The Perfect Bribe

I'm not above bribing my kids. If I can get them to do something that will make life easier for me and them, I'm all about it, to a certain point anyway. If that makes me a bad parent, oh well. Last Monday morning when I was fixing Sarah's hair for school, she out of the blue asked if she could get her ears pierced. A light bulb went on in my head, and I said, "Yes, if you will go to school everyday this week and be happy, we will get your ears pierced on Friday." She agreed, and was as happy as she could be as she got out of the van when I dropped them off. She even turned around and gave me a huge smile and waved as I was driving away. It was so cute. She did the same each day, only complaining about not wanting to got to school on Tuesday a little when we had a disagreement about which shoes she needed to wear for PE. I reminded her about getting her ears pierced and she straightened up. She was great the rest of the week. So when I picked them up on Friday, the first thing she asked when she got in the van was "Are we going to get my ears pierced now?" So we headed to Walmart, which turned out to be a huge mistake. They didn't have anyone there that could pierce her ears. So we started to leave and she started to have a breakdown. I told her we could buy one of the kits and do it at home, and she wanted to do that. So I went back inside to buy a kit, but they didn't know where they were. So she starts to cry again. We were supposed to take the girls over to Kent and Johnice's so Aaron and I could go meet some friends for dinner in Lake Charles, so we didn't have time to take her anywhere else. We finally got her to agree to let us go on our date, and then on our way home we would pick up the earrings and a kit to do it ourselves when we got back. So after we get back to Kent and Johnice's, we show Sarah the earrings and start to get everything ready to pierce her ears. We even bought two kits so we could do both ears at the same time. We got as far as marking her ears before she said she didn't want to do it. We tried to talk her into it, but she kept saying that she wasn't ready and that she needed more time to get ready. She said, "Maybe tomorrow I'll be ready." And we're still waiting. At least she's going to school and she's happy, even without pierced ears.

Daddy's Helper

When we first got married, Aaron had a really nice bike that he loved. When we found out we were pregnant, he volunteered to sell it since he wasn't using it very much so that we would have some money to buy baby stuff. I think he has regretted that decision many times--selling the bike, that is, not having the baby. Anyway, since his brother Ammon, who is seriously into cycling, is moving back in a few months, Aaron decided he wanted to get back into cycling too so they could ride together. So he bought a used bike off of ebay so he can start riding with some friends and try to get in better shape before Ammon gets here. I am so excited for him because I think it will be a great stress reliever for him. He's pretty excited too, and looking forward to getting back into cycling. Anyway, when the bike came last week, he immediately opened it and started putting it together. I couldn't resist taking this cute picture of John David "trying to help" his Dad. So cute!

Lesson #4

Tonight was my final Wilton class. We learned how to make sweet peas, leaves, vines, and bows. Then we decorated our cakes. I am pretty happy with how mine turned out.



I have improved so much on my roses. They're not the perfect Wilton rose, but definitely better than the first ones I made.



I have really enjoyed this class and learned so much. I am probably going to wait a bit before taking the next one, but I do eventually want to take the other three classes too.

Funniest Moment of the Day

Today the girls were playing with this plastic wig that Katie got from selling stuff for her fundraiser at school last year. When Aaron came home, he grabbed it and put in on John David and we all had a pretty good laugh over it.

Family and Youth Festival

Today we went to the Lake Charles Civic Center for the Family and Youth Festival. They had tons of crafts and other fun things for the kids to do. The highlight was watching Aaron try to "walk the line" while wearing goggles that were supposed to similate being intoxicated. It was pretty funny. He was still feeling wierd for a while after wearing them for just a few minutes. And the best part............it was all free! Thanks to the Odells for getting us tickets and inviting us to come along with them.

