I was attacked by my vacuum cleaner

At least that is the story that I am choosing to go with.

I honestly have no idea how it happened.

I was merrily {ha} vacuuming our bedroom when it unhooked {I have no better way to describe it}, fell and hit me on the leg.

We have a Dyson and when you are using the attachment/hose thing the vacuum has to be standing up with the wheels locked down.

It's not that the vacuum just fell over and landed on my leg, no, a sharp corner of it sliced the back of my calf.

I felt the pain before I knew what happened and looked like a non-bleeding flesh wound appeared on my leg.

The pain and the incident quickly left my mind although K forewarned me that I would get a nasty bruise from it.

This morning though I scraped the back of my calf on our shoe basket and *pain* reared it's ugly head.

That's when I looked down and saw this:

Please ignore the weird grayish-purple color of my calf.

I have no idea why it looks like that, other than to blame it on the weird light coming through my blue curtains and the fact that I took the picture with my cell phone.
I promise that I'm not a zombie or anything.

Yes, I took a picture of my bruise and texted it to my husband.

Why?

That it is a very good question.
Um, I have no reason other than to garner his sympathy, ha ha.

I could blame my clumsiness for what happened.

Or my inability to apparently do more than 5,000,000 things at a time.

Instead though, I'll just blame the vacuum.

I think it makes the most sense.
Don't you?

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

It was about time to bring back GB&F.

I have missed doing it and feel like I have so much to share!

As usual, feel free to share as well.

If enough people want to I could make it into a linky with a button.

I don't know, let me know what you think.

Okay?
Sounds good.

The Good: Swimming lessons are going well, swimmingly. The older girls really are having a blast and learning a lot. My brother's wedding is the weekend! A lot of my family is coming in town for the festivities, I am really excited. My mom is coming in town tomorrow!

The Bad: I wasn't loving my hair cut. Normally I am pretty easy to please, but it just wasn't working for me. Luckily I was able to get it fixed, it was FREE and I now LOVE it! I will post a pic soon! It is hot y'all. Seriously hot and humid. This morning at 7:00 the humidity was at 87%, it's ridiculous. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 101 and the heat index is between 104 - 108. Melting.

The Funny: While I was pulling into the driveway this evening from running errands I saw two small raccoons in our neighbor's yard! I have NEVER seen raccoons here and I have lived in this town for the last 15 years. Ainsley told me today that she was part human and part mermaid. Never a dull moment in our house and I wouldn't have it any other way!

How about you, how has your week been going?

Beautiful sounds that I hear

I am in awe.

A year and a half ago we were unsure if our youngest would have her hearing.

Not that it was a big deal to us, she would still be Abigail however God had chosen to give her to us.
Hearing, not hearing, the options didn't really matter.

While there were talks about hearing aids and specialists there were also hundreds of prayers being lifted up.

For some reason, that I will never know here on Earth, God chose to restore her hearing.

Not just restore it, but return it in full.

A year and half ago the thought of hearing my child speak was merely a dream.

The idea of her hearing me sing her a lullaby or read her a book was something I didn't think would happen.

{Her hearing was so poor that you could drop a pan on the floor and she wouldn't startle or cry.}

Today though {and for many months now} that dream has been realized.

 

She not just talks, but talks up a storm.

Mama

Daddy

Baby

Eat

Juice

Up up up

Peas peas peas {please please please}

{For some reason she likes to say things over and over again}

NO!

Yes!

Kitty kitty

The list really goes on and on.

I guess the point of this post is to express my gratitude.

God has been impressing upon my heart the miracle that He performed.

The beauty of her sweet voice and her face when she hears you say something to her.

A mini-photo session with Ainsley

Ainsley was looking quite colorful yesterday and feeling quite spunky.

That meant only one thing, time to snap a few pictures.

She had to direct and customize her own pictures.

My girl certainly knows what she likes and what she wants.

There is no denying that.

Ha ha.

Take the picture like this.

With my glasses on my lips and make it pink.

 Take a picture when I make a funny face and make it pink.

BIG eyes.

