Appreciation for (invasion of the body snatchers...just sayin'. doo doo doo doo...) husband, Sunday, the 48th

This week.....

Corey cleaned up Kate's throw up and let me stay in bed...Seriously UNHEARD OF AROUND HERE!!!!

He let me have a two hour Sunday nap...which is almost unheard of, I am not a napper.

and an hour to also read in bed.....I have been reading "True Grit". A good little entertaining read.

He made dinner for the kids....

He had them all in bed by 8....

Hid chocolates for me in his pocket for Rhett's basketball game.

Help me.

I'm scared.

There are some draw backs to having little siblings. But some sweet advantages as well.

This is the second time that Justine has learned the sad truth about sharing her bed with a little sister. The first time it was in her hair, the second time on her new comforter.

Little Kate has the flu.

It has been a quiet, peaceful day on the home front. (sleeping with "pig", and her princess slippers while daddy watches the Steeler football game in his new fancy pants)

Little china doll

But the advantage to being puked on comes when her "chore" is to cuddle with sicki-poo on the couch so the rest of us can get the house cleaned up. So the other kids did real work while Justine snuggled the fevery little person. I figure if you have been woken up at night to throw up in your bed.... you get the easy chores.





Our sad little Josie. She has gotten so old and is getting close to the end of her journey. She has been a gift to us.

Just a few UPDATES!

My boys dared a friend to stick his tongue to a frozen pole.... He did it.... Long live "The Christmas Story".

Kate locks me out of the house everyday when I walk Bo to the bus. I have to remember to bring my keys or I will be in trouble. As in...Locked out.

One of my BFF's had her 7th baby. Her other baby is only 16 months. I am filled with loving envy. That means, I love her but I am envious. I want those babies! I might be a little crazy, yes I realize. The new baby's name is Emerson. Doesn't that just have artist written all over it?

I fell again. Down a few stairs in the back yard wearing generic crocs. It hurt. Bo screamed in panic. It was a little sad. He'll get use to it.

My new father in law calls me pet names. I almost cried over it the first few times. That was before I realized that is just a standard with him. I am looking forward to a life of pet names from now on! All of my life I have wanted to be called pet names. I was determined my husband would call me pet names but alas... it never happens. I call my kids pet names. I will not let them grow up pet nameless. Their pet names range from babe, baby, lovey, honey, sweetie, sweetheart, pumpkin pie, dollie.....any mushy gooshie discustingly annoying pet name I can get away with calling them....I call them. My new father in law called me sweetie and sweetheart all in one night. I almost melted and later I almost cried thinking about it. He calls me "sis" also. For some reason a pet name is a big "you are okay" to me. Probably because I am a "words of affirmation" kinda gal. Have you read "The 5 love languages"? Gotta do it! Helps you understand many a thing in your relationships.

I found another Woody doll. And yes, I buckled and bought it. And yes, Bo kissed his hat in the back seat of the car like 10 times. And yes, I paid 10$ more for him than I did the first time I bought him. And yes, Corey knows. And yes, I am in trouble. And yes, he was worth every penny. (He has gone for show and tell today)

McDonald's new fruit and oatmeal is super yummy.

I have been continuing my serious contemplation about whether or not I am done having babies. If you asked Corey I am DONE. But I just don't know what the right choice is. So one night before I went to bed I prayed about it before I fell asleep. And then I had the sweetest dream and I was pregnant. And I was so happy about it. But then I learned it was with a boyfriend and not my husband. So then I decided it must not be an answer to my prayer. So a few weeks later I had another dream. I was in church giving a talk and telling the congregation about my family. I was telling them about one of our sons we had adopted when he was 6. I was telling them about what a SPECIAL experience it was. I have ALWAYS thought I would adopt. So maybe that could have been an answer to my prayer. I mean the room was filled with such sweetness as I talk about adopting this son. And then I announced his name was "Elmo".......... ...... ...... So now I am thinking that dreams are not very helpful ways to have your prayerful questions answered.

My mom took me to lunch again. And she paid again. Even. though. I. had. my. wallet. A little boy got hurt and came up to her for a random hug. Shes a grandma! There is your proof. When random little children come up for hugs that is when you know you are a grandma. We had a fun time laughing again.

