Is Spring really here?!?!

It must be because J and I started spring cleaning. I went through all my clothes and got rid of 3 big bags of clothes. Hmm...I think I had too many clothes! What do you think? Then we decided that we are going to have a garage sale so we started going through a ton of stuff. We are having company over tomorrow night, why did we think that going through our house to downsize was a good idea? Instead of just cleaning really good we changed everything by moving and getting rid of things. I will never understand us!!! We do things so crazy sometimes...ahem *all* the time :)

GG comes up to me before dinner and says, "Mommy, my tooth is loose." I felt it and it wasn't. So I asked her if someone in her class lost a tooth. Sure enough they did. Poor kid will probably be the last to loose a tooth because all her teeth came in so late. Her first tooth made it's appearance at her 1st birthday.

Other than that, we spent so much time outside today. It was absolutely beautiful! Sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and bikes were all played with. I just wish I would have had time to take a walk but we couldn't leave the house in the disarray it was in, so I was inside most of the afternoon cleaning while J was finding a place to put the garage sale stuff in the garage and started working on the yard.

Love This Song...it is so FUNNY!

Baby Got Book
By Funny Videos
CodesAndLyrics.com

Smoothies...

The kids and I have been crazy about smoothies lately. They are just so yummy!!! Not to mention they are healthy, added bonus. We had strawberry banana today, my favorite. Tomorrow they want to try the mixed berry. A few days ago we had peach and melon, that one was good.

Today when I picked GG up from school I was talking with her Bible teacher. In the conversation she told me that GG was the smartest kid in the class. I don't know if that is true, but nice compliment. There is no debate that she is a smart little girl but the smartest?!? I think she is probably just the most vocal in the class!!! She loves reading the Bible and learning about it so maybe she is the smartest in her Bible class. She is definitely one of the top readers in her class...she puts 2nd graders from the public schools to shame.

Nice Day

Today we had playgroup at our house and it was nice to not have to go anywhere but to school and then home to play with friends. This afternoon went fast and then J was home from training. We piled into the van and went to the department, two different banks (one to pay the mortgage the other to deposit money) then to Wal-mart, The Sara Lee and Market Day store and then to give my dad something. When we got to his work he wanted to go out to eat so we went to our favorite spot. We came home unloaded all of our stuff and now the kids are in bed and it is just J and I!!! Well and Red too.

Oh yeah GG gave me a scare today at school. She wasn't in the room I pick her up in and one of the kids said she went to the cafeteria but she wasn't in there either. So I walked down to the preschool and she wasn't there called grandma in the office...you guessed it she wasn't there. She ended up being in the bathroom blowing her nose! But boy did she give me a scare and that school is HUGE!

I've been swept away into the world of myspace!!!

I can't help it, it is so fun and addicting. I have talked to so many people I haven't talked to in years. It is a network of friends. I love it. But it is eating all of my computer time. I need to pace myself!

On the Home front: J is training today and tomorrow which means...he is going to be home for dinner every night this entire week!!! I am so excited. Oh yeah, he has Wed, Thurs, and Friday off :) Last night Monkey came into our room about 2am (at least that is what time I think it was, I could hardly open my eyes!) he was cold in his room. I told him to crawl into our bed. I didn't want to get out of my warm bed and him getting into ours is the easiest thing to do. But he didn't want too. I thought "what?" this is the boy who pretended to be scared everynight just to sleep with us. Now he doesn't want to be in our bed!?! Kind of broke my heart. So I crawled out of bed to fix his blankets in his room. They were everywhere but where they needed to be to keep Monkey warm. He is growing up and becoming so independent, in every area. I have some mixed emotions about it but mostly I am happy that he is growing to be such a great little man. Even though myspace is fun, I will continue to do this blog because I want to remember EVERYTHING the kids do and say and just the little things of their childhoods. Well that is all I have to report for now!

