No Cool Title....

I am up late. Again. Daddy Piper has work tomorrow. Only one day but we'll take it. We are doing a field trip with our homeschool group. My plan to stay home has been working out well. I filled up my gas tank 10 days ago and will need to fill up again tomorrow before the field trip . We are more caught up on our lessons than ever before. And the house looks wonderful. Laundry is almost done. Things are more organized around here. S is really into the lessons, mostly. He did balk about doing them yesterday though. I did wait till the afternoon since we had homeschool group. No more afternoon learning for him. This morning, Daddy Piper and S worked on writing letters on the chalkboard on the outdoor playset. I guess that's a benefit to homeschooling - do the work anywhere!!

S and Daddy Piper ran to the Depot to get sheetrock and other stuff to finish fixing the playroom ceiling from the damage last week. J took a nap. L & I had lunch together, watching Balto, eating off the trays together. That was fun and a surprise for L to have me sit and eat lunch with her. Simple things = big rewards.

Quick hide and seek this afternoon. Mama hid under the crib and no one could find me forever. They walked back and forth right me and never found me until I grabbed L's ankle, causing her to scream very loud :-)

This afternoon was L's Daisy meeting. I had to get seeds for the troop. L & I ran to Lowe's to get the seeds. It was fun to pick out the seeds together. Having L for my daughter rocks. We play the yellow game constantly together. She hates going the peacock way. We left Lowe's chasing each other out to the van. Back to Daisy's - the girls made Valentine's for their troop they are exchanging with. L seemed to be out of sorts a bit - couldn't really find her group to hang with. It is difficult to see her struggle like that. Especially since I has the same struggle myself last night at Bunco. I only knew the host and everyone else knew it each other. I was just subbing. I did end up having a great time and won $20 to boot!! I do that to myself - try new things, with new people always hoping......

This afternoon/evening, Daddy Piper had J outside for a few hours. He is such an outdoor kid. I am just amazed at the outdoor gene that flows from Daddy Piper to his kids. I am an indoor girl, through and through but not my kids. L is becoming more so inside liking but will still play outside when she is given the choice.

Tonight was my 3rd night a row to be out and about. Such a social life I have :-) L was upset last night and called me. Tonight she was even more upset, wanting to join me. It was a card making class for adults. I have enjoyed the time to myself but truly - when I am gone from my kids, I just miss them. I have 2 nights scheduled next week - dinner with friends and then book club on Thursday. Just joined that book club last night, without realizing it, I guess.

Favorite Memory for Today

This morning, I was resting on the couch before the kids woke up for the day. S came out and snuggled on the couch with me. Then J woke up, needing some mama milk so I pulled him close to nurse. When he was done, S was loving and kissing on J. He gave him Eskimo kisses and then explained to J what the kisses were. It was so sweet. My boys ROCK!

Now it's off to ChikFilA for some playtime with a great friend I haven't seen in months!

Bedtime

All the kiddos are settled for the night. The evening went well or not at times I guess. There was alot of raised voices during the cleaning of the playroom. Ack - I hate being mean but goodness, we should be able to walk through the room without tripping over a million toys! We had sent a 15 minute timer but after 2 kids repeatedly sitting down, trying to run out the clock, we turned off the clock and just got the whole room clean. L was not a very good listener during this chore. She had to go into timeout. She doesn't get timeout very often but her listening has become a problem more and more lately. I think it might be an attention thing so I need to work on that. We are also having a very physical problem with hitting and fighting. They are playing, wrestling like but still, super physical and someone always get hurt... ugh! J likes to get involved and chases them down. L & S are into hiding from him to play in peace right now. I suppose that will change as time goes. It will probably be more S & J playing and L doing her own thing.

We made this yummy snack thing for lunch today. It was a whole wheat tortilla with peanut butter, chopped apples, shredded carrots, wheat germ and granola. It was sooo good. The kids loved it. L didn't like the granola part but liked the rest of it. It is nice to feed them something so healthy and have them enjoy it!

Chores were completed for the day though so that was nice.

Merry Christmas 2009!

