Sweet Hummingbird!

We have a friendly hummingbird visiting our feeder! There are actually at least two since they dive bombed me yesterday and nearly planted their long skinny beaks about 2 inches into my temple. Yes, I screamed! Today, there is just the one dining peacefully from our feeder. He is talking and chirping (trippin according to Maverick) and just flying everywhere. It is hard to believe how tiny they are!

The Tooth Fairy!

Last night Shane and Aiden were talking about Aiden's little teeth. I am not sure why but...well, anyway. Aiden asked about teeth falling out. And Shane told him that his little teeth would fall out one day. I said I lost my first teeth when I was 5. And we talked about that other kids don't lose teeth until they are 6. It is always a surprise when your baby teeth start falling out. And Shane said "Do you know what you do with your baby teeth when they fall out?" Aiden said No. So Shane told him that you leave them under your pillow and the tooth fairy takes them and leaves you money under your pillow. Aiden thought that was really cool. So Shane asks what Aiden thinks he'll do with the money the tooth fairy leaves....and Aiden responds.......

I think I'll buy some better teeth.

I was laughing so hard!

Uppercase Living!

I went to an Uppercase Living party tonight at Cherish's house. It was a nice time even though mom and Cherish screwed me out of the cool prize! Just teasing! The product is SO TOTALLY cool! I am ordering a few things for the boys bathroom and "hall." And I decided to host a party! I LOVE hosting parties! The product are words and designs that you can stick on a wall, window, candle, tiles, any smooth surface really. And it looks like it was stenciled or painted on. It is easy to make and do and when you want to change it...it comes off with no damage to the wall!

I will post pictures when I get the boys bathroom done and of the sign I'm putting in the hall! And I'll send everyone an invite when I have my party! I think I can even do online orders...so if you are "virtual friends" you can be included too! As I am playing and learning, I'll show you the stuff I'm making. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!

Memorial Weekend!

The weekend did not go as planned but it was still a great one!

The chickens were granted one more week to live. Pappy said that they weren't big enough to butcher. So we are fattening them up for 1 more week! We absolutely HAVE to do them this Saturday because the next several weekends are busy!!!

So on Saturday I went to town and bought 2 bags of "fast grow" chicken feed to give them all week this week. I also got paint to paint the pump house and the shutters. It is called New England Red. I was hoping to do the painting yesterday but...well, I'll get there. Saturday afternoon I went to a bridal shower. I had never met the bride but I am going to the wedding with Cherish and I have met the groom. It was a nice time. They had a chocolate fountain and can I just say YUMMY!!!!!

Sunday Jace and Jen spent the afternoon here because we were all going to a Memorial Day party in the evening! Jen had to work (she used our computer). I had big plans to get the shutters off the house and work in the garden but it was rainy so I tilled as fast as I could before the storm hit. And then came inside. Of course, the storm never hit. The party was a good time. We ate and visited and then Buffy and Marcus projected a movie onto one of their outbuildings. Talk about a good time. It was like our own little "drive" in theatre. We watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and it is a cute movie.

Yesterday I was hoping to paint outside...but it was rainy AGAIN!!! (and still is). This is the wierdest weather ever I think. We did get a lot of other stuff done though.

I was again hoping to paint today...but again...it isn't gonna happen. It is warm and windy with 100% humidity. Oh YUCK!!! We've played outside a bit and I am ready for rest time.

A CUP OF TEA!!!

A friend emailed me this story and I thought I was good for a Friday Laugh! It made me smile!

One day my mom was out and my dad was in charge of me and my big brother who was 7 years old. I was 3 years old and just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken among other injuries. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!!' My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then she says to him, 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to get water is the toilet??' ....Mothers know!!

Spring Gardening!

We've finally gotten our garden in the ground. With all the spring rains we had some trouble finding a time when the ground got dry enough to work it. But we did it today. My rock garden I finished a while ago (I know the house needs power washed...it's on "the list"). And my herbs are thriving and are SO yummy in my cooking!! Today the big boys and I got all the veggies planted. We already had leaf lettuce, carrots, onions and potatoes. Today we added red leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes, yellow bell peppers, banana peppers, cucumber, cherry tomato, beefsteak tomatoes, pineapple tomatoes, 5 rows of green bean, and cantelope. YUMMY! The boys were a great help! I can't wait to start eating the veggies! Griffin was napping while I used the tiller and we got started. When he woke up he sat alongside the garden and played with toys! He is such a good and easy baby!

Monday we are going to pick strawberries and then make strawberry freezer jam...YUMMY!! I will take my camera for that cause the boys get all stained. I LOVE SPRING!!

Bedtime!

