Look Who's 2!!!

Luke is 2 today! I can't believe it!!! We had a great day. Jody's parents and sister and 3 of her kids came to visit for the weekend. We went to my parents for supper and little party. Luke was SO excited about his Brownie Birthday cake. He LOVED his "baboons" and he loved his presents. Luke also shares his birthday with Jody's mom, Judi. So it was nice to have her here to celebrate with us.

Happenings

We've had a busy few days!

Holly and her boys came for a quick visit. Silas didn't even get to see them!!

My mom, Holly and I sang at a ladies event at our church. We haven't sang together in like 6 or 7 yrs! But we pulled it off and had a good time.

Today we had a luncheon for the Women's Auxiliary Board at North Greenville. Nice lunch, nice ladies...babysitters who fed my kids lunch.

BUT the rain!!! Oh my goodness. It has rained for 3 days. And today it literally rained ALL day! I'm not complaining. We have needed it. Then after school we got a tornado warning. I don't know why, but Silas freaked out. He was crying and saying what if the roof flew off...what about his frogs (a little aquatic cube Pa bought him)...what about his teacher, Mrs. Bright...it was strange. We ended up spending about an hour in our closet downstairs. The entire university was sent to certain places.

Silas didn't want to come out of the closet, but eventually he believed us that it was safe. Although he wanted to leave the frog in my closet just in case we had to go back in there tonight.

All is well now. Everyone was tired and ready for bed.

On a funny note...my college roommate, Jill, called me this morning and said something to this effect:

I know you are not going to be shocked at what I'm about to tell you, but we were late taking JJ to his first day of kindergarten this morning. I don't know what happened, but we didn't hear the alarm. We didn't let on to JJ that it was a big deal. And besides, he was only about 10 minutes late.

Even when Jill and I roomed together she was late. She NEVER heard her alarm. HA! I heard it EVERYTIME it went off. Not much has changed. But really, it was an honest mistake, the weather and all. Besides, if JJ didn't realize it...no big deal. You are a great mom, Jill and I love you!

27 Week Belly Poses

Jody actually took pics the other day, so I thought I'd add them. That belly sure is growing!!!

Olympics

Jody and I have really enjoyed the Olympics. Its something we both like to watch and talk about. I love the pride the athletes have (in general) for their countries. And for some reason the Olympics makes (just about) every sport interesting.

Here are a few exceptions:

• Diving: Jody hates it. He just thinks its "lame-o". He says where he comes from you get more points for the BIGGEST splash.
• Equestrian: I don't know, its looks a little fake-ish to me.
• Boxing: while I appreciate that they are at least wearing helmets, hitting for the sake of hitting just never makes sense to me.

Good Examples:

• Table Tennis: I caught just a little of this the other day and it was fascinating!!! Those ladies were sweating profusely! They were dog-gone serious about bouncing that little ball so many times before serving...I was enthralled!
• Kyaking: although it looked a little fake-ish to me too, the kids really liked it!
• Marathon: I am not a runner, but I could not stop watching this 26 mile run. It was so interesting. They pushed eachother, and I couldn't believe that! They struggled to grab their water as the ran by...and the gal who won was so determined.

What have you enjoyed and why? Or are you like my parents...I don't think they have watched one event!?

A New Routine

Silas had another great day. Firedrill, PE, buying his lunch, getting in time out...(that was for playing too rough apparently).

Now we are having to establish and fall into a new routine.

Silas has to be at school (preferably) by 7:45. So we are having to do some prep work the night before. We are picking out clothes, packing the backpack, and deciding what he wants to do for lunch (buy or pack) and do the appropriate preparation. This way when we wake up, everything is ready. We eat breakfast and get out the door. Thankfully we live very close, so 7:40 is cutting it fine. And only one of us (Jody or me) have to get in the car and take him.

Note: Do NOT take this to mean that I am organized. I AM NOT! This morning we got to school on time, but WITHOUT the backpack this. Jody didn't have a problem swinging it by when he went into the office at about 8:30. I think we need a check list.

Once Silas and Jody are out the door...here we go. The thing is, I am bound, timewise, to the school schedule, we have to pick Silas up at 2:30. Before kindergarten, nap time may be getting over at 2:30, but usually closer to 3. Now we have to be done by 2:15. That means we need to implement an earlier nap time.

