End of July, beginning of Aug.

Oh my, I have been so terrible about posting. We have been having birthday parties all over. This weekend, we went to Nanna and Pappa's to celebrate Josh and my birthday. Last night I cooked a huge fried chicken dinner for Josh and Dad for their birthdays.
The kids have been growing, faster than ever. Judd is now swimming under water! He loves it. Sometimes he swims and sometimes he puts his face under while he water walks. He lets Josh throw him now too. They all play the game where they will "get on" to Josh for throwing them and shake their little fingers at him and say "no golf ball," "no baseball," "no soccer ball" etc and he'll go "WHHHHAAATTTT?" and chunk them across the pool.
Judd "borrowed" a little Mario man from church and won't let go of him. First thing when he wakes up "where's Mario?" and we have to hunt through the sheets for him.

A while ago (AGAIN, please read past this if I have already posted this... I have all of these little notes around my desk and am going to type them in, so I can trash them) the kids were at Granny's. Noah peed in the dog water and Granny gave him a little swat. The next day Judd was on my lap pretending to call Granny and said "Hello Granny. Pank Noah's bottom, granny?" he he he... Maybe he's scared of her now... yeah right.

When Noah is upset at someone, he'll tell me they need a "red blood stankin." Meaning, they need one so hard it makes it red... I seriously, have no clue where that one came from.

We pulled up to see Josh's truck here and HJ said "stinker's home."

She was trying to get out of the car another time and Noah got out before her and shut the door and when I came around to open it and let her out she said "That stinkin' Noah, shut the door on me."

Right after Kara cut off all of Judd's hair, Harper was looking at a picture of all three of them (when Judd's hair was long) and said "There's Noah and Mario (and pointed to N's shirt) and there's Harper with pink elephant cat, and there's Judd with the wrong hair!"

She had been asking when Miss Becky was going to come over and see us and I said "I don't know, she was supposed to come visit, wasn't she?" and Harper replied, "well, maybe she gots a pwobwem."

Harper woke up with a stuffy nose and came into the office and told me her "nose won't work".

Harper was sitting on my lap on the couch. Mom and Judd were next to me. Harper was singing ABC's and Judd chimed in, wanting to sing too. Harper said, "no Judd- you just sing 'bum bum bum'." and I laughed and said "Judd she just wants you to sing back up." Judd started singing "back up back up back up, back up!" in the prettiest tune... loloolol... we were rolling.

Yesterday Judd was in the bath and I was in the office and he said "I meed out, piders on me." and I said "spiders? is there a mosquito in there?" and he started whimpering, so I walked in there and he'd pooped in the tub. I scooped some and said "is this spiders?" and he said "yeah." hmmmm...

Harper's preschool and swimming

Harper Jane and the rest of us went to visit First United Methodist preschool this week. She (and the boys) loved the classroom and I enjoyed meeting the director. My main concerns of safety were put to ease and I feel like Harper would really enjoy the program there. She will be starting Tues/Thurs school in Aug. Judd said "wha 'bou me?" and wants to go too...

Harper swam under Daddy's bridge, under water-- like Noah, he belly was almost to the bottom of the pool and she held her breath for a long time-- we have some good swimmers... unlike their mother.

The other Day, I was quizzing Harper.. "where do we live?" Harper says "Smort Smith"
"Right, now what street do you live on?" Harper says that right. I asked her her mommy's name, she got it right... then her daddy's. "Ummm, Daddy?" I said "No, his other name" She thought a minute and I could tell she didn't have it, so I gave her a hint and said "what does mommy call him?" she smiled and said "stinker". A few days after this we pulled up after exercise school and his truck was here and she said "stinker's home."

The boys are doing well also. Noah is really into "kiss you" right now and kisses me a million times a day (especially when he thinks I am upset with him for something) I guess he needs a kiss to reassure him we are best friends.

Judd's big thing is "hold me pweeze....on da couch" and points where I need to go. He loves puppy dogs and usually carries around a few of the stuffed animals. You know how he's into boxing... well, I found a $3 shirt at Walmart with a boxer puppy on it, holding a pair of boxing gloves in his mouth and it says "boxer in training"... well, being Judd's 2 loves, and only $3, I had to get it for him. I put it on him last night and he did his voice "Ohhh so cute!" he said. I gotta record that, it's hilarious, he wrinkles up his nose and says it in a deep voice.

Anyways, we went to church lastnight-- trying to get started in Wed. night church again. Noah got an award for being a good listener! Yeah Noah!

Weekly update

I need to post more regularly... I go thru spurts of posting a lot and then not posting. Josh is in bed and the kids are all playing nicely together. The kitchen is cleaned and the table is wiped down....The kids are clean too, I just got out of the bath with HJ and Judd. Harper is low on Iron again, which worries me. She is "so so so so tired." even after a 3 hour nap. She slept from about 6pm-6:30 this morning.
The boys especially are really into "water game" otherwise known as "wipeout" and watch it over and over. Judd loves the "big balls" and acts it out with his rubber ducks, or whatever toy he has at the moment.
While I am thinking about it, Judd holds his thumbs in between his next 2 fingers. He was doing it in the car today on the way home from Sam's and it's precious.
At Jessie's this weekend he "stole" a bowling set. He woke up this morning and put his hands out and said "where'd my bowling stuff go?" and went to find it.
Noah is really into hotwheels. The other day, he and I were together alone and I gave him a dollar bill and we went to Walmart and he picked out his own hotwheel and paid for it himself. Now, he thinks he needs one everyday.
Did I write about HJ helping me with laundry last week. For about 2 hours, she helped me sort laundry mountain into piles and she did a great job! "Girls panties, boys panties, Harper's clothes, Daddy's boxers, jammies, and wash towels."
I filed papers this morning. I found these notes that I don't know if I have posted or not, but they are from the past couple of months.
I said "Judd do you need to go pee in the potty?" Judd said "No, see, I got panties on."
We were in the car on the way home from exercise school and they were amazed that Addy had a Pa too. I was explaining to them that Pa was my dad and Pappa was Josh's dad and Noah said "And Wanna's yo mom?" and I told him "No, Nanna is Daddy's mom... Granny is my mom." He thought for a few seconds and said "wanna, gwanny, and mommy--- dose aw my girls." Awww. made me tear up and of course I had to call the other "girls" and tell them.
Harper asked me if she could watch the deer painting with bbq sauce on you tube and I turned it on for her and left the room. He ran back in the den and said "that deer scares me, it's fweakin' me out in dere."
A long time ago, several months, I told Harper she was being ugly (by how she was acting) and she said "I ugwee and pwoud."
I asked the kids if they wanted butter or cheese popcorn and Noah answered "chicken popcorn!"
Anyways, if those last stories are repeats, I am just sorry... I wasn't going to go back thru every post trying to find them.
And all 3 of them are here bombarding me.

July

The kids have been cracking us up lately. We have been trying to get them to sleep in Harper's bed every night, and our new routine is about 5 books, then Josh tells them a bedtime story, then I lay in there for a while and sing until they go to sleep. Well, they still don't really like it, and Noah always says he wants to go to mommy/daddy bed. The other night HJ and Judd were watching a show on the couch, and Josh and I were going to lay in bed and watch a movie... It was this weekend, and we were going to let them fall asleep on the couch watching shows. Noah came into our bedroom all wound up and excited and said "Hoppa and Judd sweep in Hoppa bed, Noah sweep in mommy daddy woom and watch a mommy/daddy show-- that's da pwan?" with his little hand held out to the side, it was precious... being that cute, he got his way and Harper and Judd watched a show on the couch and he laid in bed with us and watched a mommy/daddy movie and went to sleep.
We were waiting on Josh to take movies back the next night, sitting in the Walmart parking lot and Noah could see a Chicken Donalds far away. Harper was getting frustrated because she couldn't see it and said "you got some gwasses so I can see chicken Donald's too?"
Judd is still saying "Oh my dosh" the other day we were eating pancakes and he couldn't poke his with a fork and was getting frustrated, and Josh helped him get a bite, and with a big full mouth, he said "oh my dosh, daddy poke it!"
Judd saw a picture of Josh doing fireworks I was putting on the computer and said "dats so cool!"
If I ask him where his food went he puts his hands out and says "eat it aw dawn."
He calls Harper "harper janey" and always has to know where she is and what she's doing.
Harper has been wanting Miss Becky to come over and she said "where is Miss Becky?" and I said "I don't know where she's been..." and she said "Maybe she gots a pwobwem."
We were getting ready to leave for Stephanie's wedding yesterday and Harper said "Is daddy gonna come?" I said "No, not with us, Daddy's playing golf" and she said "Oh, dat daddy, he's always playin' golf." (He did go, we picked him up in Sallisaw)
That was a big trip... The kids were good on the way down. The church was huge and it was hard to keep up with them on the bounce around, trampoline, basketball courts, pool table, fountains and all that stuff... On the way home Judd cried for over an hour straight and Noah was telling Josh to drive faster and go home!