Perfect - this was a perfect Christmas from start to finish. I don't believe I have ever declared a holiday or any special event perfect before. The morning started out with L running in yelling "He brought me a fish!". Santa had brought her a fish - just as requested. I got up and came out (so thankful I put the coffee last night!) and then L woke up S to see his requested item, a GraveDigger Monster Truck. Daddy Piper got up quickly to attend to the fire mishap. I had started a fire but forgot to open the damper to release the smoke. I hadn't ever had it closed on me before and when I started the fire this morning, smoke filled the house - oops!! Anyway he got up, I got J and we started our Christmas morning. Thankfully all this happened at 8 this morning - not too early! S was classic waking up - he stumbled down the hall, almost crabby for being woke up, only to find a GraveDigger Remote Control awaiting him. He rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. It was so cool to see him this way. If I had been more prepared, I would have grabbed the camera only 2 feet from me but I didn't. I lived the moment instead. J was super excited to see his own Pottery Barn chair. All the kids have them. They are worth every penny. We didn't have to buy this one though since Santa brought it : -) We spent the next couple of hours opening gifts, hear glorious squeals over the socks and undies in the stockings (S was sooooooo excited over his undies - he opened them and checked them out one by one). Their stockings were so full this year, Santa couldn't even hang them back up, he had to sit them by the fireplace - what a problem indeed!! We gathered close to the fire and finished opening all the goodies, which included things like the socks and undies, moon sand (bad idea Santa), glitter glue, Transformer trucks, sippies for J, nail polish and lip stuff for S, movies and Playdoh. Santa included only one candy gift this year. He gets smarter and smarter each year : -) It was easy to say yes to the pixi stick stuff. J's had some gummy Lifesavers. He started saying "Candy" and improved his "More" this morning. The neatest thing was all the stocking stuffers cost Santa almost nothing!!! Next up was gifts. For a year that has been super lean for us, the tree was loaded with gifts for the kids. L got some cute clothes, jammies, lunchbox, Tinkerbell movie, Connect 4 game, art case from Grandma, purse and goodies from Auntie LW and Fancy Nancy as her special Christmas book. S got Leapfrog tag reader with 6 books, jammies, lunchbox, Hungry Hippo game (which J loved!!), Santa Buddies movie, Tball set from Grandma, remote control car from Auntie LW and his special Christmas book was "Snow". J got his library bag, some books for his Leappad touch system, an Elmo phone, a telephone from Auntie LW, a HUGE dump truck from Grandma and a baby Christmas book. By the time we got all these fun things opened, I realized we were going to be late for my sister's house. I had to call her and tell her. No biggie. I then had to call my mother and tell her Merry Christmas. This was a terrible thing. I should have just text her. This was the only glitch in the day. She was mad because we were going to be late. No asking about the kids' Christmas morning or anything - just upset attitude. I wouldn't even discuss the call with Daddy Piper. I REFUSED to allow this to bring down our day. We opened our gifts from each other. The kids made Daddy Piper a picture frame and their cute picture and got him a Transformer shirt. He went all out with the gifts he got me. I got a dish rack and wooden kitchen utensils (just as I requested) and he included some grilling utensils and a new ironing board cover. He had these wrapped in a huge box so it threw me off totally!!! He did include my ring pop. I get jewelry every year - We have diamond years and we have ring pop years. This was a ring pop year!!! Daddy Piper called his mom to wish her a Merry Christmas, I started breakfast and the kids played in the room where ToysRUs threw up : -) We had toys and stuff all over this house. It was truly the things Christmas mornings are made of. There was laughter, playing, fighting, fusshing and lots of fun!! We forgot to put out the bop bag thing. Daddy Piper quickly got it out and ready. The plug came out of the bottom and water went everywhere. On the second try, it worked great : -) S was super excited about this, because it was just like Daddy had when he was a boy!! Breakfast and getting dressed went quickly then it was time to gather a couple of toys and hit the road to Auntie DP's house. L was insistant on bringing her red purse from Auntie LW, filled to the brim. I think that is one of her most prized gifts. It is a super cute purse, just perfect for her lipstuff and phone. S LOVES his Gravedigger Monster Truck from his stocking. He brought that along with his new water bottle. The drive went pretty quick. Well as quickly as it could go with L asking "Are we there?" "How much longer?" "Where's the tunnel?" "Are we there yet?". I got car sick driving up. I had a sinus headache when we left and this contributed to that yucky, nauseous feeling.

L hates going to DP's house because she usually gets trampled by the dogs. We reassured her it wouldn't happen. Today was S's turn to get hurt. He got hurt this time - he fell on a rebar and scratched his cheek.

We spent about 4 hours at my sister's. It was wonderful. Everyone was in a great mood. J wasn't too sure of anyone at first but came around pretty quickly. We opened gifts with them almost right away. Tons of fun stuff from both my sister and my mother. My sister put the dogs away and the kids enjoyed playing outside with SP and RP with their new remote control trucks.
I spent some of the time helping with their laptops. We got them hooked up wirelessly with Verizon. That was quite the ordeal but we got it worked out. I love working on computer stuff like that.

All 3 kids make themselves at home at my sister's house. They go right into RP's room and play with his toys. I am not sure he enjoys that all too much but he tolerates it okay. All 3 kids are also flooded with sugar from their Auntie. I try not to intervene too much but seriously, I don't think J was without a sucker for most of the 4 hours we were there : -)

The trip home was quiet for the most of it. J and S slept almost all the way home. L sang Christmas carols and complained loudly that it was too dark to draw or read.

Tonight S was going to feed the fish otherwise known as Cookie. He grabbed the food and the top popped off. It went everywhere. This was a classic moment when I would have gotten upset but chose not too. It really is a choice, most of the time. He started crying, I grabbed him and hugged him, got the Swiffer and cleaned it up. No harm done. It felt great not to be upset. S was quickly comforted when he saw I wasn't upset. I need to work on that - not getting upset over the minor stuff. And truly - spilling fish food accidentally is minor stuff.

Dinner was frozen pizza then it was quick baths and off to bed. Goodnight prayers, hugs and kisses then they were off to snoozeland. Or maybe not. Daddy forgot the damper thing again and this time the fire alarm went off, LOUDLY. L slept through it. S hopped up to investigate. J just kept hollering "Daddy?Daddy?Daddy?" from his bed. Daddy comforted everyone, got the alarm shut off and opened the damper : -)

This was a wonderful, special holiday with lots of fun memories to hold onto forever. I am so thankful for my family this year. Attending the Christmas service last night meant so much to me. I am looking forward to learning more about God in the coming year as I attend a Bible in 90 days study thing Jan-March.

Life is good. God is good!!!!!

Wonderful Wednesday

I am curled up in front of the fire, staying warm, hoping my baby boy gets over his fever quick. These teeth he is cutting right now are coming in sooooo hard, poor guy! I wanted to catch up the photos frome the last week or so. Things are good around here. Super excited for Christmas. Happy to be a wife and mom this time of year, happy to be a family. We have had 2 couples that we are friends with divorce or separate in the past few months. I am extra thankful for my family right now.

