All's well that ends well

As I sit at the end of my day, just having rocked my baby to sleep, I'm thinking of all the times I said/could've said "all is well that ends well," today!

For starters, as I picked the kids up from the church nursery this morning after a meeting, Porter ran out the nursery door. When I went to find him, I could hear him, but not see him. I yelled up the church stairs for him, and finally found him IN THE ELEVATOR, with the door CLOSED! Parenting mistake #1 was letting him out of the nursery. Parenting mistake #2 was then letting him ride the elevator upstairs with me and Ainsley in it. As we were riding, he pressed the red "help" button. Ainsley started crying because she knows he's not supposed to press that button, and mommy is in a tizzy hoping the fire department is not on it's way. Why didn't he press the button when he was in the elevator alone?!! No, he waited til I was in there with him, and should've been watching him better. Long story short, well, kinda short, all is well that ends well, and the fire department did not show up.

After nap, we went to the wading pool for the first time this summer!!!!!!! And my funny husband noticed it's the only time in the year that we're as tan as the lifeguards (and we're pretty white!)

Should I go in?

Then we went to pick out an apple tree for our backyard and they didn't have the kind we planned on getting, but all is well that ends well, and I have an apple tree in my backyard. Now I can't ever move :)

Later this evening we took the kids around the block and should've stopped after one joyous ride around. The second lap, both kids were running into each other with their bikes, etc etc. All is well that ends well. . .they pedaled into our driveway with smiles. We came in and Trey thought he was so funny feeding me his Veggie Puffs. He'd act like he was going to eat them and then give them to me :)

And lastly, I sat and rocked my baby to sleep. I watched as his eyes would open and he'd look at me and then half smile and close his eyes. With Ainsley, I always felt like I should be letting her cry to sleep like some other moms were doing(which if it works for you, great!), but with my 3rd child, I am much more confident in my parenting and when I get the chance to rock my baby to sleep, I'm going to take it. There's not much better than that. All is well that ends well!

I have to post some of my favorite pics from this wk. . .

Ainsley and Maddie at the zoo. . .they kept chest bumping and giggling. . go figure. . .girls!Porter helmeting his little bro. . .

Making mommy a mud/grass lemonade, complete with a straw! Look at the sweet way she's kicked up her heel and her dress is blowing :)

Park and ice-cream with Grammy and Grampa. . .

I love the way Ainsley's arm is around her daddy in this pic. . .

And since GooF and I aren't in too many pics, here we are loving on our littlest one today. . .

Babe, I love the way you jump up and hang on anything you can :)

Birthday Boy

Look who's 3! Happy Birthday Porter William! You are such a joy. . .you keep us laughing! And it's a good thing you have such a sweet smile since you can be a bit mischievous. After all, you are a 3 yr old boy :) But truly, I am so proud of you for the way you share, love people(even though you giggle and say I don't love you to get us to say we love you. . then you get the tickles til you say I love you:) ), and most of all love Jesus. I love pushing you on the Star Cruiser "my one and only, strong and mighty, Porter" :)Any time anyone said "Happy Birthday Porter," you replied, "Happy Birthday." We had a friend party (or kid party as Porter called it) on Fri morning, where the kids got Backyardigan tattoos, played pin the bowtie on Pablo, played "Pablo Says," played balloons to backyardigan music, ate cake and ice-cream and opened presents. We had 12 little ones here and other than the shelf falling off the wall and having to search the house for Trey, it was a success :) You loved the new scooter you got. . . On your birthday morning we always make a pancake in the shape of the number you're turning and put a candle in it. This year Grammy and Grampa made us a yummy breakfast. . .and here you are, opening your tee ball set all by yourself early in the morning, and setting it up high so Trey couldn't reach it :) yes, that would be Trey in his sisters headband :)

Then your family party (or adult party as you called it) was after nap. Well, you were supposed to nap, but were too excited to sleep. We had a picnic shelter reserved for it, but do to the wind we had it indoors. We are so blessed to have most of our siblings and both sets of parents near us!!!! Thank you all for helping Porter feel special on his big day. . .here's Porter enjoying his wagon, and his new remote control truck while we sang. . .

and his bubble gun. . .

Today after church we got to try out the slip and slide and as in "we," I mean I also had to try out the slip and slide. I remember as a kid sliding down our yellow one on the hill in our backyard and it was just as fun today, except colder than I remember :) GooF got some great action shots of me, but no, I will not be posting them. . .sorry, HA!!

