Hardy Har Har!

To the smarty pants that love to leave nasty lil messages on my less than perfect blog, of our less than perfect lives.........I love ya'll:) Hopefully I will become a little better with blogging consistency, however to my dear (critical) sister........the sugar will still be consumed in my home. We can't all make our own homemade pasta sauce and wheat flour, gluten free, pureed prunes, soy enriched oh-so-yummy cake!!!! Now......that being said I will defend myself by saying not all of that sugar was for consumption. A lot of it was used to make graham cracker ginger bread houses that were not eaten. AND...... what self-respecting mother does not provide homemade chocolate chip cookies and milk for their children's first snow day?????

It's a Snow Day Charlie Brown!!!

That's right, a snow day. The kids are excited! They can't wait to sleep in and wake up to hot cocoa and powdered donuts! Why does food taste sooooo much better on a snow day? Another bonus.....my final was supposed to be tomorrow and is now delayed. I feel like I'm in High School again and so grateful to have another day to put off studying! "Snow day" is pretty deceptive. We have at least 1/4 in of ice on our deck. The first picture is Kacey's messy face....homemade choc chip cookie while watching charlie brown, priceless. The next one is Ethan and Jacey with tummies full of choc chip cookies watching charlie brown. The food picture shows what a nutritionally minded mother I am! Not all of the refined sugar is to be consumed.....a lot of it is to decorate graham cracker ginger bread houses. The last one is our "snow". I know it's hard to believe that it's all ice, but really, there is NO SNOW. All sleet and freezing rain! Enjoy this posting till next month:)

Best Halloween Ever! (Just for you- Lil' Mama!)

Halloween was great! We are soooooooooo thankful that Ethan is no longer allergic to peanuts!!!!! Years past have been like being trapped in the middle of a mine field. (Trying to avoid very well meaning people who would give Ethan a snickers or peanut butter cup. Seriously, I AM SO THANKFUL!) Enjoy the pics:)

No pictures...........again!

I love you guys that are always posting new pictures! How do you find the time to load them???? Anyway, we're all doing good here. No new news to speak of. (How boring are we????)
Grades are good, soccer is good, weather is GREAT! That's really about it.........I'll try to do better on the posting.....I know I'm slipping:(

You sank my battleship!

Friday Family Fun Night! That's right, we're the nerdy family that likes to play games, and I don't mean x-box or Wii. We don't do it as often as I'd like, but it's fun when we do. Our night began with chili dogs and a belching contest. I know that is so crass to admit, but we are usually pretty strict about dinner table manners and it was fun to kind of let loose with the kids. (Ethan was very impressed and amused with this activity.) Jacey and I made hot fudge cakes for desert. YUMMM! Food was followed by fun which consisted of the movie "Winn Dixie" and playing Battleship. I had forgotten how much fun that game is! Jacey wasn't interested, but Ethan did great! I wasn't sure how it would go, because of the graphing skills and reasoning needed to play, but he caught on quick! We beat Kacey and Daddy! Soccer game tomorrow morning - Go Silverbullets!

Wow. What a couple of weeks we have had! The kids are still loving school. They're making friends, good grades and their mother proud! I'm taking A & PI and it is tough. It's funny how you take for granted all the intricate pieces of our puzzle! Hope everyone is well. Sorry for the delays in posting and lack of pictures. I am kind of missing our laid back homeschooling lifestyle:( However, sanity is a good thing:)

broken promises:(

OK, I know I promised pictures, but I'm just so tired! For whatever reason, it takes a long time to load them, and let's face it, patience is not my thing. Anyway, we've all had a great week! The kids are loving school, Kacey's loving Mother's Day out and playing with Granna, and I've had a good week as well. (By the way I learned today how bad the low carb diets are. DON"T Do IT!! Also, just b/c it says sugar free, it may not be. Something about changing a sugar to an alcohol to call it sugar free, but ultimately your body get rids of the hydroxyl ion.....turning it back into sugar....I realize that I don't know nuttin bout nuttin but doesn't this sound dangerous for diabetics???? Anyway, I'm glad some knowledge was retained today. I'm sure I will impart more random information soon:)

Dry eyes.

