A close second!!!

If you're visiting my blog for the first time, via Mckmama's blog, WELCOME!! I love her "name that photo contests" and was so excited when she said I came in a close second. . . .I had to click on Flip Flop Mama, just to make sure it was really me! And, for the 3 other faithful people (well, maybe it's more like 20) that read my blog, I'll be back to regular blogging soon :)

Like mother, like daughter

Every night when I tuck Ainsley in, I read her a chapter of "Laura and Mary" (aka Little House on the Prairie series). Tonight Porter wanted to listen too and Ainsley said, "If I even hear one little peep out of you Porter. . ." and then she started lecturing him on "instructions" and "trusting him." Obviously she's heard me talking to Porter at naptime (thus the one little peep out of you remark), and today when I came in to check on him in the bathroom and there was soap all over the rug (thus the trusting him remark). OK, so if I catch myself ever saying the peep remark again I will be sure to get the giggles. This is my new FAVORITE PHOTO of the kids. . .love their little profiles and Porter's chubby fingers :) "Like my mustache?"

He really is a messy hands on kid :)

Speaking of hands on children. . .

A shout out to the Gramma's today. . . Grammy brought us "Chinese Chicken" for lunch (Porter's favorite). . .And we received a package in the mail from Gramma Becky. . .THANKS for brightening our day!

The cherubs today. . .Ainsley at 5 yrs

Porter (and his toy frog) at 3 and 1/2

And Trey at 18 months. . .

That's all for now. . .

NUMBER FUN!

This post is dedicated to my math major man. . .

1, 927 The number of consecutive days we've been changing diapers. . .can you even imagine how many total diapers we've changed?

46 The number of months I have spent nursing.

814 The approximate number of days I've been pregnant.

80 The number of fingers/toes I'm in charge of clipping/cleaning/painting.

4 The number of towns we've lived in during married life.

27 The number of months we were newleyweds.

4 The number of gallons of milk we buy each wk

68 The number of wedding anniversaries we have left to celebrate :)

1 The number of minutes I have left to blog :)

Born yesterday

We have a little saying around our house, started by my good friend Michelle, that goes "Trey was not born yesterday!" A few examples:

We have three kids' towels hanging in the bathroom. . a blue one for Trey, a white one, and a yellow towel that Ainsley and Porter usually both want. Last night when Trey told me he was ready to get "out" of the bathtub, he said towel, so I grabbed the blue one that he uses every night, and he looked at me and said, "NO, YELLOW!" Apparently he has heard his siblings say they want the yellow towel, so he figured that's the one he wants to use too. Trey was NOT BORN YESTERDAY!

Whenever I bake cookies, the kids pull up chairs to the counter. If Trey hears the chairs being moved to the counter by the big kids, he pushes his own chair over, crawls up it, and says, "DOUGH!" Trey was NOT BORN YESTERDAY!

If daddy has a bowl of ice-cream in the living room, and Trey is not being given enough bites with daddy's spoon, he goes and gets himself a spoon from the kitchen drawer and helps himself to daddy's ice-cream. Trey was NOT BORN YESTERDAY!

When I say it's time to read stories, he's off and running to bring me a book. When I say we're going somewhere, he's off and running saying, "shoes, coat." Trey was NOT BORN YESTERDAY!

Apparently my baby hasn't learned how to correctly take care of a baby yet though. . . .:)

I wonder how these 3 could ever catch rsv from each other?!

