Christmas Day

I guess all the kids were really good because Santa came big time at our house! Judd woke up first, so he and I hung out and steared clear of the gifts until the other 2 got up. They finally woke up and were excited to see their piles of goodies! Harper and Juddson dumped their stockings first and Noah picked the smallest gift from his pile, probably because it looked like a Wii game, and he was right, he marveled at that Mario Baseball forever-- just what he'd hoped for! Harper's main hope was Ponyville and she couldn't wait for us to get it all un-packaged. She also got a big crib and the Baby Alive doll with the 4 in 1 backpack thing. Judd loved his Gabba stuff and also he got some really cool Little people sets and a stand and learn activity table, that was one of my favorite toys that Santa brought-- Fun and Educational!! I sound like a commercial now... We finally coaxed Noah into opening more gifts and he got Shake and Go Dragsters and the Matchbox Alien set to name a few.
After all the gifts were opened and out of the boxes (which took forever because you know how toys are packaged) our house looked like a bomb went off in a toys r us. Boxes and wrapping paper and cardboard and toys covered our entire living and dining room floor. Poor Josh had to clean it all, and I started cooking for my side to eat Christmas dinner over here.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at Nanna and Pappa's house with Cory and Jessica and Lexi and Luke. Usually Lisa and Jack are there as well, but of course this year they were in the hospital with their new babies! We missed them, and can't wait to see them. We had a wonderful dinner with ham, turkey, dressing, Nanna's famous tators and gravy and deviled eggs and a whole bunch of desserts. We hardly made it through dinner-- the kids were so hyper and excited to dive into the gifts. I think Juddson was the only one who actually ate anything. As soon as we finished eating, they started tearing into presents. The first one Juddson opened was a Gabba gabba tent, which he put up on the couch and sat in front of it so no one would steal it from him. His next one was the Gabba gabba guitar, which got him off the couch. He played with that for the next 2 hours, singing and dancing and clapping to all the songs... and if no one was watching him, he'd yell at them "NANNA" and once he had her attention, he'd go back to his singing. Harper was opening one of hers from Jessi and Cory and it was a baby doll, but it was wrapped in a a big crockpot box and she saw the crock pot picture and said, "No" and I don't remember if she said, I don't want it or that's not mine, but it was something like that, and she dropped it and walked away... we had to explain to her that it was something different inside, so Josh opened it part of the way so she could see pinkness inside and then she got excited again, and loves the baby doll and all the clothes and things that were with it. Noah opened his game and wanted to play his "truck game" so bad it distracted him from opening all of the other things. He couldn't wait to get home and play it. He did love his Thomas the train tent and played in it with Piglet. We all had a great Christmas together and thank everyone for the gifts.

Judd

Judd had a bath, I got him out, dried and dressed him. Something stopped up the tub and the water didn't drain. Fifteen minutes later, Harper comes in telling me, Judd is in the bath.... and he was.

December pics

More old pics

Noah's 4th birthday party!

October pics

Merry Christmas???? I don't know...

Yikes, 2 weeks since my last post

Crazy weeks, sick kids, and the approaching holiday are my excuse for not having posted in so long. The kids are at a wonderful age, I wish they would all stay toddlers forever. They are talking and growing each day and I am busy enough jotting little notes in my notepad and taking pictures... Who has time to blog? But, I hope to one day look back at all the fun little stories and relive my young mommy days... and since I have such a TERRIBLE memory, going back and reading this will be like reading a wonderful story...

Grandmom fell a few weeks ago and broke her hip. One day I ventured to the hospital with all three kids to visit her and mom. They did awesome, obeyed me, walked by me, and were quiet. I was so proud. Once in the room, they were a little surprised to see Grandmom laying in bed. Noah went up and kissed her and said "boo boo?" Harper told her she had broken bones, and Juddson was looking at Charles trying to place him. Grandmom and mom were so happy to see us. Noah saw the potty and had to try it. He walked in and looked up over the potty and said "hot shower?" Wow! He could potty and shower all at the same time, pretty cool. Harper decided to entertain Grandmom with a leg kick/ booty shaker combo, and after she was finished, she said "that's my talent!" See... they are learning things from their t.v. shows. Thank you Yo Gabba Gabba! When Charles left, Juddson said "Bye 'Chars,' see you later!" and everyone though that was cute that he could say that.