Today

Took all 3 of them to the dentist today-- they were incredible! It was Judd's first time, and he did SUPER! They all 3 just laid back on the tables, just like they were supposed to and held their mouths open. I just went from table to table checking on them and they were absolutely PERFECT. I was so proud. HJ even got x-rays by herself! Dr. Murphy bragged and bragged on them and their teeth! Yeah!
After that we went to chicken donald's and played and ate lunch for a treat. After that to Jennifer/Michelle's to drop off Noah, then to Nanna's bank so Harper and Judd could play. Glad to be home now.

The other day Harper said "I'm hiccing upping."
Judd has been saying "oh my dosh."

Sweeties

Oh the sweeties are doing good. We've had a super busy week. My friend Robin, and her 3 kids: Marlee 6, Reilly 4, and Ollie 10 months, came and stayed with us for a couple of days. We went to Chuck E. Cheese for a long time Tuesday night and had a little birthday party for Marlee, we came home and the kids played toys, video games and watched movies until they crashed on the couch. Robin and I stayed up until 4am talking!!! I woke up at 7 and worked on some pics... Dad brought us over Hardees biscuits at 8-- how thoughtful is that?? Thanks dad! At 9:30 I went with Alyssia and Vivian to shoot Vivian's 3 year pics, it was SOO HOT! Poor Robin watched all 6 kids while I did that. After I got back we went to Grandmom's and swam. It was hot for Ollie and Robin, who weren't in the pool, so we came back home and the kids were hungry, so we went to the mall and ate Geno's and the kids played in the playland. After that we tried to shop, but with 6 kids, go figure how much shopping we got done. After the mall, my sweet husband watched the kids who were awake and me and Robin and a few kids passed out. I couldn't hold my eyes open as hard as I tried. After my wonderful nap, we got them loaded and we went and did their pics. After that was done, they got on the road, and I picked up the boys from Granny's house. Poor Granny was exhausted... the boys were bad, mixing up the cat and dog food and Noah apparently peed in the dog water (which I didn't find out until yesterday)... or he'd have gotten into big trouble. Updates: When Noah gets in bed he said he needs the cold, and we have to flip all the pillows over to get the cold side of the pillow.... he learned that all on his own. His favorite show right now is "My new water game" which translates to "WipeOut" he loves it and watches the episodes over and over and cracks up. When they are panning over the course he brings me in and points to it and said "I can win this" and wants to try it so bad. Juddson is really into the wii and loves to play boxing and baseball and tennis. He has to use the Juddson Mii though, or he gets mad. He acts out the boxing scenes and when his wii gets knocked out, he falls to the floor and lays flat and still. Harper is still trying to not suck her thumb, and she's doing super during the day, but having a hard time at night. She loved playing with Marlee. They played dolls and painted nails and played with Marlee's schnoodle, Shelby. I so wish I could get her a little dog or kitten. Last night I had a photo shoot and Josh watched them, he said they had a blast playing blocks and hide and go seek. He said that he was hiding and they couldn't find him for a while and he heard Harper say "Daddy went to work... Mommy and Daddy both are gone." Isn't that terrible, after that he made noises so they'd find him.

Weekend

Noah is going thru a talking phase, which is wonderful. The other night I was on the computer and he walked in here and said "mommy, we told you many times" in a stern voice... I guess that meant to get off the computer.
HJ had something under her shirt and said "see my new boobs?" I said "yeah, i like those, where'd you get em?" and she said "WalmarK."
Harper is big into singing and dancing and making clapping shows-- I need to video it so you can see what I am talking about.
The boys are big into playing Wii together, except Noah takes the clicker from Judd and switches them right when it would be Judd's turn to play, so Noah gets every turn and Judd just gets to hold a clicker.
Harper is on star 5 towards her, now baby doll, not growing puppy (thank goodness because apparently that are expensive and hard to find) quitting the thumb sucking. She remembers more than I do. Sometimes I look at her and her thumb will be in her mouth, but it won't register to me (because I have seen her with that look for 3 years) and she'll remember and will pull it out real quick and smile. She's such a good girl.

This week

The days have been spent at exercise school in the mornings, home for lunch, and then a trip to Grandmom's house for a swim. The pool has warmed up, and it' been very nice to go play with them for a couple of hours. Judd has started putting his whole head under and is soooo proud of himself. Harper will do it a couple of times, and get excited that she's not crying. Noah is crazy and loves to be thrown in and will get a running start and do crazy flips over the side to get in.
Yesterday we skipped the pool and took an afternoon trip to the Nature Center. We stopped and got a pizza to eat there, but it didn't make it there, we ate the whole thing in the car on the way there. It was so hot, and all the kids wanted to do was throw rocks in the water. It was making me nervous watching all 3 of them by the water by myself, so I finally coaxed them inside. Hollie, Paul, Levi and Hollie's mom and sister and some kids she babysits were there also, but they were up by the building having a picnic, and after they were done they came inside with us. The kids enjoyed playing in the "big room" (i don't know what it's called) with all of the stuffed animals and live animals. There were a few snakes, and turtles and fish-- stuff like that. We stayed until 2pm "Critter Crunch" time and were excited about watching the alligators eat lunch... however, we went to the feeding room and realized it was only 1, 1 ft. long baby gator. The kids did love it, and watched it eat 4 crickets, and dead frozen pinky mouse and a couple of minnows. Noah was laughing so loud, he loved when it would chase the bugs. Judd would come up and get my hand with a very concerned look and say "Awigator eat'n PIDERS!!!" (that would be alligator eating spiders!) He liked to watch it too, and they had a front row seat and got to see it up close. Overall we had a good time, but it was hot and the kids were tired and thirsty and I was ready to go. HJ and Judd fell asleep as soon as they got into their carseats and Noah came home and played games. I got a lot done while they were occupied and then I had a photo shoot. Daddy stayed with them and took them all to Chick Fil A to play and eat dinner. I got home shortly after they did and we all crashed.

Lately

Harper has been trying to stop sucking her thumb. I told her if she could do it for 7 days she could get that growing puppy toy she's been wanting. She is doing phenominally!!! She'll put her thumb to her mouth and then remember and pull it out real quick and look up at me and smile. I know it's hard on her, bless her heart... but she's doing so good! She'll say, "well, I just poop in the potty." and I think that means, she realizes that she's a big girl since she poops in the potty now!
Some of my Juddson favorites right now... He puts his little hands out and says "eat it all dawn." He wants to play "baseball tv" for Wii baseball. He boxes-- I just have to get a video of this. He put Marshall (the green hippo) on the table and started boxing it... Marshall fell backwards and Judd goes "3,2,1" When he and Noah play boxing on Wii and Noah KO's Judd's man, Judd falls on the floor and acts it out.
When the phone rings Noah says "Who's calling" When I clean Noah says "Who's coming today?" He still says "That's my mommy" when he's happy.
We went to mom's last night to see Jeff and the boys. Harper was so excited to see her cousins. She loved Jeff and wanted to tell him everything about everything... She started everything with "guess what" For example: "Guess what?" "We got a house a big house and 2 cats Savannah and and and and (and look at me, I'd say and Cooper) Yeah, and Cooper and when I a baby, cooper scratched my eye and a dog and I a princess" etc etc etc...

