more posing. If you know Landry you know this is not staged by me, it's just natural for this girl.
My sweetie girl is happy and that's what matters. I'm SO looking forward to getting her this afternoon. She will tell me everything about the day, even if we don't ask!

While at the pool today...

2011-08-31T00:06:00.000-05:00

While at the pool today,
SIDEBAR: it's perfect for our little home schooled families because we were the only ones at the pool during the day!
We looked over to see the kids all hovered around looking in the bushes.

Ducks and second day

2011-08-24T09:02:00.000-05:00

At the pool yesterday the ducks kept coming over and getting in the pool with us. It made us laugh so hard to swim with a duck!

First sponge rollers

2011-08-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

Landry asked her daddy to buy her sponge rollers. I had been telling her about how is used to sleep on them when I was a little girl. We got them and she of course slept in them that very night. She was so excited.

Tissue paper window

2011-08-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

I saw this idea on another blog. I decided that it would be great on our homeschool room window. It makes it pretty to look at and also keeps the bright sun out. It was fun!

You know they aren't babies...

2011-07-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

You know your kids aren't babies when they get their own coke with koozie when you get in the car.

Top 12 Things I Love and Hate

2011-07-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

In honor of Allie who has been complaining about the lack of posts, here it is! Because today is the 12th here are my top 12 things I love and don't love. In no particular order:

Top 12 Things I Love
1. Sleeping Babies (of any age)
2. New jewelry
3. My heating pad (I use it all year round)
4. Chinese food
5. Cleaning out/Organizing a closet or drawer or really anything
6. A Weekly Magazine Subscription
7. My kid's birthdays
8. The freckle on the front and back of Adam's left earlobe that makes it look pierced
9. A clean house
10. Living close to mom and Allie
11. Vacations (or planning vacations)
12. A mint chocolate chip milkshake from Braums

Top 12 Things I Don't Love (or even like at all)
1. Beans of any kind
2. Children who are up too late at the grocery store, etc.
3. WHEN PEOPLE TYPE IN ALL CAPS FOR NO REASON
4. Owning equipment of any kind that doesn't work
5. People who call their pets "furry babies" and think they love their dog as much as a baby!
6. Emptying the Dishwasher
7. Unorganized toys
8. mayonnaise
9. mice, rats, hamsters or any varments
10. fanny packs on adults
11. flies in the house
12. texture of coconut

Well there you have it! Love it or hate it that's me!

Lovin' the Mavs

2011-06-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

Bring on the Victory Parade!

Let's Go Mavs

2011-06-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

Because I have a brilliant sister, I can blog from my phone. We are at the Mavs game right now! Let's Go Mavs!

What did you do Friday night?

2011-06-04T02:52:00.000-05:00

I did THIS!

Flame of the Holy Spirit

2011-05-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

Here is Landry in the car on our way home from church today. When asked about her hat she said, "it's actually a headband with the flame if the Holy Spirit on it!"

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-26T10:14:00.004-05:00

Is today bittersweet? Is today hard because it's the last day I will take my littles to preschool together? Is today bittersweet because it's the last day my little Layt will go to pre-k? Is today bittersweet because Layt will now be a big boy in kindergarten?

Is today bittersweet because it's the last day Landry will go to pre-school with her "twin"?

Is today bittersweet because now Landry will go to pre-k?

Is today bittersweet because Layt will now wear a uniform to school?
Is today bittersweet because my little Layt will now walk into a big school with his big brother for kindergarten at "real" school?Is today bittersweet?

No, I say today is sweet. Today is sweet because I got to have an extra year at home with my little boy. Today is sweet because I got the opportunity to have Layt in an extraordinary preschool for two years. Today is sweet because Landry will be back at this same preschool next year. Today is sweet because they are growing up. Today is sweet because they are all doing what God intends, to become less dependent on me and more dependent on Him. Today is sweet because I still have one more year at home with my mini-me, Landry. Today is sweet because we have a superb Christian school to go to.

Today is sweet!

WPA Field Day

2011-05-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was field day at WPA. As usual, it was a great time and a very positive family day.

Game 1 of west finals

2011-05-17T20:43:00.000-05:00

We are SO excited about the Mavs. Both of the boys willingly took naps today so they could stay up late to watch the game.

Way to go Mavs

2011-05-09T20:07:00.000-05:00

Logan, Layton, Sis and I got to go to the Mavs vs Lakers playoff game 4. We were pumped to be there.

Layts 6 year old well visit

2011-05-04T15:54:00.001-05:00

Today was layts 6 year old well visit. He was SO thrilled to hear no shots for 6 year olds. They have to sit at this desk while they take the kids blood pressure.

What a girl

2011-04-30T21:21:00.001-05:00

As I was putting Landry to bed tonite she was "making a short video". Actually she was looking at and talking to herself in a hand held mirror in bed. I walked out and she told me she had to make just one more video because her teacher told her to. As I was walking out of her room, I heard her say to herself in the mirror, "just go to PBS kids dot org and upload your videos. Good luck!".
What a girl!

Easter Sunday

2011-04-25T22:53:00.000-05:00

Time Flies...

2011-04-12T23:53:00.005-05:00

and we're havin' fun!

that was for you, Mammie!

Cover your Eyes!

2011-03-21T16:28:00.002-05:00

Layton loves Bibleman and he chose that as the DVD to watch in the car. Landry usually likes it too but on this particular day on the way to dancing there was a scary part. I looked back while sitting at a stop light and saw Landry covering her eyes and then I noticed that her other hand was covering Plampia's eyes too. What a good mommy to cover the baby's eyes and protect her from the scary part.

Also, please notice that Plampia has her dance leotard on also. She actually went to dancing too with Landry.

NFL Experience

2011-03-08T08:32:00.004-06:00

One perk of working for a sporting goods business is that Adam is friendly with lots of reps. He was given tickets to the NFL experience that was in Dallas for the Super Bowl. It was a fun family afternoon.

