Don't You Just Love It When...........

................your kids point out the cobwebs when you have guests over for dinner? I mean, really, couldn't they have noticed before the guests arrived, or after they left? Or even just noticed and not said anything at all? What can you do but laugh, especially when you realize that you did the same thing to your mom when you were a kid. Sorry Mom. Thank you for not strangling me, but rather letting me grow up to have kids of my own so that they could do the same thing to me! :)

Build and Grow

A couple of Saturdays ago, the Zacharys told us about the "Build and Grow" program at Lowe's. So we went today for the first time. Today's project was "building" a firetruck. They give you everything you need for the project in a little kit, a pair of goggles, an apron (which they happened to be out of today), and a patch to sew on your apron showing what project you did. It was the cutest thing. The girls absolutely loved it! And so did I! What's not to love about a fun and free project? Well, except when your mom keeps messing up your project by not quite reading the directions carefully enough. I decided that Daddy needed to come next time........and the girls agreed!

Our Little Tough Guy

Today John David had tubes put in his ears. (Who knew these cute little ears would give our sweet little guy such problems?) I honestly was more worried about him not being able to eat after midnight than I was about the actual procedure. I just couldn't stand the thought of him crying for hours (he has been waking up around 3 am to eat) because he was hungry. And my plan to try to get him to stay up late and eat in hopes of that helping him be able to sleep all night without waking up didn't work at all. Neither did my plans to try to get him to go back to sleep without eating. It was all a complete failure. So I had my parents and Aaron's parents praying with us that he would sleep through the night. And thank goodness for a loving Heavenly Father who truly hears and answers prayers, because he actually slept from 11:30pm until Aaron went to get him out of bed to put him in his car seat to leave.



He was so happy when he woke up, which used to always be the case, but not so much lately with all of his ear problems. So that was a huge blessing too.



They had a little gown for him to put on and let him keep on his pajama bottoms. He started to get a little fussy while we were waiting for them to come and get him, but he had been up for an hour and a half at that point. We were so grateful for his patience. Another blessing. He actually fell asleep while waiting for the nurse to come, and she managed to take him from me and keep him asleep in the process. Another blessing.



It was less than fifteen minutes and the doctor came in and told us he was done and that it went well. He said John David had alot of fluid in his ears, and that as soon as he got it out and got the tubes in, his nose and eye started to drain. (Hopefully this will help with his clogged tear duct that he's had since he came home from the hospital.) A few minutes later the nurse brought John David back to us. He was pretty fussy, which they had warned us he would be while trying to come out of the anesthesia. We tried to feed him, but he just wasn't interested. He cried for the entire time we were in recovery, which was about 30 minutes. Then they said we could go home. As soon as we walked out of the doors, he stopped crying. I couldn't bear to put him in his car seat, so I held him on the way home. As soon as we got home and got out of the van, he started laughing. It was like he new he was home and was so happy to be here! It was so cute! And so great to hear him laughing after all of the crying.



And this was how he was for the rest of the day--all smiles!



They told us to watch him pretty close all day because it might take a while the drugs to wear completely off and that his coordination wouldn't be what it normally is. It was kinda funny to watch him try to crawl. He was like a little drunk man. But by the end of the day, he was getting back to normal.



We're so grateful that it went so smooth, and for all of the blessings we received today. Now the only problem is that because I have been trying to keep him up late to eat as close to midnight as possible, he is still wanting to stay up late.........and watch Dave!

What is missing in this picture?

I sure had a hard time figuring it out myself. If you guessed her glasses, you would be correct. I think the newness has worn off and she has started forgetting to put them on in the mornings for school. I am so busy trying to get them fed, dressed, lunches made and out the door on time that I never realize they're missing until Aaron sees her after school and asks where they are. About a week and a half ago, one of the lenses fell out and we searched the world over and couldn't find that lens. So we had to go get her a new pair. And since this wasn't the first time the lenses have fallen out, we decided to pick out new frames. Katie and I both fell in love with these "shiny wine" frames as soon as we saw them. They are so totally cute on her! I think I love them as much--maybe even more--than she does! But she loves them too! You can't tell from the picture, but they are kind of a burgundy color.



This one is better, but they kind of look pink here, and they aren't really pink. Anyway, they're just so cute! Hopefully now she won't forget to put them on in the morning, since she loves them so much. At least for a little while.

"Make A Little Birdhouse in Your Soul"

1. Our little man is having ear troubles again, which means he is not sleeping or eating well. He has even lost a little weight. We took him last Friday to get his ears checked since that was the last day of his second round of antibiotics. We didn't see his regular doctor on the previous visit. So as soon as his doctor walked in, he said he was referring John David to an ENT. Then he checked his ears, and they still were not cleared up. So, this past Wednesday we went to see the ENT and he scheduled John David to get tubes put in next Thursday. I really hate that he has to have this done at such a young age, but if it will mean no more ear infections, it will be a wonderful thing. On the night before, he can't eat or drink anything past midnight. So I've been trying to get him to go back to sleep without eating to prepare him, which isn't an easy task. I have been able to get him to go back to sleep after drinking just a couple of ounces though. Maybe in a few days he'll just realize he'd rather sleep than wake up for just two ounces. Hopefully.