Date Night

Well, last Thursday Harp got to go on date night to "the restaurant and the mall" so last night was Noah's turn. We let him pick and he picked to eat Geno's pizza first, and then go "shishing". We ate pizza and then we played tag and hide and go seek at the mall playland. After that, we went to Carol Ann Cross Park and he fished with his Spiderman pole. That got old pretty fast, so we bought 30 min on a paddle boat. We saw a big funny shaped log and Noah thought it was a hippo and got scared of hippos being in the water. Of course, he had to pee and stood on the side of the paddle boat and peed in to the water, with a big audience-- thats my Noah. After the paddleboat ride, we let him play on the playground, then we had to go home. When we got home..... Kara had cut Judd's hair into an almost mohawk-- without my permission, and I got mad. Oooh, that made me mad... so-- she had to pretty much shave the rest of it off... I admit, he looks really cute with short hair, I just wasn't ready for his long hair to be gone just yet. Harper announced "Kara helped cut his hair".... Thank you Harper-- news anchor for filling me in!

Swimming and Weekend

We've been spending a lot of time in our pool. Noah can go under for a long time and likes to get coins off the bottom-- you'd think he found treasure down there, he's so excited when he gets back up! Harper went under 1 time and didn't even cry-- she says, and Judd went under once, and we've had a hard time getting him back in the pool... He's ok as long as he's not thinking about it... They all must take after Josh because they seem to be very good swimmers, they race back and forth across the 12ft. pool!
Josh was out of town Saturday night Pa came over and hung out with us. We went and got each kid a movie and then got icecream and fries and came home. Judd was sitting on the arm of Pa's chair and leaned over and kissed the side of Pa's head (above his ear) and said "Kiss Pa Ear, Ommy!" It was so sweet!
Yesterday was Kara's church shower and I took HJ while Josh played outside with the boys. She was a big helper and delivered the gifts to Kara and helped her open them. She decided all the ladies needed a mint, so she delivered one to everyone there, one by one-- she made trip after trip and worked so hard. At one point, several women were getting ready to leave and were up walking around and HJ was yelling for everyone to play ring around the rosy, but no one listened. Kara gave each hostess a little Bath and Body works bag with a soap and lotion in it and Harper helped hand those out... When she was done, she said "was that all the presents?" and looked around... (Because Kara got a bunch, and all the hostesses got one, but she didn't and I could tell) so I snuck my bag to Kara and Kara said "there's one more, it's for you Harper!" and she was so excited "Oh, thank you Kara, and opened her soap and lotion and we put lotion all on her and made her smell good, and made a big deal out of it. She was proud, and content and carried her little bag on her arm the whole rest of the time... We were loading Kara's gifts and Harper said "I ti -erd, let's go home" and we did, and she took a big nap!

Summer is here

We officially started summer this Sunday... We set up a 12' by like 3' kiddie pool in Grandmom's backyard (where Hoover couldn't destroy it) and also a slip n' slide. We stayed over there all day Sunday, until the kids were passing out. Juddson fell asleep in a towel and it was the cutest thing ever, of course I didn't have my camera though :(
We went back to "the pool" yesterday after Jennifer/Michelle school. First we stopped and got snowcones. The kids sat in their little lawn chairs and ate those, then slipped and slid, then swam. Pa came over and played for a little while. He was picking Noah up and throwing him into the pool, Noah of course loved it. I think he was going too high and getting a little scared, so he was explaining how he wanted to be thrown and pointed to the sky and said "Not to da bwu ski, and not to outer space, just wike dis" and held his hand a little ways over the water... So, we threw him softer and lower for the rest of the time. Harper and Judd both pooped in the grass and got their rears cleaned off with the hose, they thought that was cool... I was just thankful it was in the grass and not in the pool!
After swimming, we made a Walmart trip for groceries and we got pool noodles and rings, so I know we'll be back at "the pool" today... It sounds so high class doesn't it!

Last day of school and last soccer game

Noah had a big day today. Tyler (one of his good friends) at Miss Reynda's school gave him a big hug before he got on the bus today. He will be going to kindergarden next year and won't be in the same class as Noah... it was so sweet, but a little sad too. We had a busy day, Audrey came over and played and then Granny and Grandmom came over and stayed with the kids while I picked up the trophies and the cookie cake for the soccer game tonight. Noah played in his last game of the season. It was really nice of Dad and Kara to come out and join us. After the game the team gathered in a pavilion and we handed out trophies and the kids got juice and cookies. The kids were excited about their trophies and loved the fact that the girls had girls on top and the boys had boys on top. The parents surprised us with a card, that they had all the kids sign (too precious) and had all chipped in on a Red Lobster gift card for us! How cool is that... totally unexpected, but someone must have done their research, or gotten really lucky... RED LOBSTER IS our FAV!! We didn't expect it at all and it was so thoughtful of them to do that for us.
Noah said these funnies today: "mommy you have batman eyes" --- I still don't know what that means, and if that is a good thing or a bad thing... and sometimes when he says pacman it sounds like batman, so I don't really know which he meant. Would
one be better than the other?
Also, I told him to pick up toys and he whined and held his hands up and looked at them and said, "I can't, my hands are too wittle" That's funny, because they weren't too wittle to dump ALL of the toys out??? Strange....
Harper stayed at Granny and Pa's Tuesday night and Pa let her paint and do markers. She told Judd it was called "art".
Judd's on a baseball kick again, but today he used a grape and a baseball bat and hit the ball (grape) like that for awhile, then ate it and got a new grape to play with.... I think I can see a grape under the tb from here... oh wel..

Harper Jane pooped in the potty!!!

Last night I was sitting at the table, and HJ was sitting by me. Out of the blue, she started crying. I smelled something stinky. I knew she was or was about to poop in her pants. I ripped her skirt down, pulled her panties off and sat her on the frog potty just in time! She sat there and cried, refusing that she needed to go... I calmly got out my make up bag, and said "Now that you are pooping in the potty, you are a big girl and can wear make-up." Boy, did that take her mind off of pooping... Her eyes lit up and she sat up straight and tall and let me put make-up on her. With in a few minutes, she yelled "I poopin', I a big girl now, I not scared of bwana's any more!" and she did. She pooped for real in the potty!!!! Wowsers, I am so happy for her, hopefully she'll continue. This morning I took the kids to Chuck E's for a celebration. We played for about an hour, then J met us there for lunch. We all cheersed our cokes to Harper and her grown-upness!!! We played for another hour, got our glorious prizes, and came home.... What a great memorial day! (check out the makeup)

Much Needed Mini-Vaca

Thank you Nanna and Pappa for the 24 hours you spent at out house watching the kids! Josh and I took off to NW AR for a late anniversary celebration and had an incredible time. We ate Red Lobster for dinner, ate HOT FRESH KRISPIE KREME doughnuts for breakfast, and Famous Dave's ribs for lunch, oh my, I must hit the gym hard this week!!! Those were the highlights of the trip. Just Kidding, but they were all unbelievably good. We also shopped, and watched Star Trek (boo) and climbed the rock wall at Lewis and Clark... Fun Times. We had some romantical time in the room exchanging gifts. This was year 6--iron was the gift. I got Josh an iron stand that holds a picture frame and had his favorite verse framed for him. He wrote me a sweet card and got me a hand stamped necklace (stamped with iron--he says :) ) We tried to swim, but the indoor pool was cold and about 4 ft. long (and 3 ft. deep) so we didn't... By hour 23 we were terribly missing the kids and were hurrying home. About the same time, Pappa called saying Harper was missing us and was ready to see us. We brought the kids doughnut holes, but not enough, they were gone in minutes. Harper just said "Noah, give me a hug when you are done with that game, ok" Ahh, how sweet. Pappa and Nanna said they were great and I came home to a super clean house--- thank you Nanna for the extra help (even though Pappa tried to take credit for all the work) :)

Little Cuties

Please note her unique ending to the song....

Harper was just watching this video and she got off the couch and said, "I gotta jannie" and started pulling her panties out of her crack and I said, "You have a what?" and she said "a jannie." I said "a wedgie?" and she said "yeah, a wedgie" like she'd said it 3 times.... in the meantime, Noah was yelling "mommy, mommy" trying to get my attention, and I was laughing so hard at "jannie" I didn't look, so Noah put 2 fingers in his mouth and went "Whoot woo" in a yell... like he was trying to whistle to get my attention, hilarious..... Also, I need to write down before I forget, that HJ calls trampolines "jumperines."
When Judd hears something, he puts his hand over one ear and says "Hear dat mommy, hear dat airpwane mommy, up ere." and points... or "hear dat baby cwie mommy" or "doggie barking"...