K always comments on the size of her eyes and calls them her anime eyes.

Now she's showing you how big she can make them.

 

Aw, a sweet smile for her mama.

I love this girl.

And all her craziness.

And all the funny things that she says.

There is never a dull moment with Ainsley around.

{There is another picture, but for some reason Instagram didn't send it to my photo folder on my phone and I have no idea how to do that. Sorry!}

How about some Monday randomness

Today I have lots of things {not important things, just things} to share so a random posts seems like the best way to convey all of them.

~My brother is getting married THIS Saturday! Woo hoo! I am thinking of making some hair clips for the big girls to wear. I'll keep you posted.

~Do you remember me saying a few weeks ago that I had a sinus infection and ear infection? Well, the antibiotic didn't knock it out all the way so this morning I started on a new one. All four of my sinus cavities were painful and there was so much pressure. I came down with a wicked headache last night. So, all of that plus the wedding the weekend AND a ton of family coming in equals needing to get this thing taken care of.

~Ainsley has stayed dry the last five or six nights. That's right NO PULL UP! Woo hoo!

~I am still not loving my hair 100% although it is getting better. This morning I put some curl cream in it and this is kind of what it looks like. It never looks quit the same in the photo as it does in real life. My hair isn't really that dark either. 

~I am addicted to eating avocados right now. I like to put them in a bowl, add a bit of salt and pepper then mash them up with a fork. So good! For lunch today we had black bean nachos with mashed up avocado on them. Oh yeah, I'm also kind of obsessed with black beans. 

~We  took the kids to see Cars 2 yesterday. My Dad went with us too. It was a good time. Adison proclaimed it the best movie she has ever seen. Ainsley only got antsy towards the end and Abby did about as well as we could hope for. I thought it was a really cute flick. I'm glad we saw it in the theater. Abby was really cute during the previews. They had a preview for the new Winnie the Pooh movie and she got really still at first and then when the music started playing she was dancing up a storm. K and I both concluded that we have to see it now.

~Speaking of Abby, last night after putting Ainsley to bed I checked on Abby. She was out. But I saw that her position looked kind of funny, upon closer inspection I saw this.

The picture is kind of dark, sorry. She is sleeping on top of her baby doll. Yes, that head on the right side is her doll. I thought it was just too funny to not take a picture. Poor girl was exhausted.

~Adison and Ainsley are still LOVING their lessons. I'm a little worried for after swimming is over. Maybe I will see if I can sign them up for another session. Oh and yeah, I still have not taken my camera with me to take pictures. Tomorrow, tomorrow I will remember my camera. Ugh.

~Funny story involving one of our cats. Saturday night, after K got home from a baseball game {K is my brother's best man, the game was my brother's bachelor party} a couple of flies got in the house. One of our cats, Zoe, is a fly hunter. While K and I were talking about the game she jumped straight up about three or so feet in the air to catch a fly. It was hysterical.

~Okay folks, that's it. I am off to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with the kiddos. Adison is reading the series this summer and just finished the second book. Way to go Adison!

How was your weekend?

See ya tomorrow!

I'm taking it as a compliment...I think...

Today has been one of those days.

You know, the days when you wake up and think "Uh oh, today could be a doozy."

Well, my initial observation proved to be correct.

I was awakened at 6 something this morning to the sound of awful thunder and my baby toddler crying.

The storm was so loud that I initially though that my neighbor must have been hitting his garbage can with a bat right outside our bedroom window.

It was seriously loud.

I dragged my weary self out of bed to get the morning drinks ready: milk, juice and of course coffee.

Adison was still sleeping so I went ahead and got the littles up.

Ainsley was her chipper little self, but Abby...well, that's a different story.

She didn't want to drink her milk, she didn't want to eat her breakfast, she didn't want her diaper changed.

You get the picture, right?

I ended up putting Abby back down for a nap a little after 8.

In the meantime, Ainsley and I enjoyed some Phineas and Ferb as well as some one on one time.

I then heard a soft knock on the front door.

It was my dad!
Bearing gifts of donuts!

