Today

We attended a b-day party of a girl in our homeschool group today. It was nice to be around other's today. J was the hit, as always. He is such a wonderful, happy little guy. S had fun, even if he did have a potty accident (WTF??!) and L was her usual charming self. When we get in a group with other women, she will turn to them for help and playtime. It makes me insanely jealous that she doesn't turn directly to me. I wonder why that is - both her not turning to me and my jealousy. She is well behaved though so that helps. S is always near his mama and that makes me feel good. He does play well with others but doesn't let me get too far away. J was happy and content to be held. He did get down to roll a bit. He does like to get up on his arms and then he raises his knees but not together yet. I am in no hurry for this one to get moving yet!! While the kids were busting open the pinata, I drove J around the neighborhood to help him fall asleep (another thing I swore I would never do!!). I weighed him on our home scale tonight and he came in about 19-20 pounds - woah doggie!

This evening we had my mom over for dinner. The kids enjoyed her company. J pooped and made a huge mess. Daddy Piper picked him up from his Bumbo and there was poop all over - GROSS! It even dripped on the trip to change him. Daddy needed a new shirt after the ordeal was said and done. Thankfully, everyone was in a good mood. It was a nice evening. Now it's off to bed while everyone is asleep.

Thank you God for another wonderful day with my children and husband. Thank you for lifting me out of my funk from last week. Thank you for the emails from some good friends that reminded me to keep talking to you and things would work out. Please watch over and protect us through the night. Amen.

Much Better Today

Things are getting better here or rather, my attitude is better because nothing else has really changed. I feel so wonderful about a few emails I got when I posted I was feeling crappy the other day. I have some wonderful friends (especially my MN gal-pal, J). Thanks ladies for the boost!!

Today was a nice day. L had dance class. S, J & I ran to the store to get our 88 cent bread. We got fuel money for Daddy and picked L up and headed home. This evening, I finished the cute bags for S's party this weekend, played football outside with L, practiced L's dance routine with her (and how cute is that dance going to be in 2 months!!), put a puzzle together with S, played Wii tennis with L and entertained J during all this fun. Daddy had to work on the truck (it's had piddly things wrong lately and has taken up a ton of his time - I feel bad when he works all day just to come home and work on his truck some more.) While we were out playing, 2 rottweilers from down the road thought about coming in the yard and joining in the fun. Thankfully they changed their minds and mosied on down the way. The kids saw the dogs and ran straight for the house, with me yelling for them to go faster. Seems their Daddy told them the other day if they were playing outside and something like that happened or if strangers approach them to run for the house and what great listeners, they did just that tonight. It did mess up the mini-photo session I had planned though : -)

It's amazing when I quit worrying and thinking too much and set about the business of living how much better I feel.

Saturday Update

Again here it is almost a week since I posted. I think about posting daily but just can't get the energy up to do it. Things suck here. That sounded horrible. I didn't mean it like that. Just that I am sinking into a depression and not sure how to rise out of it.

Today S went to work with Daddy Piper. I had L and J home with me. S hopped out of bed @ 5:30 this morning excited about the prospect of working with Daddy. We made it a fun day here at home, getting stuff ready for S's 3rd birthday party next weekend. L had fun today, I think. We played games together and tried to spend some quality time enjoy each other's company. I love my kids and try to treasure the time alone with them.

Again things are great with the kids just other stuff sucks. Hope to be more positive next time!

Return of the Waterpark Adventures!

It was back to the waterpark today!! Thankfully the pool was heated : -) It was tons of fun. It was J's first time in a pool. It was a bit chaotic with 3 but I managed okay, thanks to help some from the K family. Everyone had a great time. Baby J fell asleep about 20 minutes into the fun. I think the sun and water wore him out. He slept soundly snugged into my carrier for about an hour.

I was able to capture this one picture showing all 3 kids at one time - no easy feat anymore!!

J snoozing after the hard day at the waterpark

Family Sunday

We were able to spend a lot of time together this weekend. This hasn't happened for the last couple of weekends due to all the truck work Daddy has needed to do. We were able to do just that this weekend though!

L just brought me a rose fresh from our garden and said "I love You Mommy" while giving me the greatest hug ever - life is great!