J helped Daddy Piper work on the big truck. Okay he didn't help but did get in the way a bit. He did help by adding a layer of laughter into the hardwork.

All 3 kids helped make Christmas goodies. Even J got involved in the fun.

I let the kids watch Prep & Landing on Hulu on the laptop while they were in the bath the other night. It was a fun treat for them!

We made our gingerbread house, without the K family - SAD! But it was fun nonetheless, just less fun than usual.

Yesterday after nap, I found S with J in J's crib. He was trying to comfort him until I could get there!

Totally Tuesday

My niece came down to do some shopping with my sis yesterday and pic up their new (or new to them) car. My wonderful sis let my niece stay down and drive home herself for the first time!!! It was nice to have her here for the afternoon and evening. We got so wrapped up in her coming that we almost forgot about the kids' art class. I woke them up from nap quick and we ran to art. S almost forgot to put his pants on before we left!!! Oh and we got home from running errands (trip to Peterbilt and then to Target for some last minute gift shopping by Daddy Piper) anyway after the morning and half the afternoon running errands, when we got home there was a chicken in our yard! S and Daddy Piper chased that thing up and down the fence line, trying to get it back in the neighbor's yard. It was so comical to watch them chase that chicken. I was on the phone with my awesome friend JF from MN while all this excitement was going on. So the kids got settled down for naps just to have me wake them up to run to art. Art class went great, as usual. L is super creative so it's a great outlet for her and S just has fun.

Dinner was crab, a rice pilaf and yummy green beans. The house REEKED like stinky seafood all night and into today. (Now I can smell our wonderful Christmas tree!!). After putting the kids to bed, my niece SDP and I went to see a movie. It was just an excuse to have some time alone really. We chose Brothers (which was a great movie but I cried and it made my heart hurt with all the emotional stuff). We had great conversation while waiting for the show to start. She is growing up so quickly. I was there to witness her birth, hold her during her first sunrise, all her first and now she's facing some grownup firsts. I am glad to be a part of her life.

Our neighbor dropped off a little gift last night. It was a DVD and 2 movie tickets, with childcare included for a date night for Daddy Piper and I!!!!

So my silly sister forgot something in the car they left with my niece so she had to leave pretty early this morning. It did work out though since this afternoon a rainstorm rolled in. We spent the afternoon hibernating in our house and enjoying the great chilly weather!! I did get a bit of a nap in that was interrupted by Daddy Piper yelling at S. Seems S went in to play with J while they were both supposed to be napping in separate rooms :-) When L & S got up from their nap, we put together our gingerbread house. We usually do this with the K family but they are battling illness right now so we did it at home this year. It was fun! I did let go of perfection and we had fun again.

Tonight will be chili for dinner with yummy cornbread (or cornbread for me - crackers for everyone else since I am the only one who likes cornbread).

The kids are playing campout/sleepover right now. I think L will be having her first sleepover soon with the K family for SK's birthday. Should be fun!

Oh and the nightly prayer time continues. It was so inspiring to see our family praying together. God does work miracles, every single day!

Museum Visit

The morning started out before daybreak. I awoke to a smothering of kisses. They were the open mouthed, slobbery kind. My baby boy was loving on his mama. I couldn't quite work up the gumption to get upset about the time since the kisses were so sweet and filled with love. He was simply adorable laughing and leaning over me, coming at me open mouthed and trying to give kisses. I just gave up on going back to sleep and got up for the day. We needed to get a move on anyway since we had planned to leave kinda early to go to the Children's Museum here in town. I had planned on packing our lunch to take with us but that was not meant to be. I pulled out all the fixin's for a great lunch. J decided to take that moment to pull out 2 packages of blueberries and dump them on the kitchen floor. The story gets better - he then proceeded to traipse through them, squishing each one with precision. I tried to laugh it off and tried even harder not to let it be a bad start to the day. I started to pick them up, the ones not smooshed beyond oblivion and J sat down and helped me. Having him help, so intently picking each one up, really changed my mood. It was a snapshot in time. He was trying so hard to pick them up with me and was so cute doing it.


Lunch was not made - there simply wasn't time after the blueberry debacle. I finished getting the kids ready and off the five of us headed to the big city. Everyone was in a good mood and I am extremely happy to report that we stayed that way for the entire day!


We made it to the museum in record time and the fun quickly began. Thankfully we had a free pass to get so that saved us close to $50!! We went right to the fun stuff. I had wanted to bring the stroller in and Daddy vetoed that idea in favor of keeping up with J. I think that was the only negative because I had to keep with my diaper bag and all the coats. Next time - bring a stroller. Right away there was a tricycle car wash area where the kids were able to ride their trikes through a pretend carwash. S tried to pull L but she was way too heavy for him. L loaded J on her trike, S rode alone - all was good. They got a rush out of riding through there. The giggles and fun started there and didn't end until we left 2 hours later. Next up there was an art studio where the kids made gingerbread men, painted on a castle and played in a real gingerbread house. J played on the sand table while all the fun creative play was going on. From there we headed up another level where there was a 3 and under room. I stayed there with J while Daddy took the other 2 off to explore the rest of the museum. J LOVED this room. Everything was his level and he had a ball. He climbed the stairs and headed over to this fenced part where he stood and giggled and laughed for a solid five minutes. It was absolutely wonderful to have this time to play with J. I think it might have been one of the first times he has played with kids his own size. We don't have anyone close by that his kids his age. The closest is 2 years old. J went from one to the other playing in that room. He pushed the button to play the bell, crawled underneath the crawl space, went down the slide and played in the play kitchen. I went right along with him, enjoying every second of it. We left there after an half hour or so to find the rest of our family. We found them at the race car exhibit. The kids would push the cars and the cars would race down and end up at the bottom. L & S enjoyed this one the most. S could have stayed there for hours sending those cars racing to the end. L ditched it for something more exciting though - driving a pretend motorcycle! There was a pretend race car and motorcycle. J was upset because I had to hold him in this area = he was getting ran over by the bigger kids. Daddy Piper took J through the noodles and he didn't enjoy that one bit. I took J back to the 3 and under room. On the way, we passed through the noodle thing and I wanted to try it. YIKES - I was totally having an anxiety attack and J was crying. I was hyperventilating because I felt claustrophobic. And I think my mini me felt the same way. Boy aren't we quite the pair. Back to the 3 and under room we went - safety :-) J and I finished up our museum trip in that room while Daddy Piper and the kids enjoyed the rest of the exhibits.