Other interesting outings included the trip to the dentist, Dr. Murphy. I was SO proud of the kids, especially Harper. They called them back at the same time and the girls started cleaning their teeth. Since Noah was a little more difficult, I sat on his chair and helped hold his hands down and tried to control his screaming. In the chair next too us, was precious little Harper laying perfectly still and quiet, with her sunglasses on so the bright light wouldn't hurt her eyes. Her hands were folded on her tummy and her mouth was wide open. Wow!! I was so impressed. She is terrified of cavities (again, props to Yo Gabba Gabba) and I told her the girls were going to make sure she didn't have any tiny, yucky cavities. With good reports, we left-- outta there in 30 minutes!! Yeah!! With toys from the treasure chest and stickers, and a baggy of new toothbrushes and paste, they were excited!

Now for the random stories of funnies I have jotted down:
Juddson wasn't wearing a shirt and wanted a drink. I gave him Noah's that was on the table, a non-sippy cup. Harper, being concerned said "No, not that cup, he spill it on his boobs."

The kids and I eating lunch at the table, Noah was watching Harper and looked up and said "Hoppa so cute." Ahhh, how sweet of a brother is that?

Josh was teasing Harper, she came back with "Josh, don't be mean."

Josh gave Harper a drink of his drink, fresh, sweet tea.... after a long drink Harper looked up and said "that's some delicious juice!"

We are having some electrical difficulties and have had a few companies come out and give us quotes. The first ones were a little scary, wreaked of old smoke, not many teeth, you know the type.... Anyways, Harper, being the man lover she is had to talk to them... they told her 'bye' when they left and as soon as the door closed, she whipped around and said "those guys just lub me."

Harper-- about cheese omelet: "I don't wike that cheese, it make me throw-up."

One of my peeves is when we are going somewhere and they take their shoes off in the car between home and where we are headed... First of all, because I am usually running late and putting shoes back on takes more time... and second of all, it's just a hassle to do... Harper knows how I feel about keeping shoes on. We arrived at Walmart, I grabbed a cart, put Judd in, turned to get Harper, and she is waving her hand in my face saying "Don't get mad, don't yell....don't be mad, it's alright... just be happy" because one of her shoes was untied... poor thing... guess I need to chill out with the shoes a little bit.

This story made me cry, one of the sweetest things I have ever experienced. I was editing pics and Noah came up and sat in my lap and gave me sweet kisses and a big hug. He said "I wub you" and I told him I loved him too and kissed him back and gave him a big squeeze. He sat back and looked up at me and said "Here, you have my heart, here you go" and made the motion of pulling his shirt (his heart) and held it out to me.... How sweet is that???? I am amazed he could relate that to love.... after he saw my misty-eyed reaction, he said "here you have my 3 hearts" and pulled more out....sweet baby boy.

We were all at the table eating dinner... the kids had KFC chicken strip meals and Josh and I had Chinese. Well, they didn't give josh very much meat, it was mainly celery strips he picked around... The kids had gotten up and were running around playing while we were finishing our meals. Harper had left some chicken and Josh, still being hungry, ate it... thinking she was done. A few minutes passed and she hopped up in her chair, looked into her "laptop" box and said, "Hey! Where's my chicken?" Josh felt really bad and told her he thought she was finished and he ate it and he was really sorry." She had a distraught look and then smiled and leaned over and kissed him on the shoulder and said "it's ok, daddy." Ah,sweet girl. What a great quality to have, forgiveness.

We were driving and were close to home, and I was kidding with kids and said "oh no, I am lost, where are we?" Harper, rolling her eyes, said "you are not lost, Kim." I laughed real big because she sounded like such a teenager... she said "no, no, don't tell that..."

Judd loves little people, he has one that is Mexican, with a lot of black hair and a mustache. He calls that one daddy-- which is funny. The one with brown hair, that carries a bottle is mommy. He plays with them in the bathtub and covers them up with cups and says "where's Josh?" "where's Kim?"


I am sick, I coughed real big and Noah said "bless you."
Cute kids....

Juddson is really into throw and catch right now... and he has an arm, I wish we had a video camera to capture his first "fire balls." He loves to look at pictures, especially of "Hoooooover" and says "Hooooover, cute!" He's talking so well!! He's always got a boo boo or something hurts... He'll call the other kids to the table or bath "Eat, Hoppa, eat..." or "bath...Wowa, Bath." One of his favorites is "what happened" and he turns his hands out? I tell him and he'll say "oh." and run off...