Library Day

After J went to work the kids and I headed to the library. We haven't been there in forever and I told them we would go today. Of course, it was snowing when we went but sunny when we came home. What a crazy day, weather wise. The kids each got to play on the computer. GG really loved the pet shop game and Monkey enjoyed Franklin the Turtle. Red and I picked out some books and a movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I got the second book in the Laura Ingells Wilder series and a book for GG to read. She loved the fact that she could take home a book from the library that she could read herself...great confidence builder. Her reading ability amazes me everyday. Also while at the library we checked out some of there programs and I found out that they have a 6 month to 23 month story time on Friday mornings. I think Red and I are going to attend and we'll see if any of the mommies from our playgroup are interested too. They also have a older kid time on Wednesdays in the early afternoon so I thought that would be perfect for the other two. They have so much fun at the library, which is a wonderful thing. That is about all for now, until next time!

My little SNOWMAN!

Last night J gave the kids a bubble bath, when I went in there to help get them out Monkey was covered head to toe in bubbles. He says, "Look mommy, I'm a SNOWMAN!" And with his little round belly he probably could of passed for one!

I just have to say how excited I am about getting the ink out of our clothes!!! I was so surprised and happy. So here is what I did...used advice from everyone who gave it to me! I soaked the stain in hair spray for about 30 minutes then rinsed it and used oxyclean with an old toothbrush and scrubbed the stain. That usually got it out but if it didn't I repeated the process of hair spray and oxyclean. Then I pretreated the spot and washed it in cold water with a scoop of the oxyclean and detergent. Someone told me that hot water sets the stain and cold loosens it up. I don't really know which does which but the cold water worked great!!! The only problem is that it is such a lengthy process that I am only able to do about 3 articles of clothing a day, so we are getting there :)

The Plastic Surgeon

Today GG was in her room during quite time playing with her barbie doll, it is a cheap one she got in a goodie bag or something. The arms fell off and when she was trying to put them back on she pushed in one of the boobs. She comes running out, "Mommy, can you fix my barbie's boob?" It was pretty funny looking so I fixed it and put both arms back on. J comes home from subbing and I proceed to tell him the story of GG's barbie's boob being caved in and how I fixed it for her. He then says, "From now on I'm going to tell people that my wife is a plastic surgeon. When they ask what type I'll say she does breast augmentation!" He makes me laugh, no wonder our kids are so hilarious :) They have a great role model.

Doing shows...

Last night I did a Mary Kay show and I had a BLAST!!! One of my bridesmaids hosted and she invited a bunch of people we went to college with and one friend I went to highschool with. It was so good to see those girls and catch up and hang out. It made me feel like I was back in college...loved those days...not that I don't love these days. Just those days were so carefree and crazy ;) I remember one night we climbed on top of a school and watched the stars and played the laughing game, where you put your head on someone stomach then they put there head on someone else's stomach and so on. Then you said Ha...then next person says Ha ha and so on. We did all sorts of goofy things like that in college! Anyways it was really fun and I WAS WORKING. Unbelievable that I had so much fun and got paid!!! J had the kids and he did a wonderful job. I came home to a pretty clean house, the only thing that was out was the laundry he folded but didn't get a chance to put away because Red woke up. I truly have a great man and husband.

The rest of the day should be fun J is off...even though right now he is subbing but he'll be home shortly. Later!

I love my 3 little munchkins!

I can't imagine my life without them! They are such a blessing and joy, I thank God for them everyday. I love being their mommy...and we have so much fun together.

We had a great weekend. Friday when we picked the kids up from school GG got her 4th pink card of the week. The teacher said getting 3 in one week was rare (which she has done about 3 times) but to get 4 was absolutely great. So we took her out for lunch to celebrate her great week at school. Monkey had also slept in his bed every night that week so we celebrated his sleeping in his big boy bed all by himself. That was a great accomplishment for him...and I am very glad about it too. I was starting to get bruises from him kicking me at night!

HELP!!!

Ok I have been doing laundry for about 10 years now. This is the first time I can't get a stain out. I don't even know how this happened because I check all the pockets of shirts and pants even the kids. What happened was a pen somehow got into the laundry and now all of our clothes in that load have black ink on them. I have managed to get a few spots out on one of GG's shirts using Zout. I have soaked the clothes in warm/hot water to try and loosen the stain and then scrubbed it. I also have tried rubbing alcohol like all the websites have said but that only makes it worse. So I am asking anyone with laundry experience especially in the area of ink...HOW DID YOU OR DO YOU GET IT OUT. I really don't want to go out and buy new clothes because it ruined 2 of my shirts (one which was brand new only worn twice)and 2 of my jeans and 2 of J's shirts, 2 of Monkey's shirts and a pair of his jeans, a nice dress GG got for her birthday and 3 shirts of Red's and a pair of his jeans and a few socks which I am not really worried about. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

On a happier note: Last night we met my dad and step-mom for dinner so they could give me their address book. When ever Roberta asked Red a question or even thought about talking to him he would shack his little head "no". It was really funny, such a little stinker! But you gotta love him.