A short while later everyone was up and the morning was moving along.

The kids destroyed the house in a matter of moments and Abby was still pretty cranky.

{We discovered shortly after that Abby is teething, it looks like four teeth are coming in at once. Ouch!}

It's life though, life with three kids.

At least life with our three kids.

Ha ha!

I am pretty used to it as I stay home with them all day.

K though, well he had some differing thoughts.

It takes someone special to keep up with our kids.

Aw, honey, are you saying that I'm special?

Yes..well, either that or insane.

I choose to take it as a compliment.

That's how you'd take it, right?

She wanted a puppy not a horsey

Last evening while I was getting my hairs cut hubby was watching the kiddos.

He had been looking for something around the house when he came across balloons for making balloon animals.

Why we have these is simply beyond me.

I don't remember buying them so I am pinning that purchase on K.

When I arrive home Abby has two small circle balloons that she is playing with quite happily and K is trying to make a balloon for Ainsley.

I keep hearing:
But Daddy, I said that I wanted a puppy balloon.

Daddy, are you making the puppy balloon.

Hey Daddy, how about making a puppy balloon.

You get the whole broken record of her request right?

After having a few of them pop in K's face {they were really loud} he decided to try to make Lee something else.

You can imagine her thoughts on this right?

I hopped in the shower really quick and when I got out it was time to put the kiddos to bed.

I was talking to Ainsley and giving her a kiss when she bursts out with:

Mama, I told Daddy that I wanted a puppy NOT a horsey.

I looked at her balloon animal and this is what I saw:

Now, in K's defense I do have to say that I am sure that this poor little dog/horse got a bit twisted in the hands of our three year old.

To hear the conviction in Ainsley voice was too funny to not immediately burst into very loud laughter.

Later when I was telling K about it neither one of us could help but belly laugh.

I'm not sure what it is about the way that Ainsley says things; whether her tone, choice of words or inflection, but homegirl is seriously funny.

Five Question Friday!

1. What is your current favorite tv show?

2. What's the worst haircut you ever got?

3. What was something that you did as a child that you thought you were so cool for doing?

4. Do you have any GREAT frugal family fun tips?

5. Would you drive across country if you had the money to fly?

1. Right now I don't really have a favorite.
I really like watching the Duggars and Sarah's House on HGTV.

I am having a hard time finding shows to watch actually, just not a lot of great TV it seems.

Oh, hubby and I watch Castle, Cougar Town and Big Bang Theory.

2. Ha ha, this one is so odd and random.

Okay, so back in like the 5th grade I decided that I was a haircut like Sally Jesse Raphael.

Why I have no clue, I wasn't even allowed to watch her show.

For some crazy reason I really liked her hair style though.

This cracks me up and slightly embarrasses me, but why not share it right?

We're all friends here.

3. My mom used to crimp my hair.

Yep, I thought I was too hot to trot.

Seriously.

Then I got a waver and oh my goodness, you couldn't hold me back.
Watch out world, here I come with either crimped or waved hair.

4. Um, we don't take a lot of family trips, but when we do we try to rent a place that has a kitchen so that we can make a lot of our meals.

5. As a kid we used to do cross country driving at least once a year.

We would trek Texas to Michigan normally in a day.

My brother and I became pros at the whole cross country drive.

Now though, my two youngest are not good travelers...at all.

My eldest though is a breeze to travel with.

That being said, I would probably fly.

Although, I do love a good road trip.

Hmmm...can I decide later?

InstaFriday

I have a well documented love of Instagram.

I seriously love it.

Any excuse I have to snap pics of my little lov-a-doves is excuse enough for me.

Let's hop into it, shall we?

I am obsessed with felt flowers.

Obsessed I tell you.

I want to learn how to make other types as well.

But these little beauties make my heart smile.

 This was the sky Monday evening.
We have been having some exceptionally crazy weather lately.
K and I were talking about this earlier in the week.
Weird, crazy stuff going on.

I know that I have shown this picture three times this week.

THREE TIMES!

But it captivates me and I'm not sure why.