We were hungry at this point so it was off to find some grub. On the drive in, L remembered a Barrel kind of place was somewhere around here. She couldn't quite remember the name of the whole place but it was some kind of barrel (Cracker Barrel). She eventually saw a sign for it and was delighted when we chose that place for lunch.


Lunch went off without a hitch. Everyone ate great. J was the destructive monster, like usual. He just isn't the kid to sit still without having something to occupy him. He was taking his plate and holding it up to his mouth and eating lunch off it that way. He is just a way different child than L or S ever was. I know a parent isn't supposed to compare but it happens sometimes. As we were almost done with our lunch, an older gentleman came over and said "Picture perfect family" and complimented us on our family and in particular, the children's behavior. Gosh - that felt awesome! I did say though that he must not have seen Destructo in the corner : -)


We snagged some candy sticks and headed out. Naps were next up on the agenda. We did have to make a quick stop at the library for S to go #2. He had to go baaaaaaddddd and couldn't hold it one more second and the library was the closest stop. Back in the van, headed to the house. We got everyone settled down after more kids went #2 (what is up with that - they all had to go!!). Daddy Piper, J and myself napped while L & S just rested for their required hour.


After naps, S and I ran to Target to get the gingerbread house I forgot last night (when I totally rocked at coupon shopping - got $164 worth of stuff for $32 and that includes the last of my Christmas shopping. To date Christmas has cost us less than $200!!). S was buckled in the van and mentioned that the next Target trip, he wanted to bring his shopping cart. I surprised him by pulling back in the drive and grabbing it quick. The quick shopping trip was so bonding for us. I like having time alone with the kids like that. I think some of the best conversations we have are in the car.


Dinner was chicken and noodles, per S request. My chicken and black bean concoction I put in the crockpot this morning was a flop :-(


After dinner, the kids played and then had their bath where they were super wild. They watched Shrek the Halls and I nursed J to sleep then we decorated the gingerbread train with the big kids. I tried not to be obsessive about what goes where (SHOCKER!!) and just have fun and it worked - we had fun!!

The day went so well. No nasty exchanges or snide comments, well behaved children - all combined made for a very nice day!!!

A GREAT Day!

This morning started out super early. J was up by 3 and wasn't too keen on going back down. I just gave up by 5 and started a fire and coffee for the day. I don't think he didn't want to trade his mama's warm arms for his cold sheets. I wasn't too upset though since snuggling with him is such a rare treat these days. We aren't nursing much during the day but our nights are filled with nursing spells - thankfully!! L & S had their lessons right away this morning, while still in their pj's. They were rewarded with computer time while I got ready for the day. A wonderfully awesome phone call came in about some upcoming work for Daddy Piper. This really changed the mood of the day. He has work on Monday!!!! Daddy Piper was ready for his business lunch. He needed me to move the van to get his car out. Well, I couldn't find my keys. I mean I couldn't find them ANYWHERE and I already lost the other set so I am down to this one set. I had all the kids looking for the keys - even asking J if he had them. He didn't answer me or rather answered with "Dat - Dat - Dat" His answer for everything right now :-) I finally found my keys hanging on the key rack of all places! He left and the kids and I worked on our Christmas cards. They helped put on the return labels and did a great job. We need to get those things out. They are almost ready. We just need to finish addressing the million bazillion envelopes we send out every year. We stopped with that fun project and started watching a movie my sister sent us. J took his nap and I cuddled with L & S and tried to watch the movie. They weren't too interested and then J decided a nap wasn't in his schedule. We loaded up and went to the local grocery
store where the kids played in the provided childcare while I picked up a few things. We finished up and headed home. While we were walking out, I asked L what they did in the play area. She said "We played Rob a Bank". Okay - another product of her imagination, I suppose. Now it was naptime - oh thank God since it's been 11 hours since I got up with J. Everyone napped - YEA!! Typical afternoon stuff then a yummy dinner of rib eye steak with whiskey sauce from Pioneer Woman, green beans, homemade potato wedges with sour cream dip stuff and fresh fruit. A wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed!!!

J is trying to say all kinds of words lately. He is saying "Dat", "Dis", "Bubba", "Mine", and other babbles that don't amount to much. He has cut his eye teeth so he has 16 teeth now. He got super mad when I got him dressed to go outside and had to run back to check on the wedges. He screamed and chased me down. He kept pointing to his shoes and crying. I took him right outside. He is such an outside kid already.

S has had a better couple of days. His temper has fizzled out some. He even snuggled with me on the couch tonight - letting me hold him!! He is excited about going to work with Daddy next week.

Now I am sitting in front of the fire, listening to Dateline and truly feeling contented. Tomorrow is soccer, Girl Scout Cookie training, a trip to a boutique with L and getting our Christmas tree. Life is good!