There was so much to do. Here Logan is comparing his hands to those of an NFL player.

They got to try on shoulder pads.
and stand in NFL uniforms

They got to race down a track.

That's Layt in the green, Logan in the red and Adam in the blue on the right.

There was lots of memorabilia to look at.

This is what a typical locker would look like.

This was a high jump contest.
No experience is complete without cotton candy for these kids.

The boys got to stand in front of a green screen and read a script like they were sportscasters. Logan read it all and Layt stood and watched.

We are glad we got to experience it!

Funny people and unusual things

2011-02-23T14:23:00.007-06:00

I had to purchase more space so just now getting back to my blog. Instead of a long explanation of lots of events I just put a few together for one long picture post.

ATT I TUDE

Sweet boy loves to be read to.

Lunch at Rainforest Cafe
I think the pretzel log cabin fell apart.Well, 2 out of 3 happy kids isn't bad. It's the norm around here.

My kids can put away some chocolate. No complaining when the dessert comes!

Someone was dumb enough to actually take a photo of this with MY PHONE! I was looking through my photos and editing them and I came upon this one.

What in the world?

This was during a bored phase over the ice days. Yes, it's Layt jumping from the top of his dresser over the big red chair to his bed. Thankfully he made it without bursting this brains out. (my nana's saying) We have all been warned that this will NEVER happen again so let's hope it doesn't.

One day we woke up and Sissy's curls were basically gone so this was our first attempt with the hot rollers. She loved how it looked afterward. She admired herself and basically purred for hours after.

My kids thought this was the funniest thing. Our next door neighbors water drips all day every day so this is what it turned into one of the times it iced. We all thought it was so cool to see ice going up.
Date with my darling at Mi Cocina. Yum! Can't wait till ours is built.
I walked in one evening to check on Landry and this is what I saw. She had fallen asleep reading and this book was over hers and Plampia's face.
We went to the Lego Master competition at Grapevine Mills. Logan LOVED it!

Rubber Snake attack in the gift shop!

More ice freezing up during the other freeze earlier this month.
This boy loves to sleep in this red Nike hat. He searches through the laundry when he can't find it. He reminds me of that character on Fat Albert without eyes. haha
She said she wanted to look like Mammie.

La la la la la Inspector Gadget

2011-02-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

We call Layt Inspector Gadget. He LOVES to carry, hold, buckle, clip, stick and shove stuff in a belt or pants. His favorite thing is to have a set of keys clipped to him just in case he needs to lock or unlock a door at a moments notice.

I was knelt down in the pantry and then stood up to close the door and this is what I saw. This is his usual stance and uniform along with the light sabre.

Look at all that loot!

Not for the weak of heart

2011-02-09T13:00:00.003-06:00

Guess what we did last night?

We did EAR CANDLES!

My mom did these on me when I was in high school but we've never done them since then. Adam's head has been really clogged up so when I was at the health food store yesterday I bought a few to try. Adam, Logan and Layt all wanted to do them. It was really cool. They laid their head down and I stuck a hollow wax candle in the ear and light it. It takes about 12-15 minutes to burn down. Adam did both ears.
Logan did one ear

and Layt did one ear. I only bought 4 so I'm going back to get more to do the boys other ear and mine too.

Then when it burns down to about 2-3 inches left you blow it out and cut open the hollow candle. Then you are left with this...

Do not scroll down if you are grossed out by gross things. I am raising 2 boys so I do not have the luxury of being grossed out anymore...

The result. That is the opened candle and all that yellow and orange gunk is what was sucked out of their ears. Isn't that gross and cool all at the same time? Love it!

We love our Sis

2011-01-25T05:00:00.001-06:00

We love you very much Sis. We hope you have a great day.

Girls of Grace

2011-01-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

Landry's dance studio had a "parent peek" show and tell during a recent class. We were able to come and watch them stretch out and practice their dances. The teachers gave each girl a precious little ballet shoe ornament. She did SO well and I was SO proud of her.

This is what BIG BROTHER Layton did while we watched Landry dance.

Birthday Tradition

2011-01-21T05:00:00.001-06:00

One of our Gerhart Gang family traditions is to put balloons over someone on their birthday. These are pictures of Landry's birthday. What we do is blow up balloons the night before. Then we go in early in the morning and pile them up on the birthday girl (or boy) When they wake up they are piled high with balloons all over their bed. The kids love it so it has become a tradition for us over the last few years.

Then it usually turns into a balloon fight with all of us. It's a fun way to wake up on your birthday.

Our big girl is 4!

What has been going on at your house?

2011-01-19T05:00:00.002-06:00

If anyone were to ask me that question, all I would need to do is show them some pictures. This tells it all!

Reindeer Food

2011-01-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

The day befoer Christmas Adam decided we needed to make reindeer food. Logan decided he was too old to make it this year so Landry and Layton and Adam made it together. It was a mixture of oatmeal, glitter, sugar and cinnamon.

Then that night right before bed we all scattered it in the backyard. The eatmeal is for the reindeer to eat while Santa is in our house setting out our gifts. The glitter is to help Santa notice our house and the cinnamon sugar is to make the oatmeal taste better. We also left a snack for Santa to eat after he left our gifts. Logan chose to leave him a muffin, Layton chose marshamallows and Sunny D and Landry wanted to leave him Oreos. What a great snack!

Christmas Caroling

2011-01-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

The week of Christmas a few families got together for a cookie exchange and to go Christmas caroling. It was so much fun. We went to our pastor's house, our children's minister's house and our preschool minister's house. The children all sounded so great and it was a super time. We are making such great memories and we have decided to make it an annual tradition.

These 2 smaller pictures were taken by our pastor's wife, Brenda Swofford. It was nice to see the view of all of us singing from the front door.

