Life

Life is certainly interesting, isn't it? As I sit here in the beautiful weather outside, watching my boy ride his bike (I look up when he comes screaming by on his bike!), and thinking. I am thinking of all the trials we have faced in the last 8 months. Plenty of things to be worried, upset, devastated about and yet, here I sit - healthy (relatively minus the headaches), healthy family, a husband who has stuck by me and '`shown me what's it like to stick together during the hard times, kids that make laugh almost hourly, a home, a new (er) van that runs like a dream, plenty of food and clothing. These things are something I took for granted a year ago. I had no idea what it was like to worry over next month's bills or where we would be in 3, 6 or even 9 months. I now know what those worries are, up close and personal. I am thankful and feel blessed to have spent these last few months getting closer to God - as I had never known him before.

Daddy Piper has work tonight. S asked "so since Daddy has work tonight, does that mean we have another baby now?" YIKES - where did he get that from???? We have never said that another baby depended on Daddy's work. It is amazing what the kids pick up on though.

This morning was super busy. Our internet went down. After an hour on the phone with Q*est, it was decided we needed a new modem. Well I refused to pay for one. I got it free when I signed up with them and it isn't that old. After some haggling, I got them to send me one for free. It won't be here till Tues. Then Daddy Piper had to get a new headlight so off he and S went to the parts store. Side story: S is super testosterone these days. He is loving all this male bonding time! They got back and L & I ran to Target to get some birthday party/baptism shopping done. What a disaster! I ordered 4 pounds of meat and 2 pounds of cheese from the deli. We got our other shopping done, stopped back by the deli counter only to find the cheese was done but not the meat. Another 15 minutes goes by and we head back to the deli. Nope - haven't even started on the meat yet. WHAT?!? So 30 minutes later, only 2 pounds of cheese was done. I was on a tight schedule so I told her I would come back this afternoon. We had an egg hunt at the neighbors at 11 so we had to go go go. We still had tables to pick up from the S household. L was game to go along with all these errands. She is awesome to have with me. I feel super lucky to have her as my sidekick :-) Racing off to the S household, grab the tables, wrangle their dogs back into the house and now we are going to be late - AGH! We rushed home, grabbed S (J took an extra long nap this morning - must be a growth spurt), got the snack to share and the kids baskets and drive behind us for the egg hunt.

Egg hunt was fun, fun, fun! I didn't take my camera but lived in the moment, enjoying the hunting not the recording of the event. S & L each found a ton of eggs and had a blast doing it. L mostly enjoyed the girl time with K & E (neighbor girls). We even set up a playdate for tomorrow afternoon, much to L's delight!

J & I went to Target while L & S napped. They had just finished my meat - 3 1/2 hours after I originally asked for it! We got all we needed then back home for us. J & L helped me clean the playroom up for carpet cleaning later. J chattering all the time. He has so much to say these days :-)

S woke up from nap, J went down for his afternoon nap and here we are - sitting outside, enjoying the weather, my awesome son and the simple fun of bike riding!!

Peed from WHERE??

S peed on L today - AGH! He was climbing the front tree and guess he needed to go potty and dropped his drawers right then. L was under the tree, playing. He peed all over her head. It was super gross. She comes to the front door while I am preparing dinner and says "S peed on me". I thought he must have peed on her feet or shoes. Boy was I surprised to find her head and clothes SOAKED! She showered while I tried to find S. He was still in the tree. I helpd him down then I marched him over to his father. We tried to be super mad and explain no peeing from the trees (who knew THOSE words would ever come out of my mouth). Both Daddy Piper and I had a hard time keeping a straight face while talking to him about proper places to urinate, one of those places is NOT on his sister's head!!

L's Words

L: "Mom those peanut butter cookies [that S is eating right now] have 2 cookies with peanut butter in them middle so can I have 2 dolce's?" UH - I just looked at her father stunned. What a negotiator!

Fresh from the Bath

My two stinky boys fresh from their bath.
I love these rotten stinkers more than life itself.

Fun time - with pics!!

Fun time playing with Daddy. All the kids piled on Daddy!!!

J curled up next to L to enjoy a bedtime snack. Those two have become so close lately. She has taken to be a "little mommy" to the boys.
All my 3 babes. They are really into snuggling for a pictures these days.

A First for S

S took out the trash from the kitchen to the outside trash. It was a team effort with L & S. She opened the door and the trash can lid for S. WOOHOO!! Maybe this is one thing Daddy Piper can mark off his to do list????