Harper is into playing doctor. She is the mommy and she'll bring the baby dolls to me or Josh (Dr. Fred) and we have to poke their finger... I guess I should mention, last Friday, she had to have her finger poked for an Iron test-- which came back normal this time!! Praise!!

Noah loves "Jennifer/Michelle school" Which is his speech/occupational therapy, but not Tilles school. I don't know why he doesn't like that one right now. After I pick him up from any school, his first words are "play mariokart for 10 minutes?" Last night he started saying "not 10 more minutes, how bout 11?" I said "how bout 5?" he cried, "not 5, 11."

That's all I got... I gotta get some stuff done before they wake up.

December Already

My precious angels are growing too fast. I love this age; it's all chaos and hectic, and nothing stays clean for more than 2 minutes, but they are all so funny right now. Last night while they were in the bath, Juddson was holding up letters, and I said "B" and he said "CDE" Wow! I was amazed he knew that. He thinks he is a big kid. Harper apparently knows her letters too. She thinks she spells her name "KKR, KKR" instead of "H A R P E R" and yesterday she said "Write my name" So, I did, without saying anything.... I had written "Harper" and she said "No, write my Kkrkkr." and so, again, without saying anything, I wrote "Kkrkkr" and she said "Thank you..." and took it and put it on the front of the fridge with 6 magnets around it and showed it to Judd, telling him to look at her "kkrkkr." Which he did, and promptly ripped off and she screamed, and I got it back from him and gave it to her and she put it on the side of the stove, with the same 6 magnets, to hide it from Judd.... it worked.

When the kids get in trouble, we give them their lecture and say, "Do you understand?" Until they look us in the eye and respond that yes they do understand... And Judd kicked me while I was changing his diaper today and I said "Juddson, no no... You don't kick mommy, that hurts mommy. If you kick again, you will get a spanking, do you understand?" I thought he would give his usual response of "UH HUH!" but to my surprise his sweet little voice said "I un stand." AHHH Makes me cry-- he is the sweetest kid. Well, I can't say that, Harper and Noah are precious too.

Noah is really into making Mii's on the Wii.... and he's pretty good at it too. He made Scott and Granny tonight, and they are cute-- pretty funny. I think he likes creating Miis almost as much as he likes playing games. He's off of MarioKart for now and likes "Tewis" which is Tennis...and he has to have both controls and play two person, so he's playing against himself.

Yesterday morning, when I went to get Juddson out of bed, I realized he'd gotten sick through the night sometime and had slept in throw up... Yuck I know... but he must have slept through it because I didn't hear anything on the monitor... anyways, I had just gotten the other two ready to take Noah to school and came back in and told them Judd was sick and we were going to stay home today. I was holding Judd and said "Oh, you poor boy" and Noah ran up and put his nose on mine, like he likes to do when he has something very important to ask or say and said "I a poor boy too." He thinks that if he's a poor boy or sick, he'll get to skip school. Every morning when we are getting ready he says something hurts or he's hot or sick or something. He does love to go to Jennifer Michelle school, as it's now called. They are doing a great job with him and I am so thankful he likes to go. Today I watched the end of his OT session with Jennifer and they were swinging on this big thing together, well, not really swinging, just swaying back and forth really slowly and he was holding scissors the right way and cutting paper all by himself... that's a big deal because he's never been able to hold scissors the right way. I have also caught him holding a pencil the right way too-- which is awesome. And a couple of days ago, I was on the computer and he got in my lap and grabbed a pen and made a circle, and a cross, just in 2 seconds and was so proud!!! YEAH Noah--we are so proud of him for improving so much with his fine motor skills!

Harper Jane is still not pooping in the potty, it drives me nuts, because she knows when she needs to go and she goes and hides and then comes out of hiding with this little smile behind thumb and "pink elephant cat" and I know before I smell it what she's done. She will wear panties and pee in the potty, but cries for a diaper when she needs to poop, I don't get it.... Today I tried to bribe her... I told her if she pooped in the potty 5 times, she could get a toy... I said "How about Hungry hungry hippo" because she sees the commercial and talks about it all the time. And she lit up and said "Yeah!!! Hungry hungry hippo" So, I told her I would make her a chart and when she got 5 stars, she'd get the game.... She was so pumped... and not even 2 hours later, she pooped again-- IN HER DIAPER... ugh.. I don't know what it's going to take for that girl. She is so funny though, if she sees something like that game that she wants she'll say "I want that for my Christmas list, or I want that for my birthday present." Want want want... these kids know that word... sometimes it's need... I need that toy mommy...