A Day With Dee

2011-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Dee came to get the kids the week before Christmas and she and Elvin spent the entire day with them. They ate lunch, went to the Frisco museum and made Gingerbread houses. They had a wonderful day! Thank you Dee for being such a wonderful part of our lives.

Christmas Eve Photo Shoot

2011-01-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

Mammie gives us new pj's each Christmas eve. We have a "photo shoot" in front of her tree each year.

Nerf Gun War

2011-01-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

Layton has been asking for a while for all of us to have a Nerf Gun Fight. We finally did it and it was a hoot. First the boys set up a lot of mini guys all over Layt's room and then Landry collected all the Nerf guns and equipment for all of us. She's ready to shoot but still has her princess necklace on.

As the grand finale we all got the chance to shoot at General Grievous who was placed on top of the window. Layton shot if off first and he was so happy he kept saying "I'm the champion!"

Landry was so upset after she didn't win. All she could say was, "I'm NOT the champion!"

I didn't win either sweet girl but it sure was fun trying!

Darth Vader and the little chocolatiers

2011-01-07T05:00:00.001-06:00

I was sitting on my bed putting on makeup and I looked up and this is the sight I saw. It made me laugh so hard. I almost didn't post this because of the background but then I decided to because I want to show Adam his armoir in the background and how the doors are open SO often! haha

These little ones love to help cook and I set them up at the table with marshmallows and chocolate to dip and they loved it! Adam called them the Little Chocolatiers. Have any of you seen that show? It's on TLC and it's about a married couple of little people who own a chocolate shop.

I don't want to have good luck!

2011-01-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows Landry knows she is THE WORST eater God ever created. On New Year's Day Allie made Black Eyed Peas and invited us all for lunch. (Yes, we have been wearing pj's a lot lately) I explained why we eat black eyed peas on New Year's day and all Landry could say is, "I don't want to have good luck!" She wouldn't even touch one so she posed holding a spoon with her pea in it.

Big Girl Seat and Bye Bye Sippies

2011-01-03T22:51:00.002-06:00

Landry can now ride in a big girl booster seat and she was SO excited to pick her new one out. Here she is one last time in her old baby seat.

She chose carefully and made her final decision because this new one has not one but TWO cup holders. (Layton couldn't stand not being in the picture.)

We decided this morning to get rid of all the sippy cups. She was so proud to get rid of them. She told daddy when he got home that she was sending her sippy cups to "the babies".

Does your shelf...

2010-12-25T21:22:00.005-06:00

...have an elf? We adopted our elf right after Thanksgiving and he has been coming back to our house each day since. His name is Mr. Prickle Pants and each morning when we wake up he is in another place in our home. He listens to us all day and then flies back to the North Pole each night to report back to Santa Claus. On the first morning he was hidden and the kids looked everywhere for him. Every morning since Landry couldn't wait to go downstairs to find him.

Out with the old...

2010-12-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

... and in with the new! I bought this chest in Caldwell a few years ago. I had it in our bedroom for a while and then we got new furniture (yea!) I thought it would be cute in Landry's room if it was redone. So, one day last month Logan and I had homeschool in the driveway so I could repaint it when the littles are at school.

First coat
cutie just sat and did his work beside mewho loves my painting clothes?
After

Asleep in a Heep

2010-12-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

Now this is a full bed. This little girl loves to snuggle with all her babies.

My Sweetness...

2010-12-16T16:34:00.000-06:00

Just love this little boy

Big Brother, Little Sister

2010-11-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

I love these shirts and I was so excited for the kids to wear them to preschool on the same day. I showed Layton and he (of course) said his was stupid because it would be embarrassing if people knew he was Landry's big brother. Sorry dude, we all know Landry...

...and her pose!

soccer and football season

2010-11-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

Soccer season and football season came to an end and each got a trophy. Adam coached Layton's soccer team and their last game was in the pouring rain. The boys loved it.
Logan's last game got cancelled due to the rain but they still got their trophies and cupcakes.

Great seasons boys! I love watching you both.

Surprise from the Parker family

2010-11-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

We came home to a surprise package on the front porch. It was postmarked from the Parker family in Germany. Marnie Parker is such a generous woman. We were thrilled to open it but waited until Logan got home from school. As soon as he did we tore into it.

Look at all these yummy treats. It was candy from Germany and a Christmas planner made by Marnie.

The kids' favorite part was the chocolate eggs with surprise toys inside. They each got 2 eggs.

Look how precious all these little toys are. They were all inside the chocolate eggs.

This was my favorite part. She sent me a necklace for my birthday that she had made. Such a doll! I LOVE it! Don't you?

We miss you so much and wish you all the best in Germany.

We Miss you...

2010-11-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

...Dee

Tutu cute twins

2010-11-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

The girls got to come to the Operation Christmas Child party at Sis' house. Our group did 48 boxes! Yea! Landry was so proud of our boxes.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween Review

2010-11-06T21:59:00.007-05:00

I love pumpkin patches and I am happy I found a new one this year. We went to the one in Canton. We went with the Cilios and had a great time. The kids got to do the bungee trampolines.

The girls are such great friends.

The boys climbed the rock wall.

The kids rode lots of rides.

Of course we had lots of posed pictures.

Then on Halloween evening we had several families over for food fun and lots of candy. Here are the girls.

Plampia dressed up like Spider girl and of course she went trick or treating too.

The boys
Sis and Shelley wearing Star Wars masks
The Christian brothers, as they call themselves.
We had such a great time with you guys. Thanks for coming.

Plampia

2010-11-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know Landry know she has a baby named Plampia. It's always a funny conversation when she tells someone her baby's name. I always get the same question, "Where did the name Plampia come from?" Here's the answer: Her brain! She talked about Plampia for a while before we even got her. Mammie took her to the American Girl Store and she finally found her Plampia. She was so excited to finally find her because we had been looking for the baby for a little while. We didn't find her in a catalog or at Target, she was an American Girl Bitty Baby!