OK, Maverick has started a new habit. Well, at this point it really isn't new but...last night was a doozy. They watch Heman and rock with daddy and I get Griffin sleeping in his crib. After Heman, it's a few more minutes of snuggling with Daddy in his big chair. So far, so good! Then we say goodnight to Dorothy (the fish, in case you've forgotten) and go "peacefully" off to bed. OK, so this is the ideal. We usually run into trouble with the "peacefully off to bed" part. But last night wasn't too bad. They take turns saying their bedtime prayer. Then Shane says good night and leaves the room with the door closed but not latched. And this is where it gets interesting....

Maverick doesn't stay. He doesn't come get us either. He just sneaks out of bed and we can hear him sneaking around the house. He usually go into the front room and picks a chair. Sometimes it is Shane's big recliner and sometimes it is their little Thomas chairs...you just never know. Most of the time we hear him breathing or walking but sometimes we don't and we get up to get a glass of water or something and there is this little blonde, silent "ghost" sitting perfectly still in a chair. I guess I could be thankful that he is still and quiet...but I'm not...he is supposed to be in bed...and he scares the daylights out of me when he takes me by surprise.

Anyway...last night we heard him the first time. So Shane got up and took him back to bed. That lasted a while and because this happens a lot...Shane went to make sure he was still there before we turned out our lights and went to sleep. He had gotten into Shane's chair. Shane whispered to me and I called for Maverick to come into our bed for a little chat. Then he got to choose who took him back into his own room. He picked me!

I got him in his bed and tucked him in and told him "I love you!" and "Good night" and "see you in the morning." His response was "I want you to stay in my bed" each time. So I told him I have to go to my own bed and he just kept repeating "I want you to stay in my bed." I told him "I love you" one more time as I closed the door. He was getting more desperate for me to stay with him and he was starting to "cry" a little. He just wanted me in there with him. As the door closed and he knew I was going to my own bed, He said quite loud to no one "She didn't listen to me!" Aiden was sleeping so I don't know who he thought he was telling...but it must have made him feel better cause he was asleep in a few minutes!!!

It's A Bird, It's a Plane, It's A...

YOu can just BARELY see it to the left of that little telephone pole. It was much more visible in the bigger picture.







Aiden and Maverick are being silly while we wait for the next pass overhead.







Well, it IS a plane. Specifically, a crop duster. And the boys just love it! It has gone over several times this morning. It is turning around right over our house. So we got to watch it for a long while. Maverick loves all things in the air and just had a great time! He ducked each time it went over just in case he had grown. Aiden thought it was totally cool and just kept saying it was so close...and it was. When it rose to make the turn it just cleared the trees over our heads. Totally fun!

Lights, "Camera", Action!

Last night we went with mom and dad and Jace and Jen to see Sydney and Monica (my cousins) in a school play. Sydney played Long John Silver and Monica was a boy named, Jim. I would say that they were the 2 leading roles! They go to a very small Lutheran school so they had to have girls play boys' roles. They did a good job! Aiden and Maverick had fun I think. They watched most of it but got a little tired of sitting too. There was another play done by the younger kids at the school so it got a little long! After the play we went to a little ice cream shop and we all had ice cream! Yummy! It made for a very late night but it was fun to go see family!

I got a new Grill!

Yesterday I had a cavity filled and mom and I went to Effingham. The big boys stayed at my Aunt with 2 of their favorite 2nd cousins to play. And Shane told me to go ahead and get the new grill since I would have room in my van. YEAH!!! We even used it today...we grilled out hot dogs. I know-gourmet food for us!! It is so much nicer than the old grill. Of course, the old grill didn't have a handle so it really didn't require much to be nicer...but still!

The boys apparently helped Lane and Sis (the cousins mentioned above) with their chores. Cause last night Aiden went right in the chicken enclosure and caught himself some chickens. They are too fat to climb the ramb to the roost all by themselves...so we have to lift each one into the coop by hand...all 27 of them...in and out each morning and evening. But only for a short while...they will be dinner soon! Anyway, this is the first time I've seen him just go in there and help and not be too scared. I'm glad because tomorrow we will put our layers in their coop and he will have to go in and feed and water them each day. I will have to get some pictures of him catching the chickens.

Well, not a lot else going on.

Oh Maverick!