Hello to all. I know I promised pictures, but it's nearly midnight and it will have to wait. We're all feeling better today. Still moments of sadness, but healing is happening. I'm happy to report that E and J had another great day at school. Me to Jacey, "What was your favorite part of the day" Jacey's response...."parachute." Me to Ethan, "What was your favorite part of the day?" Ethan's response....."EVERYTHING!" Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that Jacey and I will be fine. Also, thank you all for the well wishes and good thoughts! Pictures soon:)

You're gonna need kleenex....SERIOUSLY, get the kleenex

I began my day this morning at 1am with Ethan. (He gets pretty bad nosebleeds, and this time of year is prime time for him.) Anyway, nosebleed 1am, tummy ache at 1:30am, said he doesn't think he should go to school around 2 am, back to the bathroom at 2:15 crying with tummy pains and works himself into such a tizzy that he breaks out in hives and nose blocks off. Benedryll at 2:30. Scratching and crying b/c he can't breathe through his nose. 3 am I'm nearly crying b/c I'm VERY tired and second guessing myself about the whole school thing. 3:30 E's feeling better and asking if he can get dressed for school. FINALLY at 4 am we both go to sleep. Up at 6:30 am -thanks to my responsible Jacey. Make 1st day pancakes and literally peel Ethan out of bed and place him, still asleep, in his chair. He eats with his eyes closed and then says, is today the day? He went from asleep to dressed in about 2 seconds! (Anxiety is a very real thing. Even when we say we're OK and excited about a change, sometimes we're not.) Anyway, they both had a great first day and can't wait to go back tomorrow.

When we got home my anxiety had caught up with me and I needed tummy acid medicine REALLY BAD. (I remained composed for the day- weepy, but no tears. Good for me.) I went to leave the house and Jasper kitty ran in. I picked him up, loved on him a little and put him in the garage. Well, I went to back up, thinking he was in the garage, and accidentally backed over him. He died instantly. I have never felt so bad about anything in my life. Needless to say, I fell apart. THANKFULLY NOT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS! The kids were playing in the pool and didn't know what had happened. Jason took care of the remains and had to tell me to get it together. (Which didn't happen.) Anyway, went to the drug store to get the now necessary antacid. Got home to my precious Jacey innocently playing and having somewhat of a perfect day. Through tears, I sat her down and told her about the accident. She teared up and I asked her if she could forgive me. She calmly took off her pink towel and wiped away my tears and said with a broken voice, "Mama, that happens with cars sometimes." She crawled up in my lap and cried and cried. We sat there and cried together and felt every bit of that horrible sadness. In that moment I wanted to give her ice cream, ponies, sports cars, boxes of kittens.............anything to make the pain stop, but we had to feel it. That stinks! I wish so much it hadn't happened. Jason told her we would get her another one. She said she didn't want to think about it. Then after a pause, she said, "well, I have always wanted a rabbit." You know, I didn't give her credit. I just knew she would be beyond angry with me. And even though it was an accident, I would have completely understood. Jacey said her heart hurts and I told her mine does too. Later she asked me if my heart was feeling better and I told her it was a little better and she said hers was too. We'll be fine. I am soooooooooo thankful if was not a child. I thought I knew where the cat was, but it happened so fast. Accidents are accidents. I hate that it happened. I'm so proud of how she handled herself and how she handled her mother! The hard part now is having to resist the urge to over compensate. There's a fine line between extra compassion and ice cream, ponies, sports cars, boxes of kittens..............

I'll post pictures tomorrow. Between the 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night and the stress of the day, I'm beat. Go hug your kids and tell them you love them.

10 hours and counting........