Plampia goes virtually everywhere with us and does everything a real baby does, even eats donuts.

Of course they sleep together. A few times she has even woken Landry up in the night crying and then they both come wake me up so I can get her back to sleep. (This is real stuff people!)

She rides in the car. I am REAL surprised she hasn't asked for a baby car seat for her so far.

She does baby ballet dancing and baby school.

She snuggles

They wear matching clothes.

She changes clothes several times a day for each activity.

Date with my Darling

2010-11-01T20:29:00.002-05:00

As a mother I feel the GUILT! My main guilt right now is over my "middle child". I have always felt guilty for having another baby so quickly after Layton was born. He was just a baby and I was already expecting again and I personally felt awful for basically 8 months. (Being pregnant isn't a fun thing for me.) So, I am concerned about not having enough time for my kids, especially Layt. I do lot of girly things with Landry and Logan was the first born and had us all to himself for more than 3 years and I get to be with him alone 2 days a week this year.

Layton and I decided we would go on a date, just the 2 of us. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, "go to biggest grill". This is his interpretation of Genghis Grill. He loves that place because he can get a bowl of meat. We made our date plan and told the others. Landry cried when we told her and she cried when we left, total jealousy.

Before we left he got himself dressed and added A LOT of daddy's cologne. He snuck out the door and rang the doorbell for me like he was picking me up. When I answered it he asked if I was ready for the date. We sat and talked for a minute and then played a few puzzles alone, just us! Then we headed out.

We made our bowls and waited for our food to be delivered.

He insists on eating it all with chopsticks. He starts out well and then stabs all his meat towards the end.

He wanted ice cream too so we headed to Baskin Robbins to get his favorite, rainbow sherbet. he wanted to eat it in the car though. He told me he was ready to go home. I had such a great time with my sweetie! Love you Layt!

Best Friends are we...My Sister and me!

2010-10-25T21:59:00.004-05:00

Layton and Landry go to preschool together this year. Landry still calls it Layton's school. I love to take a picture of them each morning. Sometimes they are happy to take a picture and sometimes not, but I do anyway. Here are a few from this year so far.

This one is my screen saver. It cracks me up!

Hello Gorgeous!

2010-10-13T22:40:00.002-05:00

Logey is 9

2010-10-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

His last year of single digits. I can't believe it! Logan wanted to just invite 2 friends and have pizza and a chocolate chip cookie cake. For all of you who know about Babycakes, I am embarrassed about this cake. This is what he wanted, chocolate chip cookie cake with NO icing. He is simple and I hated it, but that's what he wanted!
We also went to Shenaniganz and rode go carts, played lazer tag and games.

Miss Landry hit the big winner and won 500 tickets on the wheel of fortune! We were so excited for her!

Girls of Grace

2010-10-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Girls of Grace dancing has started again. Just like last year, we all love it!
First day with Mrs. Sarah Degner.

Mrs. Mandy Alexander

The dancing and the teachers are wonderful. It's also SO great to be with good friends. Here is Abigail Baughier.

Best Friend, Campbell Cilio.

Campbell, Presley Brott, Landry and Abby.

Big brothers Layt and Jackson hanging out of the car while we are paying attention to the ballerinas.

Our Favorite volleyball player

2010-10-05T05:00:00.001-05:00

We LOVE Katie Brown. I babysat her and her sister Brooke and her brother Will when they were little. Now, Katie and Brooke babysit for us. It's funny to think about how this can be! We went to one of Katie's volleyball games and cheered her on. Here she is with all her little one who love her so much. Campbell, Chandler, Landry, Layton and Logan.

Happy Sweet 16, Katie!

Grandparents Day at WPA

2010-10-04T09:10:00.001-05:00

Logan's school had a special grandparents day breakfast one morning. Mammie got to go with Logey. What a cute picture.

Oh my, Mini Guys!

2010-09-28T10:20:00.002-05:00

The girls were gone all day on Sunday shopping and when I got home this is what I saw in the guest bathroom. Apparently ALL the mini guys had gotten to get into the sandbox to play for a little while and then ALL of the mini guys got to have a bath to get cleaned up. Here they are drying off from a long day.

Please notice the sand that was left in the bottom of the bathtub.

Wrestle Mania!

2010-09-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

Christian Wrestling Federation comes to FBC Rockwall

This is a song that always comes to mind when I see or hear about wrestling or a wrestling match. The Christian Wrestling Federation came to our church. My boys were thrilled to go. They watched with such intense faces. It was so corny and scripted but fun for the kids to be a part of. Landry and Mammie and Sis and Dee and I joined them for the first part after we got together for dinner to celebrate Sis' birthday. As we were watching the first match Layt said to me several times, "Mom, aren't you and the other girls going to leave now?" It was funny to me that he didn't want us there because we were girls.

New pose and kinda boyish

2010-09-14T13:02:00.002-05:00

Landry has a new pose for the camera. Whenever I start taking her picture she poses like this. Most of the time it's hand on the hip and shoulder out and turned sideways like this one. One time I told her to put her hand on her hip and now she can't stop. I have created a monster.In this picture she was trying on a new dress that I bought her for school. I told her how precious she looked and her comment to me was, "I think it's kinda boyish!" As we talked about it more she explained to me that she thought the buttons (that are on the inside so it can wrap) are boyish. Then I understood too that the blue plaid looks boyish to her as well. She felt cute though, you can tell.

My Littles start preschool

2010-09-08T13:49:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was our first day of preschool. Layton is in pre-K and Landry started her first year of preschool. Landry has been talking about it for almost a year now and Layton has been dreading it for months. This is what their attitudes were Tuesday morning getting ready.

Landry was happy!

Layt was not so happy!
He did put on A LOT of Axe body spray though. I guess he wanted to smell nice for Mrs. Beth.

Landry was excited to show off her bracelet with her name on it and her freshly painted fingernails.