Yesterday we were sorting shapes on our flannelboard. "Put all the red shapes in a row at the top of the board. Next put all the green shapes." etc. Then we took all the shapes off and I asked each boy to follow directions. "Aiden please put the red circle to the left of the green rectangle." Aiden did SO well with left and right which is something we have been needing to work on. I asked Maverick to "Put the orange triangle under the red circle." So he found the orange triangle and put it under the red circle...but not below the circle on the board. He took the red circle off the board and then covered the orange triangle with it. It was not exactly the answer I had in mind...but it was not wrong! Aiden thought it was but Maverick had it right. It is so amazing to me how brains work so differently. I didn't even consider that to be an option...it just didn't occur to me. And Aiden thought it was wrong. But Maverick just thinks that way. Today we were sorting again and I tried to have Maverick put a shape "below" another...he just looked at me. I switched back to "under" and he did exactly what he did yesterday. I may try setting the board up and then asking him to point to the shape "under" another and see if he has an answer.

Yeah! I have 3 columns!!!

Thank you Aubrey for the great link! I have been wanting 3 columns for a while now and got so frustrated with trying to do it on my own (see previous post on that lol)! I love the new template. It comes from http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/ She has a lot of nice free templates!! Yeah! Just can't beat that. I know I lost a few of my links and stuff but I will get them all back as soon as I can.

Well, I hear something going on in the other room. So off I go to be referee!

Thanks again, Aubrey!

EDITED: Apparently the link I posted doesn't work. Surprise, surprise! Anyway, at the VERY bottom of the blog in letters that are kinda hard to see there is a link that says Made By Lena (I think that was her name). Anyway, that will take you to her page!

Wonderful Mother's Day Weekend!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mom's out there! I personally have had a wonderful weekend.

It started Friday when my friend, Amy, and I went to get our hair done. We went to a new salon (to us) and had a great time! We gave Stephen (the man who did our hair) the go ahead to do anything he wanted. And he had a great time. We both got highlights and a cut. Amy's is SO different and cute! And I LOVE mine...it is cute and EASY!!! It looks almost as good as I'm crawling out of bed as it does when I "fix" it. The "experience" was so fun! Scalp massage, feet propped up in the washing station, flavored coffee or soda or hot tea while you wait for your color to set. What a great day!!!

Then yesterday we had a nice day outside. We cleaned out Buffy's cage (and by we I mean Shane) and got the 25 chickens to butcher set up in there. Buffy is staying next door in the pig pen since we don't have a pig yet. We built steps from the deck to the patio (and by we I mean Shane and I). That has needed done for a LONG time and it is so nice. Then we switched our front and back door on our house. It came with a really pretty door with a 9 pane window on the back that goes into the laundry. The front door was just a plain solid door with no window. It just didn't make any sense so we switched it. It is MUCH nicer this way!!!

At lunch yesterday Shane asked the boys if they knew what tomorrow is. They said no and Shane told them it was Mother's day and it was a special day to tell mommy how much we love her and that there would be a present for her. I was sitting at the table just listening. And Aiden got really upset and said "Daddy that is supposed to be a surprise. We went shopping with Nanny and went to a special store and Nanny helped us pick out a card to surprise Mommy. But YOU just ruined it!" I just smiled!

At lunch today, Shane and the boys surprised me with a gift. It is a Mother's bracelet that I told Shane I would really like to have. He ordered it from http://www.sharehisstory.com/. I just LOVE it! It is exactly what I wanted. We got mom the same thing except hers is the grandmother's bracelet. She was really excited about it too.

Today after lunch, I emptied the laundry room and cleaned out all the coats and sweatshirts that we don't wear. I am donating them. I am tired of them falling off the hooks all the time and I am determined that our laundry room will be usable as a mud room.

Mom had a "cookout" at her house this evening with Grandma Staley and Doug & Lana and Lana's mom, Henrietta. It ended up being a "cookin" because it is so cold and windy and stormy. It is the wierdest weather. Anyway, we gave Nanny her bracelet and had dinner. The boys played and we visited and had a nice time.

Now it is late and the boys are watching Heman with Shane and I am ready for bed. It has been jsut a wonderful weekend and I am so thankful for all that we have and for my family! Last week was a rough week and I have a renewed energy and am hoping that this week will be MUCH better! We're off to a great start!!!

Whew am I tired!

We got back from our visit with Aunt Heather last night. Heather has a really cute apartment and we helped her plant a little container vegetable garden for on her patio. The night we got there, though, Aiden got really sick. He had diarrhea in Walmart (but made it to the bathroom) and then he threw up all over Heather's carpet. We think it was food poisoning because as soon as he threw up he was fine and he was writhing in pain minutes earlier. Heather took us to a little park to let the boys play and we had a picnic on Monday. And we went to the mall and I found an outfit to wear to a wedding next month. It is hard to be away from home with all three kids for three days. They had a rough time of it and we had some behavior struggles but it was nice to see where Aunt Heather lives.

