Baaaaaaa

This afternoon, after consuming sprinkle pancakes, we went to Sam's Club to pick up some groceries.

The trip was a uneventful as it can be with an almost 3 year old and a five year old.

The 10 year old was easy as pie, shocking, isn't it?

Needless to say, K and I were feeling a bit harried and very ready to get the kids buckled and headed home.

We got the kids in the car and K and I started unloading our cart and talking.

Out of the blue we heard a very loud, "baaaaaaa".

It was so loud that I jumped.

K quickly looked over at me like I had lost my mind.

What are you doing?

What? That wasn't me!!! I said while laughing hysterically.

Turns out that a truck behind us had two sheep in the bed of it.

I would love to know what in K's mind made him think that I was loudly baaaa-ing out of the blue so loud.

Seriously husband.

We went on a walk and found a dog

Yesterday afternoon, after naps {two naps in two days for me, score!}, while K was helping a friend hang some sheet rock, the girls and I went for a walk.

Nothing big, just a walk around the neighborhood and down to the neighborhood park.

They played on the swings, then the monkey bars, the carousel, the teeter totter and back again.

Adison worked on her skateboarding.
She is determined to get it figured out.

Ainsley, well, bless her heart, poor girl has caught a cold.

She really wanted to go on the walk though, so I brought the double stroller.

She had moments of perkiness, especially while at the park.

Abby, well, homegirl is full of vim and vigor with a heaping side of sass.

Momma, we can leave in three minutes!

I had told them two.

Momma, I do it by myself, you stand here.

When we were about to head home a cute little beagle was running around the park.
It had obviously gotten out of someone's yard and was having a great time running around sniffing all the new smells.

One thing to know about my girls is that they are all animal lovers.
Dogs though, they LOVE dogs.
So seeing this cute little pup run around was beyond exciting.
Abby could hardly contain her excitement and was adamant about her need to pet the dog.
The dog however had different ideas.

Those ideas being: run around sniffing everything
staying just out of reach of the kids wanting to pet it
stay close enough to us that the girls thought that they were going to get to pet it
rinse
lather
repeat

At one point Abby was so worked up about the dog that she plopped down on the middle of the sidewalk refusing to go one step further.
Fortunately for me, I can still pick her up and buckle her in the stroller.

We get home, Abby crying most of the way for the dog, when guess who shows up on our back porch?

Yep, the pup.
Sigh.

The Laziest Weekend EVER!

We seriously had the laziest weekend ever.

It was glorious.

I didn't get out of my pajamas all day Saturday and

didn't leave the house at all.

Yep, you me right, not once all weekend.

I even napped on Saturday, a serious, I-slept-in-my-bed-with-the-lights-off-for-two-and-a-half-uninterrupted-hours-and-no-one-woke-me-up.

For reals.

It was nice to have a down weekend.

We didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do.

K left the house once to get me a Dr. Pepper, how sweet is that!?!

Sigh, he's a sweetie.

Even with all that laziness relaxing going on we did manage to take down the rest of the Christmas decorations, so long tree, see ya later nativity, I can't wait for next year!

To have time to relax, to enjoy down time with the family was rejuvenating.

Life is busy busy busy, but to make a conscious effort to stop and take a break is key to my sanity.

Sunday was nice as well.

Hot bath, a good book, kiddos to snuggle with, hubby to talk with.

That made my day perfect!

Oh oh, Sunday got even better because there was an NCIS marathon running.

Sunday night ended with kitty cuddles {that's Chloe's back} and some Jethro Gibbs.

Good times!

Hey Sunday, what's up?

Ainsley had been battling a cold for about four days and seemed to be on the mend.

Abby on the other hand, had just come down with it and was MISERABLE!

Friday morning, Lee seemed so much better, so I sent her on her merry way to school while the oh-so-sick-one and I stayed home and had a chill morning.

Lee hoped off the bus, had her shoes and coat off, and was on the couch within about 30 seconds of walking in the door.

Not normal.

She then started complaining of her left ear hurting.

I knew what that meant, we were going to the doctor.