Lately...

It seems as if we've been super busy. Last Friday Emily came over and we started work on our bedroom. How sweet of her was that? She and her husband Chad, spent their weekend helping me re-do our bedroom. First she and I borrowed a compressor from my neighbor, we textured the walls and ceiling, painted the trim and painted the walls. Halfway through with the ceiling and it was too wet and fell... Nightmare, but Chad and his mad handyman skills saved the day! I still need to put the finishing wall coat and ceiling coats of paint on, but haven't had a chance yet. I have also been upgrading my photography equipment and have been trying to get more serious about turning my hobby into a business. Soccer has started up again and Noah remembered how to play. I have a little video clip of him after he scored, giving hi-5 to all the parents on the sidelines... He didn't forget about that either. Harper Jane was outside eating dirt like it was chocolate today. I guess she still has pica. She said it was good and got sad when I made her quit eating it. Maybe she got some iron out of it, she acted really good all day. Juddson is starting to not whine as much as usual, maybe his teeth or whatever was wrong has gotten a little better. He has learned how to run and can really scoot... I am impressed by how fast he's gotten. He has also started playing the Wii with Noah, which is hilarious and his favorite games are baseball, bowling and boxing.... which he shouts out over and over until you turn one of them on for him.

Crazy Kids

The kids, well, Judd and Harper like to watch First Baptist Church on tv, so we dvr it. We look for Miss Becky, who sings in their choir. Judd would point and yell "That Miss Becky" and it wouldn't be and Harper would get mad and say, "No Judd, she has curly hair" "No Judd she has glasses" Etc.... So, we didn't see her and Harper started saying how she loved her and how nice she was and how she wanted her to come over and I said, I know, she'll be over next week, and Harper said, "I am sad" and pointed to her eye and said "See this, I have a tear." This week, they showed several people being baptized. Harper LOVES to watch them get "bath-tized." How appropriate!

Yesterday Granny and Grandmom stopped by to visit. The kids had just gotten out of the tub and were still running around naked. Judd ran (with bootie shakin') to open the glass door and stood on his tip toes to turn the handle and let them in. He said "come on it" as clear as a bell... too cute!

Lastnight, we had the Summerhill's over for dinner. I was trying to get the house picked up all day and while HJ and Judd were asleep, I let Noah got outside and play in the rain. When I went to check on him, I found this:

Josh was thrilled.... and spent an hour scrubbing the shed before they got here...

Mothers Day

was wonderful! Thank you Josh and sweet babies for making it so special for me. The other day while I was tanning, Josh sat the kids down and interviewed them to the best of his ability and the card he got is as follows:

Dear mommy,

Thank you for…

Reading books to me,
Singing twinkle little star,
Letting me sleep in your bed,
Getting me pretty clothes,
Playing blocks with me,
And Chicken Donald’s.
-Harper-

Calling me baby boy,
Letting me watch shows,
Letting me play rocket ship, Mario wii, and friend game,
Taking me to Jennifer and Michelle, and Miss Reynda School to help me,
Giving me honey buns and juice,
And taking my pictures.
-Noah-

Holding me every second of the day,
Giving me a roller coaster,
Appreciating my personality,
Saying no no to daddy,
Coming to my rescue every night,
And treating me like a baby.
-Judd-

Raising our children in the name of the lord,
Allowing God’s love to constantly flow from you into us,
Putting our children above everything else,
Taking care of me like I am your eldest child,
Supporting me in every high as well as every low,
And guiding me to be a better father.
-Josh-

We love you and appreciate everything you do for us…

-Your Family-

How sweet is that? Throughout the day, the kids told me Happy Mother's Day. When Noah is happy with me he says "that's my mommy" and I got a lot of those sweet words and hugs and kisses today. Plus, Josh hung pictures and shelves-- all of my pretties from Hobby Lobby! Thanks everyone!!!

We ate lunch with my parents after church, we got Granny and Grandmom a BIG Italian Cream Cake from Paul's for their gift... it's what they wanted. Nanna came by to visit after she got back from Hector, and the kids were very excited to see her! She brought each of them a Mickey/Minnie Mouse shirt from Orlando!!

Dad's Golden Apple!!!

First of all, thank you Jen, Hayley and Charles for taking care of the kids and Grandmom so we could go surprise dad. He was truly surprised and couldn't figure out why we were all at the banquet to watch Margaret get her "Golden Apple Award." When the department head was giving her "speech" introducing dad, one of the things she said was "he's the kind of teacher you make a movie about." and I think it's true; plus-- he probably thinks that's the most incredible complement ever, being such a movie buff!!! Congrats DAD-- and also to mom for putting up with his long hours and grading papers at home for the past 30 something years!!!

"The Golden Apple Award began in 1966 as a way to honor persons or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to education. The Golden Apple is the most prestigious award an educator can receive. It is given to those who have made an extraordinarily positive difference in education in the Fort Smith Public Schools. It is awarded for outstanding service to children and/or our professional organization."

Sweet and sour

Josh has been installing our new dishwasher for about 8 hours now. I have been wrangling the kids, keeping them out of his way. Judd is about to make me permanently plug my ears up.... He is ultra-sensitive right now (I have no clue why) and it's driving me nuts.
Harper is scared to poop in the potty. Pa came over tonight and tried to tell her that the potty is hungry and likes to eat poop and she needs to feed it... Ha! That didn't work at all. I am about to give up, and I guess home school her if she doesn't go by the time she hits kindergarten age.
Noah is being super sweet lately (thank goodness) the other night I was doing sit ups and he comes running in carrying my yoga mat, telling me I "meed this".. ahh! It was SO thoughtful of him. Plus, he had to go to alot of work to find it, and get it out of this trunk thing for me.... Today, when we were talking about HJ's poopin' problem, I said, "Noah poops in the potty...Noah-tell her it's not scary." So, he sweetly explained to "Hoppa" that it's not scary and then he broke out in the Gabba Gabba song "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay..." Oh my, brought tears to my eyes. It didn't phase her though.
I am beat, that's all I got...

This week

The house is still in shambles... so bad that Harper was walking through the dining room and yelled "this house is a mess!" and Josh just looked at me. I can't get caught up right now, it's overwhelming me. The kids have been great lately, Judd is talking up a storm. He'll say "what's dat mommy?" and I will say "a wall Juddson" and he will squeal "a wall, MA MAY?" and I will say yes. He is very dramatic, and it's soooo cute. We were playing on the bed yesterday and he rolled over and goes "Hi Shadow." When we leave the house he'll say "dat way" and point and get mad and throw a fit if I drive off in the opposite direction. Sometimes he waves and says "Bye home."
Noah is getting very social! I took him to the mall yesterday and he'd go right up to people and say "Excuse me, whats yo name?" and they look at me like "Huh?" and I say "what's your name?" and they say their name and ask his name and he tells them. Then he shows them his new rain boots or sock hands or something and walks off. He sometimes says "nice to meet you" or "bye." Miss Becky came over yesterday and we were all on the couch. Becky and I were talking, but Noah wanted her to concentrate on the book he was reading and he'd touch her cheek and say "excuse me Miss Becky?" and she loved it!
Harper Janey is still a little grumpy (I think her iron is low again) but she's still Harper Helper. She definitely is a Bice, she's the most stubborn person I have ever met. If I am telling her to pick something up or say sorry, and she doesn't want to do it, she won't, I can spank her, take stuff away, she doesn't care... She'll just peep out from behind the thumb and glare at me with those eyes, but she won't do whatever it is I want her to do. Last night Josh and I got home from a date and I was wearing some new earrings and she said "I wub deese" and touched the earrings and I said "thank you" and she said "are deese new, where you get deese?" I said "the mall." She said "Oh, they hurt you?" I said "No." She said "You better take them off before you go to bed." Ok little mamma... thank you!!!
Pics have been added to the Easter post... FYI

New Pics

Check out new pics of the kids at www.kimbicephotography.blogspot.com
Or just click on my profile pick and scroll down to my blog list and click on the photography one.