2. A few weeks ago the girls and I were at Walmart when two guys walked by us speaking Spanish. When we turned down the next aisle, Sarah looked at me and asked, "What language were they speaking?" I said, "Spanish." Katie said, "Well why didn't they say 'uno'?" I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes. Funny girl.

3. This past week was the Seven Day Challenge on the Food Storage Made Easy site. Each day there was a different type of 'emergency' and certain rules that had to be followed. I really wanted to follow it as best we could, but considering the lack of sleep and motivation (see #1) I have right now, most days I just tried to take note of if we were really prepared for each 'emergency' and if we could have followed the instructions for each day. And we actually could have done pretty well, I think. I still need to check our 72 hour kit for expired items, refill our water barrels (since they are supposed to be refilled every 6 months and ours have been filled for about a year--yikes!), refill our propane tanks, and stock up on some meds. It was a really neat drill and a good time to take notes about how we can be better prepared.

4. The girls checked out a "Tom & Jerry" DVD from the library last week and we sat down and watched it when they got home from school this afternoon. It reminded me of days when I was in elementary school and would come home and watch it after school. It was kinda fun to see it with the girls. The best part was watching Sarah. She was laughing out loud, and hard--that wonderful deep belly laugh. It was so great! I love to hear my kids laughing--especially the deep belly laugh!

5. When I looked at the calendar today and realized it was September 18th, it reminded me of many years ago when me and ten friends from church officially declared September 18th as "Mormon Skip Day." We had just left seminary and made our usual pit stop at 7 Eleven for a drink. As we were getting back into our cars, someone had a great idea--"Hey, let's all skip school together! Wouldn't that be fun?!" So we did. We all loaded up in two cars and headed to Greenville, a town far enough away that we were sure we wouldn't see anyone that we knew. We went to "Toys R Us" and played around, went to the mall, went out to lunch, and just had a blast playing all day. We had so much fun that we declared it "Mormon Skip Day" and decided to make it an annual holiday for us. We had planned to arrive back in time to drop everyone off at their houses at just the exact time that we normally would have. We thought we had been so slick. But when we got to the first girl's house and her parents were waiting in the driveway for her, we knew something was up. We hadn't counted on our awesome Assistant Principal, Mr. Fredrick, who we all knew and loved, realizing that most of the Mormon kids were missing and calling our parents to make sure everything was okay. He couldn't put us in detention because we never actually went to school, but he teased us about it until we all graduated. Needless to say, it was the first and last "Mormon Skip Day." Oh well.....it sure was fun while it lasted. Good times!

6. Aaron is gone camping tonight, which means even less sleep for me. I just don't sleep well when he's gone. You'd think after all these years (he was scout master when we first got married and was always gone camping then too), I'd be used to it. But no. For some reason I hear every little sound at night when he's gone. When we first moved to Louisiana I called my mom late one night after hearing something outside and she stayed on the phone with me for over three hours until I was about to fall asleep. I just feel completely safe when he is here. And Sarah must too. She is missing him pretty badly tonight. The rule is that the girls get to sleep with me when he's gone, which helps a little, but they have a friend sleeping over tonight. I'm sure Sarah will still sneak into bed with me though. Thank goodness she likes to snuggle up close. And maybe tonight will be different since I am already so tired. Hopefully.

Like Father, Like Son

Apparently John David likes duck as much as his Daddy!

Seven Months

It's been another busy month for our little man. This month he's learned that there are more than two rooms in the house, and he loves to follow you wherever you go--even to the bathroom.



He thinks his sisters are always doing something fun, and tries to keep up with them.



And torture them a little too.



And, heaven help us, he learned how to open doors this month.



Last Sunday (the 30th), he pulled himself up for the first time.



It was so cute! He stood there a minute, then sat down, then pulled himself up again, and then sat down again. I think he was pretty impressed with himself and his new talent.



Now, he tries to pull himself up on anything,



anyplace,



or anyone.



He finally figured out how to crawl, but still prefers scooting, since he can get where he wants to go faster by scooting.



For some reason, he LOVES to play with this step stool that we keep in the kitchen. Even though he has pulled it over on himself several times and hurt himself, he still LOVES it. I guess if I were a good parent, I'd hide it or something.



He can hold his bottle, if he chooses to. But he would much rather let me hold it so he can close his eyes and rub them with the back of his hand while he drinks. It's kinda cute. He has such a hard life, ya know.



He still loves his sisters, and gets so excited to see them when they get home from school. Katie is so good at taking care of him.



And Sarah is too, but she thinks he's like her own live baby doll. Lucky for her he's a good sport and lets her treat him like her baby doll, at least most of the time. Not sure how much longer that will last though.



This is what he does when he tries to grab something to pull up on. It looks like he's trying to fly.



And he still loves to eat. He finally cut his first tooth today, so maybe tomorrow he can have a steak.



He's still the sweetest, happiest little guy ever, although he has started to notice when he gets left alone, and will protest with a little fussing until you come back.