For the two hours until her appointment, Lee lay on the couch with a heating pad on low on her ear complaining of an earache. 

I woke poor, sick Abby up from her nap early to head to go see Dr. C.

Upper respiratory infections for both and the beginning of an ear infection for Lee.

In one word I can explain how they both felt...miserable.

On Saturday I started feeling sick but not too awful.

Lee  was MUCH better and Abby was still about the same.

Last night after dinner K and I were talking.

There have been a lot of things going on lately and I really feel like a certain someone {Satan} is trying to steal my Christmas joy.

Last year, due to what I now know was depression, Christmas was a bit rough for me.

I enjoyed watching my children enjoy it, but for me it was a rough time.

Due to some meds, I have such a better outlook on this year {Christmas is my FAVORITE holiday} and was so looking forward to this year.

Like I said though, things just keep piling up and are threatening to completely overwhelm me.

I can feel it trying to take over and I am trying to shake it.

I am trying to ground myself in Christ and really give this all to Him because I really want to worship and celebrate this season, Christ's birth.

I ended up going to bed early last night, I just couldn't keep my eyes open, and got a wonderful night's sleep.

Today I am feeling so much better.

I think that devoting some extra time in the Word will help tremendously.

I woke up last night when K came to bed and he has caught what the girls have.

As I have mentioned before, K is a severe asthmatic.

I see breathing treatments and steriods in our future.

Would you please pray for him?
Thanks you guys!

Today, I am thinking about making some homemade pizza and trying to decide what yummy treats we should bake when it gets a bit closer to Christmas.

Decisions decisions.

These though are the fun kinds to make, ha ha!

How has your weekend gone?
What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Our Christmas must have are butter balls, yum-o!

Gobble Gooble and bringin' in the Christmas Fun

Why hello again!

How was your Thanksgiving?

We had. a. blast.

We spent Thanksgiving with K's family and let me tell ya, good times were had by all.

This was my plate post-copious-quantities-of-turkey-consumption.

If I could have bathed in the gravy I would have, delish!

The kids played with their cousins and the adults had fun chatting and watching the children's talent show.

Adison sang a couple of songs and Ainsley, YES Ainsley, got up and danced!

Friday afternoon, K and I headed out on shopping date with a food break at Chick-fil-a.

I LOVE eating there.

This picture of K cracks me up, he's such a ham!

Right after I snapped this picture of K this guy came out.

The first thought that popped into my head is that a huge, dancing Santa cow would flip my kids out!

We got *almost* all of our shopping done and I am beyond thrilled.

We picked up a few games and couldn't wait to take them back to K's parents' house to play them.

Surprisingly {or not} all of our children were freaked out by the game Operation.

Adison said it was too much for her {she's very sound sensitive}, Ainsley cried which then freaked Abby out and lead to her crying.

K eventually went into the other room to play a game with Adison and Abby while I worked on getting Lee over her fear of the buzzing noise with the bright red light from when she would hit the metal on the game.

I think with her it was a bit scary but she is also a bit of a perfectionist and not getting it right away was just too much for her.

Eventually I convinced her that the buzzing sound was kind of like music, which made her happy, and we practiced playing the game.

She was a bit too young for it, but ended up having fun.

Later that night we all got together again.

Pizza and a movie.

The children LOVE seeing each other!

{All 7 cousins}

We decided to head home Saturday, to give us some rest time and get our Christmas decorations up.

The sunset on the way home was gorgeous!

I wish the picture did it justice, but it doesn't.

Hey look, it's me!

The girls were so tired that they could barely keep their eyes open.

Well, Abby couldn't at all, she fell asleep before we were on the highway.

Lee somehow managed to stay awake, I was shocked.

Adison was completely out of it watching a movie.

We all went to bed really early Saturday evening and woke up ready to decorate.

I don't decorate too much for other holidays, but for Christmas we go all out.

I think I have 7 or so tubs of Christmas decorations, I can't help myself.

This year though, I showed some restraint and didn't put everything up, only most of it.

Ha!

Tell me about your weekend, how did it go?

It's beginning to look a bit like Christmas

We had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G weekend.