This her new pose. She just puts her hand on her hip whenever you try to take her picture. I will say it again, Thank you God for giving me a girly girl!

Then Layton got all smiles as it was time to leave. Prayers answered!

Surprisingly, Layt suggested we take a picture of them together since they go to the same school. Wow! He normally acts like he doesn't know who she is.

Goodness I wish I had those blue eyes too.

Here we are, the brown eyed kids.
Notice the hand on the hip.

Logan was so sweet and stayed in the background this morning and just let them have their day. He suggested to take one of the 4 of us. I love pictures from the back walking in. Logan let the group though.
Layt with Ms. Beth. He had her last year too so we already knew we loved her. He was happy and just wanted to go in alone. He complied and took a good picture though. Proud of him and how far he has come since this time last year.
Landry got a little nervous when it was time to go in and kept asking me to stay with her. She was fine after I left. (Of course I stayed around in the hallway for a little while to make sure) So this is the first time in over 5 years that it will be just Logan and me for 2 days a week. His home school days are the days they go to preschool so it will be neat for us to be alone again. Hoping we will get his schoolwork done quickly since it will be quiet in the house and I can give him my full attention. I'm sure I will enjoy it just as soon as I stop crying! Ha ha Honestly though from now on I will have all 3 kids in school. No more staying home with mommy full time. That's hard on this mommy! I think I need (want) another baby!

Sonic Comments

2010-08-26T06:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday after dropping Logan off at school we had to run to the cleaners to drop off some clothes. Our cleaners has a Sonic right beside it. Landry says to me, "mommy, I think I really need a slushy!" Now I was already thinking the same thing so I am easy this time and say, "okay, after we drop off these clothes we will stop in and get a drink this morning." So, while we are in line at the cleaners this conversation goes down:

Landry- mommy, you can choose what flavor slushy I get, I'll get whatever you want.
me- No Landry, I want you to choose for yourself.
L- No mommy, you make my choice. Whatever you want me to have.
me- okay, how about a lemonade slushy like Layton gets. I think you will like it a lot.
L- No, I don't want a lemonade slushy, you choose what I want to have.
me- well then if you don't want a lemonade slushy I choose you to have a strawberry one.
L- No, you choose me to have either a purple or a red one or a green one.
me- okay, I choose you to have a red cherry slushy.
L- No, you want me to have a green one, okay mommy?
me- Sure landry, I will choose you to have a green one.
L- No, you really choose a purple one, okay mommy?
me-Yes landry, I will choose you to have a purple one.

me-Layt, what do you want?
Layton- lemonade one!

That's pretty much our life. He is a man of not so many words and she makes up for it with TOO MANY words. If you know my little Landry, you know this is pretty much her personality most of the time. She tries to make you feel good by pretending to let you be in charge of something/anything but really, she is the one who wants to hold all the control. What a girl!
I realize this isn't a very good picture and she has cookie in her mouth but I HAD to put a picture on here too because my sister HATES blog posts without pictures and I don't want her to be mad at me. Should have taken a pic with her purple sonic drink but didn't .

1st day continued

2010-08-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well when Logan came home from school he said, "Everything is SO different in 3rd grade. It's like I was in 2nd grade and going into 5th or something."

First day of WPA

2010-08-19T18:19:00.005-05:00

Logan's first day of school started great. He was getting dressed and said to me out of the blue, "mom, last year you went overboard with pictures on my first day, can you not do that today?" WHAT?

I'm thinking, We're already here? We're already to the point where the boy child doesn't want his mother to take pictures? I guess it lasted for almost 9 years now but I'm not ready for this. Adam heard him saying this and laughed and said, "your mom will take your picture on your first day of everything until you leave for college, get used to it!~"

YES I WILL!

I asked him what a good amount of pictures was that I could take. He said maybe 6 or 7.

He was good though and didn't limit my pictures for the rest of the morning.

Packing up the 3rd grade backpack.
I love this picture. I have taken one from behind walking in for each year of each school and I love to see how everyone changes and evolves from babies in a stroller to being held to walking alone.
3rd grade is departmentalized so he has 4 core teachers and 2 elective teachers. First period is language arts with Mrs. Baughier. We love our school and are blessed to have this alternative to public school. It works best for us and we are so thrilled to be a part of the WPA family.

Circus

2010-08-12T05:00:00.002-05:00

We took the kids to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was a fun time for all of us.

This dumb hat came with the cotton candy and of course they ALL wanted to wear it.
We loved the elephants. They were wonderful!
These guys were also a favorite of ours.
Logan looks amazed!

2010-08-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I pulled out some strips of paper and suggested we make a paper chain. My kids know that this usually means we are counting down to something. They all asked and I told them they would have to guess. Layton said, "I hope it's not for school starting." We made a paper chain of 24 links.

Then we played "Wheel of Fortune" to figure out the name of where we are going in 24 days. Each kid took turns guessing a letter until Logan figured it out with only a few letters filled in.
As you can tell, he was SO thrilled when he figured it out.
YEA! We leave on September 1st for Lego Land in California.

We had t-shirts ready to take with us to Lego Land. They say, "Square is Cool!"
Here's our paper chain. We will cut one link off each night before bed and that's how many more nights we have until we leave. YEA!

Layt and Jackson

2010-08-08T22:53:00.002-05:00

We've had a great time this summer hanging out in the sun and having fun!

I know lots of mommies want arranged marriages but really, can we please make this work out?

Crackers for Breakfast

2010-08-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Landry woke up a few minutes before 7am very hungry. She came into my bedroom and I was still asleep. She tapped me and wanted breakfast. I said, "Landry just get into bed with mommy and watch a show." She wasn't going to be ignored, she was STARVING! Most of the time I get out of bed before the kids do or right when they wake up. This morning I was exhausted and we didn't have anywhere to go so there was really no reason for me to get up right then. She asked if she could go downstairs and get a "sideabaa". Now if you know Landry well enough you know she loves cereal bars and they are the main reason she is still alive. If it weren't for low fat cereal bars she would be malnourished. I told her yes, go downstairs and get a cereal bar. She went downstairs and was only gone for a minute or so and brought me 2 to open for her which I did. She sat in my room beside my bed and watched a show and the boys came in too. At 7:30 I sat up and saw this...