The Meanest Mom on the Planet

Yep, that's me. At least that's what I feel like right now. Why? Because I just dropped off my kindergartner screaming, crying, and begging to stay home with me. This same thing happened with Katie. She absolutely loved the first few days of school, and then started crying when I would drop her off. EVERYDAY. FOR THREE MONTHS. I was hoping that Sarah wouldn't go through this. Maybe it was because she was tired. Or maybe it was because she was having a bad hair day, or so she thought. Her hair was actually pretty adorable today. I had gotten up early today to curl Katie's hair because she has been wanting me to curl it all week. When she saw me taking Katie's hair down, she asked if I could curl hers. I told her we didn't have time, and I could curl it on Monday for her. But she started to get upset, so I decided to try to rush and get it done so she wouldn't get upset. So she was happy while I was putting the curlers in. But when I started to take them out, she started to get upset. Since her hair is so much shorter and finer than Katie's, hers really curled up, so much that it looked super short, and she did not like it. She kept saying that she wanted it long like Katie's. I told her not to worry and that I'd make it cute, when I got all of the curlers out. She didn't like it down at all, so I put it up in a ponytail and it was so cute with all of the curls in the back. She was okay with it, but still not happy, and that's when she started saying that she didn't want to go to school. I asked her why she didn't want to go and if it was because she had a bad day yesterday. She said it wasn't because of the ketchup incident, or because of the "mean guy", or the "snoring guy". She said she would tell me why if I'd let her stay home, so of course I didn't find out "her" reason. The first two days I walked them to class and then yesterday I dropped them off at the crosswalk and watched them walk across, but today I knew that it might get sticky so I went through the drive through. Sarah kept saying she didn't want to go, and I kept trying to tell her that her teacher and her friends would miss her if she didn't go, but that didn't work. So then I tried bribing her with a Sonic treat after school, which also didn't phase her one bit. So we finally get to the elementary drop off and I open the door. Katie gives me hugs and kisses and gets out and Sarah sits there and says she's not getting out. So two teachers come over to coax her out, but that just made it worse. She started crying as they unbuckled her. She got up and came and hugged me and wouldn't let go. So one of the teachers took her arm and started to gently pull her out and then she really started crying and screaming. I told her I loved her and I would pick her up later and closed the van door. I drove away crying as I watched the teachers trying to calm her as they were carrying her crying into the school. It's hard enough to drop them off, but when they're crying when you drop them off, it's a million times harder. When Katie was going through the same thing when she started school, she used to tell me that she wished I was five so that I could go to school with her. And today......I am wishing I was five again.

The White Shirt Curse and Other Kindergarten Drama

I have "the white shirt curse", which means that any time that I wear a white shirt, I will--no matter how hard I try not to--get a stain of some kind on it. Unfortunately I have passed this curse on to Katie, and I was hoping it would skip Sarah. But when she came home from school today, I realized that it didn't skip her either.



She ate in the cafeteria for the first time today and apparently when she tried to open her ketchup, it exploded onto her brand new white shirt. (I mean really, why couldn't it have happened when she wore her red shirt?) Anyway, when she walked in the door and I saw her shirt I asked what happened. She said, "You are not going to believe this Mom!" And then she proceeded to tell me all about the ketchup incident. She also told me about this little boy that she kept referring to as the "mean guy" and about how she and he apparently had an altercation during art. She said she asked him twice if he wanted to be her friend, and both times he said no, and then he proceeded to hit her with his scissors. So she hit him back with her scissors. At this point in the story I said, "Sarah, you should not have hit him." And then I was going to tell her that she should have told the teacher, but before I could she said, "I know. I should have punched his lights out!" Yikes! So after telling her that would not have been a good choice either, she then told us the rest of the story. After she hit him, he then kicked her and then she went to tell the teacher. Now all of this is from her perspective, so it's kinda confusing about how it all happened, and it may not all be entirely true, but she said that he eventually got sent to the principle's office for not listening to the teacher. She kept saying, "I hate that mean guy." And I told her that we do not say that we hate people. So she then said, "Well, I really don't like him very much!" I told her she should keep trying to be nice to him because maybe he was just having a bad day. So then I asked her if she had taken a nap, she said, "No, and do you know why?" When I said no, she said, "Because of the snoring guy who was so loud that no one could sleep!" It was pretty funny, especially hearing her tell it in the dramatic way that she does. But despite the fact that "it was not a very good day" for her, she is looking forward to going back tomorrow. Thank goodness.