Blogging from the Bath

I am blogging from the bath tonight. Well, not in the bath but sitting on the stepstool while J takes a bath : -) J is taking a bath by himself tonight (an unusal occurance) and loving every second of it. He doesn't have to share one toy!!

Last night was interesting. L sleep walked 4 times last night with the last time ending in a poopy mess. I won't go in to details because it might embarrass her someday but it was quite the poopy mess!!! After showering her off, I sat up with her and talked about what could be causing the behavior. I sleepwalk myself when I am stressed, worried or nervous so I asked her if she felt any of these things. She admitted a few minutes later to feeling nervous about the nursing home visit today with her Daisy troop. After talking about it some, she went to bed and slept the rest of the night peacefully. Talking sure makes things better, doesn't it?!

Today was fun!! We went to a children's theatre and saw a play based on a popular's children book that the kids enjoy. The show was an hour and half long with no intermission and the kids were super well behaved. We went with our homeschool group. It was a fun tim! After the show, L had to be raced to her Daisy meeting. The play ran longer than I had planned so we were late getting L to her meeting. Thankfully, they were at a park so it ended up being no big deal. I ran S back home to J and Daddy Piper, had some lunch and rushed back to get L. I had a quick nap this afternoon. Quick naps are usually so delightful - just long enough to feel rested but not too long that I feel like the afternoon was wasted.

I am feeling better. I think J is too. It is probably due to the wonderful chili we had from a good friend last night :-)

Another good friend came home from California today. I am so looking forward to seeing her and her girls. We have missed her like crazy!

I gotta run and do some dishes and clip my coupons from Sunday still - way behind!!

A Whole Week?!?

I let a whole week go by without posting??? Now that's just CRAZY!

Monday - Today was live lesson for L, art lessons for L & S and then family pictures followed by a yummy dinner at In-N-Out. The family picture session was FUN! My wonderful friend did our pics at a local outdoor mall. It sounds funky but oh goodness - such creative talent. She is just getting started into a photography business and takes such awesome pictures. She sent a sneak peak of some and they were amazing. She has such an eye for capturing the spirit behind the picture. I am dying to see more. Unfortunately, her father has taken a turn for the worse and she had to head out of town. I am saying an extra prayer daily for their family. This has been so hard on them. I love this lady and her family so much.

Tuesday - I had to run to drop off the billing from last week, do some last minute shopping before the big sale was over and hit the library. Errands with no kids = quick, stress free time for mommy!! We went to a birthday party at a local bounce place in the afternoon - our second party here this week. The kids LOVE this place. It is fun to play with them at places like this. J stayed home with Daddy since it's not much fun for him yet. I ran to Target after the kids were in bed for some fun deals, got everything on my list, went to pay - NO WALLET! I could have run back but they would have been closed or close to it so I ran back on Wednesday. Things were crappy anyway with the situation with my mother. I sent out an email to my homeschool group and got a text and a phone call almost immediately. They were both just what I needed. I was on the phone after 10 o'clock with a dear friend who called concerned. I was touched by the immediate phone call following my email. I have been blessed with REAL friends. The kind that don't take "I'm Fine" for an answer when they know better.

Wednesday - We had homeschool group over for some fun Thanksgiving craft time. We tried to do a leaf rubbing. L was totally into it, as was GS & TG but my S and most of the other boys could care less to be sitting at a picnic table, outside in the gorgeous weather, rubbing with crayons. No sir - they were doing what boys do best... playing in the dirt and having fun! I love having our group come over. It fills our home with lots of noise and laughter and I dig that : -) We had pizza from Papa John's, fruit from one of the dads (thanks JS for cutting up all the fruit!!) and for another fun craft, we made pilgrim hats from marshmallows and fudge striped cookies. Daddy Piper enjoyed having another dad join in the fun today. It's neat to see him get involved with this group too. The afternoon was filled a Target run. I did some amazing coupon deals and got $75 worth of stuff for $4!!!!!! The kids will have a great Christmas.

Thursday - Daddy Piper had to take care of some stuff so he took off for them morning. We got schoolwork done right away so there would be plenty of time to enjoy the weather. I put J down for a nap and we headed out to play. Our neighbor popped over and invited the kids to come play at his house. So they went over for a spell. I was alone for 45 whole minutes (minus a sleeping baby). I ate an early lunch, showered and then felt completely lost without anyone to take care of or anyone needing me. The feeling was short lived since they were home soon for L's live lesson. I suppose that's what it would feel like if the kids went to school instead of being homeschooled. I didn't like it much after the first 15 minutes. After dinner, I headed to the grocery store for a quick deal run and then got my haircut. I cut it all off again - 9 inches. I love it. I wasn't too sure about it when she cut it. She cut it before I could really tell her how much I wanted off. She did a great job though. It's easy to style and looks way better.

Friday - Library run while J napped (poor kid always get left home or so it seems). Kids got Thanksgiving books and a couple movies. Soccer practice and tacos for dinner. Not much today except for hours of playing outside!!!

Saturday - Daisy event in which things were not scheduled properly so it included lots of driving around and not getting anything done. Oh well - these things happen. I got to talk to my best girlfriend though so it was not time wasted. Then we headed to S's soccer game where we got dumped on. It rained so hard on us!!!! They didn't call the game though. Thankfully it dried up about 15 minutes into the game. S wasn't into the game much for some reason. His dad gave him a stern talking to on the way home, I guess (we drove separate). I don't always like these talks. I think Daddy Piper can be too hard on the kids when it comes to this stuff. I do back him up though and talk with him about it later.