Whaky Wednesday!

Today at school was wacky Wednesday for GG and she dressed for it, that's for sure. She came home telling us about how there were shoes and socks hanging on the walls in her classroom. And a bunch of other different things that were wacky today. In her homework folder the teacher wrote her name backwards. It was very cute. These are some pictures of my beautiful wacky girl.

Even my eyes have different color eye shadow...which was daddy's idea believe it or not!

Yep, Mom these definitely work!

Red loves the craft...these pom poms are so cool!

Red playing with craft stuff!

We're ready to go outside now and look for things with our binoculars!!! Which we did after we were done. They had fun looking at things through the binoculars that they made. It made the ordinary extraordinary.

Monkey's self portrait...he didn't work on it as long...must be a boy thing.

This is GG's self portrait she made the other day. I love the pigtails she gave herself.

He is just so silly and too cute.

I'm going to get you MOM!

Raising his feet is the only way Monkey can play this game :)

Monkey's tongue is also helpful in playing the game!

Hang Man

GG has loved to play this game with us ever since she learned to spell: mom, dad, Monkey and GG and later on Red when he was born. She always used to make spaces for it to say. I *heart* mom dad Monkey and Red. Since she has start to read she is able to sound out words and write them. The other day she was playing with J and the blank spaces where _ _ _ | _ _ | _ | _ _ _ _ _ | _ _ _. (Had to put the lines other wise it was just a bunch of spaces!) That obviously doesn't say I love dad! Ok I'll tell you what she wrote... Dad is a hairy man. We laughed so hard.

The Baby

You looking at ME?

Happy Boy

I love this toy...

I'm going to get those SpongeBob Slippers, even if it kills me!

Here is Red helping with the laundry!

What a big helper :)

I'm lovin' my life!

Today and yesterday were so much fun. After church we went to J's parents for lunch, it was Sue's birthday so we had a *huge* meal and it was so yummy, it always is! We walked in the door and the kids demanded that she open the present we had gotten her. It was a cookbook of all Italian foods, she wanted one. Then we hung out there until after 7pm. When we got home I got out the kids clothes and made them each a lunch, J subbed today and the kids stayed all day. So I could take Liz and her friend Ellen Prom/banquet dress shopping. Those girls had my laughing so hard and Red really warmed up to Ellen. Even though everytime he talked she told him to shush. I think that is why he thought she was so funny :) We had a lot of fun trying on dresses I even tried a couple. I took mostly pictures of the two of them in the dresses. Let me just say that most of the prom dresses we saw were pretty ugly. They ended up trying on most of them as jokes. And boy did they look funny! We did find at least one that each girl liked so it was a successful day. I like hanging out with teenagers they are so funny!!! I really wish J was coaching the girls soccer team again this year we had a lot of fun getting to know the girls last year. But we are planning on going to the games...

Lovin' the WEATHER :)

It has been absolutely beautiful out the last two days and I am so excited even if it is suppose to snow on Tuesday. Two beautiful days beats not having them! Today was fun this morning we went grocery shopping as a family. Then after lunch J took GG on a date roller skating. She had a blast and was really good at it only fell 2 times. Very coordinated that one. I took the boys on a date too. It was really suppose to be a Mommy/Monkey date but we didn't want to wait for J and GG to get back. So we went to the library and played new computer games and then we went for ice cream and hot cocoa. I know weird mix but that is what the boy wanted! When we got home everyone was outside and I had told Monkey that he could put on his skates use them outside, that worked out good. We played outside for about an hour or so then came in to have dinner. Then we went out as a family to get some presents needed for tomorrow. That's all I have to update right now.

The ramblings of my GlamorGirl!