What in the world...

How long did she think we would be up there? Did she think I was never going to get up all day long? She's a carbohydrate addict already!

Best Friends are we...My Campbell and me!

2010-08-04T07:36:00.003-05:00

Campbell and Landry talk about being best friends all the time. They have been lucky to be able to spend a lot of time together this summer. Here are a few of the highlights.

We met to swim for a while. We ended up ordering pizza for our 2 families to eat at the pool. This time they let baby sister join them.

Matching dresses. Landry wore hers to Campbell's house so she wanted to put hers on too.
Dress up is their favorite thing to play.

We went to the Children's Museum in Commerce.
This night they begged to spend the night with each other. The boys were at the Cilio's house and the girls were here. They did wonderful! They slept in their sleeping bags in the playroom.
Here they are asleep. Look how precious they are with their hands on each other. They were holding hands as they fell asleep.

Landry is pretty bossy so she tells Campbell what to do pretty often. Campbell is good about it most of the time. Landry does remind Campbell that she is older than her but Campbell accepts it. That's what you do with a best friend, you accept their flaws no matter what! I sure hope these girls stay the best of friends for a long time. Love you sweeties~

Tired Babes

2010-07-26T21:06:00.003-05:00

I was in the kitchen icing a cake (shocking, I know) and then walked in to the living room and this is what I saw. Both of them had fallen asleep while watching So You Think You Can Dance. Sleepy little guys!

Oh, Randomness!

2010-07-14T20:03:00.003-05:00

Okay, this blog is randomness (is that a word?) that I like to talk about. Here goes:

My little Landry loves to wear a towel like this so she can be just like me. Now, if only my towel would wrap around myself this many times! She said to me, "Take my picture and send it to Mam and Sis and Dee. Oh, and Nana too!" So of course I did!

My sweet little Layton- I love how light his hair gets in the summer and how tan his skin gets. It's so funny to see him beside Logan and Landry. They stay so pale and his skin gets to tanned. It's so neat to me that they can be so different naturally.

This is Landry one morning when she got herself dressed. Notice the tank top on backwards that is stay home clothes and too little for her tummy and the skirt (where even did she get it?) Also, I love the church shoes without socks. I asked her about them and she said, "I just love them so much because they are so pretty!" Also, she LOVED the McDonalds watch that day for some reason. She was so proud of herself that I let, YES I LET HER, go to the grocery store looking like this. I did do her hair so maybe people would notice her cute hairbow instead of the shoes.

Don't they look alike? I hear it all the time but I don't really see it because I look at them as such different people. This pic really looks like it though, especially since they are wearing the same t-shirt too.

Be my prince, okay?

2010-07-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

Well Landry was a little sad a few days ago when she did not have a prince to dance with her. She came down to Adam's office and was pretty disgusted because Layton wouldn't be her prince. She asked Adam to be the prince. He got on his knees to dance with her. He started dancing with her and she kept correcting him. At one time she said, "Daddy, you need to watch the movie to see how to dance! Let's go watch it!" She kept giving him instructions on how to dance, etc. Here she was telling him to bow to her.

Then she curtsies to him. I guess the tongue helps with the dance!

"Now lean me over!"

Landry is such a lucky girl to have a great daddy like she does and we are all lucky he is here so much so we can come down to his office and dance together!

Mommy Fun Day

2010-07-05T22:52:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday Adam was out of town and for some reason, weekends alone are much more lonely to me so I decided we HAD to get out of the house! I decided to have a Mommy Fun Day! Our first stop was to get donuts!

Then we went to Lowe's for the children's building workshop. We made kaleidoscopes.

Then I surprised them with a movie. We saw Shrek, The Final Chapter.

Then we went to McDonalds for a burger and to play for a while.

Another favorite place for my kids is Petco. We call it Dog and Cats and it is a reward for great behavior. They love to look at all the animals.

Then we stopped by Wendy's for a free junior frosty. We got the free cards from Lowe's. Our last stop was to the library for some new books and DVDs. It was a great day with my sweet babes. We got home just in time to eat dinner, play a few board games, take a bath and get to bed.

VBS

2010-07-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

Vacation Bible School was a great week and here are a few of the pics from the week.

2010-06-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I brought the pool bag in from the garage to clean out. Landry loves to help me so she asked if she could do it for me. I said yes and assumed she would empty it and then I would complete the task. I walked off and did a few other things and then came back to see this little proud girl with all of the pool items sorted. She is a girl after my own heart. If you know me you know how I LOVE to sort things and to keep them all together. Either she does too or she knows me well and knows how to please me. Yea Landry! Thank you sweetie!

Fancy Food Friday

2010-06-28T14:18:00.003-05:00

On each Friday of the summer so far we have had Fancy Food Fridays. I have several shaped cookie pans that I use. Each has 6 openings and I put a different snack type of food in each. The kids each get so excited to see what shape pan they have and what all food they have.

Fish Camp

2010-06-25T05:00:00.001-05:00

I have already read several blog posts about Fish Camp in Royse City. It's a yummy restaurant but our favorite part of it is the pond. They have fishing poles and the pond is stocked with tonz of little perch so they basically jump right on your line. It's a great way to pass the time while you are waiting for your excellent fried catfish. It was a fun night.

What a HUGE catch, Layt.

Logan wasn't too impressed with the quality of fish but he went along with it for the littles.

Even Sissy caught a fish but she DID NOT want to hold it.