Anyways, I am going to go make a star chart... It's not letting me spellcheck for some reason... so sorry for all the misspellings in your previous reading... :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great day today at Nanna and Pappa's house and ate a ton of good food. It was great to see everyone, but we missed Memaw not being there. The kids had fun with their cousins and Juddson helped himself to food all day. He'd climb up into a chair and eat whatever was on the table in front of him, he ate turkey, ham, strawberries, choc pie and spicy dip... all at the same time. The kids hadn't napped and were exhausted when we left at 7. We are excited to do it all over again tomorrow at our house with Granny and Pa and Grandmom and Kara and Scott.

This week, Juddson has been the funny one. Noah has been sick all week and hasn't done much at all. He's been taking his antibiotics, but has still had fever almost every day and just hasn't been himself. Harper has been pretty quiet except for her outbreaks of leg kicks and booty shakin'. Judd asked for blocks and I got them all down and he stacked a few and smiled and said "I love it!" (as plain as day) and I said "Did you say 'you love it'?" and he did the massive "uh" "HUH" with the big head nod. We were all laying in bed the other night, trying to bore the kids to sleep and Juddson pointed out that we were watching "Football" and he'd cheer for them, or say "uh oh" when a guy got tackled. He will also stand at the baby gate and holler for "HOOoooVer!" And when Hoovy boy was chewing on the bath stopper, Juddson was crying "Hoover, bath! Hoover, bath!" over and over until I looked and saw what he had and took it away.

Oh yeah, also this week, I thought it was so sweet. I told the kids Granny was coming over because mommy had to go to the doctor (for a face treatment) Harper's eyebrows came down and she looked really serious and said, "Mommy, are you sick?" it was so thoughtful. I told her no, I just had to go get some lotion for my face and she said "oh ok..." and told me that she wanted to go too, to play with the trains.

On the way to Noah's therapy yesterday, I don't know how, but somehow the baby in the pool video got brought up and Noah, just thinking about it, started crying. He can't stand for us to watch it or talk about it... Poor little sensitive thing....

Well, I am off to hopefully find some online deals, so I won't have to get out and shop in the morning.

Yikes!

Once again, I have been terrible about keeping the blog up to date this week. I have so many pics I am going to put up, just not this second. Josh gets irritated that I write more than I upload pics, but I am doing this so I will have a record of all the cute, little funny things they do and say... I will always have the pics, and I don't need two copies, but I would never be able to remember things if I didn't make notes, and that is the purpose of this blog...
Anyways, Noah is now a Mario Kart trash talkin' expert. He's beaten the first level and has one more trophy to go to beat the second level. He's amazing and knows how to do all kinds of tricks. Josh played against him yesterday and was saying "You ready to go down? Daddy's gonna win!" And Noah said, "I not going down, I going up... Daddy going down." Josh did end up beating him a few times and he cried and cried like you wouldn't believe. He could NOT stand to lose. He cried so loud that it woke H up and she came in and saw what was happening and told Josh, "Daddy, you don't need to win" and started cheering for Noah. She is so smart, she says she can't play because she falls off, but she knows exactly what Noah is doing and says things like "Good turn, do a double flip" and she'll come and tell me, "Noah won the star cup..." etc...

At the dinner table at night, before we eat, we give thanks for our food. The kids are finally catching on and are putting their forks down, folding their hands, and closing their eyes.... and they sometimes repeat what Josh says or say their own prayer. Last night after Josh finished and everyone started eating, Juddson clasp his hands, closed his eyes and said "God....pood...MAYMEN" Translated, that is 'Dear God, thank you for our food, Amen.' Awwwe, it was so sweet. Today Harper said 2 prayers, the first was "Dear God, thank you for my Tootee shirt and Plex shirt and Brobee shirt, Amen." The next was "Thank you for Lexi and Luke and Nanna and Pappa and Grandmom and Granny and Pa and Kott and Kara, Amen."

Scott and Kara came over last night to hang out for a while and the kids were so excited for them to get here. All day Harper talked about showing Scott her leg kick and booty shaker, which she practiced on and off throughout the day. And, sure enough, as soon as he walked through the door, "Hey Scott, wanna see my weg kick?" And before he could answer, she was on her hands and knee with that leg up in the air... then, yep, the booty shaker! It was awesome. Noah and Juddson followed suit and drove Scott nuts for his first 30 minutes here.