10 hours until I drop off my precious Ethan and Jacey for their first day of first grade. They are both very excited. Jacey has thanked us all day for signing them up for school. On the way home from church she asked me how to spell school. When we got in the door she handed me a folded note. (The picture is posted.)For those of you not familiar with 6 yr old phonetic spelling, the note reads: Thank you for signing us up for school. Thank you my dear. I hope they are this enthusiastic 7am tomorrow:) Backpacks are packed and lunches are ready. I'm doing really well. I think the 6 years at home have taken their toll. A big part of me wishes we were homeschooling again this year, but I'm so excited for them and me. I'll do my best to post tomorrow night with cute pics.

Kacey's First Day

How cute is this kid???? She has all the independence and confidence in the world. She would have gone in without me if I would have let her! The teacher said she had a great day and lots of fun. Her favorite part was the monkey lunch box.

Rehab update

To update on Jacey's habit...... She is doing really well. She almost never does it during the day. It's when I check on her in the middle of the night that she's doing it. It's just innate. It's almost like telling her not to dream at night. We've been putting the bitter nail polish on, but it isn't strong enough to wake her up. Anyway, thanks for all the advice. Especially the very personal one from Dr. Phil.

Hello everyone! So much going on around here!!! For those of you that don't know, I've been in a nurse assistant class for the last 2 weeks.....almost over. The plan is to apply for rn school this spring. Also, I enrolled the twins in a small private school in Searcy. They are soooooooooo excited! We'll see where the days ahead lead us. Sorry to all for the lack of contact!

Swim Season is Over!!!!!

The kids competed in the Meet of Champs yesterday at UALR. They were sooooo cute! Jacey placed 4th in her division for freestyle and backstroke. Ethan placed 5th in backstroke. There were 585 kids competing and it was amazingly organized, chaotic, but organized. The team swim party was tonight. Ethan got the award for most improved and they both got trophies! I just realized that I haven't mentioned our little Kacey Anna. She's doing well and just gets drug along everywhere to cheer for the big two. I guess her day in the spotlight will come too.

Kiddie rehab please

Does anyone know of a lovely 12 step program for Jacey to enter???? She just can't quit sucking her thumb!!!!! I feel sooooooo bad for her. She wants to quit but just can't. She stopped for a while so she could get the cat. However, it's beginning to take over again. We've just about tried it all. I'm sure everyone knows by now that we're pretty old school when it comes to the corporal punishment theory, however, I think that's about like telling her not to breathe and then spanking her when she does. We have ultrasound video of her thumb sucking for crying out loud! So what do we do - take away the cat???? I'm pretty sure that would set the stage for her running off with some random boy in the future just because her evil mother took away her beloved pet b/c of the thumb sucking!!!! Well, what's a mom to do????? I went to Walgreen's today to get the bitter nail polish, but they had none. So, you may have guessed......my precious daughter is laying in her bed with Tobasco sauce on her thumb. (Please A. Lacy, don't drive the 10 hours to make eggs and lick the sauce off!) Honestly, if anyone has a better idea, please speak up!

By popular demand..........

Okay people, I've been very busy so quit crying about no posts!!!! Actually, I really haven't been busy at all. Just not much to write about. We're so boring!!!! I guess I'll have to start leaving meaningless posts to make the fans happy.

Internet has been out.......Hopefully the kinks are worked out and I can leave a respectable post soon!!!!! Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Wow, it's been a week since the last post. Please forgive. Fun crazy week filled with swimming, build-a-bear, play dates................. Other than that, pretty boring and not much to write about. More pics to come!

Nothing like a creek!

Hello friends and family. We went to one of our family's favorite places on Earth this weekend. A little hole-in-the wall called Hardy, Arkansas. It really is a piece of heaven. We fished, ate out, swam, shopped in the antique stores. It was a great mini vacation. The pics are of us at a little creek just across the MO state line. The kids had a blast fishing with their Daddy, Uncle Mike and cousin Luke. In other news, Jacey and Ethan did GREAT at their swim meet. They both improved and Ethan played an intense game of go fish with a boy from the opposing team while waiting for their next event. (Jacey REALLY enjoyed an order of nachos while waiting her turn-what can I say, she's her Mama's girl!!!)