I have discovered lately that apparently I am competitive. I never believed I was until lately. I wouldn't leave until I caught one too. Look at that great catch!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-23T07:39:00.006-05:00

I am not a Disney fanatic. I do LOVE Disney World and Disney movies but I don't usually get excited about a new movie coming out. I don't have themed cookie jars or shower curtains and I certainly don't wear Disney clothes (my kids do at certain times though) This time has been different. We have been talking about Toy Story 3 for almost a year now since we heard another one was coming out. We were in Disney World in September and saw the advertisements and got SO excited. Toy Story is my favorite animated movie of all times and in my opinion they just keep getting better! They are so precious and it's nostalgic to see all the old toys that so many of us had a little kids. I love the friendships and the messages they send and the humor is adult at many times. I read in the Dallas Morning News last week that the reviewer said this was a movie for adults that children could see. I agree.

We planned to see the movie and have a family fun day with our close family friends. We saw the movie on Saturday morning at 10:55am in 3D.

I just love this picture, it was SO sunny and I SO wanted a picture with my 3 posing in front of the 3 sign but they just couldn't do it! The sun was too much for them!

As we were standing here taking pics we saw several sad and crying kiddos walking back to their cars. I felt sorry for them that the movie was already sold out. I guess their parents didn't think ahead to get tickets early!

Landry watched it in 3D some of the time and then got tired of the glasses and wore them on her head.

We all love, love, loved it!

Layton with his best friend, Jackson Cilio were all smiles after the show.

We were so glad Carson came home from Oklahoma early to see the movie with us.

Campbell, Adam, Layt and Jackson with the long, HOT walk back to the car after the movie.

I made a cake to celebrate the movie. I LOVE theme parties so this was probably more fun for me than it was for the kiddos. Bottom layer was a 9X13 one layer strawberry sheet with strawberry cream cheese icing, middle was an 8 inch square buttercake with cream cheese icing, top was a 6 inch round chocolate with chocolate cream cheese icing.

The table! No, this wasn't a birthday party for anyone but I just decorated and had party favors like it was. I had so much fun with it!

We had chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs grilled out with lots of great sides and snacks.
Adam loved sharing his grilled corn with Chandler. I think she was the most popular girl there that night!Layt adores Chandler and wants her to love him too.

We had water games and a slip & slide outside first but the kids got so hot they wanted to come in. We set up a theatre in the dining room with a television and the kids watched

Toy Story 2. Logan thought of several games to play. One was potato head match where he had a picture of a dressed up potato head and there was a race to see who could re-create it. Then after dinner the kids played Toy Story Mania on the Wii. I placed candles in the cake too, one for each kid. We sang Happy Birthday to

Toy Story since it was 3 now and each kid got to blow out a candle.

We did it twice, once for the big kids and once for the little girls.

Then Layt handcuffed his ankle to Chandler's ankle so she couldn't "leave him". Oh, and by the way Layt got these handcuffs from the Cilios for his birthday in case anyone wonders where they came from. haha No comments please!

From the looks of this little girl it was a good party!

Did you see it? What was your favorite character or part? My favorite characters were

Barbie and Ken. My favorite parts were when Ken was doing his fashion show for Barbie and when Buz was changed to Spanish and danced. As the credits were rolling, Sis noticed the dances were choreographed by Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani from Dancing with the Stars. SO FUNNY!

VBS

2010-06-14T21:14:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'll go along with everyone else and post our picture of VBS this morning. I am teaching (and have for about 6 years) kindergarten. All 3 kids were happy this morning. Logan walked down the stairs this morning and said, "Today is Vacation Bible School, YEA!" How wonderful it is to be able to go to VBS and how even more wonderful it is for my children to be happy to be there. I love our church!

Yes mom, I have fixed the cords under the desk since this picture was taken this morning.

Has anyone seen these?

2010-06-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Have any of you seen these? I was so happy when I found them. We are doing school this summer too probably 3 days a week. I think these will be so fun to have as a snack but learning too. I'm looking forward to using them!

Layton's hidden treasure

2010-06-09T15:16:00.002-05:00

Layton loves gadgets and any "treasure" items. He basically hoards them. If you are ever at my house and can't find your keys or your watch or your pocket knife the first place you should look is in Layton's room under his pillow. He has done this several times (just ask Sam Cilio) One evening as I was putting Layton to bed I leaned in to kiss him. I slid my hand under his pillow and felt something. He got a sly grin on his face and begged me to let him keep the handcuffs there. I did but I went back in later in the night when he was asleep to take a picture. I have checked under his pillow most nights since and normally he has something under it. Here are a few pictures of things I have found. I'm sorry these pics are dark and grainy but they are in the middle of the night when I finally go to bed. Here are a few examples:

This night he had a set of keys, a set of handcuffs and a machete! You never know when you will need a machete!

This night he had a ninja sword and the Wolverine hand with claw.
This is the Sea World sword and a Sonic receipt.

This was a big night of pillow treasure, it was a book, a small Blue's Clues magna doodle, and Lego instruction booklet.

Cutie Patootie

2010-05-31T23:11:00.001-05:00

I sure do love this little cutie patootie!

Strawberries and Chocolate, but not together!

2010-05-30T22:46:00.002-05:00

Now this is some GOOD chocolate ice cream.

Yes, this is a real strawberry in Logan's hand. HUGE!

When I grow up...

2010-05-26T14:07:00.003-05:00

I will be...

Just in case you cannot read the picture it says, "When I grow up I want to be a rat and a mouse catcher!" This was at Layton's preschool end of the year program yesterday. Each child stood up and said their name and what they wanted to be when they grew up. All the rest of the children said things like Firemen, doctor, etc. and my child wants to be a rat and a mouse catcher. Everyone laughed, it was so precious. Adam said, "I'm glad he used his own brain and didn't just copy what all the other boys said." So, if you are ever in need of a rat or a mouse catcher just give ole' Layt a call and he will take care of it for you!

whatcha say?

2010-05-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

My kids, like yours I'm sure, say the funniest things. I love to write them down in their journals I keep for them. Here are a few from over the past few weeks.