This is hard. But its doable. We just need to have lunch a little earlier and lay Luke down by 12:30. Then, Hattie...oh that girl. She is trying to drop the nap altogether I think. But it sure makes for hard afternoons.

I did get several things accomplished. I vacuumed downstairs and decluttered the desk upstairs. I love when I get something measurable done. We also met my parents at the Y and my wonderful dad took my suburban for a wash/vacuum/oil change. WOW! It looks GREAT.

This is a boring post, but it was a long day!

First Day

Happy and ready to go!

Talking to Pa before heading out.

Silas's old backpack with a new twist. Thanks Meg, the velociraptor is so cool!






Silas had a great day. In typical male fashion he didn't give all the details I would have liked, but he said he made some friends. He liked his teachers. He ate his lunch and got the cookie we sent. (We joined the PTA and they sent him a cookie from us) The guinea pig's name is Joe. And there is a naughty boy who kept getting in trouble but it wasn't him. Oh, and he wants to go back tomorrow...always good news!

Big Day Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow my baby goes to kindergarten! I can't believe it!!!

We met the teachers today at an open house. Two girls from the college came over to sit with Hattie and Lukey so that Jody and I could just take Silas.
He totally played it cool, but I know he was excited. His class has a bunch of pets...right up his alley. (fish, a lovebird, 2 gerbils, and a guinea pig) We had a cupcake in the cafeteria and met a few kids in his class.

So, I will post about his day tomorrow!

Haircuts

Before

Silas next to Luke getting his haircut

Sitting as still as can be expected.

Big Boy haircut


So the boys got haircuts! Luke's first!!! And he did SO great. Silas was in the chair next to him and Hattie was on the sidelines talking to him. His curls are not going anywhere and he still looks cute! His first haircut at this place we went to only cost a penny. The last pic is him putting that penny into the bank enjoying his jellybeans.

Sock Puppets

The Puppet Show

Luke and his snake. When his fingers got misplaced he would come up to me and say, "my snake broke". It broke a lot today, but being the hero that I am, I fixed it everytime.
Silas and his mouse.

Hattie and Rapunzel


I bought this sock puppet kit on sale about a month ago and it has been KILLING Silas that we have not made a sock puppet. "Project time" or whatever you call it, though, can be SO stressful. You know?

I remember on of the first times Stacy came over with Gage and Emma I got out these little plaster of paris magnet things for them to paint and Stacy said she HATED doing stuff like that with the kids. Its HARD. Begging, messes, and lots of work. I agree. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And today it was sock puppets.

So, I separately asked each kid which one they wanted to do...picking it out of a little book of ideas. I told them to go play while I got each one ready.

After I don't know how long, everyone was pretty pleased with their results. It proved to be a lot of entertainment too!

I am an IDIOT!

Seriously....I am so bummed I don't even feel like writing this post. But I will anyway.

The boys and I went to the Y this morning. Then Jody and I went to the dentist and to Vision Works. Jody picked out his glasses and got back home in time for him to get back to work.

I had haircut appointments for both boys. Luke's first haircut and Silas's back to school cut. The appointments were at 4. So, leaving in plenty of time (3:10), I opened the passenger door, put my phone and stuff in the seat, start the car, call the boys to get in, shut the passenger door, go to open the back door and all the doors had automatically locked!

We walked up the road, knocking on every door and got NO ONE home. Not a car passed us. The college's plumber came up the road in his golf cart. I flagged him down and borrowed his phone. I left a message with Jody and walked back home thinking he'd come with the spare key soon.

He never got the message.

We waited 30 minutes or so. And we start back up the road. Then Luke pooped. Thankfully the house was not locked so we went in and changed his diaper. When we came out, there were a couple of students moving in to the house next door. So we borrowed their phone.

Left more messages. I was to the point of tears. We are missing our haircuts and wasting gas.

The golf coach hears my dilemma and he volunteers to find Jody. A while later he brings Jody's keys to me.

I'm so depressed!

I called and apologized to the hair place. I brought Jody his keys back and I've been wallowing eversince.

