Hair

Ok so most of you are aware that my kids have a lot of hair. Charlie really needs a hair cut but I can seem to do it. He's had several haircuts but I love his hair a little long. He has the cutest curls and I love running my hands through it. Chaz keeps telling me that he's going to go buzz it off if I don't cut it soon. I'm so afraid that I'll cut all the curl out of his hair. That happen to Abby. She used to have a curl on the tips of her hair and I messed it up by cutting her hair. But after this last weekend I'm starting to realize how long his hair really is. I think I may need to take him to the barber. My poor little man. I know one day he'll come home and I'll be giving him a hard time about his messy hair but for now I think it's adorable.

Easter!

We had a great day on Sunday. The kids had a lot of fun hunting easter eggs and I had a good time eating the candy.

Abby's painting job

For awhile I've been wanting to paint the playroom. We spent so much time up there and I was tired of staring at white walls so Friday I decided that I was finally going to do it. So after I put the kids down for a nap I went to work. I decided that I might as well paint the bookshelves too while I was at it. Because they are so heavy I couldn't carry them downstairs so I thought the back patio would be perfect so I drug them out there and started priming them. I worked a good hour and a half before the kids woke up which stopped me being able to work out side so I decided while they were playing in the playroom I would get started on that. I had put the blue paint, the new wall color for the playroom, on the back porch to keep the kids out of it. Everything was going pretty good. Abby was asking tons of questions about what I was doing but pretty much staying out of the way. After a couple of minutes I noticed it was a little quiet, then I heard a door shut. My first reaction was oh no, Abby went out the front door. So I ran down stairs and looked at the front lawn, didn't see her tried the back door, no Abby. Then it hit me, she's up stairs on the back porch. I ran as fast as I could and found her sitting on a paint can painting the house blue. She not only did that but painted my bookshelves too. There was paint everywhere, all over the balcony, her and the house. She seemed to be so pleased with herself at the painting job she had done. Meanwhile, I was in shock. I couldn't believe what a mess she created in just a couple of minutes. Anyway, I won't get into the details of what happened next. Just know that she was in time out for about 30 minutes till Chaz got home and could deal with her who was covered in paint. I still haven't cleaned up outside, so here's a picture of her painting job to enjoy.

Counting my blessings!

This morning I went to a funeral for a baby that lived only 13 days. It was heartbreaking to watch the parents have to say good-bye to their sweet baby boy. I can't imagine that feeling. I don't think I could ever get over something like that but then again I'm sure no one thinks they would, yet they do. Losing a child, especially a baby has to be the hardest thing a person could ever do. I pray I never have to know what that feels like. I do however know what it feels like to lose a brother but that could never compare to what a parent goes through losing a child. I look at Abby's and Charlie's sweet faces and today, especially thank God that He chose for them to live healthy, happy lives. It's hard not to question why God chooses some over others to live but I do know that He is a fair and a just God. As a pediatric nurse, I see very sick children. Some who have never talked, eaten food by mouth, or looked into their parent's face and yet God choose these children to live. I think that sometimes He chooses others to go be with him to spare them from pain they would have here. I know Michael was not living a healthy, happy life and God saved him from that. I now thank God for sparing Michael anymore pain. That's a blessing to me!! I pray that someday these parents will find blessings in all this. That maybe their child was spared a lifetime of pain and suffering. He's in a place that is free from all this. It makes me so thankful for all the things that He has blessed me with. My children are such a gift and at times I forget that. Between potty training, breaking up fights and just trying to get things done around the house, today I was forced to stop all those things and remember how precious life is and how precious my children are. I don't deserve them and yet God gave them to me. I will promise the parent's of this sweet baby that I will remember the blessing that Cash was and the reminder that God giveth and He taketh away. I pray that God showers this sweet family with comfort and peace and may this remind all of us that this life is so short and we must not waste any moment. Hold your children today and show them how much of a blessing they really are.

Girl's Night Out

Abby and I went out on a date Friday night just the two of us. We were celebrating her wearing big girl panties. Even though were still having some accidents, she is doing great. So we went out to celebrate by going to dinner and to paint some pottery. We had so much fun together and it reminded me that I need to spend more time with Abby by herself than I do. Plus I'd forgotten how much easier it is to get out with only one kid. I loved watching her get into the painting of her rabbit. I painted a plate that we put Abby's hand on. She placed her hand down a little weird which is why it looks funny but I still love it. I love doing creative things and wished I had more time to do it. I think I'm going to take the kids back and do some things for the grandmothers. Anyway we will be doing it again. Abby really needs quality time with me and I need to give her that. I know I need it too.

Valentine's Party

Wed. we went to our annual Valentine party with some of our dear friends. The same group gets together for everything. It was so much fun watching the kids decorate their cookies and make their cards. This year the little ones got to be in on some of the fun too. Charlie couldn't wait to dig into his cookie and got it everywhere. Abby really concentrated on her cookie and they looked pretty tasty. Next year it will be really interesting with all the little ones really into everything along with the older ones. Should be fun!! Happy Valentine's Day!