J is walking and talking like a mad man these days. He loves to be outside playing with L & S. He gets so spitting mad when they go out without him. He is getting better about not putting things in his mouth so being outside with him is more fun now : -)

S is getting a better grip on his temper. Yesterday when he proceeded to get mad and was going to kick something I asked him what he should do instead of kicking and he told me "Use my words" and then explained what happened. I know he is absorbing what I say, so that's good. I know his behavior changes are linked to our home life changes. Things are a bit more tense than normal around here with the lack of work and stuff. I know the kids pick up on that stuff - even if we don't talk about it in front of them.

L has been so super sweet lately mixed with a mouthy teenager all rolled into a 5 year old's body. She can swing from one side to the other super quick. Her and her dad have crossed each other twice today with bad results. He sent her to time out for lying and then this evening she got a spanking for not listening. It has been a rough few hours for her. She can be challenging at times for me. We are a lot alike. I do try to remember though that she may act more mature and have the language of an adult, she is only five.

Crappy issues with my mother. We had some drama with her earlier this week. It really affected things on Tuesday and Wednesday. There is some mental issues going on. I can't fix her or her situation. It's not a healthy one. I hope things will work out but mainly, I have to thing of myself and my family at this point.

So my attitude is better. We are going through a valley in our lives. We are trying to work out plans if work doesn't improve here, like heading to my husband's home town for the summer next year since there is work there. I am just trying to live day to day, enjoy the day and not get caught up in the big picture too much. Can't plan that far in advance, though I would like to since I am a planner.

Speaking of planning, I am walking the 3 day next year (either here or up North). And we found out another friend is expecting a baby. I was super jealous and filled with horrible envy when I heard the news followed quickly by elation for her. I want another baby too!!!!!!!

I need to go to bed. We are going to early church tomorrow so I need to be rested :-)

Productive Day!!

I had such a productive day! Our bedroom is cleaned, laundry done, the oven is cleaned on the sides and behind, top of fridge cleaned off and living room vacuumed!!! I enjoy the feelings of a fruitful day. I played with the kids throughout all of this productivity. J is walking more and more. He is more balanced and speedier every second. L helped me sort laundry so I could have more playtime. S asked for more books at bedtime and enjoyed the storytime immensely. I had some disappointing news this morning but after some discussion with my sweet husband, I felt better. I am still disappointed but it will be okay. It's best for now but maybe someday??

It's our annual tradition to get little pumpkins and paint them. It's a fun activity the kids really enjoy. This year J got to participate. I put his bink in so he wouldn't be tempted to taste the paint :-)

The kids heard a loud noise while Daddy was working on his truck. It made
all 3 jump out of their skin.L was a very helpful big sister to J while I was taking pictures.

S loves to paint. He gets into at first and then 5 minutes later, just starts
getting messy. The messier the better for him!!

J did great painting. No tasting and only a minor
mess. L and S were way messier than he was : -)

Now L is getting the bright idea to start using her hands.....

YIKES!!!!!

Then S has to join in on the fun so his hands were super
messy too. Thankfully we were outside with this painting project!

And here's the final products!!!

Next up was swinging fun but not before J threw a hilacious fit when I took him to clean his hands. Oh my goodness - he was MAD when he realized everyone else was staying out to swing and he was going inside. I washed him quickly and back out we went.

J loves to swing but too high.L just learned a few days ago to pump her legs and get herself going on the swing.

S learned tonight to pump his legs. Only one left to swing themselves :-)

S has the coolest eyes. They are totally multi-colored. I usually can't capture this with
the camera but got kinda close tonight.

Outside weather!

Our weather has finally taken a turn for the better and we are able to enjoy the great outdoors once again. Daddy Piper finished the flagstone in the back and we placed our grill there finally. Our backyard is taking shape and looks like a tropical oasis. He even got the wood fence finished or at least with the wood we have at this point. His time off from work isn't helping financially but it sure does get the projects around here finished.

We were out enjoying this gorgeous weather this evening while I was grilling our dinner. It's so nice having the grill in the backyard : -) J is able to walk so far now. He's quickly loving the outdoors as well. He does like to shove rocks in his mouth though so I have to watch him pretty closely. The kids all took turns sliding and then were sliding together a few times. Daddy also chased L & S on his bike. They ran screaming all over the backyard and would hide in their plastic playset. He ran into at one point and it popped apart. The screams were CRAZY :- ) The giggles that followed closely behind are like music to my ears.



Here I busted J putting a rock in his mouth and the he quickly threw it away.

I ran to Target today to get batteries for some of J's new toys. When I got home, S ran out and threw his arms around me like I had been gone forever. I am loving this snuggly phase that S is in. He loves hugs and kisses constantly.

Oh and while outside playing tonight S and L were on the glider and S told L "Don't start your SH*T with me". Now where did he hear that????????

We opened J's gifts this morning from his party last night. He got some fun stuff, like a helicopter, a Parent's gumball toy (pretend gumball), a ball popper, some super cute clothes, a Little People Farm building thing and a few other things. The two toys he loves are the Gumball toy and the ball popper. He has chased the balls around the house and played with those two toys off and on all day. The helicopter has delighted his big brother. S has taken that away from J every time he goes to play with it. We make S give it back to J and then a few minutes later, we'll catch S giving J a ball and taking back the helicopter. Oh to have a big brother who steals your toys - such joy!

Friday Fun

Life is going good. J is great, L is marvelous and S is utterly adorable. I am feeling positively positive these days.