Jack's first outdoor swing ride.
Daddy, L & S hunting for ladybugsS found a ladybug!J sitting in grass for the first timeL looking closely at a ladybug on my pants.

Crabby

I was sooooo crabby this morning for some silly reason. I look back on this morning on such a waste of energy.

Look at this face - what was I thinking being crabby?!?

J had a horrible night. I got up at 4:30 to make Daddy's lunch for the day. Then I was set to hit the hay for another hour or two and S woke up crying. So that set the wheels in motion for L to wake up too. I made them stay in their beds until 7 though. I took advantage of the time awake to practice my decorating skills from last night. So at 6 this morning, I was decorating cupcakes and cakes :- )

We spent some time painting rocks per L's suggestion. This was fun!!After the morning was a wash, we took off to get a couple of things from Target and then visit Chik-Fil-A with a good friend and her 2 boys. This turned into a refreshing time. The kids had fun playing and I had some nice conversation as well!


L was reading J a book before I took off for the cake class last night. She is an amazing big sister to both S and J.
Tonight I had wanted to have a relaxing (read:ALONE) bath time and that was interrupted and I decided to relax and enjoy the time with S while he drove his cars along the bath. He is such a fun, thoughtful little boy. Today he made it through his nap without wearing a pull-up and woke up dry!!!

So the day ended in a much more happier mommy than it started out with : -)

p.s. In the bath tonight, we were talking about Grandma Piper having surgey next week. She is having her kidney removed due to a tumor. Here's the conversation:

Mom: "Grandma Piper is having surgery next week to remove her kidney"
L: "Why?"
M: "Because it doesn't work"
L: "What are they going to with it?"
Mom: "They are going to put it in the trash."
S: "Then the trash truck will take it away?
M: "Yep"
L: "Maybe they could recycle it?
M: "Uh-no, I don't think so!"

Recyling and reusing is a daily lesson around here. Guess it's sinking in!!

5 month old Baby J

I wanted to note some fun things Baby J is doing these days:

• He is laughing out loud while being tickled and just in general. He loves to be talked to and played with. He is especially in love with his big sis.
• He can stand for awhile, assisted of course. He can hold his weight for long time. I really don't want him walking too soon!
• He is enjoying apples on a regular basis. He has had bananas and avocados but really loves apples. We'll introduce a new food tomorrow.
• He can roll back to front and front to back.
• He loves his toes!
• He found his hands and loves to chew on them and reach for things.

Another Night Out

Tonight I went to a cupcake decorating class. It was a mini cake decorating experience, which I won't be doing for awhile, according to Daddy Piper : -) I guess Baby J didn't do so well tonight without his Mama. He went through all 4 ounces of milk and 2 TBSP of apples in the 3 hours I was gone. I suspect 2 nights in 3 days of going out with Baby J in tow was a bit more than Daddy or Baby J could handle. But the class was fun! I didn't get to practice much since I rushed right home to get back to the baby. I will try to get some practicing in tomorrow.

L's Apron

I made L an apron tonight. It took about an hour. I even made it without a pattern - woohoo! She was so excited to have her own apron made with love by her mama : -)

Nature Hike

I have had the most awesome week with my kids. I have tried to truly appreciate the SAHM gig this week. Monday was a storytime adventure at the library (sorry J for leaving with your keys!!). Tuesday was dance class and lunch picnic outside here at home. The neighbors dropped by for a bit with fresh kumquats and conversation. Tues night was a Bounce birthday party for a little boy in our homeschool group. I left J at home with Daddy and I took L & S by myself. It was so wonderful having that quality time. And Daddy had his first time alone with Baby J. Everyone did great. Baby J refused to look me in the eye when I got home. I remember L doing that when I left her alone once too : -)

We went on a nature hike with our homeschool group today. It was so much fun! And I loooove my jogging stroller. Having the stroller really helped me to stay involved with L & S and keep J nearby without having to wear him the whole time. He enjoys hanging out in his Moby but seems to like being "on his own" in the stroller sometimes too. Best of both worlds!! L and S picked some flowers along the way. I enjoyed watching L interact with the other kids today too - she was much more relaxed today. S still hangs back some but really enjoys his "journey". S was a wonderful Big Brother to J today. He was trying to comfort J on the ride back to the van. J was having nothing to do with it but S just kept on trying!

