Claire's Bedtime Prayer

Dear Lord,
Thank you for this day. It was a very wonderful day. Thank you that I got to see my cousin, Lillie, who I love so much. I got to see her three times. At her house, in our car and at church. And I really only hate Satan. But I love God and I want to obey Him but sometimes I can't. But I always try hard.
Amen

Typing is hard when you can't use your pointer finger.

I sliced my finger thid afternoon while makinf Sherried Tomato Soup for klunch. It's throws my typing off in a very silly way. It hurts and it's deep. I probably could use a stitch but I decided to go with the wound-up-tissue-secured-with-scotch-tape route instead. So far it's containing the blood.

Spring is creeping in and I'm so very happy about it. The other day the girls brought me the first Spring Beauty that popped up in our back yard. Later on that afternoon we got ready for a special church meeting and I thought about how they looked a lot like my own Spring Beauties.

We took several pictures and realized one thing. Claire cannot pose regular. She has to be twisted some way or another or a leg has to be lifted, something.

We were able to get a couple of pictures where the other two girls had a little more of the spotlight.

But even when she's in the background she's giving it her all.

Life is going to be fun with this one around.



Milestones

Elaina completed her 100th reading lesson just a few minutes ago. It is a good feeling to say we did it. We finished that entire book. It would have been easy to quit about 10- 15 lessons ago because she was already into real books at that point but I felt that for the sake of example we needed to finish the book. Finish what you start.
She amazes me.

Eily is hilarious. That girl has no fear and will probably be the one that breaks a few bones during her childhood. Jason and I like to stand at the kitchen window and watch her play outside. The other two girls have to rely on her to stop the wildly swaying see-saw because they are too scared to put their feet down while going that high. Eily just swings her legs over the side, holds on to the poles and drags her feet on the ground until it slows enough for the girls to feel it's safe to dismount. Then she opens her hands, drops to the ground and runs over the playhouse to climb up on top of the roof.
She makes me laugh.

Claire is becoming quite the fashionista. This morning I picked out a Chuck-E-Cheese play shirt for her to wear and she had to put it back and get a ruffled long tee because that one was "much cuter." I guess it is very important to look good for Charlie, the dog.
She makes me smile.

Claire, as Michael Buble.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thoughts

I have hit rock bottom as far as energy is concerned. I think the baby is having a growth spurt and maybe that's why. Last night and again this morning there has been more movement and limbs poking up and out than ever before. I think baby is running out of room and wanting to let me know that it doesn't want to be in my tummy forever.

I did go outside and play with the girls in the snow yesterday. That was really fun. We made a snowman that was pretty awesome and then Charlie knocked him down flat. We also made snow angels and jumped on the snowy trampoline. Guess what? Getting up from a snow angel position when you are The Walrus proves to be difficult.

It has been on my mind a lot lately that Elaina truly starts school in August. I'm a little intimidated and excited all at the same time. It's not the teaching that intimidates me but establishing school as a daily, first-thing-we-do-each-day habit. That is something that I have started to implement but not to a very strict degree. If we have a good morning, we do school. If it's low energy, we don't. That won't be acceptable next year. First grade is not a cheating year. I can't just cancel school to go meet Nanny in Fort Smith. While I am excited to get into this phase of life I'm a little sad to give up the freedom that we have had for almost 6 years.

We have snow! Real snow!! Able to play in it snow!!!

Yes, I call myself The Walrus. Why do you ask?

What we've been doing

We've had a stomach bug here at our house making the rounds. All three girls were hit hard but for some reason Eily never bounced back. Finally, Sunday afternoon, I took her to an outpatient clinic.
They did a urine sample and some blood work and sent us on to the ER.

We were in that room for a couple of hours and then they finally moved us up to the pediatric floor. It was so nice to have a comfortable place to lie down.

Eily never liked the IV in her arm but she was very good to leave it alone and not mess with it. I did catch her chewing the hose a couple of times.

Uncle Josh came by the next afternoon and brought her a new toy. Meet Ellie Mae, the dog.

Ellie Mae comes with a carrier, a food dish, food and a comb.

We were both so glad when they finally told us we could go home. We missed our family.

My favorite view at the hospital:

 I'm home with a sick Eily this morning while Jason is at church with the other two girls. She has "throw up in her bottom."  She's been on my bed moaning and groaning with tummy pain. It's rather pitiful.

Yesterday we went to a little park here in our town because the weather was absolutely gee-orgeous. Eily was a little emotional and of course now I know why.

But the older two had a blast and played so hard that bed time was a breeze.

The Tidings We Love For You and Your King

For two days I have been trying to get to the computer so that I could write a post. I had so much on my mind. And don't you know that now I can't remember anything I wanted to write about. 

Poor old Jason pulled Daddy duty all night last night so he is sleeping the morning away. I woke up and folded laundry. Good morning. Here is a huge pile of laundry to wake you up this fine, beautiful, sunny day. Enjoy! And really, I do enjoy the way it all looks when the laundry is folded and put away so if you think about it, starting the day off with a cleaner living room isn't that bad of a deal. (I realize I'm rambling. A lot.)