Today was Griffin's 6 month well baby check and immunizations. He weighs 19 lbs, 13 oz and is 26 inches long. He is doing really well. He is still very constipated so they told me to give him apple juice. I am trying that but he doesn't drink from a cup well. If he hasn't gone by tomorrow then I will call back and they said we can give him a laxative in his baby food. She also suggested barley baby cereal...but I can't find that at the store.

All in all I am just REALLY ready for a day at home tomorrow. We are going to do some school work and clean up the house. I think I'll stay in my pj's all day long too!

Mastering the English Language!

The other night at dinner, I said it was excellent (of course I cooked it so it had to be good lol). Anyway, Maverick said "what's excellent?" I was trying to explain it and I told him it was very great. Or in the words of Maya (a certain, Spanish speaking PBS character)...Fabuloso! He said in his questioning voice, "Flabbysoso." I said "Sure" and we were laughing. We got him to say "I am flabbysoso." Now when Maverick thinks he is being quite funny, he starts adding "butt" to the end of things. He thinks it is flat hysterical. So NOW he is saying "I have a flabby butt!" We were laughing so hard. So now when he tells someone they have a flabby butt....I guess it will be our fault!

During dinner last night our baby chick, Gladys, was really chirping. We were commenting on how loud she was and Maverick says, "Man that baby chick is trippin." Well, not exactly but we'll take it, I guess.

After church today mom and I and the three boys are heading to Aunt Heather's for a few days. We are excited to see her new apartment and visit where she lives. I wish it were warmer (since it is Spring and all) but we will have a good time. She has all kinds of fun things planned. I'll post pictures when we get back.

A Day in the Life!

The boys are all playing and we have had a really nice day today!

This morning we got off to a nice relaxed start complete with some shows on PBS and I even got to watch 30 minutes of the Today Show. We fed the new members of our family. Our fish (that is still living) named Dorothy (just like Elmo's fish) and the baby chick Pappy brought down yesterday. "She" is crippled in one leg and having a hard time with all the other baby chicks. Her name is Gladys (Pappy named her). I asked Pappy how he knows Gladys is a girl and he said he doesn't. So we may just end up with a rooster named Gladys. Anyway, Gladys is living "peacefully" in her rubbermaid in our family room. This morning I didn't think it looked like she had drank any water so I dipped her beak in the water tray. She drank and drank and drank. Chickens really are stupid birds...she likely wouldn't have found the water tray 3 inches from her and died of thirst.

We went outside and hung out a load of laundry while the boys played. It is SO windy today though so we didn't last long. I was tired of fighting the wind but I told the big boys that Griffin didn't like it and it could make him sick. haha

Aiden worked on his "power to read" and learned a new sound today. /th/ as in that. He is doing so well and is so proud of himself. He is reading sentences and beginning readers. He just loves it!

We had a lunch picnic in the livingroom. Cheese, ham, and crackers and fruit salad. They thought the picnic was cool! It was so much fun! I love lunches like that. There were 3 dishes to wash, I think. You just can't beat that.

After lunch we made peanut butter cookies and a loaf of bread. The boys had a great time "cooking" which consisted mostly of licking the spoons from the peanut butter cookies. Maverick did make a grave cooking mistake. He is always getting in trouble from sitcking his fingers in the sugar bowl...but today he actually got mixed up a little bit. He poured salt from the spout on the big salt container directly into his mouth. Oh my, he learned a lesson. I have to throw the container away because he tried to spit it back in but I don't think it will happen again.

They all went down for naps without a battle and I got a shower and the dishes done. I even got to work on some things for the Children's Ministry at church that I am so excited about. It is now 20 till 5 and Shane will be home soon! I love days that go so well. I wish they happened closer together!

And there was so much learning going on...even though the only book we cracked was the phonics book. I just love having my boys at home and am so glad we have made the decision to keep them here and not send them to Kindergarten. We are going to learn so much together!

Update!

Well, this is just a quick update. Griffin FINALLY pooped yesterday. It was like 3:30. It did not "blow out" everywhere which was a relief. I just hope he gets things in a better rhythm. He went back to the chiropractor yesterday and will go again on Friday. Hopefully, he'll starting "going" on his own and we will be able to stop "going" to the chiropractor.

AND...I was thinking after I posted yesterday...there is one other "brown issue" around here. Not only have I been keeping track of many pooping schedules over that last 4, almost 5 years, I have not been able to poop privately in about that long. Maybe a few times when I "schedule" it when Shane is home. But the private poop is a thing of the past for me. How is that fair?

And on a totally different topic (many of you are likely thankful to move on from this one)...Griffin slept through the night last night! YEAH!!! So we are all rested and less full of...well you know!