First Day Jitters

Today was the first day of school, a very exciting day, mixed with a little sadness too (at least for me), but I did really good. I only cried twice--when I was driving the girls to school and driving back home after dropping them off. On the way to school, Katie kept asking who I was going to walk to class first. I told her I would walk her to her class first and then Sarah. She said she wanted to walk with me to Sarah's class, so I told her that she could do that if she wanted to. But as soon as we got into the school, she wanted to go to her class, so we walked her to her class first. She is in Ms. Mire's class, which is Johnice's maiden name, and Sarah is in Mrs. Young's class. Kinda funny how that worked out.



Here is Katie in front of Ms. Mire's bulletin board pointing to her name. When we met Ms. Mire at Meet and Greet last week, she seemed really nice and very together. We are excited and look forward to a fun year with her. Katie's good friend Payton, who she met in her kindergarten class, is in her class again this year. She is very excited about that.



We gave the cutest girl in third grade hugs and kisses and headed to Mrs. Young's class.



Sarah was super excited and didn't seem to be nervous, but she does look nervous in this picture. After I took this picture, I asked her if she wanted me to walk with her to the end of the line to have a seat until the bell rang. She said no. (sniff sniff)



So I watched her walk by herself and find a place to sit. And then I followed her.



She looked a little nervous here too.



But she didn't get emotional at all when I hugged and kissed her goodbye. Both of the girls wanted Aaron to come pick them up after school, but I had to tag along too. I was missing my babies, and I was dying to hear about their first day.



It had been looking like it was going to rain for a couple of hours before school got out, but it didn't actually start to rain until just about time for the bell to ring. Of course. They both were so excited to tell us what a great day they had, and that they didn't have homework, but that Aaron and I did. We had to fill out all of the beginning of the school year paperwork. They both said they made some new friends. And Sarah was told us all about the story about Chester the Raccoon that Mrs. Young read to the class and how he jumped out of the book and led the class on a hunt around the school for clues. She loved it and is so excited for tomorrow. My babies are growing up. And that is a good thing.

"Priceless"

New backpacks--$34



New shoes--$45



New school uniforms--$50



Listening to big sister give little sister the scoop and watching her lead the way--PRICELESS

At Summer's End

As this summer comes to and end, I am both happy and sad.



Sad because another summer has passed, which means two things. My girls are another summer older, and now it's time for them to go back to school, where they will spend the majority of their waking hours with someone other than me.



Will they appreciate their time as much as I do? I would like to think so, but probably not.



But I know it's time for this little kindergartner, who was too excited to sleep tonight, to move on to bigger things.



And my big third grader too. It seems like just yesterday she started school.



I sure am going to miss them like crazy.



But I am excited too about the one on one time I will have with John David. And I am very happy to be getting back into a routine. I really do so much better when I have a routine, which is something we just can't seem to keep during summer. And I have great plans to organize my closets and food storage, get some sewing projects done, and get back into an exercise routine. I'm trying to focus on the positive. We'll just see how tomorrow goes.

Lesson #3

Tonight was lesson #3 of my cake decorating class. We again started out practicing the Wilton rose. This time my icing was a better consistency, and my roses are getting better, but I can't figure out how to make the petals look more smooth at the top. I think I need to have more pressure when I'm trying to make the petals. I was going to take a picture of the ones I made tonight, but I forgot and just threw them back into the icing bowl when I got home. Then we practiced making a couple of other flowers and making people faces and teddy bear faces on our practice boards. And then of course we decorated our cakes with these cute clowns. I have to confess that this is not what my first clowns looked like. By the time I got home my clowns that I made in class were lying down taking a nap. My icing was too soft. So I scrapped them off and thickened up the icing and made new clowns. These guys look much more fun than the other ones. Only one more class left. I'm kinda sad that it's gone by so fast, but kinda glad too because I think I've gained 10 pounds already this month!

John David's Six Month Pictures

We had our friend Kayla take some pictures of our little man a couple of Saturdays ago. Here are some of my favorites. He normally smiles alot, but for some reason (because we really wanted him to!) he wasn't interested in sharing his sweet smiles. But he's still dang cute!

My Big Hunk

At John David's 6 month check up today he weighed 20 1/2 pounds, which is in the 95th percentile! My hunk-a-hunk of burning love!