Birds falling from the sky freak me out.

That is all for now!

How the Heffernans saved my marrriage.

Okay. That is a little extreme........


But I love the Heffernans! And Corey and I have a date every night at 10:00pm PROMT which sometimes includes food and always includes a whole lot of giggling. Is it manly to giggle? Probably not but it is what it is, right?

One night Corey told me as we were cracking up at Doug.... "You are just happier lately".


And I thought about it. I can be grumpier in the evenings. And knowing we are going to crack up later makes me happy. And the Heffernans just make me happy. I am sorry if that is shallow. I am sorry if TV is a mind numbing waste of time. I am sorry if the Heffernans really don't matter at all because they aren't even real people. They make me cheery in the evening when the day has been a lot of madness (not as in anger but as in craziness).

"DOUGLAAASSSSS!!!!!!!!!" .......Sorry, you have to be there!

"You shall not paassss"

Over the Christmas/New Year break we had our annual Lord of the Rings Marathon.



Normally I don't watch because I like to sleep at night but this year I participated. I have been quite enjoying myself. We (including all four older kids) did not go to bed before 1:00am the whole week long. Good thing we got to sleep in until 10:00am.



The men on LOTR are so heroic and wonderful. My favorite just might be....




Eomer! I love him...



And don't even get me started on Legolas. He has all the best lines. The kids couldn't quit laughing at me because during the scene where he is flitting up the elephant I said, "It probably helps since he is a fairy." I was serious. They screamed at me "an ELF!!!!!" Oh yeah.


But he is wonderful.





and I love Aragorn of course. I don't care WHO thinks his hair is a little too greasy compared to the other hero's. He has been at war people ! How dare you judge!




But I get such the heebie jeebies when ever shmegal is on. That little creepy guy freaks me out Big time!


BIG TIME!

I can hardly stand him. I also kept getting in trouble because I kept calling him SCHmegal instead of Smegal. The kids think I am so old.

Nothing like Christmas day fun with the neighbor's pit bull

I have to admit, I am rather scared of pit bulls. You know, seeing as I have small children and rabbits.

But Corey, who is scared of literally NOTHING (how would that be?) has made a new friend. And I have to admit he is kinda cute is a "Turner and Hooch" sort of way. But mostly I am still scared.

Christmas morning, while we were cleaning up breakfast and waiting for Corey to give permission to open presents he calls me out to meet his new friend.

Ta da!

Great, honey!

Corey said as he was taking out the trash the dog brought him a stick. Corey threw it and it quickly turned into a game. The dog would stand on the wood pile wait for Corey to throw it and then fetch it and be back in a jiffy.

Super strong...

Good to have friends, ya know?

Appreciation for husband, Sunday, the 47th and Khronicles of Kate

Holy Happy New Year and fun Christmas break! I might have some future posts to do on the subject matter so sorry about that but I just haven't had time to document my life yet as I was busy livin' it! And how fun it was!

But during the chaos I looked at my boys and realized how out of control their hair was. I usually shave their heads. I would rather have a "real' haircut but don't want to pay for it. As the boys have gotten older they have wanted "real" hair cuts as well. Occasionally I relent but mostly I still shave. One of my BFF's gave them a "real" haircut for free (thanks!) when school started in Aug. and that was the last they have had a hair cut of either type.

All of that to say I convinced Corey he could do just as good of a job as I could and thankfully he gave it a go. He did a great job on all three boys. One less thing I had to do and I really appreciated his help as my day had been super busy cooking, yet again, our new favorite food.... APPETIZERS.

It was so cute...Kate sat on the table through Nathan's whole hair cut. She had the attachment to the clippers and she would run it through his hair as Corey was also shaving with the clippers. Excess cut hair was coming off on Kate's attachment so she thought she was actually cutting his hair as well. She kept telling him "You're cute , you're cute." and loving on him. It was really sweet.

Although it only barely makes up for this.....

Craft paint on my carpet. NEVER had a kid EVER get into my drawer and touch my paint. But still....as Corey made perfectly clear....I should have known better. Ugh. I googled it and google said peroxide might get it out. But to not let it dry or scrub it which makes it worse. Sadly we did both.

Still love her though. Can't change that.