Sigh, my baby is growing up.

According to Ainsley, this is my new pet that she named Cain for me.

I had to pay {not really} $5 for it.

She was playing pet shop and I was apparently the customer who was looking for a lizard that likes to lounge on plastic chaise lounges.
Ainsley knows me so well.

 I blogged about this earlier.
I had 10 inches of hair cut off.
This pic was after the intial cut and I was waiting for the rest to be snipped off.

 Please ignore the towels drying from swimming lessons and the lack of make-up, it's real life y'all.

This is the pic that I sent my mom, ha ha!

I like to send her silly pictures.

No, I am not sure if I will ever fully grow up.

Okay lovelies, it is now your turn.

Head on over to Life.Rearranged and link up!

Happy Friday.

I did something kind of drastic...

I cut 10 inches of hair off!

I have no make-up on and the kids towels from swimming practice are hanging up to dry.

Here is real life, ha ha!

I wasn't planning on cutting off this much hair, it's a bit shorter than I had envisioned.

But I really wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love.

Where I had wanted it cut would have only given them 8 1/2 to 9 inches of hair and they need 10.

In my mind though, it's a no brainer.

Cut the extra 1 to 1 1/2 inches off and give them the hair.

My hair will grow back in no time at all.

I love being able to give this gift.

I'm not quite sure what I think of my current do, it's very different that my original idea.

Oh well, I am sure that I will love it and be comfortable with it in no time.

It's like K reminded me when I first got home:

You never like your hair for a few days after getting it cut but then love it.

Yep, it will look great.

Even better though, someone else is getting the gift of hair.

That my friends, is the greatest part.

After all, it's just hair.

P.S. Can we just pretend that I didn't tell you that I was donating it?
It's feels weird sharing that but I wanted to explain why it was shorter than I intended.

Thanks lovelies!

Feeling nostalgic

I shared this picture earlier today and I can't stop looking at it.

 

 

This picture has been a bit of a reality check for me.

My baby is growing up.

I have been noticing it more and more lately.

 

 

I just keep looking at those downy soft cheeks.

The little rubberband wrists.

The dimples on her little knuckles.

 

 

Pretty soon they will be gone.

This picture reminds me that time just keeps marching on regardless of my desire for it to slow down.

My baby is growing up and is now a toddler.

While I embrace this next chapter of our lives, it makes me sad to close the previous one.

 

 

I am excited to see the little girl that she will become.

To figure her out.

To piece together who she is, what she likes and what she doesn't.

To discover the things that make her "Abigail."

The same way that we have loved getting to know her big sisters.

The things that make them tick and make them them.

 

 

This little girl is something amazing.

I am so happy that I get to be her mama.

That I get to be the one to watch her grow.

A Special Little Outing

After swimming lessons this morning I really wanted to take the girls out for a bit.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but knew that I wanted to do something fun and different.

Suddenly it dawned on me that I should take them out for cupcakes.

I thought it would be a special outing {we don't do this hardly ever} and a great reward for them doing so well at their swimming lessons.

When I told the girls where we were going shouts of joy could probably be heard outside the van they were so loud.

As soon as we pulled up they started shouting out their cupcake requests.

Talk about excitement.

We got inside and the cupcakes were just too cute to resist.

I was checking out all of the baked delights when I saw that they have these mini cupcakes that they call "premies."

They were just the perfect size for a pre-lunch dessert.

These are my two cupcakes {yes, I bought myself two}.

I just couldn't choose, so two it was.

The one on the left is a snickerdoodle cupcake {I am having a huge snickerdoodle craving} and the one on the right is my FAVORITE cupcake called the Billy Vanilly.

Oh my goodness, so incredibly good!

I had to post the next three pics of Abby.

She loves sweets and was tickled pink to get her own cupcake.

I was just the right size for her.

Her cupcake was strawberry and it was so cute and little and pink.

 Ohhhh, this looks good!

 Yum, it's delicious!

 Look, Mama, it's really good!

Yes, she demolished it and ate the entire thing.

Yes, she was begging for more.

Yes, I shared mine with her.

