"Farewell Slumber Party with the Cousins..."

Justin and Smith hanging out playing X-Box...I love this picture...
Charley and Zaisy...friends and cousins forever...
Smith and Dillan...she's going to miss her big cousin!!! The gang's all here!!!
Bathing beauties...
We love you Smith and Zaisy!!! Come back soon and visit us!!!

"The Twins are at it Again..."

Isn't sidewalk chalk supposed to go on the SIDEWALK?????????????? I'm just saying....

"Mom's Weekend Out!!!"

This past weekend, two of my best friends and I were able to sneak out for a little R&R. What a blessing friends and laughter are! Thanks Kates and Dana...you guys are the best! Getting ready to have "fake" eyelashes put on!
I actually have eyelashes now...
Swimming in the bathtub....don't ask...

"Early Birthday Present..."

My awesome husband suprised me with an early birthday present today!!! Let me introduce you to the newest member of our family...


Dillan is in love...
Charley is too...
Caleb loves on the "mama" dog...

Proud daddy...

He won't be old enough to come home until the first week of April. He is a purebreed miniature schnauzer and is black with white paws and chest. We had our first visit with him today....we still haven't decided on a name yet. Let me know if you have any fun ideas....

"Hello Ear Wax!!!"

For those of you readers that are easily grossed out, you may not want to read this blog!



The other day I was cleaning out the kid's ears and realized that Caleb's ears were completely full of wax. So later that day I went to our local organic store and purchased some "ear candles". Now for those of you who have never used these before, I HIGHLY recommend them. We were able to extract a HUGE amount of ear wax from Caleb's ears (see picture below). Poor kid! He's probably never had his little ears cleaned out in his first four years of life. We all took our turns having candles in our ears that evening...not a common way to spend a family night, I realize, but at least we can all hear each other now! ;-)


All the wax that we were able to get out of Caleb's ears!!!

"Shirley Goodnest and Marcy"

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her. The neighbor said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed. The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor boy he knew. She did this for the whole week. As the boys walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally he said to Timmy, "Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?" Timmy nonchalantly replied, "Yeah, I know who she is." The friend said, "Well, who is she?" "That's just Shirley Goodnest," Timmy replied, "and her daughter Marcy." "Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us? " "Well," Timmy explained, "every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, ' Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!"

May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always...

"Creative Juices and Black Fingernails..."

Charley got VERY creative this week when she decorated her Valentine's box for school. We had so much fun picking out the stuff to go on it...I love doing these things with my kiddos. It always brings back great memories for me...
Caleb has been obsessed with my fingernail polish lately. He will try and sneak a bottle of pink or red into his room and come out with it EVERYWHERE. He has been so insistant on having his nails painted! I don't mind him having pink nails at home, but it got a little weird when we were at the library coloring and I saw other mom's looking at his nails, then back at me. I could just read their minds...
Now, for those of you who know me, I'm usually not bothered by what other people think. But when it comes to my kids, if I can keep them from being judged unfairly, then I will do what I can. I finally came up with an idea. I took Caleb to the store and we bought him his OWN bottle of black fingernail polish that he can put on his fingernails and toenails until his heart's content. So I guess now parents can look at him and wonder if I'm allowing him to enter the "Goth" world...All I know is that it brings a smile to his face and that is worth 1,000 bottles of fingernail polish.