Quality Time!

 Brynley has been sick for days, and yesterday we went to the doctor to discover she has RSV!! So she was given a few prescriptions for her ear infection and an inhaler for her RSV. And today she is like a new baby! I am so happy she is not suffering like she has been. She feels 100% better.

Laiken has gymnastics on Tuesday evenings, and since Brynley was so sick, I stayed home with her, Jack, and Dylan. Trey took Laiken to gym. He was excited to take her and see her do flips on the beam and bars. He really enjoyed watching her and spending time with her alone. I really enjoyed my time with Jack. We played with his cars for about an hour! He is really funny. And he is really growing up fast, my little man!

Lazy Weekend!

With three out of four kiddos sick this weekend, we were pretty lazy. Our quiet weekend consisted of naps, movie watching, a tiny amount of outside playing, and a little house cleaning.

 I managed to squeeze in time to make this adorable Valentine's shirt for Brynley, Laiken's will be later this week.

We made it to Gracie Bleu's to support Owen's baseball team, and fill up on yummy frozen yogurt.

And I managed to meet my sisters at Brandon's house last night at midnight to wish him a very happy 40th birthday! What's worse than turning 40??? Knowing that all of your neighbor's (and then some) know about it, and having to pull 40+ stakes with attached balloons out of your yard! It's probably a good thing we couldn't locate a spare "old man's" walker to leave by his car!!

BOWS, BOWS, BOWS!! OH MY!!!

I love my job! I really do enjoy what I do, making hairbows. And for anyone who hasn't heard...apparently I am not the only one who loves my bows too. The night of the Hernando Christmas Parade I was contacted by a store wanting to buy mass quantities of my hairbows! These past few weeks I have been a busy bee. This past weekend I fell a little behind (not due to my usual proscrastination) but I was waiting all week on ribbon to come in and only have this weekend to fill a 100+ bow order for the store. I worked until 2 AM last night and woke up and 6 AM to start again. Aside from one small break or two and serving the kids a quick lunch (I practically threw it at them), I decided to stop at 1:30. I text Trey and it went something like this....

Me: I have been working ALL stinkin morning and I am taking a break!
Trey: No breaks babe, got to get it, lol
Me: Oh I'm sorry, what I meant to say was a break from bows, and on to my mommy/slave job. Lunch, laundry, dishes, and picking up.
Trey: lol,lol

Hmmm! I wasn't LOL'ing.  :)

Piglet: How do you spell love?
Pooh: You don't spell it, you feel it.

New Shoes!

I bought Laiken and Jack new shoes today at Hibbett in Hernando. I love the fact that the decision was based off of how fast they could run in the shoe. Not color, style, comfort, or any other logical reason. Just by how fast they could run. And let me be the first to tell you, they are fast. They were fast in Hibbet Sports, fast on the sidewalk leaving the store, fast in AnnOlivia's, fast in the driveway, and finally fast down the hall at home. Is it bedtime yet??

The logic kids have and the way they understand things is unreal sometimes. Most of the times it's funny and sometimes I am just glad they don't understand life. About two weeks ago, Laiken started telling me about her best friend's dad, "is going to work really far away for forever." She said the little girl and her mom are so sad. And she could not come over to play b/c she had to spend time with her dad before he leaves. She also told Laiken that he wants to take her dog with him, but she didn't want him to. I was pretty sure Laiken did not have all of the facts. Today Laiken told me that the girls parents are "versed". I asked her what "versed" means. Laiken said it means your dad has to go work and stay a long time somewhere else for a long time and you have to go, "stay at your dad's" alot. Laiken said, "but I don't even know what that means...go stay at your dad's." I want to explain to her what being "divorced" means, but I am not sure what the little girls knows either. I feel sad for her and her family. I hope it ends differently for them.

Laiken is so sweet and tender hearted. Last night we were watching "Mars Needs Mom's". The martians were stealing Earth's moms and killing them. (It's a kid movie and not bad at all. I loved it!) When they came to the part were the little boy was trying to save his mom, he was seconds away from being too late and it seemed she might not make it. Laiken teared up and sighed. It broke her heart that the little boy may lose his mom. But he saved her and all ended well.

My kids melt my heart daily. Just the other day I was grabbing Jack and holding him really tight saying, "I will NEVER let you go. I want to hold you FOREVER!". Then I would grab Laiken and say the same. They squealed and I tickled them, squeezed them so tight and kept saying I would never let them go. They both kept running off. The last time I let go, Jack jumped back in my arms and said, "squeeze me again mommy, I want you to hold me FOREVER!''

Really??

Laiken watched the first half of " Gone with the Wind" with me. She was talking about Scarlett later and said, "You know...the lady in the southern belle movie that was mean to all the boys?" I said, "Scarlett?" She said, "Yeah, she was pretty, but she was really mean to all of those boys, right?" LOL Laiken is so observant. She doesn't miss anything!

Jack, oh my sweet, funny Jack. He came in from outside, "Mama!! Look what is in  my rain boot! A really big green cricket." He comes closer. "No Jack, that is a grasshopper. He is dead." Jack said, "Oh." So then he fills up a little cup with water and puts the dead grasshopper in it. He comes back inside every few minutes to check on him. After a few times, he picks up the cup and shows it to Laiken. He says, "You know if you put a dead cricket in water he comes back to life." He walks towards the open back door and holds the cup up. "And sunlight helps too. And you can see his green more." We didn't say anything and Jack walked outside. After the door shut, Laiken said, "He sure tells alot of stories that aren't true." Jack comes back in later with his cup and goes to the bathroom. "I am gonna wash him now." I went in the bathroom to check on the "mess in progress". He said, " I am going to name my dead cricket Brooklyn." As I am writing this, He and Brooklyn (in a cup of water, freshly bathed) are still hanging out. Doing stuff together.

My Beauty Queen

 My Laiken. She is growing up so fast. As she grows, I am becoming a spectator in her life. When she gets home from school, she tells me stories about her day. Instead of being a part of her day, I get to hear about it. She tells me who she sat by at lunch, who she played with in the playground, and things she is learning. She is already learning to read. She is always happy when I pick her up.

For the past  year or so, Laiken has begged me to be in a beauty pageant. "Toddler and Tiaras" is one of her favorite TV shows. Even though she wanted to do them, I still put it off as long as I could. I love my kids, and I don't really like the idea of them being judged by someone. Hernando High School's TigerFest hosted their first beauty pageant this weekend. Laiken came home from school, and asked to be in it. So I gave in....

During the summer Laiken attended VBS at our church. She had terrible stage fright at the program. Even with 50 other kids on stage with her, she cried the whole time. I was not sure what to expect today. She was amazing. She walked out on stage like a professional. I was so pleased with her performance, and she seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. For crowning, the judges would announce the title, then the girl's name, and then the little girl whose name was called raised her hand. I watched my Laiken's little sweet innocent face, each time a title and little girl's name was called. I could see she was dying to hear her name. It was not called, and yet she kept on smiling. As she walked off stage, I met her in the back. I scooped her up in my arms and she melted, "Mama, I didn't get ANYTHING." My heart broke and she sobbed. I consoled her and gave her a few "you can't always be the winner" speeches. She was ok, and we enjoyed the crafts vendors and games at Tigerfest. We came home and watched a movie. She cried again. I consoled again. This evening I cried. Trey consoled me. It just hurts to know she is hurting. “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”
Elizabeth Stone

But the good news is that she hasn't given up! Tonight, we played pageants. I announced her winning over and over. I awarded prizes, sashes, and crowns all night to my very own beauty queen! (The trophy is from her first pageant when she was 18 months old.)