My mom came in town on Saturday to celebrate this sweet girl's birthday.

This picture cracks. me. up.

I asked her to smile and this was the cute face that she made.

On Saturday we got together with my mom, brother, sister-in-law and niece.

It is always so much fun to get all of the kids together and watch them interact.

Abby got A LOT of Elmo stuff, she was over the moon excited.

After lunch K took the littles home to nap while Adison and I headed out with my mom.

I miss my mom so much, it was nice to spend the day with her.

Sunday was the laziest day ever.

K went to the store and picked up 3 bottles of my new favorite coffee creamer flavor, sweetest hubby ever!

We did manage to put up our little Christmas tree.

It's a little 4 ft tree that is just so much fun.

Adison and Ainsley helped decorate it and Abby was THRILLED to see it when she got up from her nap.

This morning Abby had her 2 year check up.

While we were in the waiting room, Lee and Abby were acting like silly little rascals.

Abby was running around then suddenly stopped, looked down and said, "Help Mama!"

Turns out her new pants fell off of her and were down around her knees, ha ha!

Abby is tiny y'all.

Tiny.

She is in the 10th to 25th percentile.

How did my biggest baby end up being my smallest?

Our doctor said that she looks amazing and is on track.

He also checked out Ainsley, who still has her funky cough/throat clearing thing going on and said that she look just fine.

He thinks it might be viral.

How was your weekend?
Did you do any Christmas decorating?

A walk in the woods

This weekend was a nice one.

The weather was gorgeous.

We, of course, had to get out in it.

On Sunday, we, along with my dad, took the girls for a walk in the woods.

My girls love to be outside.

To be able to look at everything and run.

While on the walk Abby and I were typically walking behind everyone else.

Everything is new and exciting to her.

Something to touch, jump on and look at.

With a cute little face like this, how could you tell her no?

 K snapped this photo of the girls, I LOVE it!

Okay folks, I feel like I have so much to share but I've got to get off of the computer.

Muah!

Just like Tarzan

  

We decided to visit K's family over the weekend and have an early birthday party for the girls.

Yesterday we decided to visit the Arboretum and have a picnic lunch.

After a delicious lunch of fried chicken, apples and other such yumminess we decided to explore.

We were walking through a wooded area and found a huge vine that a couple of boys and Adison {who had run ahead} were swinging on. Adison looked like she was having a blast!

The boys and their parents continued on the trail leaving our party and the vine.

I couldn't resist, it looked like so much fun.

I pulled on the vine a couple of times, tested it with my weight and then went for it.

It was so much fun!!!!

Swinging through the air, the wind, the trees, the cheering from our family.

Simply exhilarating. And then I had to do it a few more times.

Yo- title by Kirk

I couldn't decide what to title today's post.

So I asked K, he told me "Yo" so "Yo" it is.

This weekend has been pretty laid back.

Yesterday morning we went to the Farmer's Market.

We snagged all sorts of yumminess that was chomped on all afternoon.

In the evening we had church.

A nice, laid-back, easy Saturday.

Oh, and I got a nap in.

All around a success.

This morning all three girls cuddled on the recliner together and watched some cartoons.

I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the cuteness.

We finally decided to head out to Target.

It was there we discovered the Halloween costumes.

I personally think I make a lovely hot dog and K makes a darling banana.

The kids thought it was hysterical {and were probably wondering if we had lost our minds}.

{P.S. Target has Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer}

After that we stopped by to see my brother and sister-in-law for a bit.

Adison then asked if we could go for a hike.

It was a gorgeous afternoon so why not.

Abby was so into K.

She wanted him to hold his hand most of the time.

On the rare occasion that I got to hold her hand she would suddenly change her mind and call for her Daddy.

Hey look, it's me!

This nice couple was walking the trail as well.

They offered to snap a picture of the five of us before we got into the woods.

As you can tell the walk was impromptu as seen by Ainsley and I wearing flip flops.

The big girls had so much fun running through the woods.

Poor Abby tried to keep up but her little legs got tired easily and she would want to be carried for a bit.

K and I were more than happy to.

At this point in the walk Adison and Ainsley decided to collect rocks.