The other night I was laying down with Harper and I tell her things like, "You are so sweet, and you are such a good helper, and you make pretty pictures, and you are a good sister.... " and she nods after each one... Well, I said "You are so smart." and she yelled out "I not fmart, I pretty." and I said, "You are both, you are smart and pretty", and she said "I not both, I pretty." Oh well.

She's been using pronouns lately, but everyone she uses is "he." Like, if she's looking for Kara, she'll say, "I can't find he." It's so funny, I guess, she'll get it right eventually.

Harper is now calling Josh, "Joshua".

Today, Noah was sick with fever and a tummy ache, so we didn't go to church. We all layed on the bed and watched First Baptist on tv, while Noah played MarioKart in the den. He came in the room once to see what we were doing. We tried to talk him into staying in there, with no luck. He shut the door and left. Judd hollered..."Wo---ah...CHURRRSH" and every few seconds after that, he'd look at the door and yell "CHURRRRRRRSH."

Oh yeah, last night, Kara and I took the kids for a drive in hopes they'd go to sleep and for the first 2 miles of the drive Judd said "Byeeeee, Kott... bye bye Kott" Ahh... they love their uncle Scott.

Everybody's sick, even the dog

After the gym and Noah's school we ate, got everybody changed and headed to take Noah to therapy. Juddson had fallen off the train table and almost split the back of his head open-- he's got a huge knot... right before we left, so he was crying and was not happy. Luckily, the Tylenol kicked in and he went to sleep on the drive over... as did Harper. We dropped Noah off and sat in the car for a few minutes and let them sleep, then went to Walmart for a couple of things. We came home and let Hoover out and Noah played a little Mario and then mom got there to watch Harper and Juddson and I took Noah to see Dr. Fred because he'd been complaining that his ear hole was hurting. We signed in and they told us the wait would be over an hour, so we went across the street to the mall and Kara gave him a 5 minute haircut.... oh dear.... and then we went to the "bridge" and he played and ate pizza and drank coke. After he finished eating, the doctor's office called, so we loaded up and headed back over. I think they jumped the gun on calling us because we still had to wait forever once we got there. Noah did have an ear infection, so next we had to go get his prescription. By then is was 5:30, and I knew Josh and the kids would be starving, so I stopped and got Chick Fil A and hurried home. It was a wonderful surprise when I walked in the door to see that Josh had picked up the house... I was dreading that and he had it done for me! Noah played MarioKart and the rest of us sat at the table and ate dinner. We did story time and went to bed early. It was a rough night though because before bed I put some stuff on Harp's fingernails that were supposed to make her stop biting them, but it grossed her out so bad that she was throwing up... then I tried to remove it with nail polish remover and it still wouldn't come off, so I called dad and we tried several things, but finally after the pure vanilla extract, it was rubbed off enough where she didn't get sick when her thumb was in her mouth. Hoover threw up too, but was acting fine, so I didn't think much of it and went to bed. Noah woke up crying saying his face hurt (around midnight) and I gave him Ibuprofen and finally got him situated and back to sleep. He was also saying his legs hurt and had me rub them, that was a first for that. Juddson woke up too, screaming-- like he'd had a bad dream or something and I had to nurse him-- for the first time in a week... boo... to get him back to sleep. Hopefully, he won't remember and won't ask for it again. This morning Josh and I woke up to a very sick Hoovy-dog. He's throwing up every few minutes and is trying to poop but can't go. He can hardly move, poor thing; Josh is coming home from work so I can take him to the vet. I don't have a very good feeling about what he's going go say though.

A week!!!

Worn out

How we see Noah, since he got Mario Kart for his birthday.
Noah's recent project:

He's claimed Daddy's hat.

I can't believe another week has gone by with no time to post. I apologize to my readers (if I have any left) from all the crazy blog drama that has happened in the past couple of months. Last week I spent my ususal blogging time doing online Christmas shopping, which is much easier than getting away for 3 hours by myself, or loading the kids and taking all of them with me... So, I have taken notes all week and will try to back track all the good things that happened.

