Lessons on Life

Some of the best conversations can be heard at the dinner table. We talk about everything under the sun. Last week was VBS and we talked alot about Jesus and Heaven. Tonight, while cooking supper, the kids were coloring at the table. They were all making star charts, which they learned from me. I always have rule lists and reward charts. Dylan was making his chart and announcing names when he was writing them. Laiken and Jack start screaming about which color they want their name in. So both little ones are screaming what they want to Dylan, who is doing his best to sort out requests and make them happy. Dylan: Okay, I am writing Jack's name. Jack: I want green! I want green! I want green! Laiken: I want pink! I want pink! I want pink! Laiken and Jack: I want green! I want pink! Dylan: Okay, Okay One at a time! Me: WOW! ISN'T HARD TO HEAR EVERYONE YELLING WHAT THEY WANT ALL AT ONE TIME? Dylan just grinned. Dylan:I am going to make red stars by my name. Jack: I want blue stars. Laiken: I want pink stars. Me:Supper is almost ready. Dylan: I am just going to make yellow stars for everyone. Me:ISN'T IT HARD TO ALWAYS DO WHAT EVERYONE WANTS? Laiken and Jack: Awwww I wanted blue. I wanted pink. Dylan:It's almost time to eat! It's faster this way. They are all going to be yellow! Me: SOMETIMES IT IS JUST FASTER AND EASIER TO TELL EVERYONE WHAT WE ARE HAVING OR DOING RATHER THAN LETTING EVERYONE CHOOSE. Dylan:I don't know how you do it. And for anyone who knows Dylan.... The other day I told him that I cannot wait until he has kids. He asked why. I said because you feel you are so oppressed and never get to do or have anything you want. And you will let your kids do WHATEVER they want and you will let them eat WHATEVER they want. And one day you will come to me crying (in my best crying, whining voice) and say, "Mama, my kids are so bad!! I don' t know what to do!" And I will smile and say, "Give them rules, boundaries, structure, and routine like I gave you. And cut back on the sugar, it makes kids crazy." He laughed! I hope he proves me wrong one day. I hope he understands it all.

The things that make us laugh and cry.

Tonight Jack was jumping up and down screaming, "Yes! I did it! Whoo-Hoo! Mama, give me a high five!" He was in complete celebration. So I said, "Jack, what did you do?" Jack pulled on the waist band of his pants and said, "The tag is in the back!"

Dylan has had loose tooth for weeks. Finally, the other day he pulled it out. When he got home from school, he handed me a paper that read, "Is the tooth fairy real? Circle yes or no." I turned around, trying to not laugh, and said, "Yes, of course. What do you think?" He tells me things the kids have been saying at school about it. I talked to Trey about telling him the truth because he is 10 years old. So that night I told him the truth about all of it. As I was telling him and watching his face, I teared up. I felt horrible, almost like I was ripping his childhood away from him. He was sad, but he didn't cry. The more we talked about it, the better he seemed. Ever since that conversation I get random questions. "Who eats the cookies?" "How does he get the tooth without waking me up?" "Who moved the elf?" The magic is gone. I just hope he can keep from spoiling the secret with the other 3.

I love being a Mommy!!!!!!!!!!

Too much fun??

This...

always... leads to....

this.

I love a quiet afternoon!

Have you ever wondered where your face is located?

Jack and Laiken sit next to each other in carseats in the third row of the Durango. Most of the time I cannot hear what they are saying, but yesterday on the way to Sam's I caught this conversation. L-Jack get that long hair off of your face. J-(rubs his hair with both hands) L-Not that hair. There is a long hair hanging off of your face. J-What face? L-Your face by your mouth! J-What face? L-Your lower face! J-(rubbing his hair with both hands again) L-Not that hair. ITS ON YOUR... Oh, it fell off. It sounded like a preschool version of "Who's on First"!!!

My Sweet Pea Brynley being the little angel she is....ya know that's only because she doesn't talk yet. I will cherish every moment of this first year!

Brynley's first smile! and a busy weekend

Brynley is getting so big. She is 5 weeks old and starting to smile. The picture shows the beginnings of a smile. I wish I would have captured the whole thing because it was so big and cute! Between her new cooing and new smiles, (in the words of Blayne) "I could just eat her up with spoon!" Blayne used to always say that about Laiken. I love that expression.