The Weekend is OVER...

which I am so thankful for. Friday we got our new table and chairs in, which Josh spent hours putting together. I was busy moving stuff from Ruth's for our yard sale the next morning. Judd and HJ spent the night with Nanna and Pappa for the first time... so it was nice having them out of my hair for a little while.... Although, I did miss them terribly, and it felt weird not having them there. After we dropped them off (around 8pm) Noah cried the whole way home because he wanted "His friends, Judd and Hoppa" and they were his best friends and I needed to go back and get them. Poor thing. He didn't want to stay there for the night, and he didn't want them to either. We stopped at Sonic and got him a creamslush and he got better, plus Scott and Kara came over and he said we were all his best friends. They hung out for a while and Kara helped me put up signs and get a load from Ruth's and bring it back home. I was up til 1:30ish doing yard sale stuff, and woke up with a wet Noah at 4:00, I was changing him into dry pullups and pj's and he said "now I blue, ready for soccer game?" Meaning, did I put his blue jersey on so we can go to the soccer game? I told him no soccer game and to go back to sleep, and thankfully he did. I cuddled up with him for a few minutes and then got back up and got ready and went outside and started setting up. Dad showed up around 6:30 with Hardees bag in hand, which was so awesome!!! What a DAD!!! Thank you dad. He stayed around most of the day and helped and even went home and gathered some junk for me to sell for him! Josh got up around 8ish and helped for a while, then headed off to his golf tournament. Noah woke up later and came outside with me, he was the meeter/greeter, I think I know everyone's name who shopped at the sale! He'd go up and tap their leg (crotch) and say "excuse me, watch yo name?" and they'd say "Huh?" So, I'd say "What's your name?" and they'd say, "Oh...my name is whoever" and Noah would say "Oh, I Noah." and sometimes, he'd stick out his hand and shake hands and say "Nice to meet you." Dad watched the sale while I went and picked up Judd and HJ. Judd came running to me, yelling "MA-MAY!!!" with open arms, and Harper just showed me her ballet dress that was Lexi's that she was wearing. HJ was really quiet on the way home and I asked her if she was mad at me and she said yes. They were hungry and wanted "Chicken Donalds" so, we stopped by there and they came home and had a picnic on the end tables that didn't sell. They looked so cute out there, little legs swinging, eatin' their nuggets. Judd would wave at every car that drove by or slowed down to look, and every time someone stopped, Harper would say "look mommy, here comes anoder one!" Finally, around 3-3:30 we went inside and I bathed all the kids and put them on the bed and they were all out within 5 minutes. Noah played games and I just sat for a minute and played with him. Josh came home earlier than expected and grilled burgers and dogs and Judd LOVED the "Crabby patties" by the way... and we all ate and then went to bed. I was exhausted. Sunday, Josh had to work in the morning. We decided to only go to church church, not class, so I got HJ ready and we went and took some pics in her Matilda Jane outfit. She was SO STUBBORN... she wouldn't look at me or smile or do anything except for be scared of bugs. It turned out to be a waste of time... I maybe got 3 good shots out of the whole 30 minute shoot. I was in picture mode and after church we noticed the field was full of flowers, so we went home and got the camera and went back and tried to get a good family shot... they turned out not like I planned, but at least we got one with all of us smiling. After church, pizza with Granny and Pa and Grandmom, then Josh and HJ and Judd went to sleep, so I packed some clothes, and Noah and I headed out to do his shoot. He was a little better than Harper, he'd actually look at me sometimes. We went downtown and were sitting on a bench resting and the trolley came by. Noah waved and they stopped and asked us if we wanted to ride. Before I could say "SURE" Noah was already climbing the stairs to get in. We were the only ones on it, and he went and sat by himself like a big boy. The windows were up and his hair was blowing and he had the BIGGEST SMILE ever on his face. At our first stop, he looked over at me and said "This is great!" and it gave me the warm fuzzy feeling... It was really really fun. We took a long ride, with him smiling the whole way. The driver even let him step on the "bell dinger" and ring the bell several times, and you know he loved that! After our ride was over we went home and HJ and daddy were awake, ready to go to the park. We all went to Ben Geren and they played on the huge jungle gym and we went exploring in the woods. Judd was so brave, he'd climb right up to the top of the big one and slide down by himself. He even climbed the shaky ladder to get back up. Josh was bragging about it later on and was telling me Judd could do that... We were all in bed, about 30 minutes later and HJ said "I cwimed dat big wadder too!" so we bragged on her really big, then told them to be quiet and go to sleep. We had an awesome Sunday, the weather was perfect and we made some great memories. The house fairy forgot to clean my house while I was gone, so I better get back on the ball tomorrow and get back into routine... Oh yeah, our windows are DONE... all 13 of them, and they look GREAT! Use window world if you need windows, and mention me... because I need that $50 referral check!!!

Happy Birthday Juddson (the 19th)

Juddson is now officially a terrible two! The little toot!!! I can't believe he's two already! We owe a big thank you to Nanna and Papa for letting us have his birthday party at their house! Judd had a Gabba Gabba birthday and a Brobee cake. He couldn't keep his fingers out of the icing, I caught him SEVERAL times stealing swipes out of it. Oh well, it was his cake, so I didn't mind too much. He opened his presents with the help of Luke and Lex and Harper and got some cool stuff. Cory and Jessi got him a cute monkey bean bag. Granny and Pa pitched in on his Roller Coaster, Nanna and Pappa got him a lawn mower, little people builders, and some cute clothes ( I LOVE the plaid patchwork shorts, they are adorable)... and we got him a Wubbzy movie for his room, a Gabba Gabba beach towel, and some other little stuff like that. Kara and Scott got him a Little Tikes T-ball stand with bat and ball and the highlight of the night is when he was trying it out and hit one as hard as he could and it whizzed right in between mom and Grandmom's heads (THANKFULLY) -- IT WAS FLYING!!!! Harper and Noah each got a little gift for being a good brother and sister. HJ got jelly shoes and a shirt and Kara got her a "Garbie" with dogs, like dog walkin' Barbie or something. I found Noah's coveted "star wars voice changing helmet" on clearance for an amazing $12 on walmart.com and he was exstatic to get that. Thank you everyone for coming, Juddson had an awesome birthday!

The Week

We are still all messed up around here. Josh and I realized we weren't ever going to get the kitchen done, so we've hired his friend Dave (a painter) to come help with the house. I have finally been able to start cleaning and doing laundry again, which is actually nice and MUCH needed. The kids have been good with all chaos going on. Harper has really enjoyed having Hannah, (Dave's 5 year old girl) around to play with. I have been telling Josh we need another girl around here! They have played dress up and babies and castle and chase and hide from Noah and have had a great time together with tag-a-long Judd "I wan a pway TOO!" has been his line of the week.
We are excited about Judd's birthday party Saturday night, and are trying to get the house in decent shape by then. If anyone is wondering, he's really into Wow Wow Wubbzy right now and he needs a few t-shirts for everyday wear.

Easter

Saturday morning, Noah had another game, scored another 3 goals. We got our (corrected) new BLUE uniforms, that we were supposed to have from the beginning....so he really liked those. He did his little hi-5 thing again, with a little less enthusiasm than the first time.... but still did it.

After the game we hung out at home for a while, then went to Nanna's to spend the day with the fam. Nanna made a ham and a big Easter lunch and Josh and Jessie hid eggs for all the kids. Judd's first egg had a quarter (or coin) and he couldn't get over that, and just walked around and showed his coin to everyone. Harper racked up and found a ton of eggs; her basket was overflowing, and Noah looked for "poly rolies" for the first 10 minutes of the hunt and was a little late getting started. They had fun with Lex and Luke and were pooped by 4. We left and Josh stayed home with the kids while I went to get my hair cut at Kara's, then stopped by the mall to return a dress.

Sunday we left for Hector in the POURING rain, it came down hard the entire trip! We were all drenched going into church and the kids were not ready to sit for a church service, so I took them into a back room and watched them, then we ate lunch and played with the cousins, saw Mema... took some pics... and left. We are tired from a big Easter.