This week has been full of funnies, mainly by Harper. She is talking, talking, talking. And, talking like a grown up, and it's so cute. She has been taking her Iron supplements and it's made a huge difference in her attitude. I can tell she has more energy and is feeling so much better and for that I am very thankful. Last Sunday, I wore makeup to church, which the kids rarely see me in.... And, in the car on the way to church, Harper looked at me for a long time and said, "I love your purple eyes, it's pretty." Granted, I was wearing blackish grayish eye shadow, but it was so sweet. After church she worked on her leg kick, and Juddson and Noah followed suite....but she is the creator of the back leg kick. After the kicks, she looked at Josh and said "Now the booty shaker" and did the booty shaker dance. She likes to eat smarties and calls them "farties." She came up to me and said "Noah's ticked." I guess she got that from Josh, because I don't think I say that... I couldn't believe she picked it up and used in correctly though... I was like what, did you say "Noah's ticked?" she said "Yeah, he mad." Next, she was watching Noah play Mario Kart and he opened a new volcano land and she said "Volcano, volcano, volcano....I WIKE that wud.... Volcano, volcano, volcano." She was sitting on Josh's lap and tooted and looked up and smiled and said "I tooted" and he said "Yeah, you did." and she said "I wuv tootin'.... BIG TOOT!" The girl likes to toot.... But, her main phrase is "Mommy, hold me very much." Have I written that?

One night last week we were driving them to try to get them to go to sleep and Harper was wired and talking and talking and Noah was almost asleep and Josh said "Harper, I think Noah wants you to be quiet." Harper said, "NO, NO, NO, no be quiet" and at the same time Noah was saying "YES, YES, YES!"

Another day last week, we were in a rush to get Noah out the door to get to school and they were looking out the front window and Noah accidentally pulled the curtain rod and curtains down and I got mad and was yelling for them to listen, and obey and to get by the door and sit down and wait for mommy.... all the usual stuff I tell them in the mornings, and Noah is standing behind me as I am trying to put the curtains back up and breaks out into the gabba gabba song... "I so, I so sorry, I so, I so sorry." Ahhh, who could be mad at that? It was precious.

Judd is still talking up a storm too, he'll get a pen and say "picture" and want to make a picture. He still is overly dramatic, especially when I pick him up from the gym childcare or nursery. When he first sees me he'll say "MOMMY!" and he'll run to me, then drop to the floor and put his hands over his face and cry, and glance out the side and make sure I am watching his agony... He answers everything with a quick "No" or an "uh huh" for yes. He reminds me of the Little Rascals character he says it so much.

No More Babies

Well, this morning around 5, Judd started crying, so I let him cry for a few minutes, hoping he would go back to sleep, but no luck. I went in to get him, and his diaper had leaked and he was wet and freezing. I got him all changed and into warm jammies and of course he had to "nurse" to go back to sleep. Harper's empty bed looked really inviting, so I went in there and got 2 more hours of peaceful sleep. Around 7:30, Harper found me and crawled into bed with me and asked me what I was doing because it was not night time, so I needed to wake up and she pulled the curtains back, so I could see the daylight outside. She snuggled in with me and within a few minutes, Juddson's door swings open and he walks out of his room saying "mommy?" and looking for me! Harper and I looked at each other in amazement and sure enough, I put him in bed and he climbed right out! Oh dear... once they reach that stage, they are officially toddlers.... I am sad... no more babies.... but-- that means, I am officially going to wean him (it's not like he's getting milk anyways)... So, a big challenge is right in front of me. I think while I am weaning Judd, I am going to put the nasty polish on HJ's thumb and try to wean her off her thumb. May as well go through a couple weeks of hell and just put it behind us rather than draw it out, right? When Judd is nursing and he can look up at me and talk to me, it's just weird... time to wean, no doubt about it.
Harper is officially the musically inclined child of the family. The other day we were coming home from the gym and I was scanning the radio stations and it scanned right through a classical piano piece and Harper asked me to turn it back to that "pwanno song" so I did, in amazement she new what instrument was playing. She must have learned that from Baby Einstein "Meet the Orchestra" or from church in Hector, because I think those are the only places she's seen a "pwanno." After the song was over, she asked to hear it again, but I told her our truck didn't have a clicker (like the tv at home) and the next song came on and she was not happy that it wasn't another piano song. The next day, as soon as we got into the car, she asked for "pwanno song" again. I turned on the classical station and she said "that not pwanno, that's barraca's" and she was right, it was maracas! I was impressed!!! Her favorite instrument was first the tuba, then the flute, and now she wants to play the harp because her name is Harper, how fitting would that be? She and Josh were watching a movie and he told me to come in the room and look at her and she was waving her arm around pretending to conduct the score to the movie!!! Duane will be proud!
Noah is still all about some "Ario Kart." Little gamer. I am regulating it though, and not letting him live on it, which he would.... and he is obeying and stopping when I tell him too, no major melt downs yet. He loves to play outside with Hoover, but Hoover is still a little too wild and bites Noah instead of the dog toy, so the play sessions don't last for too long. Tonight, we were driving the kids to put them to sleep and we drove past the UAFS gym and Noah said "Noah, Daddy, run" and he was remembering back to last Halloween when Josh let him run from the church fall fest, all the way up Waldron, to the gym, and into the gym where the guys were practicing. He has a spectacular memory!
Harper went to sleep before we left the driveway, literally tonight, and it took Juddson 17 miles before he went out. Noah stayed awake and wanted to sit on the couch and watch football. He wanted "black" to win (Texas Tech) and was really into the game for a good 30 minutes before he went to sleep.