Hungry, hungry, hippos!

Remember the game hungry, hungry, hippos???? It's fun for about the first 20 minutes and then it's not anymore!!!!(Unless you're six and could play it for hours on end!)
A public thank you goes out tonight to my MIL. I know, I know, it's bragging to tell this, HOWEVER, J's mom took the twins this afternoon, fed them supper, took them to the park, brought them back to her house for a bath, snack and teeth brushing, then delivered them back home fed, clean and most importantly, SLEEPY!!!!! Granna, you'll never know how much I appreciate what you do for them(and me) I'm tellin ya friends, it was a real sanity saver for me today!!!!
The pictures of the twins are of them with their cd players they just got from their Nana and gp Doug. You just haven't seen cute till you've seen Ethan walk around reciting Chicka Chicka Boom Boom toting around his Diego cd player and wearing white knee socks with bright orange stripes. Priceless!

just keep swimming, just keep swimming

For those of you that don't know, the title is a spoof from the movie Finding Nemo.ha ha Anyway, today was the twin's first swim meet. They did great!!!! They competed in 3 events: kickboarding, freestyle, and backstroke. Jacey won the kickboarding event and placed near the top in the backstroke. Ethan, who still has a double ear infection and sinus infection, did very well also. He placed top 3 in kickboarding and swam the length of the pool without having to stop to rest. (Gotta tell you mom, you missed the mark with taking me to all those gymnastics meets. Swim is much faster and much more exciting!!!!!!)

Co-pays, co-pays, co-pays

Okay, for those of you out there that have more than one child, maybe you can relate.........Why is it that you can go months and months without a doctor's visit and then have to go twice in one week with two different kids???? Ethan has a double ear infection and sinus infection (Co-pay, I mean dr's appt weds.) and Kacey has an ear and eye infection(copay, I mean dr appt today) Seriously, why can't we space this stuff out?????? Thank goodness for antibiotics!!!!

Here are the cat pics I promised.

What were we thinking?????????

Okay, first of all let me apologize to all of you that I sent an e-mail to and didn't put this address on there. Duh. Anyway, the latest news for us..........We got Jacey a kitten. Let me tell you that it has provided hours and hours of cheap entertainment. We hope Jasper the Kitty will somehow survive his toddler years and be around for quite sometime. (Kacey is anything but gentle with him.) In other news, my dear friend Paula and her family left today for N Carolina. For those of you that don't know, they had been living in the pool house for the last several weeks while they tied up some lose ends during her husbands retirement from the military. Needless to say there is a HUGE empty space in my heart (and pool house) right now. Anyone need a place to stay or swim or hang out?????? I really miss them-they have twin boys the same age as Ethan and Jacey. Okay, enough of the sad stuff. Look for more exciting posts later!
(It won't allow me to download pics right now. I'll try to later.)

Diamonds?????

We went to the Crater of Diamonds State Park today. They say people find diamonds every day, however, I walked all over that 37 acres and have determined that it may be a scam!!!! It was amazing to see how intense some people were in their hunting endeavors. The park attendant told us that a man found a 1/3 yellow carat diamond just yesterday. Nothing like getting your hopes up when you walk in and then getting hot and sweaty and leaving empty handed! All was not lost though, we did find quartz and jasper. The best part of the day for the kids, was playing at the water park next to the crater.

Kacey looks very much like her cousin Aubin! I just had to take a picture. Also, the pool is open for business. We don't know what we would do all day with out it.

just learning how to do this

OK. I just wanted to try and post a picture. Just learning! This is typical Ethan on a typical day.

What I do for a sister's love!

This is for you Lacy!!!! Love, Me.