We had a busy, busy weekend for sure! Baseball started this weekend with our first tournament. It was the first tournament of the season, but literally it was our first ever. I was shocked that there was a game Friday, 2 Saturday, and the possibility of 3 Sunday. Wow, that is alot of ball games. We won Friday and both Saturday. Dylan played awesome. He was hitting good and getting runs in. Trey was able to come home this weekend to watch the games. We are so proud of Dylan. He did a great job and had alot of fun. Sunday's game was a tough one and the boys were not able to pull off a win. So instead of 3 games, we had just one. I felt bad for Dylan and the team, but I was glad that gave us the opportunity to spend time with Trey at the park before he left to go back to Oklahoma.

I am very excited about my hair bow business Little Belles and Bows. I have been very busy and making contact with new customers every week. I am hoping to stay busy and get even busier. With the money I have been making, I was able to get a new camera this week. It is a Canon Power Shot. I love it! It takes amazing pictures. I imagine I will wear the kids out with my constant "Say Cheese, Big Smiles!" Once I find a free minute to download this weekends pictures, I will be sure to post some of them here.

We love the beach!

Our first trip to Mom and Dad's new Beach House in Gulfshores, AL! We had a blast! The kids loved the beach. Especially the sand, which they felt the adults were not enjoying near enough. They were sure to share the sand with us every chance they got, by ways of kicking, throwing, and shoveling sand in our direction (but only when we weren't looking). Trey's mom came to stay a day with us at the beach. The kids love seeing her. Gran Gran stood for over an hour with Jack on the porch counting bullfrogs in the lagoon. She loves playing with the grandkids and watching them play.

Uncle Brian, Landon, and Payton stayed at the beach house too, along with Mom and Leigh. Uncle Brian was a life saver the whole trip. He hauled our two tons of beach stuff on and off the beach, took kids in the water to play, caught fish for the kids, took them crab hunting at night, and even gave me a private session of his "Grocery Shopping Savings 101". (I should have been taking notes on that last one). Mom and Dad's house is amazing! It is so gorgeous, and spacious. The bottom floor is wall to wall french doors with an amazing view of the bay. The community they live in is so beautifully landscaped and seemed to be filled with friendly people. The right side of the porch that faces the lagoon (and it is gorgeous too, filled with bullfrogs and lily pads) has a gated part that was probably for the past owner's dog to stay in. After a few jokes about locking the kids in the gate, we came up with the idea of building a fort for the kids to play in. With the gate already there, all it needs is a canopy like the one you see over swing sets. I know my kids and they would love it!

This is Brynley sleeping in a tent at the beach.

This is Brynley sleeping on MawMaw's bed at the beach house.

This is Brynley sleeping on MawMaw's bed again, at the beach house.

Brynley loved Gulfshores. Mostly she loved sleeping at Gulfshores.

The First Week

Trey was given two additional days off to spend with Brynley. The guys marked it on the calendar in the office at work for everyone to see. Notice the pink flowers and "Maternity" leave. How cute! Brynley had jaundice the first week. She was put on a Billiblanket to help bring down her levels. She looked like a little gloworm in her bassinet. After a few days her levels should have come down, but for some reason they were staying high. "Some Reason" really means "Jack". At birth he was given the monumental task of creating a daily challenge for me. He keeps me on my toes for sure. On two different occasions I noticed that the dial on the front of her billiblanket machine had been turned all the way down from maximum to minimum. Once I saw this and was able to keep it on high, her jaundice levels came down to a normal level. Thanks Jack, we were out of network for the blanket and you just cost me about $300!!! God love him! I also wanted to thank everyone for doing so much for me. I have had family come over and clean my house, help with the kids, and cook us suppers. It was wonderful to have the support from everyone. I also want to thank my good friend Hillary for bringing us a delicious supper/breakfast. It was so sweet for her to think of us, and not only to bring Tetrazzini, garlic bread, and pie....But she brought cinnamon rolls for the next morning too!!! Thanks so much Hillary, we all enjoyed it very much! Trey was jealous, and I have to say he really did miss out. I was thoroughly impressed! So I have to close with one more story about my sweet angel baby Jack. Mom came over one day to help us out with something. I was nursing the baby in the living room, so I sent Laiken to open the garage. I hear it start to go up and Mom starts yelling, "Stop it, stop it, stop it". I run out to see what is going on. Jack had grabbed the bottom of the garage as it was going up. He was hanging on the garage door all the way up! When it finally stopped, he was hanging in mid air, clutching the garage for dear life (my baby is scared of heights). When Mama saw him go up she ran up the driveway (which has a really steep incline) and saved him. I am not sure what was funnier, Jack riding the garage all the way up or Mama (who has knee trouble) running/hobbling up the steep drive way to save him. I can laugh about it now, but it gave me a heart attack the day it happened. Just another day in Paradise.....