Yesterday we were in the living room reading books and she says, "Your the bestest mommy I've ever had." DON'T know where that one came from but it was still nice to hear :) Then tonight at dinner she asked me what my favorite part of her and Monkey's body. I always say their belly buttons because that is where they used to be attached to me, plus they have extremely cute ones! Then she said, "Ask me what my favorite body part is and why." I said, "What and why?" This is what she said and I thought it was very clever, "My hands because they help me to eat my food and pick up things and do all sorts of things. Then is my feet because they help me to go places that I want to go like this..." She gets up and walks into the other room. "And those are my two most favorite body parts and why." It was actually pretty funny and smart.

This afternoon we made life size pictures of the kids. I had gone to the newspaper and bought the roll ends for $2 great deal and you get quite a bit, too. They both laughed historically while I traced their bodies. They glued on wiggly eyes (GG's are in the right spot but Monkey's aren't really) and then they cut yarn to make their hair, GG had her hair in pig tails today so that is what she did with the yarn. She used pom pons for the pig tail holders. They colored on some clothes and GG used glitter glue to paint her finger and toe nails. Then I hung Monkey's on his door and GG's next to her room. And as usual Monkey was done in half the time it took GG! You can tell, too:) I will try and remember to take pictures of them with their art and post it but we'll see what tomorrow brings...right now they are at church. Until next time...

A great day!

This morning for Bible study it was our small group time which meant that we each brought food and we ate and talked and got to know each other better. I really like the Bible study but getting to hang out and talk with other mommies about parenting is fun too, especially when we are all trying to raise our children in a godly way and home. I got home from that while J was still picking up the kids from school so I had their food ready for them when they got home so that they could have a little more fun time with daddy before he went to work. I can tell they both really enjoyed that extra time today. Then Monkey and Red took their naps while GG did her reading. She also played on the computer after her quite time and we printed out some crafts. When Monkey woke up we went outside because it was beautiful. We took two walks around the block me walking and the two older riding their bikes. Then we came inside and they did their worksheet homework. Then it was 30 minutes of tv so I could make a phone call and then dancing to music right before dinner. Oh yeah we have finally implemented having the big meal for lunch and the small one for dinner and it really has made the evenings without J so much better for us all. After dinner all three kids got baths and clipped their nails then foot massages while they tell me about there day. (we've been doing the massages before bed for awhile now, read somewhere that it helps kids sleep better at night!) They always love bedtime because of the massages and getting to tell me all about their day, then we pray and I tuck them in and give them a hug and kiss and they are soon asleep after that. There bedtime is 7 and usually they are out by 7:05! The funny thing is J can tell if they didn't go to bed on time by the way they act in the morning. Well I need to go make a grocery and wal-mart list.

My kitchen

I have realized over the last few weeks that I spend almost all of my time in the kitchen. I am in the kitchen to make breakfast, lunch and dinner and the clean up after all of them. Then GG and Moneky do their homework in there and any art projects or crafts are done in the kitchen as well as baking any treats. The computer is also in the kitchen and so is my desk with all of my business stuff. Good thing I like my kitchen. The only problem with it is that it is one of the coldest rooms in the house.
I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about wanting to remember Red sticking his tongue out and having the tip of it point up. He does that all the time and it is so cute. Have you noticed Red does a lot of tongue things?!?! GG was the same way...she used to lap up the water from her chest when we gave her baths as a baby. Well I need to start making dinner!

Things I want to remember in 10 years +

The way GG comes in my room on Saturday mornings (the only morning she wakes up before me) and taps, or as she says "knocks" on my head with her pointer finger to ask if she can watch tv. Even though she knows the answer is probably going to be for her to go play in her room. The way she plays with my hair when I have just straighten it or when she is practicing putting my hair in a pony tail. How she always wants to put on my lip gloss and perfume so she can be just like me and when I say yes her big beautiful smile and sparkling eyes so happy. How inquisitive she is about EVERYTHING...today she asked what "road kill" was! I don't even want to know where she heard the term "road kill". And how cool she thinks she is when she reads to Red like she is his teacher :) How much she loves her brothers and keeps insisting that I have another baby. Also her gentle kisses and hugs.