My little soccer player!

We are so proud of NOAH!! He is doing awesome at soccer. His game last Tues. he scored 3 goals and lastnight he scored 3 or 4. He really gets in there and hustles. After his first goal lastnight he hugged the purple team's coach and then ran down the side line and gave EVERY parent a "5"... if the parent was not looking, he'd get their attention, give them 5 and keep going.... I was next to last and instead of 5, I got a hug... then he ran on the field and hugged Josh... And, since he got a huge RISE out of it, he did it every time he scored! We were rolling... it was the CUTEST thing EVER!!! WHAT I WOULD GIVE TO HAVE HAD A VIDEO CAMERA! Harper and Judd didn't have as much fun during the game... they picked flowers and thankfully, Kara was there to help me with them... but it was cold and super windy, a big storm was moving in. Our game finished and the storm hit... The kids and I got Papa Johns, my newest bad habit of BBQ chicken bacon pizza-- HELLO, it's so good... and then home and ate with Daddy and Kara.
Thank you to MOM AND GRANDMOM for watching the kids for a couple of hours while I went to the mall. It was so nice to get away from painting and the torn up house and teething Judd and just wander around... I did have a mission to get an Easter dress and shoes, and I succeeded. Josh was happy with my finds... It feels so weird being out alone... just doesn't feel right, but it was nice for a little while.

Week through the weekend

I am behind on blogging again. The house is still torn up. One more coat of paint on the cabinets, and that side of the kitchen will be done. We still have a long way to go, but at least I can get all the stuff out of the living and dining room and put it back where it goes.
Right now my computer sounds like it is going to blow up... I am going to make this short and let it rest... I have been editing pics and craigslisting on it for a while now, I think it's over heating... Noah had his first soccer game Saturday morning. They play 3 on 3, 8- 5 minute quarters. He was in the second string to go in and did great during his 5 minutes... he even scored a goal! Yeah NOAH!!! He didn't like sitting out the next quarter and got really mad and refused to go in the rest of the game. Oh well, maybe next time. Harper and Juddson were strapped into the triple jogger the whole time and after the goldfish and juice were gone, they got really fussy. Harper asked to go back to the car and get in her carseat.
Here's some pics from the game:

You know how when Noah doesn't want to do something, he'll say "I can't... my foot hurts, better go to Dr. Fred's house" or something hurts and he needs to go see Dr. Fred. Well, the other day I just cleaned their room and he dumped out 3 boxes of toys and I was SO MAD and was telling him to pick them up NOW... he looked at me and opened his mouth and pointed in his mouth and said "I can't, I wost my boyz" and I didn't get it and was like "your boys???" and he was screaming, "NO, my BOYZ!!!" and that went on for a few times and then I was like "Oh, you lost your voice?" and he said "yeah, better go to Dr. Fred's house." I said "You didn't lose your voice, I hear you talking, now pick up the toys." Oh Brother...So, off he pouted and picked up the toys... lost boyz and all.

Harper says....

Instead of pancakes or flap jacks she says "flip cakes."
She also calls banana splits, "banana flips."
Her most frequent sayings right now are "but why?" and "I told you..."
Instead of yesterday it's "last day."
Instead of favorite it's "best"....Like, "Look mommy, I am wearing my best fweat pants." And she LOVES her "fweat pants" She likes to be comfy, and not wear jeans. She hates "tags in it." Every tag must go.
Every Sunday in the middle of church she takes a trip down the aisle to see Pa and she tells him she wants "cheese pizza" and wear she wants it from "Dominos or Geno's."
And... when she says or does something new I say "where did you learn that?" She always replies, "my dance cwass." Even though she doesn't go to a dance class.

Chaos

Oh my... we've started home improvements, like we have nothing better to do around here... Josh has removed the drop ceiling in the bedroom. We are waiting for the electrician to show up, move the off-center light fixture hole, put in a ceiling fan, then I will spackle the million holes in the ceiling from the drop ceiling, sand it, prime it, and paint it, then start the bedroom walls... The kitchen is empty, everything from the cabinet is piled up around the house, which makes it hard to cook and get snacks, etc... Josh got it all sanded and I cleaned up all the "dust" and have started priming it all. The laundry is as usual but with a new background color... UGH... didn't look like that on the swatch, will be repainting that room ASAP...And I am still behind on filing... Oh yeah, and our first soccer game is this week and window installers should be coming soon... what else can we add?
The weekend was good, besides the extra work. Saturday morning Harper and I went shopping at Dillards and then to Callie's wedding shower. It wasn't the "party" Harper had hoped for, no toys or fruit chews, so she didn't want to stay too long...
While Josh and I were busy in the kitchen, Pa came over and played with the kids. They mainly all sat on his lap and watched CatMouse togeter. Since the kitchen was in shambles, we had pizza delivered to our house on Saturday night, which Noah thought was the raddest thing ever... He kept talking to the delivery boy about "you bring pizza to our house?" in amazement, telling him to "come on in". We spread a blanket on the living room floor and had a pizza picnic (without the pizza delivery boy), we were all starving and those 2 large Papa John's pizzas didn't last long. We even splurged and all drank "black coko". Yum!
The kids coughed all night and we still had a lot of work to try to finish, so we missed church. At noon thirty we went to Nanna and Pappa's for Jessi's birthday party lunch. We ate and then went outside and played home run derby. Noah would hit it and then chunk the bat and run and tell you to try to tag him, but "only walk", so you wouldn't catch him and he would get a home run every time. Harper helped Nanna pick weeds and loved that, "Harper Helper."
After the party, I went with Kara and tried on a few bridesmaid dresses, that didn't work out at all, and then Josh called saying that Judd woke up crying for me, so I went back home and we relaxed the rest of the night. This morning I got up at 4:30 and have half the kitchen primed... not counting the cabinet doors.

For the love of baseball, soccer and high heels!

Judd has really found a new love... baseball... it's like he is naturally good at it, like Tiger Woods was born ready to play golf... Ok, maybe that's taking it a little too far, but you never now, right? He's favorite phrase is "Hit it, the ball" and he follows you around saying it over and over and over until you throw him a pitch. He's not even 2 and has pretty darn good swinging form! I am really impressed, or just a really proud mom, but you should see him hit it the ball!

Noah started soccer, have I mentioned that Josh and I are the coaches, well, mainly Josh, but I help out. It's crazy!!! We are so excited to have an AWESOME group of parents and kids... I can't stand to see those psycho parents at little league games taking it so seriously and screaming at their kids if they screw up, all of our parents seem so kind and nice and laid back and we are very thankful for that. I don't know if Noah likes soccer or not. He does good at practices, when he focuses and pays attention. Most of the time he wants to play tag and sits in the corner and cries because we got on to him for "using his hands." He seems to like it enough and gets very excited when we tell him we are having soccer practice. He doesn't like to wear his shin guards, and I don't blame him, they don't look that comfy to me either.

Lately, the kids have all been fighting over Harper's pink Barbie high heels! If one kid finds them unoccupied they put them on and clomp around the house in them, which makes all the other kids want them, then they cry and fight over them... guess I need to buy more heels.

Yesterday Judd was sitting in my lap and I was drinking a protein shake with soymilk, peanut butter, bananas, and a little chocolate syrup and he loved it!!! He'd take a big drink and say "ahhhh" and then he said "DELICIOUS!" I couldn't believe he said that and I said "Did you say that was 'delicious'?" and he yelled "YEAH!" Also, I was looking at Gabba Gabba birthday stuff online, and he saw it and said "AWESOME!" Amazing vocabulary this kid.

Harper Janey is doing well too, she's still pooping in her diaper though... not in the frog potty as she promised she would. Last night I asked her what it was going to take for her to poop in the potty and she said, "spank my bottom" and I said, "ok, so... every time you poop in your diaper, I am going to spank you?" She nodded yes. Hmmmm... that girl must really love poopin' in her diaper. Speaking of potty time... Little Juddson is using the potty, not for poop, but he pees in the potty consistently and even dumps and flushes it afterwards!!! YEAH JUDD!!!!