Lesson #2

Tonight was my second cake decorating lesson. For this and the next two lessons, we have to bring an iced cake to class to decorate. First we practiced the Wilton rose. I wanted to make sure my icing wasn't too soft tonight after the blobs I made on Saturday, but this time it was too stiff. So, again, I have got to practice with getting the right consistency. Then we practiced other designs with different tips. We have these practice boards, with a plastic cover. You slip a sheet with different designs under the plastic so you can see what to do. When you're done, you just wipe the icing off and practice again. Well, I accidentally left my practice board home, so I practiced on a paper towel. The instructor commented on how well I was doing, especially since I didn't have a board to see exactly what to do. Yay me! Then we decorated our cakes, and what is the first thing we made? A rainbow. Kinda funny, since that's what I first learned to make all those years ago. We used a smaller star tip (#16) than I used to use though. And I used to make my rainbow on a sheet cake instead of a 2 layer round cake.



We did a piping gel pattern transfer for the rainbow. I think it turned out pretty cute. I am seriously loving this class, but I grossly underestimated the prep time, since we have to have the cake and icing all ready for class, and barely made it to class on time.



I don't know what we're going to do with this cake though. We still have leftovers from Saturday's cake, and the girls are gone to Aunt Amy's house. Cake anyone?

Homework

I finally got around to doing my homework today. And since John is six months old today, the girls wanted to celebrate his half birthday. Katie picked out the colors (John Deere, of course!) and wanted six roses to represent six months. It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but just the techniques of leveling and icing the cake has seriously improved the look of my cakes. I did a shell border, which turned out okay. But, my first attempt at roses was a sad attempt indeed. I had a couple of problems. First, I my icing was just too soft, so they just kinda melted together to look like yellow blobs. I need to figure out just the right consistency. And I just need to practice more. However, it tasted delicious!



I know, it's not a very boyish cake, but it was just his half birthday. I've already got his 1st birthday cake all planned out. I just hope I can make the plans in my head a reality on a cake in six more months.



The girls were so funny and were acting like it was really his birthday. They insisted on a candle, which they of course blew out for him. And Sarah made him a present. She built him a cabin out of the Lincoln Logs for him to destroy..........



..........which he did, and loved every second of it! So she built several more for him, and each time he knocked it over with much delight. Get ready girls..........your stuff is next!

Six Months

Our little man is six months old today. Already!? Where has the time gone?



He has been very, very busy this month. He still loves to put whatever he can in his mouth. He's still drooling like crazy, but no teeth yet.



He's not crawling yet, but he's trying. First, he gets on his knees and elbows.........



...........and he's finally figured out how to push up to his hands............



...........and then he lunges forward onto his belly. He also does what I called the "army crawl", until I was corrected by Aaron. He says it's called a "low crawl". He says the army doesn't know how to crawl--they just know how to "occupy" after the Marines have crawled through and cleared the area, but that's another post. He is so funny. He has also started trying to pull up, but hasn't quite figured that out yet either. We have already adjusted the crib though.



He's already showing an interest in Daddy's hobbies, which makes his Daddy extremely happy and excited!



He's graduated to the big boy tub, which he absolutely loves!



And he's sitting up! He pushed himself up to a sitting position all by himself for the first time last week, and this week he's doing it all the time like it's no big deal. Such a big boy. The girls didn't figure out how to push themselves up to a sitting position until after they were crawling. It's so interesting how they learn and progress differently.



He is so curious, and loves to explore..............



.........and get under things. He loves to get under his bouncy seat and play with and chew on the tag.



And he loves to get himself under the tables.



And he's so thoughtful. Here he is trying to pick flowers for his mom. :)



And he likes to watch TV. Just kidding. I just happened to catch him sitting up playing and it looked like he was watching TV, so I had to take a picture. He's much too busy to watch TV!



*Six things I love about our little man (although there are tons more!)

1. I love how happy he is when he wakes up! Lots of times I will go check on him while he's napping and he's awake just rolling around and playing in his crib. He's just such a sweet, happy little guy.



2. I love how when I'm carrying him somewhere now how he likes to turn around to see where we are going. It's so cute.

3. I love how ticklish he is, especially on his neck and thighs. He has a great laugh!

4. I love how he plays happily on the floor by himself--so I can get things done.

5. I love to just sit and watch him. He is so curious and constantly trying to figure things out. He's very entertaining to watch.

6. I love, love, LOVE how he's started reaching out when he wants to go to someone. SO CUTE! And sweet!