Porter I remember the day you were born and how excited I was to get "blue" things. I thank God that you're all healthy! WE LOVE YOU! HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY "BIRTHDAY BOY" as Ainsley says!!!The snack compartment makes a great seat for me :)

mmm. . .parties over, and someone left their cup on the floor!!! PS Trey has been saying MaMaMa Mom all night long (May 25th) I love it!

Sibling Love

Someone once told me that you think your second kid will be a playmate for your first kid and then you realize it's someone for them to argue with :) Some days this statement is true, like when Porter ROARS at Ainsley and she runs away screaming, but yesterday I was so proud of them as they played so well together on their own! They carried sand/rocks/grass up to their fort. . . worked together on some landscaping. . . .

giggled and giggled as they had a squirt gun fight. . .goggles, hats, and all. . .

Ainsley and Porter, being 18 months apart, don't remember life without each other! When Ainsley's busy playing with girlfriends or not around, Porter usually acts out. . I don't think he knows what to do when his sister isn't telling him what to do!!!! I'll just call this next video "the tornado drill." We had some really high winds and the kids wanted to take everything downstairs where it was safe. . .well, this led to jumping down the stairs onto couch cushions. Dad really couldn't stop them since he did the same thing with mattresses in college :) And, I must say, as long as our couch is old and nasty anyway, it provided some VERY FUN entertainment for both kids and parents!

And, the baby. . need I say more? Awake or asleep, he is such a blessing. . .

Thanks Grammy for all my new jammies!! Now my legs have room to grow:) Sunday after church we had a picnic lunch at the zoo. . .

I love you!

Lesson from dad

This is what daddy taught Porter in the tubby last night. . .making farting noises with your arms. I guess if you're going to learn it somewhere, you might as well learn it from your dad :) As you can see, he thought it was funny, as did GooF!

Mud Pies for Mama

I remember as a little kid making mud pies and adding grass, etc, so today I brought out some play pots/pans/dishes, and added a little water to the sandbox. And wah lah, in no time the kids had a bakery going and were making mud pies for mama. Not long after we had 6 kids in my yard making mud pies and wiping their hands on my pants :)

Our yard is such fun bc of our new wooden swingset!!! I no longer have to worry that it will tip over when they're both swinging the same direction!

Yesterday we went to the zoo and some of the highlights were watching the mommy monkey and her baby and also watching the mommy and daddy ducks with their little ducklings who showed off and swam in the water. so cute! Here I am with my little ducklings.

And who needs a zoo train when you've got Grammy?

L to R. Bridger, Porter, Taetum, Ainsley, oh and me in the reflection of the glass :)

I threw the ball to Porter atleast 50 times this morning and he told me atleast 50 times that he wants to go to a baseball game and play baseball with his daddy. When I was done throwing the ball, he threw it to himself (does this remind you of playing football by yourself GooF?) and continued to play baseball til I told him that no, he couldn't take a nap with it :)

Mothers Day Wknd

We got to spend time with both of our mothers on mothers day wknd! Fri, we went to GooF's parents, and had a great time at the park and feeding/squirting the ducks. . .

Ainsley could have gone around and around on the merry-go-round all day. . .Too bad I don't have a pic of GooFs and my squirt gun fight. . .his ran out of water, so I'd say I won :) After all these years and I still think you're buff GooF :)

Hugs for Gramma and Great-Grandpa. . .Gramma's gardenThen Sat, we had a brunch with my family and I spent the afternoon helping my sister stamp wedding invitations!! Sunday my family came to our church, as the kids were singing (well, Ainsley sang and Porter stood on his line). They enjoyed picking dandelions in the grass after church. I LOVE THIS PIC!!!! (and the dress : )) Flowers for my sister. . . .Then we went out for lunch and the kids ate for a penny a pound, which is cheap with two 35 pounders!! And since it was Mothers Day I got to spin a wheel and got 6 dollars off my meal! Thanks Michelle for filling us in and for our date night!!!! We had mothers day cake for dessert. . .the first things the kids wanted me to do when they woke me up on Mother's Day was to bake a cake. Good thing for box mixes and frosting in a can! Trey spent the afternoon chasing his shadow :). . . .

Happy Mothers day!