Hope your afternoon was better than mine! I have no idea when I 'm going to reschedule the haircuts either. I thought not having Hattie would be easier, and now I don't know...

Hattie will be home later and she a great time, until the end when her carseat somehow became lodged in Holly's car and she is riding home in Elijah's ugly brown seat. She is NOT happy. I'm worried about having to make her use that seat for an indefinite amount of time. Holly covered it in a purple blanket for the ride home.

I'm not even re-reading this, so if there are any huge mistakes, sorry.

Steven Curtis Chapman on Good Morning America

If you haven't seen this about Steven Curtis Chapmans' family tragedy and spiritual triumph, grab a tissue and watch it!

Settling back in

We had a great time in Myrtle Beach! We picked up Joy on the way home and got to Tigerville VERY late.

Jody helped (before he went to work) cleaning up the house. Joy and I took the kids to the store and we got all we needed for our little ice cream social.

I made 2 huge things of ice cream. Jody's mom has a fabulous recipe! I made one vanilla and one strawberry. YUM!!! We had a fun time hanging out with some students and watching the olympics.

Then today we met Holly in Gaffney. We played on the playground and did a little shopping. I actually got Silas's school tennis shoes at Stride Rite for $15!!! Isn't that great?? I also got Hattie several t-shirts for 99cents each at the Children's Place! It was amazing! She was TICKED that I wouldn't let her change immediately. Oh well.

Holly took Joy AND Hattie home with her. Hattie is having her first sleepover! She was very excited.

I was excited to get home. I was tired and so were the boys. Now they are in bed and Jody and I are going to watch some more Olympics. Have a great, relaxing night!

An Amazing Feat

We are at the Beach! After a short visit with Joy, we got here in plenty of time to check in and meet the group from Georgia for supper. The kids were very well behaved, ate very good (for my non-eating kids) and were ready to go back to the hotel for bed...or so they said!

Jody dropped us off, he went back to meet the group for their session and I got the kids in bed.

Now I have always been a routine mom. We have strict bedtimes, naptimes....etc. They aren't big eaters, but I don't give extra options at meal times. Stuff like that. It works great when we are in our routine. When we are not, its very challenging.

At home Luke and Silas share a room. But since Silas sleeps on the top bunk and Luke on the bottom, they are very good about going straight to sleep. I guess with the knowledge that everyone was in his room, Luke decided to entertain everyone with singing and storytelling. Silas and Hattie said they couldn't sleep b/c Luke wouldn't be quiet. Needless to say, it was 10pm before all 3 were asleep. And it was 6:40am when Luke began singing and calling the family roll!

Hattie fell off her little bench/bed around 4am. Silas called out in his sleep a time or two. Several other things caused me to get up and check on someone or go to the bathroom. I was TIRED when I woke up.

Anyways...we had a nice morning. Great breakfast. Fun at the beach and pool and then we headed back to our hotel room for NAPS! Now I know everyone was exhausted, but I was very concerned about how this was going to work.

Hattie was beyond her point of easy resting, she was very whiney. Luke was trying to keep himself up by talking/singing. And Silas was looking at books. Well...all that to say, somehow sleep deprivation took over and I woke up, startled, seeing that I had been asleep at least 30 minutes and EVERYONE else was asleep too!!!

YAY!!!

Hattie just woke up, Jody's gone again with the group and when I get the boys up and going we are going to meet them at Broadway at the Beach.

On the road again...

My sinuses are feeling a LOT better. I attribute it to the salt water truly!

Jody spent the day with some students at Carowinds, a theme park a couple hours away. He's on his way home now.

In order to break up my day I ventured to MONKEY JOE'S. Have you heard of it? Its an indoor play place. Not cheap, but my kids had the best time, so it was worth it. They thought I was the best.

Jody is speaking at a college beach retreat for a church from Georgia in Myrtle Beach...only this time we have been invited to come along! So tomorrow we are headed to the beach. Jody will speak Friday night (after bedtime), a couple (or 3, I can't remember) times on Saturday and once on Sunday evening. So we'll be back late Sunday. The group got us a hotel room so we don't have to bunk with our little kids and the college kids. That should work out better.

The kids are SO excited about going to Myrtle Beach...like they know what it is! Hopefully we will be able to see my sister Joy on the way down.