Little Twerpy

Have I mentioned that Harper lovingly calls Juddson "little twerpy"? It's accurate... and funny, I think she gets it from Pa. I was eating dinner (grilled salmon and a baked sweet potato) the other night and Judd crawled up in my lap and wanted bites. I asked him if he wanted fish and he said "No" and I asked him if he wanted potato and he said "No"... I got potato on the fork and touched it to his lips, and I guess he kind of thought it tasted good, so he opened his mouth really big for a bite... which I gave him-- a big ole bite of sweet potato. Wish I had a camera handy for his expression! He promptly spit it out and started scraping his tongue with his fingers, saying "dirty, dirty mommy, dirty." Maybe he didn't like the texture???
Yesterday, our little bitty training potty that DOESN'T GET POOPED IN.... was in the kitchen, don't ask why and Judd was diaperless and sat down on in and peed in it... (This was the 3rd time he's done it in the past few days, so he knows what he is doing) and he got up and put his arms in the air and said "I DID IT!" I went back to the office and was on the computer and I hear this "ploooop" sound and Judd had taken the little potty and dumped his pee in the big potty!!! and ended with another proud "I DID IT!!!" How smart, I was SO IMPRESSED! If I could only get 'em to poop, we'd be rich (not buying Huggies anymore.)
Speaking of Judd saying "I DID IT!!!" Wednesday morning he was throwing up a little bit, I don't know if it was because of the hard falls on his head or because of too much chicken and fry grease, but anyways the poor little thing would tell me "Thow up, mommy" and I would run him to the potty and he'd bend over it and throw up and dry heave and whine and cry-- like I do when I am in that position-- poor thing-- and then as soon as he'd finish he'd stand up, arms over head and yell "I did it!!" Sweet baby... he was so good for being so sick... He's growing TOO FAST and I CAN NOT STAND IT!!!!
Noah found his old X Box yesterday and wanted to play games.... Unfortunately, none of them worked, I don't know if the box was too dusty or the games were too scratched or what, but he was so sad, and let me know how sad it was. He worked so hard to try to fix it and would blow in it and lick and "clean" the games... None of it worked though... I was like, what's wrong with your Wii... and he wouldn't have it... ugh...
Harper hasn't felt good the past couple of days, she's either got a cold coming on or allergies. She's been coughing all night, driving us all crazy, poor thing. Last night Noah fell asleep first and she asked me if she could kiss him, and she did. She is the best sister ever!

Tuesday

The weather was gorgeous and we spent most of the day outside. Late in afternoon the Parker kids came to play for a little while. When Brooks got here, we all had Chick Fil A, then they played a little longer before they had to go home.
Judd took a couple of really hard falls... Hoover knocked him down once (on accident) and once he fell off the swingset- from the top level, to the next level and scared me really bad. Thankfully, he was ok. This morning he rolled off the bed and kept saying "fall off mommy fall off" through his tears...

THANK YOU BILLIE!!!!!

My sister's friend, Billie sent us some ADORABLE clothes for Harper! I am sending a "shout-out" to you Billie... "Thank you so much!" It was so thoughtful for you to think of us and we LOVE LOVE LOVE the clothes! Harper's favorite is the pink "princess" bath robe which she wore all evening and especially loved the fact that it has pockets. Josh loved, of course, the AR cheer leading outfit, and my favorites were probably the cherry & stripes outfit and the brown jumper with the flower tights... but I also love the denim skirt and "poke-it dot" tights too... Kara showed me pics of you and your sweet little Annie on FB and she is so BEAUTIFUL, Kara said she is the sweetest and best behaved little girl she's ever met! Thanks again, I can't wait for HJ to wear them... oh yeah, and the little sailor suit, too CUTE!!! While we were going through the stuff, Harp found the shoes first and I said, those are a little big, but maybe next spring.... She proceeded to put them on anyways, and said "See, I told you they fit." in her sassy little voice. And yes, they are too big, but I am sure they will be perfect for next year.

Noah's vocabulary is expanding every day. I am so thankful how much his speech is improving. He was laying in bed with Josh the other night and said "Daddy, listen, do you hear that owl?" Josh said, "You mean Hoover barking?" Noah said "Oh, yes." He was playing MarioKart and I noticed he was losing, which is rare, and I said, "Noah, are you winning?" and he said...er...uh... screamed "DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, DON'T TALK ABOUT IT, IT'S NOT NICE, DON'T TALK ABOUT IT!" So, I dropped it and continued with my laundry and in a few minutes he walked up to me and grabbed my hand and shook it and said "RADulations!" and I looked up and he'd come back from
8th place to win the race! It was a proud moment. Another time, we were playing Mario Brothers, and Josh has taught him how to trash talk and he was saying "I going up, you going down." and I talked it back and said "No, you are going down, I am going up." He looked right at me and said "That's impossible." He's such a sweetie. At night, he still loves for me to tell him he's beautiful and perfect and he's my baby boy... I have added a new one, I say "you're a great talker" and he says "yes" after I say that one to him! He'll kiss me and say "I am so happy to you." and I say it right back... he's precious. Oh yeah, the other night, Josh had only been home a short time and had to go get something out of his car, and Noah ran after him and J said, "what are you doing?" and N said "missing you" and ran and pushed the door open and said "come on in." The window man came back and measured our windows AGAIN yesterday and Noah had to have his tape and was following him around helping him measure. He's count, just as the man did and push the tape back in, just when he did...little helper.
Juddson, Juddson, Juddson-- what can I say about my little terrible two turner... It's hit a little early. That kid can throw a fit... Josh puts him in chair and calls it the crying chair and tells him he can sit there and cry, but he can't cry anywhere else... and Juddson does, he sits in the chair and cries, and then stops and then comes out fine... until something else happens and he doesn't get his way.
He is going to be athletic... We've been tossing the ball to Noah outside and Noah hits it and runs (the bases)-- kind of... and of course Judd had to get in on the action "My turn, my turn... hit it, hit it." So, I pitched it to him, and he hit it! He's not even two yet, and he's hitting the ball... consistently... One time he hit it and said "Single!" That's pretty smart, I'd say.
Harper Janey.... my little non pooper... We were at Walmart yesterday and we stopped to look at little potties. She picked out the most expensive one OF COURSE and said she'd poop in that one. I refused to get it, with all the pinkness and bells and whistles-- literally... so, she also liked the $12 one, which I could handle... It looks like you are sitting on a little frog... simple and cute... so before buying the frog pot, I told her, "If I buy this frog, you will not wear any more diapers, do you understand?" "I un-stand" "OK...if I buy this frog, you will poop in this frog." "Ok, I poop, I poop." So, the frog is here, un-pooped in as of now, but hopefully it will get "broken-in" soon... I am not backing down on this battle.
While we are playing baseball, Harper digs in the dirt or swings... but she can't "Swing berrrrrry high," so she MEEDS me to push her, constantly; and the girls likes to swing HIGH, as high as the swing will swing.... So, I get her going high, and then go back to pitch some more.
Gotta get 'em up and around...

Pics for now

Weekend and phone pics

This GORGEOUS weekend was spend outside. We played in the backyard and took walks, and Sunday afternoon walked up to the park. We are definitely ready for spring to stay here. (In the ones of Judd: the first one he's really sleeping, the next one, he's fakin'.)
These are pics I uploaded from my phone, taken over the past few months.

Matilda Jane

Yesterday we played outside all day, it was like 75 degrees and beautiful. We took an hour and forty-five minute walk/jog and it may have been a little too much because the kids all came back pink cheeked and pink knee-ed--- I really doubt if that is a word...anyways, when we got home Granny and Grandmom were here waiting to see us with curly fries for the kids. After baths and lunch, we loaded up and went to Alyssia's in Alma. The kids played outside while I shopped at the trunk show.
Check out these outfits, I can't wait for HJ to get into them.