Ski Trip 2008

Well we survived our first trip as a family of four to Taos, New Mexico. We left last Sunday morning at 5:00 am and got back at 11:00 pm last night. It was a long week but loads of fun. Both kids did so much better in the car than I thought they would. I don't know what I would do without our DVD player but I think I have hours of Blues Clues and Dora memorized. It was a 12 hour drive and the kids slept a total of 45 min in the car. As many of you know my kids are not sleepers and this trip was certainly no exception. Charlie slept a total of 3-4 hours a night and would only take a small hour nap during the day. That didn't seem to slow him down though. Abby did better and would slept around 7 hours a night. Despite not sleeping the whole week we did have a lot of fun. It snowed the whole time we were there. My car ended up getting stuck in about 5 feet of snow and took hours to get out. The skiing was great! I've never seen so much snow! It was a winter wonderland for sure. Abby was so excited about skiing. I wasn't going to bother putting her in ski school because I just knew she would freak out as soon as they put on those heavy boots but she proved me wrong. She was a natural and loved it. Who knew that my little girl who is so afraid of everything would love skiing. We couldn't get her off the mountain. Charlie also loved the snow. He looked hilarious with all his snow gear on. He was all over the place and worn all of us out. We went with Chaz's whole family and stayed in his family's cabin they've had for over 40 years in Tres Ritos. It's so cute and opening presents on Christmas morning in the moutains, with all the snow was priceless. We all had a great time but glad to be home and back to 70 degree weather. Merry Christmas to everyone and happy New Year. May yours be a blessed one.

Happy Birthday, Abby!!

Abby riding her new bike.

Chaz and me dressed for his work holiday party.

Abby right after she got her bike.

Monica and sweet Annie. Could be one of Charlie future girlfriends. No pressure but she is cute.

My dear friend, Stacey and her two precious girls.

Sweet little Andrew, always happy.

Emma and Addie enjoying their lunch.

My precious little princess. Happy birthday, Abby!!

I can't believe my little Abby is 3 years old! She's growing up too fast. We had her princess party on Friday and it was crazy but fun. All her little friends were there to celebrate and Abby was so excited. Chaz and I got her a bike which she loved and still can't stop thanking us for it. It's so sweet when out of no where she comes over and says thank you so much for her beautiful bike. I did make her cake this year too which I'm not sure I will do again. By the pictures you can tell that's it's a castle cake and it took forever to make. I didn't even want to eat it because I was so sick of looking at it. Abby loved it which I was glad. The party went better than I thought. I knew it was going to be crazy with so many little girls and several little ones Charlie age but it went pretty smooth. I was so tired afterwards but glad that Abby was so happy. Right after her party Chaz and I had to get ready for his office party. That was fun too and it was fun to get all dressed up since I never get too. We got a hotel room for that night which was great. I was disappointed when we found out that they were out of king beds but it was kind of nice having my own bed all to myself. I went up by myself and went to bed by 10:30. Chaz stayed and hung out with friends. I actually loved the quiet time to myself. We then slept in and went to breakfast before going home. We hadn't had that much time to ourselves in a long time. It was so nice just being together. But I was ready to go home and see the kiddos too. I want to post more about Abby and her birthday later but here are some pics from her party. Lots of princesses and pink. Happy Birthday my little princess!!

A week I'd rather forget!

I usually don't like posting negative stuff but this last week was worth writing about even though I'd rather never remember it again. It all started with Charlie not sleeping for 3 nights and not taking much of a nap either. He never ran fever and didn't show a lot of signs of being sick so I just thought that he was teething. Finally on Wed. I decided to take the poor baby to the doctor who then did a test that revealed that Charlie had strep throat. Oh joy! I felt so guilty for not taking him in sooner and then realized that Abby was probably going to get it too. At least I was a little more prepared for her to have it. So off we go home with meds and praying for sleep. Wed. was a my brother's birthday, which was hard but I was so busy with kids that I didn't have much time to think about it. Which I guess was good but today it all hit me and I've been depressed all day. I think the stress of the week had finally caught up to me. I was so tired by Thurs. that I almost fell asleep driving home from church. It only got worse Thurs. night when I was trying to get Abby to come down the stairs when she started to throw a fit. I was holding on to her and so when she did this I started to fall. I did catch myself by not with much grace. I felt my toe, the one next to the smallest one, bend back and pop. I knew that it was broken. Of coarse Friday Abby came down with fever and is now also on meds for strep. Chaz and I haven't gonen it yet but my luck it will on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile I've got my toe wrapped and bracing myself for the Turkey trot. I'm not going to let a small stupid toe stop me from running. I love running the Turkey trot on Thanksgiving and haven't ran it in years because I was either pregnant or just had a baby. So this year nothing is going to stop me. I know this week has to be better than this last one. We're hoping to go see my dad tomorrow so I pray that goes ok. The kids are doing better today and hope we are past everything. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and I promise my next post won't be so negative.

Happy Halloween!

All the sweet babies.

Lots of princesses this year.

My little shark.

My little mermaid.

We had a great time at our annual Halloween party at the Ridgell's. Chaz went as a cast away, I went as a pirate, Abby was a mermaid and Charlie was the cutest shark. Hope everyone had a fun holiday and didn't eat too much candy. There's also some pics from the pumpkin patch we went to last week. I finally was able to get some good pictures of the kids there.

High School Reunion

This last weekend we made to big trip to Abilene for my 10 year reunion. It was so much fun! It was great seeing people that I haven't seen since graduation. So many haven't changed and others are completely different. It so funny to now talk about our kids. Chaz and the kids went with me to Abilene but Chaz went to the ACU football game instead of going to the reunion with me, which worked out great. I was able to go with one of my long-time friends, Stacey, and we had a blast. We also had fun staying my aunt and uncle who have been like parents to me. They have lots of different kinds of animals so the kids had a blast playing with them. Charlie just chased the turkey around the whole time. It was hilarious! That poor turkey didn't know what to do. Anyway it was a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing everyone. Can't wait till the next time we all get together.