Ainsley said it was to

scare off animals or dinosaurs

All three girls.

K and I got to hold hands for a bit and watch our three girls enjoy nature.

It was such a nice moment.

I just had to include this picture.

Abby is such a silly little cutie pie.

How has your weekend been?

All I needed was a slice of apple pie

Yesterday afternoon we took the girls to a new park.

It was about 20 minutes away from our fair city.

All we knew was that the park was in a certain town, we didn't know anything more.

K packed up a picnic lunch while I got the kids ready to go.

Past corn fields and grain elevators.

As we pull into the town we were wondering where the park could be.

We passed high school boys standing outside the fire station waving American flags.

We passed a baseball diamond and there, behind the diamond we saw it..

The park.

Oh if you could of heard the whoops and hollers of our three children.

We pull into the parking lot and immediately noticed all the cars.

Two families were having some get togethers.

We pulled into our space, got the kids out of the car and let them go to the playground.

They were ready and all but sprinted to discover the new fun things that awaited their exploration.

The bigger girls quickly found other children to play with while Abby was more than happy to explore by herself.

K and I watched the excitement while unpacking our lunches and getting things ready.

Kids, time to eat!

Do I have to eat now?

No, you can eat when you are ready for a break.

K and I talked and ate and watched the kids while they played.

Laughing and commenting on how they each found the thing that they like to do.

Adison- the swings

Ainsley- the slides

Abby- the bouncy bridge

The girls would come and go, eating and then running off to play.

At one time, Abby finished eating, looked back at Ainsley and said:

Come on, sister

After a bit the girls all called for Daddy to come play with them.

They are used to me playing, Daddy being at the park was a treat.

I sat there, finishing up my lunch and taking it all in.

The sound of my children laughing with my husband.

The corn fields just beyond the playground.

The baseball diamond off to the left.

It was a snapshot of America.

Such a blessed way to spend an anniversary of such horrific trauma.

This was America.

Families.

Children laughing.

Being together.

Then, to make the afternoon even more wonderful a trio of older adults came with their musical instruments.

One man played the guitar and sang, another man played the fiddle and the woman also played her fiddle.

In between songs, the trio would talk and laugh a bit.

Then I could hear the music again and occasionally the sound of the man singing.

The children would come and go, needing drinks or a snack.

I played and rode with Ainsley on the swing for a bit, went down the slides with Abby and explored the playground with Adison.

Ainsley wanted to swing so high that we could touch the trees.

Eventually K and I made our way back to the table.

I then told him that all we needed was a piece of apple pie because it doesn't get any more American then that moment.

Yesterday afternoon was a treat.

A moment when the world felt right again.

When all was as it should be.

Our Ah-mazing Weekend

On Friday morning we headed out to St. Louis because K's cousin was getting married.

At first Abby and I weren't planning on going, she was so miserable on Thursday that even the thought of going on Friday was out of the question.

When she woke up Friday morning she was like a different child, still not quite "Abby" but much much better.

We met up with K's parents as we were caravaning with them and we finished the rest of our journey.

Still not quite 100% but she was smiling!

{The doctor told me that she would be better on day two of antibiotics, he was right!}

Then we got stuck in traffic and I saw this sign.

It was hysterical!

We were staying with K's aunt, it was so nice of her to let the 5 of us crash there.

We went to the wedding on Friday evening.

It was beautiful and the minister was awesome!

We had a babysitter watch the kiddos so K and I could head out to the reception.

It. was. so. much. fun!

Not a great picture, but let's pretend that it is okay?

Great!

The next day K had to do some work so the kids and I tagged along.

While we were at the mall the kids found this really cool, interactive floor/picture/thing.

And they discovered the escalators.

Apparently going up and down them by yourself CAREFULLY is all the rage with the younger crowd.

At least that's how my kids acted.

The nice thing is that the escalators were really small hence me feeling comfortable with the whole thing.

Afterwards we headed over to K's cousin's house.

Oh my word.

It was one of those afternoons that you want your kids to remember forever because it was so amazing.

There were lots of kids and fun and sun AND Abby was her good 'ol self again!