Elaina looks so good in black. I know that's random but she just came in here in a black turtleneck and what I think, you see. Sadly, that's how it's working today.

Have I totally confused you yet? Lost you? Ran you off? Scared you away?
I thought so.


Yesterday I worked a booth at a very boring Boat Show for almost 12 hours. This little clip of this video kept me entertained and happy.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Winter

We had a little snow last night and the girls played outside for about five minutes. It took about 25 minutes to get them dressed. I remember it being that way when I was little too except I remember playing outside a long time.  

Apparently Eily's pants couldn't take the weight of the snow or Charlie's  paws.

Both Jason and I are feeling a little bit unproductive today but we are trying to push through that feeling and at least get something accomplished that we can feel good about.

I guess I'd better go get Eily. She's bumping the pile of dirty laundry in front of the washing machine.

I cannot get enough of this site.

This has to be one of the most adorable websites I have come across in a long time.

House 8810

Alrighty. I think it's time to announce the winner of the contest. 

The winning entry is:
Emily Baker said...



I love the names Harper and Parker, both for girls (Parker could be for either, I guess) and can't use them because they are too close to Piper. :)

Of course, Parker James, might be way too confusing for a girl.

Congratulations! Email me at jaybeksacran@gmail.com with your address and I'll get that gift card in the mail to you. 

In celebration of 6 years of marriage

I am finally going to have a contest. The winner will receive a $10 gift card to Starbucks.

Qualifying Question:

If you were going to name our baby, what name would you choose?  The middle name for the boy has to be Wade and the middle name for the girl has to be James.

You get to pick the gender or do both genders if you want. Contest will end in a few days. How's that for strict rules?
Have fun!

Sniffles, Moo's and Milestones

I have a bad head cold and I only got about two hours of sleep last night but I am trying to make the best of the day. We picked up the house and ate lunch and I decided to go ahead and start Claire's school lesson instead of waiting until Monday. This week the lesson is about cows. So we talked about cows, their babies and their four stomachs. Then we started to memorize a little poem.

The Friendly Cow by Robert Louis Stevenson

The friendly cow, all red and white,
I love with all my heart;
She gives me cream, with all her might
To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day.

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks among the meadow grass
And eats and meadow flowers.

----------------------------------------------------

Jason and I celebrate our 6th anniversary today. It's pretty amazing and unbelievable, and yet I cannot imagine it any other way. What was life before? I have no idea. This is so normal and satisfying.

Love.

We are finally home!!

Two weeks is a long time to be away from home. Let me tell you. Last night Elaina asked me when we were going to travel again and I said it would be about 5 weeks and she burst into tears. She said, "I just want to stay home!!!" So now we have a little bit of laundry, a little bit of dishes and a whole lot of mail to sort through.

Now that we are home I am looking forward to posting regularly. I also finally got the prize for the contest in the mail and soon I will be posting a qualifying question.

We have been home for less than 24 hours and Elaina has already cut Eily's hair. It doesn't take them long to get back into destruction mode.

Baby is doing well. Kicking all the time and pushing tiny little feet and hands up into my rib cage.

Enjoy what you are doing for it is the last time you will do it this decade.

I think I may make some resolutions this year. I haven't done that in about 5 years. I think it's time.

Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has a great holiday week.
I'll be back after all the fun.

This week on Insanity...

Mommy is on the war path today. I am so tired of their whining and complaining. GET ALONG WITH EACH OTHER.

This is strange. Our answering machine just came on. No ringing and no message was left. Very odd.

Ok, back to de-stressing. This week is a crazy week. Everyday seems to have a jam packed schedule and we are leaving soon to go to Tennessee for my cousin's graduation party and then Christmas with Jason's family. My sweet, sweet grandmother was listening to me and my sister talk Sunday night after church about this upcoming week and she told me to send all my laundry and ironing to her house with Dad so she can have it ready for us before we have to leave. That's the kind of woman she is. Selfless and aware of what needs to be done. She's the coolest grandma ever. So today I'm trying to get all the laundry done so that at least she won't have to mess with that part of it all.

We had Christmas here this morning. Last night, Lala came to watch the girls and Jason and I went to Fort Smith to buy some presents and stocking stuffers. It was fun. We came home after the girls were asleep and we wrapped presents, stuffed stockings and cleaned the Living Room so that it would sparkle for the festivities.

The girls had made these snowflakes with Lala while we were shopping.

It looked a lot like a little Christmas wonderland.

It's a blurry picture but the stockings were sweet looking.

Hopefully, by next year I will have Elaina's stocking made. My goal is a stocking a year.

Waiting for the gate to be removed so that they can see the presents.

 These are the expressions we were hoping for.

 Even Charlie got something!

 Her most wanted item this year.

It was a lot of fun.  Now back to the crazy schedule and the crazy mommy. I'll see all you family from Tennessee very soon!!!