Ivy

oooh, I'm so excited to sit down and blog. There's nothing I'd rather be doing on this particular Saturday night, in which the kids are all snug in bed and GooF is going to work on taxes. Oh, that reminds me, GooF. I had a mom at preschool ask me the other day, "Is your husbands name really GooF, bc my daughter was trying to tell me that Ainsley's daddy's name is GooF?!" :) Me: "No, my husband's name is Ryan, but we call him GooF. . .you see, when he was young the kids called him Goofy bc of his glasses and teeth. When he was older, his braces came off and he got contacts, but he was still funny, so he went from Goofy to the much cooler nickname of GooF. And man is he HOT now." Well, I didn't say that last part, but it IS the truth. See how much I love this man?! I wonder if the mom got more of an answer than she was bargaining for?!For my birthday gift, we went to the Bebo Norman and Jeremy Camp concert. What can be better than worshipping God with my husband!! (even if he is a wee bit scared of heights, and we were sitting in the balcony) Did I mention Jeremy Camp told us to jump, and GooF started telling me about how this particular balcony did once crack from the wall?!! And that is the truth. I sat down instead of jumping :) Once Bebo started talking about Compassion International (okay, I'm already tearing up again), I felt a nudge from God that this is the time to sponsor a child. I started getting all excited inside, imagining telling Ainsley about this "sister in Christ" that we get to sponsor. (For the longest time, she really wanted an older sister and now wants a younger one that she can pass her clothes off on :) ) But GooF and I are currently content (and sometimes overwhelmed) raising our 3 fun, yet needy, cherubs. This is something we can do to help a little girl and her whole family (okay, tearing up again.) And so, I introduce you to Ivy. I love her already. She is 5 and 1/2 and lives in Kenya, Africa with her mom and 4 other siblings. Her smile caught my attention right away, along with her dress over her pants and her big boots. A spittin image of what I imagine Ainsley would look like had she been born to a family in Kenya, Africa. I can't wait to send her our first letter and picture, and to most importantly pray for her and her family. I love God, and spending time with Him reflecting on life, faith, etc. Note to self: Do it more often

OK, and that's where the post ended Saturday night, bc Trey was ALREADY awake. Can I just say, "HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY to me. . .the kids have RSV." :( It is now Sunday, and my 29th birthday will go down in history as the sick kid birthday. Ainsley and Porter slept in the same bed Sat night (good way to spread germs) and Ainsley woke up at 5 am with a high fever. Her fever got up to the 106-107 mark and after med all day, I decided it was time to take her to urgent care. (by the way, I was supposed to teach SS, so at 7 am I drove across town to deliver my SS teaching materials). (by the way, we were almost out of toilet paper, so at 7:30am I ran into the grocery store with Trey to get toilet paper) . (by the way, at 7:45 am a man at hyvee asked me where my son's coat was and said sheesh. . .I about told him "It's my birthday!") (by the way, I love my birthday!) Back to urgent care. On the drive there, Ainsley threw up her med, and I called my mom and told her I needed her. When she walked into the clinic, I broke down and was very glad to have her along. After Ainsley got a few tests run on her, we found out she has RSV. Which is also most likely what Trey had and what Porter now has. I can not thank my mom enough for coming right away and bringing Ainsley a fresh clean Valentines nightgown :) It was just what she needed! Instead of having my birthday supper at my parents house, they brought it over here, and I must add that my dad did a mighty fine job of making the casserole while my mom was at urgent care with me and Ainsley :) It was so helpful to have them around tonight, to snuggle up with our sick little ones. GooF and the kids made me cute cards and hung up a 29 above the table. . .and I got myself the perfect gift. . .an assortment of Old Navy bright colored flip flops! I am now enjoying a piece of birthday cheesecake. . don't even ask about my baking it story. And you know what? As I turn 29 and think about how my children did not get the memo to be healthy on my birthday, I also think about how I've wanted to be a mommy and wife for as long as I can remember. I am SO VERY THANKFUL AND BLESSED to be turning 29, and as GooF would say, "Have all this!" We do have ALL THIS. . .God, our marriage, healthy (mostly) children, our home, etc. . . .ALL THIS can be exhausting at times, but it is what I have wanted to do my whole life. Recently I got to enjoy a spa day at MOPS, and also got to take my older two to a science center. . .

We had a muddy, messy afternoon at the park when the temp hit 50,love Trey's toesies

and got to go on a pizza field trip. . .although Ainsley wished Porter was there the whole time, and Porter didn't want to do anything fun without Ainsley.

So, now you have it. . .my birthday, plus some, in a nutshell. And only 365 days til the BIG 3-0!!

Soup anyone?!

Need I say more? Probably not, but I'll say more anyway :) We brought in bowls and LOADS of silverware tonight for tubbytime, and the kids cooked up "soup" . . .mmmm. . .adding the pretend ingredients was great fun, and so was feeding the soup to daddy. Til Porter threw his "soup" at Ainsley, that is. . .
I will be trying her

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2009/02/when-weather-outside-is-frightful.html ideas tomorrow. . .bring out the rice and shaving cream on the cookie sheets!!!

I was able to spend some ONE on ONE time with each of my children today, and THAT was the BEST part of my day!! They are so easy one at a time :)

These are the days. . .

Kids at play. . .Where oh where to begin?!