Wednesday morning I woke up about 4:30, realizing that J was still asleep. He slept until.... 5:16 AM - the longest sleep ever for him!!!! Everyone else was up by 6 or so. We had homeschool group. We made a quick trip to a local grocer for free plates (gotta love those coupons) then it was off to Walmart for some more coupon shopping before we met up with homeschool group. That trip failed miserably. I had no luck using my coupons at Walmart. They are soooo hard for me. I never get good deals there like others I know. Off to the park we went. This was a failed trip as well, for me anyway. The kids enjoyed themselves. I had my feelings hurt by another mother. It was weird for this to happen. I don't usually get offended by things but man did I feel attacked on 2 separate occasions by this particular mother. I am the worst at letting things fester and then not dealing with them so I emailed her. The matter is dropped - not resolved but dropped. I did feel better dealing head on with the issue though. Maybe this is something I should learn more about - dealing with things like an adult.

We headed home and Daddy was here! The kids hadn't seen him in about 14 hours and they were overjoyed with seeing his big truck in the drive. S clung to Daddy Piper like he hadn't seen him in 14 days instead of 14 hours. J was the same way when he woke up from his nap. They were all over him for the morning. Daddy slept the afternoon away after being up night. We had a successful Target run. My coupons work great there : -)

Thursday was L's testing. It went ok. I thought it might have gone better but oh well. The worst part was her failing her eye test so now we need to see an optometrist. S and J stayed home with Daddy. At one point he and I were texting and he said one boy was fussy and the other was happy, guess which was which?! J just doesn't like to be away from his mama for very long. We also hit the farmers market, where we scored a TON of stuff for $18. So yummy to have fresh fruits and veggies aplenty this time of year, especially since my own garden went to hell with this horrible heat. S soaked up the extra attention from Daddy Piper while we were gone. Those two are best buds lately. S loves to be with his Daddy. He is all boy these days - running and jumping just to do it and climbing trees - HOLY COW!

J is still walking some on his own - not full on walking yet but enough for me to worry about chasing three soon :-) He is so happy. He just lights up when he sees his Mama coming for him. My only wish would be that he sleep better but on the other hand, I LOVE to snuggle with him and nurse him alone in the middle of the night - such a special time : -)

Monday Stuff

J slept so great last night. In fact he slept so wonderfully, he made me oversleep this AM! We were going to my sister's this morning to hit her produce co-op. I needed to leave at 6:30. I had no doubt that I would be up since I have been up at the time or earlier everyday for the past 11 months. Not today. J woke up at 1:30 AM to eat, ate like a champ, Daddy Piper put him back in his bed and next thing I know, there was daylight shining through our window. I spent the whole night in our marital bed - a rarity these days!!! I got up and hit the ground running. Daddy Piper got the kids ready while I got ready. L & S were just waking up. They were excited to get dressed and hit the road. I had most of the van loaded last night with coupons to swap and such. We hit the road only 30 minutes late.

The drive was great. I had in iPod for L to watch in the very back and S had a DVD player to watch. J enjoyed some of S's show : - ) Everyone was relaxed and the ride went quick. The produce wasn't much to speak of but my sister's company more than made up for it! We hit Wal-Mart where I got some air fresheners and the coupons allowed for overage so I got the fabric I needed to make the bags for J's party. After hitting Walmart and Fry's, we headed to her house to let the kids hang out for a bit before conquering the long drive back home. J did fine - he just needed some down time from the carseat and the wrap I wear him while shopping.

We came back to town together to eat lunch and then we headed home. J slept all the way home. L and S watched their shows. S actually talked most of the way home . He talks so much these days. He can talk and talk and talk. Conversations with him are such fun!!!

Tonight I made a yummy shrimp dinner but unfortunately, I put too much red pepper flakes in it and everyone else thought it was too spicy. OOPS!!!!

Mundane Monday

Thankfully things are pretty uneventful around here. We do things everyday but I just don't seem to have the time to post about them, which totally stinks!