Holy Moly! She is going to have to wear them until she is 6 to get our money's worth out of them... Yikes.
Anyways, the kids cried when we had to leave, Noah said "why why why why?" So we promised them we'd come back and play sometime. From there, we went home and I met a girl and sold the elliptical I had on craigslist. I knew the kids were starving so we went to McDonalds. They were perfect and we had an awesome time sitting at the circle booth, I was so proud of them. After we ate, we stopped by home long enough to pick up Nanna's cake and pick up Daddy and we were off to Cory and Jessi's for Nanna's birthday party. Judd and HJ played with Lexi and Mary and Noah and Luke played Wii. At the end of the night, the kids had only had 10 minute naps and were exhausted and Judd lost it... He had a huge melt down over I don't even know what. Josh loaded Harper first and when he was putting her in her carseat she said "I'm weddy to go home, get in bed, and go to fweep" and Josh started laughing and she said "was the hiwarious?" and he laughed some more. Harp and Judd fell asleep in the car and Noah stayed up and talked video games in bed and then watched Friday Night Lights until he passed out.

Can it get any more hectic

We have been running around like crazy this week, and I feel like I have hardly gotten to see the kids. We've had growing kids sale to get ready for and thank you NANNY SO MUCH for watching the kids while we shopped! We got a lot done and saved a lot of money, but it took FOREVER~ it was packed... Anyways, the only thing really to mention is that I got HJ some pull-ups at Sam's. She was very excited and wanted to put one on right away. I explained to her that they felt like diapers, but weren't diapers, they were more like panties, and she could not pee in them, they were only for accidents... So, that night, she patted her pull-up and said "I wike dees better" and I said, "you like those better than diapers? Great!!" It was only a little later, when I went to her room and found all the used pull-ups in the floor that I realized why she "wiked dem better" it's because it was like a diaper she could change by herself.... she was going through them like crazy, peeing in them, kicking them off and putting on a new one... Ugh... will she ever learn? I bought her a potty at the growing kids sale, one like you saw Jon and Kate's kids learn to go on... She watched that, she knows... maybe this will work!!!!
Judd has definitely learned the art of fit throwing this week, I mean, has perfected it. If one little thing doesn't go his way, it's a big screaming cry with a fall down to the floor with a glance back to make sure he's not going to hit his head too hard, then the head goes back, then the roll over with extra screaming, hands over the face buried in the ground.... Nice.... he's got it down!
Noah has been precious this week, he says "I so happy for you" and I hope that means he's so happy that I am his mom... that's how I translate it at least...and I tell him, I so happy for him too!

Back to the grind

The weekend was spent at home doing nothing for the most part... which was wonderful. We did sign Noah up for soccer and before we left he said he needed his tennis shoes on and soccer ball to go play... poor little thing couldn't understand that we were just going to sign him up, and not to actually play; so this should be interesting. Since Josh used to play soccer, he signed up to coach as well, like he has time to do that, but I DO NOT want Noah to end up on a team with some psycho coach who yells at and threatens kids to win or whatever... you know the type. Anyways, the season will start in the next few weeks. Of course, Harp wants to play soccer too, so now we'll have to find her something to get into, like dance class.

Noah, apparently learns alot in school that he doesn't share with us. Like, this weekend, I was teaching Harper and Judd to count to 10 in Spanish, and Noah just chimed in and started counting in Spanish. He also counted to 30 in English (well, almost, he ended with "twenty ten" but I corrected it, and he said 30, and he knows all the days of the week... Wow, I hadn't even taught him that, he said "Miss Wenda did."

I was holding Juddson, pretending he was a baby and pretending to feed him a bottle and Harper was watching. She pulled her shirt up and tried to feed him her boob....nice, we'd better stick with pretend bottles...

Judd doesn't like his feet to be covered up when he's in bed or when I am rocking him, as he's kicking his feet out he says "toes open, toes open" over and over.

My knee has been sore, and Harper has been holding my hand helping me walk, she says "one more step, just one more step." She is so kind and empathetic and thoughtful, she is going to make an awesome mommy or nurse, I can already tell.

Yesterday we were looking at some old pics and there was a pic of Noah and Harper from a little over a year ago and they were hugging each other and wearing church clothes and Harper said "I wub this one.... is this when my married?"

Ready to get better

Usually all the kids are sick at the same time, which is miserable... this week Josh and I have been sick, which isn't fun either. He has had a cold/sinus infection thing and I have a staph infection in my knee. Poor Josh can't call into work and has had to work through fever and feeling miserable...
Anyways, there haven't been many exciting activities this week. Noah has learned to beg. As soon as Josh walks in the door "Daddy will you play games with me?" "Super Mario Brovers?" "Please, please, oh please daddy" How can you ever resist that? Yesterday while I went to the doctor Kara watched them and was playing Mario Kart with him and he can't stand for someone to be near him or beating him in the race and he'd tell Kara to "fall off in the hot fire, please, please, please" and she would...
If he wants to play games and isn't supposed to, he'll ask anyway and I shake my head no and he comes and puts his hands on my head and shakes it yes for me.
Josh said they were in the bedroom yesterday and the floor fan was on and Noah walked in front of it and pretended it blew him down, and he fell on the ground and rolled to the wall. Wish I could have seen that.
Also, when he wants to talk to you about something serious, and really wants you to listen, usually about how to play a game, or something to do with a game, he will get right in your face, almost nose to nose and tap your nose with his finger to make sure you are paying attention to him.
Harper Janey was dreaming, way out in space at the dinner table last night, and I said "whatcha thinkin' about?" and Josh said "Yea, what are you dreaming about?" and she sassily replied, "I NEVER DREAM and I NEVER FINK BOUT."
They are building a Little Caesar's here, right on our way to Noah's school, and if you don't know I LOVE that place, so every time we drive by it (2's a day) I make a big deal and tell them to look and see if it's open yet and cry because it's not and tell them as soon as it's open we're gonna have a pizza party... Well, yesterday I didn't say anything and as we drove past it, Judd said "pizza, open???" Ahh, how smart...
Time for some coffee and craigslist.

Growing Before Our Eyes

It's amazing how fast these three are growing. It's so sad that I can't pause time and enjoy this sweet stage for as long as possible. I know I will love each phase of life, but right now it's so incredible to watch them learn and figure stuff out, and imitate, and become an individual.

Judd has unfortunately, stopped saying "uh huh" for "yes" and has started saying "yeah" and he draws it out really long, so it's cute too... I will miss "uh huh" though. His new favorite toy is the Aflac duck and he "aflac, aflac, AFLAAAAAC"'s right along with it. He cracks up at himself big time...

We went to Chuck E. Cheese's last Thursday night. You know they've been learning their and since we were going to be out of town on Sunday, they weren't going to get to say it at church. Since they all new it and said it for me, we went to celebrate. On the way there, HJ said "I wub Judd, he's so cute." and I said "yes, and you love Noah too." and she said "Yeah, I wub dose guys, they aw sooo cute!" and I said "yes, and they love you, you are the cute sister." and she said "and you are the cute mommy." Ahhh, isn't she so sweet, always thoughtful, and never leaving anyone out.

Last night they were playing chase around the table and Noah yelled to me "mommy, I love my sista!"

I was sitting in the chair and Noah came up right to my face and said "squeeze you face" and did so, and "kiss you" and kissed me.

Miss Cindy said that Noah told the teachers a little girl had spit on him at school last week. When the teachers went to question her, Noah followed. He put his hand on the back of her head and nudged her, saying "here, you go time out, we need to call your mom"! Ha! Noah the disciplinarian!

When I say to Harper "Do you believe that?" or "Wow, can you believe it?" She replies, "Yeah, I BW-EVE it!"

Noah loves playing on Grandmom's walker. He holds himself up and the top of the handles and raises his legs up... then jumps off and does the Olympic pose at the end! He remembers everything.

Saturday night Josh and I spent the night in Rogers at Aloft. We went on a night out with Kara and Scott. THANK YOU NANNA AND PAPPA for taking care of the kids. The kids had a great time, and didn't even miss us very much. I think they get sick of me too, and we both needed a break from each other. Not saying I get sick of them, it's just nice to have a little break sometimes. Anyways, we got home yesterday around lunch time, and Judd came and hugged me, but didn't act very excited to see me, then went back and crawled up into Nanna's lap. I sat on the couch beside them and asked him if he was mad at me for leaving. He said "Yeeaaahhh" with out even looking at me. Harper must have missed me a little because about 35 times yesterday, she would just out of the blue say "I wub you, mommy" just over and over. We had fun, but were glad to be back home. We all just hung out yesterday and relaxed... Back to the grind this morning.