Getting the Tree Up Parts 1, 2, and 3!

So, the trip to the tree farm went without a hitch. The job of getting the tree into the house and standing was another story entirely. I have clipped as much of the boring stuff out as I could. I will say this. After three attempts, the tree is beautiful. And, Rob was his usual goofy self, which kept the stress level to a minimum. Enjoy!

Since our entire morning was taken up just trying to get the tree to stand up, we had to wait to decorate it. We wanted to make sure the kids would be in a good mood and we had plenty of time to let them put their stamp on it. Boy did they!

I am happy to say, it was everything I hoped it would be. They did great. The light in their eyes was magical. There is something special about watching a child experience and see something so big and amazing they can't comprehend it all. They brought out the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus Birthday!

Christmas Tree Farm!

Well, we made the same trip to the tree farm as last year. This year the kids walked the entire thing and had a blast. When we went to pick it out they really liked touching them and then saying, "Ouch!" Hopefully that will keep them at a little further distance from the tree this year. I am hopeful that we won't have another disaster like last year. Aren't they so much bigger than they were at the tree farm last year? Wow how things change. Here is some pictures and video.

Daddy's Little Worker Boys!

Rob took the week of Thanksgiving off from work. He borrowed his brother-in-law's chainsaw to trim our bushes. Peytie and Ethan were the only two kids home and they couldn't wait to get out to help daddy work. It was so cute! They were trying to drag the limbs to a pile across the yard. Those boys believe daddy hung the moon. They feel so special to be worthy enough to help daddy. I couldn't stop looking out the window at how proud and happy they were to be helping daddy. We should cherish this now because they won't want to drag limbs across the yard when they are older.

Hurry up mom! I need to get outside!

Dress Up At Grandma's!

The kids and I went to visit Grandma, Papaw, Uncle Lee, and Jacie. It was so funny, we got the dress up trunk out and the boys had a heyday. Unfortunately for daddy, all we had was princess stuff. The boys loved it and fought over the earrings. I have to admit, they looked really cute. In fact, I liked the dress up stuff so much that I got some for their Christmas. I did find some boy costumes, but I can't promise that this will be the last time one of my boys wears a dress.

Lions & Tigers & Bears, BITE!

That is what Landon is certain of. I was hoping for a fun trio to the zoo. Everyone had fun except for Landon. He gets really excited about seeing the animals and loves talking about them. He and Jenna got to have a mommy's day out with their new friend Trisha. Everything was going pretty smooth until we got to the Tiger. He FREAKED out. It was really funny in a sad sort of way. The poor guy, he tries to climb onto my head. Luckily the Tigers and Lions are right next to each other so we got through that and moved on. We had a great time and I can't wait for the weather to change so we can go a lot more.

On a personal note, I LOVE the giraffes! They are so neat! We get to touch them every time.

"Look Mommy, I Made A Car!"

Imagination! This is something I have looked forward to since I started dreaming of having kids. It was so funny. I gave the kids their poptarts and was working on getting them their milk when I heard Ethan say, "Look mommy, I made a car!"
He was so proud of his creation. Now all of them eat their poptarts into the shape of something. I love the way they are starting to think and create things in their minds.

Our New Friend!

Ashley, a friend from high school, and her daughter Trisha met us at the park today. We spent the entire day playing and having a great time. I packed a picnic lunch and everyone ran around like crazy. Everything went smooth until Syd and Trisha needed to go potty. The restrooms are across the street and pretty far away from where we were. So, Ashley had Trisha, Sydney, and Landon. They were ahead of me and Peytie, Jenna and Ethan. I was trying to get across the road when Ethan decided to let go of Peytie's hand and Jenna fell down. Here we are at a stand still in the middle of the road and a car stopped each way waiting for us to get across. This is one of those things that stress me out. As hard as I try, things don't always go the way we plan. We finally got across the street and made it to the bathrooms.

The bathroom break took every bit of 20 minutes. After the bathroom we went to a different part of the park. The kids did great. They started winding down and getting a little cranky. We wrapped up the day and went home. Everyone slept great that night!

"Am I Beautiful Mommy?"

So, the girls are really into pretty girly things. It is so fun to see their faces light up when I tell them how beautiful they are. All the kids hate getting out of the bathtub. Unfortunately, I don't have time to let them all stay in for 20 or 30 minutes. So, I have found a great diversion/transition from the bath tub to getting dressed.

I pick out jammies that have something wonderful and beautiful on them. So, I picked out pink butterfly jammies and silky princess jammies. Everything was going smoothly until Syd saw the silky jammies. She had to have the silky bottoms. So, I let her do it. She thought she was the cat's meow. You can see by the smile on her face that she was workin it.

I try to keep the drama to a minimum here, but I really go all out when it comes to the girls and their confidence. It is so cute to see how proud they are at how beautiful and special they are. I work my bathtub transition in with the boys too. Anything cool on their pajamas will make them forget about how mad they are about having to get out of the bathtub. Whatever works!

P.S. Notice her hand...this is her new thing since being potty trained. Hopefully it will faze out once she gets more confident that she isn't going to have an accident.

To Grandmother's House We Go!

We've had some snotty noses and coughs lately. Just to be safe, we stayed home from church. It was a beautiful day and we decided to go to grandma and papaw's house early. They weren't home from church yet, so we stayed outside and played. The kids love playing out there. Pepper and LuLu were out there to play too. Ethan spent the night on Friday with grandma and papaw and he fell off the porch steps. When they called to tell us I wasn't expecting it to look as bad as it did. Boy, he had a shiner!

"Take the picture already! My face is starting to hurt!"

Cheese!

We've Had A Breakthrough

Tuesday morning I tried putting big girl panties on Syd. She was so proud. I had to go to the dentist and my mom was here with the kids. Well, I guess she peed as soon as I left. So, that was a bust.

For some reason, yesterday at about 9:30am I put them on her again. I can't remember why I did it. I don't know if she asked or what. But she did great. Before lunchtime she had already gone on the potty 3 times. I let her stay in her panties for nap time just to see how she did. Amazingly, she stayed dry. About 20 minutes after she got up she had an accident. So, we cleaned her up and put new ones on. She did great all evening. Since grandma and papaw had taken Ethan, Landon, and Jenna, it was only me and Peytie and Syd. We decided to visit Pastor and Becky. I let Syd keep her big girl panties on and Peytie insisted he wear them too.

They wouldn't go potty in a new environment. I couldn't get Syd to pee. Peytie didn't even want to sit on the potty. He went in and peed all over their couch. Normally I would feel bad about that, but I warned them before we came over. They knew what they were getting into. It was funny, Peytie was so proud of it. When Pastor and Hannah got back from picking up food he proudly announced, "I peed on couch!" They thought it was funny.

After the accident with Peytie I didn't want to risk anything with Syd so I put her diaper back on. Sometime that night she came to me and wanted me to change her. She had pooped a little and didn't want to do it in her diaper. So, I put her on the potty and she did her business!! BREAKTHROUGH!!! She gets it!! Or so I thought... It is so nice to have a wonderful parsonage family. Thanks for letting us come over and hang out!

I let them sleep in underwear. That didn't go nearly so well. They both peed everywhere. So, first thing this morning I gave them baths. They were both back in their underwear rearing to go. I decided to go to the gym and daddy had to take over. He didn't do so hot. He didn't realize you have to ask them every minute or so if they need to go and remind them NOT to pee in their panties. So, an hour later I walk in the door with a wet Peytie and a wet and poopie Syd. Yeah, daddy needs a little more training.