One more week with Silas before he starts kindergarten. The college student start coming in Monday, though. So...here we go!!

YMCA

We were members at the YMCA in Bismarck and we loved it. They actually had a preschool program (along with daycare, afterschool, and they normal YMCA programs like swimmings and exercise). Silas attended the preschool program there and he loved it.

Well, we are members at our local YMCA now! YAY! I applied for a partial scholarship, I thought all they could do is tell me NO but I knew we were close to the criteria. We were approved and I am SO happy.

We went yesterday and today. My kids ran to the childwatch program. They loved the one in Bismarck. This one is quite a bit smaller, but the workers are very nice! AND today they have a special Kids Exercise Class. I thought this was one of the coolest ideas!! One of the regular instructors teaches the class and even Lukey could attend. Super idea!!

Sinuses

I remember my dad saying (he still says this) that my mom has more description words for symptoms and feelings than anyone in the whole world. You know what I mean? I have a tummy ache...dr mom says what kind? Like you are going to throw up? Or maybe need to pass gas? Etc..

I also remember her talking about her sinuses. I was totally out of touch with my sinuses. I never had a sinus infection. I really didn't catch too many colds...until I got pregnant!

I had my first sinus infection when I was pregnant with Silas about 6 years ago. It was AWFUL! And I have never been the same since! I've had one with each pregnancy along with other sinus problems.

I recognize sinus problems coming on IMMEDIATELY! A headache that hurts worse when I move my head especially down. (Like today when Silas lost a marble magnet thing under the stove and when I leaned down to look it was excruciating!). Even as I can breath semi-clearly I feel stuffed up down deep. Or up deep!

So, here are my natural solutions. SALT WATER. You make a mild salt water solution with warm water and fill a bulb syringe. You lean your head back and fill each nostril with the solution. It is proven to break up the mucus and shorten your symptoms.

Jody thinks I am absolutely crazy. He thinks its ludicrous. But not only has my mom sworn by this and I've done it my whole life...I saw it on Racheal Ray and Oprah in the last few years.

A warm compress on my sinuses always feels good. And drinking TONS of water. It flushes out and loosens up everything. Although the constant runs to the bathroom don't need aid these days!

How about you guys? Any suggestions? I want to avoid going to the dr and taking meds if possible...anyways since all I can take while pregnant is sudafed and tylenol. I dont see big results with that. I'd love to hear anyother suggestions you have.

Random Recent Things

• We lost our power AGAIN. Seriously, I'm not really complaining, but I had NO idea we would lose power so often in Tigerville. Granted its not as much as when we lived in Uganda...that was daily. But I think we have lost is for some amount of time 4 times since we moved here at the end of March. Strange. I came back on and so did the internet and I am very happy!
  
• Hail?? We arrived home (me and the kids) this evening and the down pour was torrential. Then it started hailing. I was trying to figure out the best way to get everyone out of the carseat, up the steps and into the house the easiest way possible. I dropped my phone.
• Tax free weekend, 50% clearance at Belk and my parents babysat this morning!!
• I said "Shoot a Monkey" the other day. (this is a strange expression, I know. But my mom always used it, and it stuck with me I guess) Luke said, "Where is the Bad MONKEY? I don't see it!!
• The baby is moving A LOT! I love that strange feeling.
• We had a great time at my nephew's (Elijah B) 3rd birthday party yesterday. I have tons of picks I'll post.
• Today is my friend Stacy's birthday. Happy Birthday Stace! I miss you tons!
• Tomorrow is Jody's birthday. He has to drive to Myrtle Beach and back, but when he get back, I'm hoping to have Blackberry Cobbler and Homemade icecream. He's the BEST...I would make him anything he wanted to eat, but he's not picky, so I picked! HA!
• Oh...how could I forget?? I WON something on the bloggy giveaways. A TUTU. Isn't that cool? My choice of size and color, so Hattie Ruth has a purple tutu on the way.
• I really need a shower...so I better quit playing on the computer and get one while I have power!
• Go HERE for a free Potty Training kit with stickers and other stuff.
• Have you watched WipeOut on ABC? It is silly and pointless. The announcers are mean. But I was just laughing SO hard I was afraid I was going to wake up the kids!