I want to remember how Monkey comes in our room in the middle of the night, crawls into the bed down by my feet, and then proceeds to kick me the rest of the night! Then the next morning he tells us that he was scared but yet he never woke us up to tell us. The way he hold my neck when we snuggle and says "I love you so much" in his goofy deep voice. His laugh when he really thinks something is funny and the way he plays in his room so extremely loud that the next door neighbors can probably hear him. The way he runs when he gets excited about stuff, he swings his arms behind him so that he looks like a little old man. His imagination and the things that come out of his mouth, it isn't really the things he says but how he says them that is so funny. Wish I could describe it. The way he sings the song "It's Bubbling in my Soul" he rolls his hands so fast that they hit his stomach and make his voice vibrate.

The way Red puts his two little hands on my face and pulls it in so that he can eat me, or as I like to think of it as smoother me with baby kisses, his mouth wide open! The way he clicks his tongue on the top of his mouth, he folds it so that you can see all the veins on the underside of his tongue. His little snicker when he knows he shouldn't bite me but he does it anyway, I really think he just likes to get a reaction out of me because if I do nothing he STOPS! The way he lights up when he sees his brother and sister when they come home from school. The way he can be so content playing with daddy until I come in the room and then he starts to cry like I didn't just hear him laughing with his daddy. It is nice to feel loved by him, though. The way he will only sleep on J's chest for hours at a time, he really does love his daddy.

Too Quite

The house feels empty...Red is sleeping, J is subbing today, and the two older kids are at school. I showered and started a load of laundry so I thought I would update real quick before I start getting ready for my show tonight. I am also going to prepare the craft for today...we are making self portraits with paper plates and tons of other craft stuff! Should be fun :)

About 2 weeks ago a cop got in a car accident and is seriously hurt. The department has been sending an on duty officer to sit with the family well J's last day of work they sent him. He came home telling me that he wanted to make them a meal (really he wanted me to make them a meal) because all they have been eating the last 2 weeks is fast food. I'm totally cool with making food I love doing that. So we decided that we are going bring Lasagna and garlic bread (I'm making) a salad (J's making) and cookies (the kids are going to help make). I was talking to the kids about daddy's friend in the hospital and how we are going to bring them some food and that I wanted their help in making the cookies. GG got so excited, "I love doing nice stuff for people, mom." Then she just melted my heart with this conversation:
GG: Can I also make them a card?
Me: Of course
GG: Can I take money from my piggy bank and give it to them?
Me: Yes if that is what you want to do.
GG: Yes I want to help them out by giving them some of my money too.
Me: Ok we'll have to ask daddy how he wants us to give it to them.
GG: I want to put it in the card.
Me: We have to ask daddy because I think they have a special way to give them the money.
GG: Ok
The sweet thing is she only has about five dollars in her bank but she is willing to give it to strangers in need. She has such a wonderful giving heart. Don't get me wrong she likes to get stuff but she loves giving things to people and doing nice things for them.

Side note: Yesterday we painted our paperweights; GG-purple Monkey-green and Red-blue. And J bought Lady and the Tramp so that they have something special to do tonight while I am gone.

Interesting day

After Bible study, Red and I went to his doctor's appointment. I actually remembered today!!! He is quite a big boy weighing in at 19 lbs and 14 oz and he is 29 inches long. He has an appointment to get allergy tested in April so we'll see what happens with that. J got the kids from school so our normal routine was shot but I somehow managed to get it back on track. We were able to make handprint paperweights after the boys' naps and while they were cooking I let the kids finger paint on the glass sliding door. They thought that was the best thing in the world. Then straight to the bath they went and so I got that out of the way for the night. Plus, we got to eat dinner in our PJs they thought that was so cool that we should make dinner in PJs the norm. We read stories before I made dinner, which was a disaster. The kids didn't like the food that they begged me to make. Go figure! GG stabbed me with a fork...I was picking up her food to throw away because she wasn't eating it...and she tried to stop me (acting like she was going to eat it) but had the fork in her hand and so she got me. I'm not a big fan of making a kid eat something they don't like, that happened to me as a kid and I usually gagged myself until I threw up. She wanted to eat it because she wanted ice cream, not because she liked it. Red kicked over my ice cream bowl and it went all over the floor. So between the paint and ice cream spills we now have a very clean dining room floor. I was going to mop tomorrow anyway :) I needed a little down time so the two older kids are cleaning their rooms before bed in 30 minutes!!! So we had a really fun day and then a really interesting dinner.