{Have you seen that darling face? I simply couldn't resist those sweet brown eyes.}

Yes, she picked the sprinkles off of her plate and ate them.

Ha ha!

 Look at that smile!

She was so excited to go get cupcakes.

She got a Billy Vanilly cupcake too, she asked for the one with extra sprinkles.

That's my girl!

Adison asked to get a Lemon Cheesecake pop.

It looked like Red Velvet inside.

She loved it!

She was really sweet and offered a bite to her sister.

It looked really good.

Adison was so cuter, she set up how she wanted me to take her picture.

I couldn't take it until it was just right.

She cracks me up.

This was such a fun outing.

It was a nice way to surprise the girls with something that we don't do very often.

They were so very sweet and grateful for this surprise outing.

I plan on taking them again for another trip to get cupcakes again.

I may or may not have gotten a cupcake for K and myself to go.

It may or may not have been strawberry for K and another snickerdoodle one for myself.

Maybe...maybe not.



We had a storm, did some swimming and played at the park

Our small group met last night.

It is always a wonderful time to share, learn and be together.

There are questions asked, answers learned and life lived with some amazing people.

K and I have an app on our phones that goes off whenever there are weather warnings.

Last night it seemed to keep going off.

We would check the weather and the radar to see what exactly we were in for.

As we left we all looked up at the sky and saw something new.

I have never seen clouds like these before. 

 As K was driving home I was snapping some pics.

I mean, this sky was crazy looking.

Plus, I apparently dream of writing a weather blog or something with how many weather related posts that I write.

Sorry guys.

Back to the story.

K is driving home and I have the window down to snap some pics.
Genius right?
The wind suddenly picks up really fast and I am getting pelted in the face with sand.

Trust me when I tell you that it didn't feel good, at all.

I start telling K:

Roll the window up.

Quick, roll the window up!
I am getting hit in the face with sand.

{The windows were locked so the kids couldn't mess with them.}

He finally replied that he was trying to avoid the road sign that was flying through the air.

Oh, okay, well that makes sense.

Sorry honey.

The girls had swimming lessons this morning and did amazing!

Woo hoo!

Afterwards we went to the park with my friend Jennifer and her kiddos.

Good times!

Swims and Spills

SWIMS

Today finally came.

The long-awaited, highly anticipated start of swimming lessons day.

This day has been talked about for months.

And it finally arrived.

You see this girl?

She has been itching to get in the pool.

Beyond excited to try out her little sea legs at swimming lessons.

We get there and they call little Ainsley's name to join her instructor up front.

Lee's excited demeanor quickly evaporates and is replaced with a scared little girl that doesn't want to leave her mama.

I momentarily panicked then quickly told her that I couldn't go with her and that she needed to get up there with her friends.

She shocked me by getting up, heading to the pool with her teacher, grabbing her teacher's hand and walking to their section.

You could have knocked me over with a wet noodle.

She had a blast and surprised me even further by listening the entire time!

This girl here?

She remembers the joys of swimming lessons.

She all but flew out of the bleachers when her name was called and didn't look back.

That's my eldest.

Always ready for something new, for an adventure.

Adison was stoked because she is on a new level this year.

She is ready to own level two.

She did phenomenally well.

SPILLS

After lessons were over we headed to the store to pick up dinner for small group tonight and some other things.

I finally get the lasagna, pick up some cheese, grab a thing of lunch meat {isn't my shopping SOOO exciting?!?!} when we head over to the snack section.

I picked up a bag of chex mix to see if the girls would want that for a snack.

While I'm looking at the bag I realized that it was upside down.

So I go to turn it over to show the girls when THE ENTIRE BAG OF CHEX MIX SPILLS ALL OVER THE FLOOR AND ON MY FEET!

{I am so mad at myself that I didn't get a picture.}

After I got over the initial shock I burst into laughter.

Seriously, who does this sort of thing happen to?
Well, me obviously.

It turns out that someone opened the bag and put it back on the shelf.

Why?
Seriously, why would someone do that?