We sure love you to pieces little man!

I Wonder

I wonder why my five year old thought taking a bath in the sink was a good idea? I thought when she called for me to come see her and take a picture of her, that she was putting on make-up. So you can imagine my surprise when I walked in and found this. I actually thought it was pretty funny..........until I realized that she was flooding the bathroom!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a pretty quiet Labor Day Weekend. I think we were all too tired and/or sick to do too much. We mostly just hung out here at the house and got some good old fashioned work done. Aaron went up to the lease and worked on getting his hunting areas ready for the upcoming hunting season, the girls cleaned their room (which was in desperate need of a good cleaning), and I worked on our newest project, which is cleaning, organizing, and giving a makeover to our laundry/computer room. I really detest this room, as it is right now, and don't even like going in it because it is so depressing to me because it's like a giant junk drawer--lots and lots of stuff we really need, but no organization. I have finally realized that I need to make it a more pleasant place so that I won't neglect it. So, I'm on a mission to turn it into a organized, functional, and cute little multipurpose area. It will take a while I am sure, but if I can take the ideas in my head and make them a reality, this may possibly become my favorite room in the house. So far, I have cleaned out the file cabinet, taken down the hideous wallpaper border, and moved some boxes and buckets of food storage out. Last week, Aaron took down the custom shades that were in this house when we bought it six years ago (but seriously must have been at least 30 years old!) and I helped Johnice hang mini blinds. Johnice also made a cute little cover for the big window on the door. Still LOTS to do.

The highlight of our weekend was going over to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's house on Sunday evening. They were out of town, but had asked us to cut their okra (oh, how I LOVE okra!) and collect the paper and mail for them. So while we were doing that, we borrowed their little fire pit to first burn some old papers (from cleaning out the filing cabinet--we decided afterwards that we should invest in a paper shredder). Then Sarah and Daddy built a real fire, and we roasted some hot dogs.



John David enjoyed his time out in the fresh air. He discovered grass, and had a great time trying to pull some up, so he could taste it, I'm sure.



After dinner, we had to make some smores to reward ourselves for all of our labor. Sarah just ditched the marshmallows and graham crackers and focused on the chocolate, while Katie and I enjoyed ever second of the smores' deliciousness!



Then the girls had a blast riding Paw Paw's horse swing. They absolutely love that swing!

Sleepless in Sulphur

That has been our life this last week, at least John's, which means mine too. It started Friday night (the 28th), when John David hardly slept a wink. Aaron helped out a lot that night. I took John David into the doctor Saturday morning knowing that something had to be wrong with him because it is so unlike him to not sleep well. But the doctor said he couldn't find any reason, except maybe that he was teething. That afternoon he started with a runny nose and nasal congestion, and so that night was even worse. He must have gotten the little cold that Sarah had. Saturday night Aaron had to sleep so he could get up and go to his early morning meetings. So that night, and every night since, has been all me. To go from sleeping all night to waking up every hour to hour and a half is pure torture at my age. And then having to get up to get the girls ready and to school on time has been my only goal this past week. Anything else was extra. And I did actually get a few extra things done. Aaron all this time has been telling me to put him in bed with us, but I kept telling him that I'm not that desperate yet. Anyway, Wednesday morning Sarah started complaining that her ears were stopped up and hurting. So I made an appointment for her that afternoon. I was really surprised to hear him say that her ears were fine. I figured while we were there I should get him to check John David's ears too, since he had been so congested and because he has had so many previous ear infections. It's really a good thing I asked the Doctor to check John's ears, because he said his right ear was really bad. So we got him on an antibiotic and hoped the sleepless nights were coming to an end. They did get better for a couple of nights, but last night it was more craziness. He slept until about 1:30AM, and I fed him, got him back to sleep and laid him down. Every time I would get back into bed and just get comfy, he would cry again. I did this for about an hour before I had just had enough, and I finally did what I promised myself I wasn't going to do with this baby--I put him in bed with me. And we slept until 8AM. I think it's safe to say that I have reached my breaking point, and I just need some sleep.

In The Mouth Of Two Witnesses

Today both of our sweet girls shared their testimonies during sacrament meeting. Before we left for church today, Katie told me that she wanted to go up all by herself and share her testimony. So I wasn't surprised to see her walk up and share her testimony during sacrament. She said she knew that President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today, and that the Book of Mormon is true. It was short, but oh so sweet. When she got back, Sarah started saying that she wanted to go up too. She started up several times, but kept getting too nervous, and would turn around and come back. Finally she asked Katie to go up with her and before I knew it they were both going up. It was so sweet to see big sister going up with little sister for moral support. Sarah stood up and said that she knew that President Monson is our prophet, and that the church is true. And then she said, "And I'd like to bear my testimony that my parents are really good parents." It was so cute, and funny, and sweet, all at the same time. And true or not, it was really nice to hear, and it made my day!

Joy Ride

Aaron and the girls have been riding their bikes almost every afternoon around the neighborhood. They all love it! I'm thinking I need to get a bike too. Even though I'm not part of their joy rides yet, it makes my heart happy to see this sweet sight.