Note: One of Harper's favorite sayings right now is "Hold me very much" and she asks me that all day long. Today she started saying "OK, mom." in a tone like she was 15 or something. It was hilarious, and she did it several times. Like, I said, "Harper, you need to eat your sandwich." and she said "OK, mom..." and glanced back over her shoulder making sure I noticed her new terminology!

Already Thursday

We've had a busy week getting back into our school routine. Noah has cried every day when I drop him off for school, poor guy. He'll say "I sick, I tired" in hopes of me saying, "OK, we'll say home," but it hasn't worked. Harper's blood test results came back and they said it was low Iron, so we started her on Ferinsol yesterday, and I guess it kicked in pretty fast, usually she is ready for bed by 6, and last night she was up until 8:30ish! Juddson has some teeth coming in and still has a runny nose and now has a bad cough, as of right now, he's been asleep a little over 12 hours. Maybe he'll feel better when he wakes up.
Harper thinks it should be time for her birthday now and does not want a birthday in January! And, she wants a Maggie jump-a-round--hmmm, that's going to be really hard to find. Hopefully, we can talk her into a Chuck E Cheese party or something.
We have started a new night routine. After dinner and baths, we play for a little bit, then turn off all electronics and spread a couple of blankets out on the floor and tell them to sit and we tell stories, with their help... About Mario and Luigi driving through the woods and their tire breaking, so they have to call Wubbzy and the "super fixers" to come help.... which, of course, they do, then Mario and Luigi go see Little Bear and go to Hop Frog Pond and swim..... It was supposed to wind the kids down, but they have started acting out the scenes, flopping on the floor like they are swimming, etc. But, it's been really neat and they enjoy story time. After our make believe story, they each go to the book shelf and pick out 1 book, then Josh and I read to them, then we go to bed. Now, if they would only fall asleep once we got into bed!!
Noah loves his MarioKart and wants to play it all the time. I am regulating the time, and he handles it pretty well when it's time to turn it off. He's caught on really quick and can already get 1st or 2nd place when he tries, sometimes he gets distracted and falls into the water over and over. He has a little dance he does after his race, I gotta get a video camera!
Juddson loves his Gabba Gabba men, when we can find them. Harper tends to sneak off with them and stash them. She loves to hide things. A couple of days ago, we couldn't find the men anywhere and they were at the foot of Harp's bed, tucked in under the sheets "sleeping" she said. Last night, when we were all in bed, Noah asked for "Jungle Blanket," which he hadn't wanted in months and months, so I went to find it, and just happened to open her cubby in her chest of drawers, and there on the pile of folded blankets, were Josh's keys. AMAZING... that was a little miracle of God that Noah asked for that blanket. I NEVER EVER, maybe once every 2 weeks open that cubby. We would've NEVER found Josh's keys, and he wouldn't have been able to work with out them! Thank you God for Noah asking for "Jungle Blanket!"

Happy Birthday Noah!

~~~ Noah's 4th Birthday~~~

His favorite part was the "Happy Birthday" song."Make a wish"

Opening his favorite, and long awaited gift "MarioKart" (not because they were late, he's been wanting this game for months..... just to clarify.)

Kissing Scott and telling him "Thank you!"

Harper and Juddson got a few gifts too, for being good siblings.
Juddson was protecting his Gabba Gabba men with his life, so Hoover wouldn't eat them.By the end of the night, this is how Josh and I felt towards each other.

Happy Birthday my sweet "Baby Boy"!

You don't have to grow up so fast.