Monday August 17: School lessons and hanging out. No details - can't truly remember this day for some reason.... SAD! I only remember getting the final paperwork together for L's online curriculum. And S's reading lessons. He is doing just phenomenal reading these days. I can't believe how quickly he has taken to these reading lessons. He can sound out a few words and most of the sounds with ease. I guess this day wasn't too mundane - just a normal day for us.
Tuesday August 18: We hung out with our friends, the K family, this morning. It was fun to do the craft box together and enjoy just hanging out. L took an art class at a local art/music studio. S was happy he didn't have to participate in this activity - one of the reasons it's nice to have Daddy Piper home these days. S was able to hang out with Daddy and enjoy some bonding time. L was sooooo into the art experience and comfortable in her surroundings. She ended up painting a totally cool picture too! Then at 5:00 that night was dance and she was like a different child. She was nervous and clingy, which is very unlike her. I know she was uncomfortable since the class is made up of 12 girls, 10 of which go to church together, live in the same neighborhood and attend the same school. It was hard for her to go in there not knowing any on of these girls, but within a short time, she was laughing and having a ball. I could see this through the mirror. She left class excited about going back. After dance, we had our homeschool MNO to discuss the latest drama. Some of the parents have decided to send their kids to public school but still want to remain in the homeschool group. It has been blown way out of proportion. I said some things that inadvertently hurt another mom's feelings and had to be brought out in the open and discussed. The whole meeting was tense to begin with but ended nicely. We have gone so long with no drama or crap in the group and this was bringing out some ugly things. We talked and talked and talked and everyone ended up feeling much better about things. It was mainly the insecurities of homeschooling that made this one mom question her decision, or that is how I perceived the situation. She felt personally attacked by me and I felt the same by her. It is amazing how just airing our feelings openly cleared up so many things. Our group is back on track. We have some fun activities coming up and the focus back on educating our children, the main goal of our group.
Wednesday August 19: PEECH day. We went to a local bear stuffing place that is American made - how wonderful!! It started out with a lesson on the history of the teddy bear, then a tour of their factory, then stuffing a bear (even Baby J got one!) and then lunch in their school room. I think all the kids had fun. It was extremely rewarding to be supporting an American company!
Today also marked the first day of L's curriculum. She had to do a 2 hour online orientation and was so bored by the time it was done. It helped my side of things when I explained this is how real school would be everyday. The curriculum looks easy but it should get more challenging soon. Her new computer should be here next week.
Thursday August 20: Today is my FIL's 70th birthday. We sent some cookies to him to help celebrate. Hopefully his birthday was wonderful with 70 more to come : -) Daddy also found a dove sitting in our flower box next to the house. It was a baby dove.This afternoon L's Daisy troop leader came over to go over the requirements for being a co-leader. She is uber-bossy. I was okay with that - to a point. But after hearing her go on and on for 2 hours about how wonderful she is, I was not feeling the groove in this partnership but still okay to go along with it for L's sake - so she would have a Daisy group. Then the freako emailed Thursday night about me needing to pick up her nanny on my to a required meeting I knew nothing about. Then she wanted to be reminded who my daughter was, like to be mean to her for me not picking her nanny. Anyway I found L another troop, maybe without a psycho leader. The only downside is my amount of involvement might diminish. I really hoped to be leader or co-leader for her troop as a way for her and I to do something together. After the "fun" Girl Scout time, I headed to Costco with a girlfriend - mooched off her membership. We didn't renew this year to save the $50. I only go a couple times a year so thankfully friends let us go with them : -) I was able to stock up on flour, sugar, salt and pepper. I also got S a cool Christmas gift. He will be so totally excited when he sees his Grave Digger Monster Truck!!!
Friday August 21: We spent some time today making some planets out of Rice Krispie Treats for our upcoming solar system lesson. J hung out and cruised around waiting for scraps : -) I surprised L with a cute matching apron. It's hard to see the cute matching aprons in this picture but I loved it. I love how smiley, happy we are in this picture together. I hate how old and wrinkly I look. I never pictured myself looking this way. Stress has wreaked havoc on me this past year... The next picture shows the cute aprons. It was fun to spend time with her in the kitchen. Our planet decorating was interrupted by Daddy wanting to swim so he took the older 2 out swimming. They swam for almost 3 hours.
Saturday August 22: Shopping with my sis and my baby girl (child in tow - see the pattern here?). Coupon shopping that is!! We hung out and shopped for 5 hours. It was wonderful to be helpful to her for once. Hopefully it took a bit of the stress off her for the time being. I also scored another Christmas gift for S. He is almost done now. I have to focus on the other 2. L is always so easy to buy for - she loves everything. J will be a bit tough since he has all these cool toys from the older 2.
Sunday August 23: Woke up early to do a CVS run alone. This was the plan and the plan didn't go accordingly. For some reason, the kids always want to go with me everywhere. Mostly, I try to be okay with this but CVS is hard to do with extra people in tow. When they don't have stuff in stock (which seems to be always), it's hard to figure out a new deal when you have 3 little ones clamoring to look at this, touch that, come see this or ooohhhh look over there. I was irritated and frustrated but managed to keep things in check. I have been so angry lately. I hate the rage that boils just under the surface constantly. Anyway - in the afternoon, it was a quick Target run to get Pullups for S. I agreed to let the kids bring their shopping carts and doll strollers. They love to do this. I calmly enjoyed the walk around the Target, taking our time to enjoy the afternoon shopping. I do try to remember that these are things their childhood memories will be made of - Mom letting them bring their carts shopping. I hope these are things they remember and not my angry outbursts. L learned how to pump her legs on the swing today!!!!! Major accomplishment for her.
Monday August 24: L woke up howling and screaming about 3 this morning. She was spooked by the air freshener in the bathroom. It is a sensor spray thing and when she went to use the restroom in the dark, it sprayed and completely freaked her out. She hollered for her Daddy, who went running for her. This screaming fest woke up J and I but amazingly not S. J was actually sleeping, something he has been doing more of lately. I got up and nursed him and put him back down. I spent from 4-5 AM on the computer looking at coupon deals. I had my list ready and was shopping by 6 AM. It was a very productive time. The store was stocked, no helpers with to distract me and home before everyone was awake for the day. Having Daddy home does have his advantages (financial aspects are not one of them - no work equals no money!!!!) I spent $59 and saved $134. I missed a couple of the coupons somehow (guess I do need the kids along to keep me focused). I took my coupons back in with my receipt and they gave me the cash back - extremely accommodating. We are so stocked on food and I am way under budget for the month. Today was another fun time with the K family. We had great time hanging out again. When we got home, I was able to get a nap. Another advantage of Daddy being home. This afternoon was spent making pizza for dinner (total cost for pepperoni pizza for the family... $1.11!!!!!!) and enjoying the company of our family. Everyone was in a great mood!! We are also getting things ready for our camping trip coming up with our homeschool group. Tonight I got to have a fun conversation with L while putting to bed. We discussed some of her wants for Christmas (Princess dressup gowns, Transformer Jammies, Transformers puzzles.....). She is such fun to chat with. She is happy to express her wants and desires so freely and openly. I love hearing her talk about just anything. She is wise beyond her years. The most exciting thing for her right now is her very own computer coming tomorrow!