I woke up a few wknds ago and told GooF I felt like a road trip, to which he replied, "ok, where are we going?" Mind you, it was already Saturday morning and we had 3 awake children and no bags packed. I said, "Oh, maybe the cities or Omaha?!" So we started looking online at hotels and calling a few places. Long story short, all I really cared about was a night away from home with my family. . .no dishes or laundry to do. . .no meals to make. . .so we headed across town :) When we arrived Ainsley said, "that was a long trip." . . .we did stop for gas and treats :) Check out Ainsley flying from bed to bed. . .

This was my favorite photo of our little getaway. . .
And I must say, after spending the wk before taking care of sick little guys, and not feeling so hot myself, it was nice to relax with the family! Thanks to my mom for the large carmel apple cider when I missed MOPS Friday. Here I am enjoying my cider, snuggled up at home in my MOPS shirt, saying a prayer for the other MOPS gals.

We also had my college friend, and now mommy friend, Annie (and kids) over to play. I really enjoyed talking with her about life, kids, schooling, mothering, etc. Thanks Annie :) Ainsley and Leah were upset when they had to leave each other. . .they want to be sisters. Here's a pic of little GooF and little Bill. . .the girl versions. And their brothers, Fletcher and Trey. . .No picture of Porter? That would be because he gets quite crabby when he has to share his sister with her girlfriends :(

Just look at the guy when his sister left for preschool. He said, "I miss Ainsley," and went and looked at the heart they each made for each other before she left that morning.

They do not ALWAYS get along. . .Porter enjoys picking on her and she has a high pitched squeal when he does, but they DO love each other. The other day, when I was getting crabby myself, I picked up my phone to call and complain to none other than Bethany (my TX friend), and guess who I had a message on my phone from. . .none other than Bethany. Thanks for making my day girl!!

On Saturday, GooF's parents came to help with the basement bathroom, and of course Porter was a help as he loves anything having to do with tools. . .I had Gramma and Grampa sneak behind the kids for a quick photo opp. . .

Sunday we had a little superbowl party at our house (complete with child made decorations). . .Trey has his arms up for TOUCHDOWN! Thanks Matt and Michelle for rocking Trey :) And, I had to take a pic of our veggies, bc we DID have them :) Oh, and of course GooF and I wore our homemade RAMS shirts. . it's tradition!!! AND, for some NOT ME FUN. . . I did not walk into Ainsley's bedroom this week and find this. . .the life of a 2 footer. . .I DID NOT walk into Porter's room and find he had done this while "falling asleep". . .I DO NOT live in a house where seeing this. . .and this. . .is the norm.

I DID NOT have a child (pretending to be a firefighter) that tied a jumprope around his waist and around the bunkbed and jumped off. NOT ME! (Yes, I told him that this is NOT OK!)

I DID NOT have a stranger ask me in the pool at our wknd getaway what I called my daughter, and when I told her, she did not reply, "Ainsley. I LOVE THAT!" Speaking of the pool and Ainsley, she is NOT putting her face under and getting much braver in the water. . .NOT HER!

As for Porter, he did NOT have an eye appt today and he does NOT have 20/20 vision. Not GooF's child!!

Porter also had a speech appt this wk to see if he qualifies, and I was so proud of him. For an hour, he answered all of the ladies questions (such as "what do you use a car for?" his answer, "to go to the grocery store to get food" ) and they kept complimenting him on his GREAT SMILE! He impressed them with his memory, humor, and by telling them, "You have fun games!"

This is NOT the same child that threw a fit in the locker room today when he was overtired, and caused himself a bloody lip by running into the wall. Did I mention I still love him just the same?! I do. Always. Love him. No. Matter. What. This is NOT the same child that just told me we needed something "beautiful in the center of our table" for supper :) Love him. And NOT the same child that tells me to give him a "kiss right here" before I drop him off anywhere, "and a hug." Love him. Love All of them.

Trey does NOT sit at the breakfast table, eating cereal forever. He does not finish off one bowl, ask for "more," finish off another bowl, and still ask for "more." My boys are NOT all about food. Not them!

My oldest did NOT just ask me when it's her turn on the computer. I would NOT allow that. Not me. Never. I completely and totally am always planning fun, educational, activities for them, 100% of the time, and would not allow them to spend time playing computer games. NOT ME!!!!

Computer games are fun and educational. . .right? Good, bc I need to get our stuff ready for dance!