They played in the sprinkler, did a slip-n-slide, had a water balloon fight and looked for frogs.

It truly was the most magical summer day that I can think of.

There was also some grillin' and strawberry eatin' going on.

She was fiercely protective of her strawberry.

Sunday morning we headed over to my in-law's hotel so the kids could get in some last minute swimming and then we headed out for lunch.

Then K got me a vanilla cupcake cappuccino and Adison pretended to squish things while waiting for K to pump gas.

All 13 of us {K's parents, the five of us plus his sister, her hubby and their 4 kids} had some good food and all headed back to good 'ol Kansas.

On the way home we hit some AWFUL weather.

We saw the storm coming at us and it actually made me kind of nervous.

I looked up at the clouds at one point and told K that I saw rotation in the clouds.

Then the entire thing started rotating and the winds hit hard!

K said that the leaves came off of the trees and started spinning around on the road.

{I was too busy staring at the sky.}

We hightailed it out of there only to be slammed with rain so hard that you couldn't see very far in front of you while getting hit by the wind.

We discovered later via the radio that a lot of building sustained roof damage and one roof was ripped completely off of a house!

Down the road a bit a semi jack-knifed and they closed it for a bit.

Luckily no one was hurt.

It was a pretty long drive home though.

We were all pretty sick of being in the car.

This picture of Ainsley sums it up perfectly.

Ha ha!

We truly had the most wonderful time!

We are ready to head back!

How was your weekend?

Wow, now that is what I call a weekend!

My Dad invited us to his company's 21st birthday celebration at some beautiful botanical gardens that were about 3 hours from our house.
That town also happens to be where one of K's fraternity brothers and family live.
We were supposed to visit them a while ago but Lee had a stomach bug that nixed that plan.
Anyways
.
.
.
Botanical Gardens~

It was beautiful.

They had a brand new children's garden that was so much fun.

The kids ran around like little chicks.

Abby fell in love with a mosaic water fountain. 
 

 

{Apparently I laugh really loud, so you have to listen closely for Abby's hysterical giggle.}

The entire garden was beautiful.

K and I took a lot of pictures that I will probably intersperse in the next few posts.

But this picture of Abby and my Dad is just too sweet.

He was thrilled that she wanted to go through the garden with him.

Then as awe were leaving we stopped to look at a beautiful pond with a Weeping Willow right next to it.
If I were ever going to do an outdoor wedding, that would be the spot.
{I think K might have gotten a photo, I'll have to check.}
While we were looking at this beautiful place we saw that there were two duck standing at the waters edge.
Abby was thrilled to see them, tried to get a closer look and tumbled into some tall grass.
She hoped back up, no tears and we went on our merry way.
Then K and I saw what the grass had done to her face.

Poor thing had cuts on her nose, lips, chin, both cheeks and both arms.
It was awful!
She was a trooper about it.
Poor baby!

Saturday we decided to do something indoors because the temperature was beastly hot.
Indoor putt putt won the vote.
We got there and discovered that their air conditioner was broken and had been for a month.
It was hot.
Oh well, we were having too much fun together to complain.

K's friend T and his was J were so incredibly sweet.
The have two boys that were very close in age to Adison and Ainsley.
The kids got along famously and it was just a wonderful weekend.

Saturday evening as T was grilling, Lee and her little buddy were playing dress up.
This is a costume that was a first for us, ha ha!

She was a wonderful Iron Man.
{Her face broke out from some sort of allergic reaction., I need to talk with her doctor about this.}


On Sunday K and I overslept and we missed church.
We both felt awful about it, sorry guys!


We decided to head out for breakfast and my oh my, the place we went was soooo good!
I got an omelet with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and avocado.
It has become my new favorite.


Shortly after we headed home.
To get there we went through an area of Kansas called the Flint Hills.
I was awestruck by their beauty on the way down and made sure to take a few on the way home.

I told K on the way home that I have lived in Kansas for the last 15 years and never truly appreciated the beauty until recently.
Sure the summers and winters are miserable, but the land is gorgeous.

How about you, how was your weekend?