Landry- "Mommy, I drank all my drink."
mommy- "Good Landry."
Landry- "That's cause I"m a genius!"

At the entrance to Sea World
Logan- "That woman in the blue dress is H-O-T!

Layton- "Where's mommy?"
Landry- "Mommy's not here, I disappeared her!"

I told Layton to he had to finish his banana before he could leave the table from lunch.
Layton- I'm gonna die!"
Landry- "Well then kill yourself!"

Driving down the street.
Landry- "I love fat trees."

Layton- "I'm allergic to poison, right mom?"

Layton- "Mom, will you tie this?"
Landry- "Yes, she will. Mommy LOVES to tie things."

At his soccer game his side was hurting.
Layton- "My gills hurt."

Photo from Sunday morning walking into our church.

Oh My Goodness!

2010-05-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, this little one has been called a monkey many times in his life but this time just takes the cake! This is the sight I saw when I looked outside. He said he was Kevin from Ben 10 and all this mud was his armor. You should have seen the shower afterwards.

Here he is showing me how to look mean!

Surprise from Germany

2010-05-21T05:00:00.000-05:00

What an excellent surprise to go to the mailbox and have a package all the way from Europe! It was from our friends, The Parkers, who moved to Germany almost a year ago. How excited we all were!

This was a box of 3 chocolate eggs. Inside of the eggs were plastic eggs with little toys in them. Logan got a truck in his, Layton had a viking man in his and Landry's was a hot pink spin top. Very cool!
These were AMAZING and if you know me I do not use that term lightly. They were like thin waffle cone disks with caramel in between them. We loved them! How cool is it that all the packaging is in German?
My sweet friend also sent me a great watch. She makes the greatest jewelry and she made this watch for me and it said, Happy Mother's Day on it.

My sweet Marnie, we miss you so much. We miss playing with the kiddos. We miss your awesome hair bows and jewelry and we also miss Kevin's great talent of photography. Thank you so much for the super surprise from Germany.

What?

2010-05-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

This sweet thing is now a 3rd grader. Yesterday was his last day of Wylie Prep and he is home for the summer. YEA! What a sweetie!

Birthday Morning

2010-05-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is 2 weeks late but I wanted to share our birthday morning tradition. In our family on the morning of your birthday you wake up with balloons all over you in bed. We sing "Happy Birthday" to wake you up. You also get a gift first thing in the morning. It's a gift from the siblings since they are usually so excited to give it anyway. Then you get to choose what we have for breakfast. Here is Layton's birthday morning. He got a Wolverine claw from Landry and Logan.

Sea World or Bust

2010-05-17T20:48:00.008-05:00

For Layton's 5th birthday he wanted to go to Sea World so off we went! Our 5 hour trip ended up taking us over 6 hours because of all the bathroom breaks. Our hotel was nice and everyone did fairly well in the one hotel room. We went to Sea World on Friday and Saturday.

Yes, little brother is going to try the Shamu coaster with big brother!
Layton was happy to feed the seals.

We got to pet a mini crocodile
We saw a 3D shark show.

Landry tired to be a mean shark!
The kids loved to play on the pirate ship.

This was our favorite show.

We stood at the dolphin tank watching and one swam right up to us and just stayed there while we rubbed his back and petted him. It was so cool!We got to swim in the waterpark too.

We rode the Lost City of Atlantis ride. We got soaked!

Layt's Art Show

2010-05-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

Layton goes to preschool at Lil' Voyagers preschool at FUMC Heath. I know I have mentioned it before but I love it. They had an art show last week. Here are a few of Layton's art samples.

Watercolor painted dragonflies

marble painted bumble bees

glittered ants at a picnic

A corn field full of husks

string painted fall leaves

glittery stained glass Christmas ornaments

clay sculpted snowmen with hardware parts

Snowmen in a snowstorm free geometric drawing

It was a great time of Layton showing us around and feeling proud of all his art. It was so fun to see all the other classes with their art too.

Girls of Grace Dance Co.

2010-05-10T00:08:00.008-05:00

My sweet baby girl had her first dance recital last weekend. It was a wonderful day that I think I have been waiting for for about 15 years now. I have always thought about what it would be like to have a baby girl and now that she is growing up and doing "big girl" things it's SO fun! They boys let us get ready alone. We had a bath, did our nails, hair in a bun, makeup and got dressed. It was a day to remember. I was pretty proud of this first bun.

She looked at books while I did the hair.
She was very excited to have on real makeup. We did blush, eye shadow, mascara and lipstick.

I know I'm biased but she is gorgeous! Adam said, "I think I like my little girl the way she normally is." I think it was a reality check to see his little girl all dressed up.

Very excited and ready to go in She did not want help putting on her ballets (that's what she calls them, she also says taps)
Landry was in the youngest class and they were PRECIOUS! They opened the show with a ballet dance to, I'm a Ballerina.

Then they did a drill team routine to, Good Morning with their hoops.
Then they did a tap routine and it was so cute.
At the end of the show they announced each girl's name and they got to walk across the stage to receive their medal. It says, "true beauty" and after the show Landry told us, "true beauty comes from your heart" What a wonderful dance studio to teach this kind of lesson.Mammie brought her these flowers for after the show. She loved them and felt so proud and special to carry them around. Three sweet friends, Landry, Abigail Baughier and Claire Urbantke.

Landry was like the star of our family that day. We were all fighting to get to her after the recital. Can you see the tear streaks down my cheeks? I LOVED every minute of the show. I was so overcome with pride and emotion as those precious babies started dancing. My little baby girl is growing up and this is just the first milestone of a "big girl".

All the girls! Nana and Papa came from Caldwell for the recital.This is Mrs. Sarah and we LOVE her. She is one of the teachers and owners of Girls of Grace.
Mrs. Mandy is the other teacher. We absolutely love them both. Thanks for a great year of ballet. Can't wait till September.