L enjoyed all the wildflowers today.

Picking flowers - look at those eyelashes!!

S trying to console J.

Today was just a nice day. Exactly what I always thought staying home with my kids would be like. Other like-minded women with similar interests and ditto with their kids. Wonderful time!!!

Cutest Apron

I am doing another apron swap. The host to this swap is Sassy Apron Swap. She is a wonderful hostess!! Right now she is giving away an apron from a sponsor to the swap. Here you can go see the website. It is by J.Carrell Originals and I am dying to get an apron from her. My hubby was just looking over my shoulder and actually approved a purchase of another apron - that is a miracle : -)

Go check out the aprons ASAP!!

When Life Hands You Lemons....

We make lemonade! We made fresh, homemade lemonade tonight. The kids & I squeezed lemons for about an hour to get enough juice to make a pitcher of lemonade. Both L & S were helpful during the whole process : -)

Baby J loves his toes. They are his new favorite toy these days!!

Look at my brown-eyed thumbsucker!

Fire Station Trip gone Bad

We started the day with such hope and it went well until.... S puked at the local fire house : -(

We had a tour scheduled at our neighbor's fire house today with our homeschool group. We got there late (my MO lately - getting out of the house on time with 3 takes a ton of work!!). S was determined to bring in his Lighting McQueen car, I told him no, he won. He was glued next to me while L took off to play with her friends and Baby J hung out on my chest in his Moby. I didn't even think about S being sick, just thought he was acting shy like he does sometimes. We rang the bell to the fire house, they opened the door, we entered all pumped about the impending excitement... not 10 feet into the building, S puked all over the floor and not once but TWICE! I was so worried and a bit embarrassed as well. Not overly like I would have been even a year ago but still somewhat embarrassed. I already feel like I don't have a real handle on things sometimes, being the only one with 3 in our group. Poor S was mortified and upset because I was scooping him up to leave. The firefighters were awesome cleaning up our mess. I left L there with our good friend J from the K family we hang out with all the time. She was fine without me. I left her booster outside by J's car and S, Baby J and I headed home. I was bummed for S since he didn't get to see the fire trucks but we'll have to reschedule the tour for another time. L came home about 2 hours later, after a trip to MickyD's to get some ice cream (thanks again J for taking such good care of L - she had a blast with you!!). I asked L at nap if she missed me and she said "NO" very quickly. She must have been able to read the hurt on my face because she quickly responded with "I did miss you some Mama but I really had fun with my friends!". S feels fine now - hopefully no more puke!!

We are planting a garden in the front part of our property. I ran to the store tonight and got some seeds to start planting. We are going to start next weekend getting the garden area ready. With the economy in the tanks, I have been super concerned lately about the idea of not being to feed our kids or of us going hungry. I have slowly started stockpiling stuff. I like the idea of growing some of our own food, for the food and for the peace of mind that comes with having that knowledge, the know-how to provide for my family. I feel logically that the ability to feed my family, the money to buy food will always be there but still, the little voice in the back of my mind, that gut feeling tells me to do this. The kids are sure excited about the garden. Hopefully they'll be willing to help me weed it too : -)

We got a jogging stroller this weekend. Our other neighbor had one he found at a yard sale and $20 later, we have a jogger. It has been super nice on our dirt roads. It's a double jogger so one spot belongs to Baby J and L & S have to share the other spot, although today I stuck Baby J in the Moby and the older 2 both got to ride. What a work out for Mama - pushing 70 pounds of kids and carrying another 18 pounds. I sure hope that will help melt away this last 10 pounds!!!!

Happy 8th Anniversary to my Love

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe that we are celebrating #8 already. Time has flown by oh so quickly. I love him more today than I did 8 years ago and I never thought that was possible. Being his wife and a mother to our children is a dream come true for me. Thanks Daddy Piper for 8 wonderful years - I am looking forward to the next 8 (and the 8 after that and the 8 after that and the 8 after that.....)