Haircut with Beautician L

L is playing haircut with her Daddy right now. I took the boys this morning to get their hair cut for the family pics tomorrow. Pics to follow!

Loose Teeth!

L discovered her first loose last night. She showed it to me while I was eating dinner. I then discovered her adult tooth growing in behind it! It's her lower front tooth. I was so worried since the other tooth is already coming in and it looks crooked. I called the dentist this morning. They got her in pretty quickly. It's nothing to worry about since the baby tooth was already loose. If it hadn't been loose, then they would want to pull it but now the decision is to let nature take its course. The crooked looking tooth really isn't a concern either. The dentist said it would likely straighten up on its own with her mouth growing. Quickly after finding the first loose tooth, she figured out the one right next to it is loose too. So L went from no loose teeth to 2 in a matter of minutes :-)

Peanut Butter and Imagination

We are cleaning out the garage and getting ready for a spring yard sale. While I was working outside, I asked L to make lunch. She attempted and almost succeeded!! She make PB&J's minus the J. She couldn't get the jelly to spread. I was super proud of her for trying!
The kids are enjoying playing with old toys from the garage. They set up a store in the front yard. Super fun seeing them use their imagination so well!

S Sleeping

I am slowly figuring out that S can sleep any where. He must have woke up sometime during the night and came out to the couch (in anticipation of finding me, since I usually end up on the couch during the night). I found him this morning snoozing on the couch!

I wore a dress in a wedding when I was almost 10. It was a gorgeous white, fancy flower girl dress. I felt so beautiful in that dress. My sister kept that dress. My daughter, my 5 year old daughter, got to play dress up in that same dress today. Never had I seen a more beautiful girl in that dress. She spent the day playing in one of the most special dresses in my life!

Graduation

My niece graduated from a CNA program today. I am so proud of that girl - I could just burst!! She is now heading to a private university in the fall for their 4 year RN program!!

We drove up to her college about 1 1/2 hours away to be at her graduation. Thankfully Daddy Piper made it home to go with us. He was gone getting his friend's truck detailed and it took all day. It was super special to be together celebrating such an awesome accomplishment!

Prom Dress Shopping

We went with my niece today to a local mall to shop for her senior prom dress. It was super fun to spend the day shopping together. She got a super adorable dress for her prom and her graduation and all the accessories for less than $100 - woohoo!! It was just enjoyable to spend the day hanging out together. My babes had fun being with their auntie and cousin. SDP (my niece) brought along a friend from her town and we picked up her long time friend from down here. These girls had a blast shopping, chatting and being silly. Their adulthood is looming in the near future and seeing them just be teenage girls was fun for me! L had fun trying on dresses again, just like with LW back in the fall when they visited. The boys tagged along and were super well behaved. They were rewarded with a carousal ride, lunch out and then chocolate gelato. Auntie D kept the boys sitting in the stroller in the middle of the aisle while the girls were all trying on dresses, so they couldn't touch anything with their chocolately fingers!!

I had all 3 kids while Daddy Piper went over to talk with a local contractor about some upcoming work. That idea seemed better in theory than in reality. He dropped us off and went over to the contractor, with the plan being to come back and meet up with us for lunch. FAIL! 12:45 came and I called to have him come get us - it was getting sooo close to nap time and all the kids were melting quickly. He claimed he was 10 minutes away. In fear of angering him (yes that's how things are these days), I rushed everyone across the mall to be at the entrance he dropped us off at. We made it there in about 15 minutes and then waited 1 1/2 hours for him to come get us. He kept talking is my guess - though he won't admit it. Then he was more than 10 minutes away to begin with. Anyway, it was 2:30 when he finally picked us up. The kids were a wreck and I was super upset.

This is just how things are right now. We are just up to our eyeballs with loads of stress and it isn't getting much better.

Horrible Day

Lots of changes and things are going on around here. I had such a rough day handling things today. I have trekked along, putting one step in front of another, doing the daily things that have to be done. Today - I just couldn't keep up. The day was filled with lots of tears and anger. Financially, we are struggling. Insurance issues are a big concern. I see these thing starting to affect our kids. I am upset on the inside constantly. Today those torment feelings showed on the outside. I pray to do the right things but am not sure what those things are. We are meeting my sis at the mall tomorrow to be with her and my niece to get her prom dress. I am looking forward to enjoying the day out with my kids and my sis and niece. I am hoping to make a conscience effort to enjoy my kids. My time home with them fulltime might be coming to a close. I need to make the most of this time we have together!!