The girls were all sorts of:

Mama, are you going to tell someone what happened?
Mama, do we need to clean that up?

The little girls had been fighting the ENTIRE TIME at the store but this incident managed to lift their crankiness.

Hey, I'll take their happiness whenever and however I can get it.

I did manage to find someone who works at the store and explained the situation to them.

They seemed to think it was quite funny too.

Oh yeah, did I mention that it was an almost 2lb bag of check mix?

Yeah, the mess pretty much took over the entire width of the aisle.

The Father's Day that wasn't

Poor K, today was not the Father's Day that I had envisioned for him.

Not that I am sure how *exactly* I had hoped the day would go.

I assumed {that was my first mistake} that he would get to sleep in this morning.

My hubs really likes to sleep in.

Then we would have a calm, peaceful {ha ha!} day doing whatever he wanted.

Whether that be him sitting on the couch doing nothing, him taking a nap or basically whatever he had hoped to do.

What I had hoped for and what actually happened could not have been more different.

Sigh.

I will start at the the beginning for you.

I was awakened this morning to the sounds of crying.

Ugh, not a great way to start the day but not abnormal either.

I hopped out of bed and got the morning necessities {aka milk and juice} when I hear Adison say:

Mommy, Ainsley took Abby's clothes off and Abby took her diaper off.

I'm thinking: Ugh, seriously.

Me: Ainsley, why did you take Abby's clothes off?
Ainsley: Mama, can I have some juice?

*Abby crying*

Me: Hold on Abby, Mama's coming.

Me: Yes, Lee, your juice is on the table.

I go to get Abby and bring her milk with me as I am expecting to have to take her sheets off of her bed and that would delay her milk consumption.

 Abby is much happier after her milk, kind of like her mama and her coffee.

You pretty much always need to have her milk ready ASAP.

 I quickly realized that the situation was MUCH worse than anticipated.

Abby has her clothes and diaper off but that's not all.

SHE HAD POOPED!

There was poop EVERYWHERE!

Her blanket, the crib sheet, the mattress pad and her Abby Ka Dabby doll.

Oh and IT'S ALL OVER HER!

Mental picture time:

I'm trying to carry a naked, poopy baby toddler down the stairs while carrying nasty sheets, all the while I am trying to NOT get poop all over me.

Abby is holding/drinking her milk when she either throws {which she LOVES to do} or drops her entire sippy cup of milk on the floor.

It doesn't just fall, IT EXPLODES.

Yep, an entire sippy cup of milk all over the floor and a poop covered child.

So much fun, NOT.

I called for back up, my hubby that was supposed to be sleeping in for Father's Day.

So not how I had envisioned things.

Oh yeah, did I mention that he hadn't been able to sleep last night so only managed about 40 minutes of sleep.

I was not thrilled, but mama needed a back up.

K got the milk cleaned up and got Abby a refill while I cleaned up and bathed the babe.

After all that I mention to K that maybe that means that the day will be wonderfully smooth and relaxing for Father's Day.

K is more of a pessimistt realist, his response:

No, this probably sets the standard for the rest of the day.

Yes, unfortunately, he was right.

While he did manage to get a few more hours of sleep in and we were able to go out to lunch to celebrate my hubby and the wonderful father that he is.

The afternoon though, while he slept a bit more, was AWFUL!

I am not kidding you, one of the worst.

We made it through it though and actually managed to finish on a very positive note.

K was a trooper though, no complaining about it being Father's Day and that it wasn't going quite like he had hoped.

We decided to end the evening having an at home date night.

Have I mentioned what a catch he is?

Next year, yes, next year will be a better one...hopefully...I make no promises though.



An ode to my hubby on Father's Day

This guy

is my beloved

He is father to this girl

and this girl

and this girl

 He likes to make funny faces in pictures and make us laugh

He likes to cook these on this

and buy me these because they make me happy

He reads books

and he records funny noises for the kids to listen to and laugh at

But most importantly, he loves God and his family

 He makes sacrifices and always does his best for us.

Happy Father's Day honey.

You are such an amazing father and husband.

I love you!