My Little Planner

Jayci got a wooden and magnet calendar for Christmas. I thought she would love it but really it was one of those "Cool, Mom" kind of gifts . . . until today. We sat down today and scheduled April. Mind you her birthday is in April so that was a huge bonus. We had so much fun. It was especially good to talk about Good Friday and Easter and the meaning of both.

Blueberry Picking

Today we went blueberry picking with a couple of friends. It was so much fun but it didn't take long to fill our buckets with wonderful blueberries. "Only pick the blue ones!" YUM! We already made a list of the yummy things we are going to make with our catch. Pancakes and muffins top the list!!

An Awesome Day!!

Today was such an awesome day! I remember the last time I felt like that - day after Thanksgiving, 2008. That sounds terrible. It's not to say we don't have many really good days. But sometimes we have a truly awesome day that seems too good to be true.

We started off the day by sleeping in . . . .I should have known that things were on my side when all 3 kids slept passed their usual bedtimes. They owed me though. 2 of them were up VERY late last night - not their fault, but still, they owed me.

We went to the park and played with friends for a couple of hours. I packed a picnic lunch but our friends all went home before that. It was no big deal. The kids didn't fuss about it at all. We packed up our fun stuff and ate together. I caught a glimpse of peacefulness just sitting with my little guys have a great picnic lunch. It was one of those moments.

They all went down for nap fairly easily. The only glitch in the day was that naps didn't last very long but I still got to sit on my butt AND get some things done. YAY! After SHORT naps, all three kids got up and we baked. Karis entertained herself (a new thing for her) while I baked with the older guys.

It was an unusually fun time for all of us. . . . .

Happy Chicken Day??

For the second year in a row we went to Chick Fil-A for Thanksgiving. Our friends that own it have opened up their restaurant to us and those that don't have family in for the holiday. We all bring something and eat to our hearts' content!

Our kids are beginning to think this is what Thanksgiving is all about . . . and I guess it is. We have come to find our Ridgeline friends to be our adoptive family in Cali. It is fitting that we spend Thanksgiving with those we love!

Feeling Halloweenie

Today was a spontaneous halloween fun day. We went to the Pumpkin Patch after nap, watched the Backyardagains "It's Great to be a Ghost", and made pumkins/ghosts/cats out of orange playdough.

I was thinking, while Iwas building awesome right arm strenth stirring homemade playdough, "This is the life. This is what having kids and being a mom has always been about to me . . . and it won't last long." Snif. It made me a little sad.

Nonetheless, it was an awesome day. I don't know why I don't do more things like this. Maybe I just

needed a day to realize how fun it is and that the days of being a dorky mom in my kids eyes are just around the corner.

We called it a Halloweenie day! I have a feeling there will be more. . . .

**Playdough recipe (makes enough for 2 kids, in my opinion)

1 c flour

1/2 c salt

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp oil

1 c water

Stir dry ingredients in a pot on the stove top. Add oil and water and mix well. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.

Pour dough into a bowl and cover with a wet towel for 1 min. Make a well and add 10-15 drops of food coloring (ratio for orange is 2 red : 1 yellow). Knead together until color is uniform. ENJOY!

Rosey the Pumpkin

Today we got together with some friends for pumpkin carving at the park. It was a lot of fun! We got home with Rosey the Pumpkin. She was yucky on the inside but not anymore.

It was a really fun day. Especially when Cade and I got to swing. Few things are better than seeing your kids crack up laughing from pure joy. . . . what a memory!

Miracles and Homework

My mom has a necklace she got when I got pregnant with Jayci. It says, "Believe in Miracles." This week Jayci looked at it and said, "Granna, what does this say?" My mom told her and Jayci said, "Yes, He does. Does God do homework too?"

Happy Birthday, Jayci!!!

Jayci wanted a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party this year so Mommy attempted a strawberry cake. It looked good except I ran out of red icing. It tasted good and that is what's important! Cade blew out one of the candles before Jayci could, but we re-lit and let her go . . .

She got a bicycle for her big day and rode all over anything concrete with it. Even now, every time we get out of the car, she races to the bike and rides as long as I am unloading siblings and groceries out of the car. Before long, we'll be calling her the blur.

She also got a princess umbrella and is dying to use it out here. We took strawberry rice crispy treats to school the day after her birthday. When it is your bday at school you get a crown and you get to be the prayer girl twice. Jayci was thrilled! She still wears her crown around and prays sometimes.

It's a Girl!

Mommy made us shirts that tell the world we are the big brother and big sister of Baby Karis!

Hello, World! I'm here and ready to check things out . . .

This is Karis on day 6. She spends time with eyes wide open but still sleep a lot. This is her baby doll that we are using to measure her growth this month.

Karis is going home from the hospital. She was not crazy about the bow but she tolerated it for Mommy and Granna to get a few shots. My grandmother made the blanket. Each kiddo has come home wrapped in Meme's blanket. I think it's a great expression of love from the oldest one of us to the youngest. I only wish she could be here to wrap Karis up herself. Maybe soon.

Life around here has become quite eventful. The older 2 are doing fine. Right now they want to hold the baby and kiss her all the time. I'm reminded that one day they won't feel so excited to have a baby sister so I'm letting them do whatever they want to with her.

Cade isn't sleeping well, which is hard on Matt because he gets up with him each time. Hopefully we will outgrow that when I am back to 100%. I think he just misses his Mommy and whatever normalcy we had a few weeks ago.

Jayci is doing great. However, she is disappointed that we did not name the baby Ariel. She brought Karis's picture to school and told her friends, "Her name is Karis. I wanted to name her Ariel but Mama said Karis." I love her resignation to the fact that I RULE!

Hugs and Kisses to you all!

Yipee Ki-O . . .

TX here we come!

Jayci watches a Backyardigans episode where they sing a song called, "Texas Here We Come." The other day I said, "Yahoo!" Jayci added, "Yipee Ki-O! Texas here we come!" It was so cute in light of the fact that we will be there tomorrow!!! We are so excited!!

. . . the darndest things . . .

You know we all have those hillarious things our kids say and do. Well, here's a couple from our 2 comedians:

On Monday at the grocery store Jayci had an accident. Since Cade's had a little issue with that lately, I was concerned Jayci had caught the bug too. Off we raced to the bathroom! Well, if you could have been a fly on the wall in there!!! I had to get Cade out of the cart since you aren't supposed to take those things in there. (Don't worry. Since then I've decided that rule is meant to be broken.) So here I am - one kid, poop all over herself, and the other, paci in mouth freely walking around in the handicap stall. Ok, we start shredding Jayci's clothes, shoes, etc. and put her on the potty. But before I can get that done I hear her say, "No, Cade. Mommy look what Cade did." He has put her shoes in the potty! EW! Then I realize someone's going to have to reach in there and get them out . . . yes, that's the Mommy's job. EW! EW! It was a crazy 20 minutes in the bathroom but all's well that ends. I washed J's shoes in the sink (She refused to wear them until I did) and we finished our shopping. I guess I can laugh about it someday but I'm still grossed out!

And then . . . .Yesterday, Jayci was playing with some toys and something wasn't working out like she wanted it to. She said, "Why am I having such a hard time with everything today??" It sounded so familiar that it scared me but I did take time to laugh and write it down. She is growing up too fast!!!