Detour

We were on our way to Atlanta to see our newest cousin, my niece...when 30 minutes into our trip, we hear a little girl in the back seat throwing up! I know, TMI--but poor little thing. We take the next exit and clean her up. Luckily, since we were on a trip, we had a change of clothes. We start to head back the other way, back home. The boys are bummed. They were so excited to spend the night with their Uncle Steven, see Meme and Pop, and all their cousins. Matt and I decide I will stay at home with Kate and Gray (who is not fully recovered from the throw up bug from last week) , and he will head back over to Atlanta with the boys.
I am glad we made the decision, as Kate has had about 6 more rounds of throw up! Please Lord, let this be it! She is sleeping. Please let her sleep this off. I have towels laid out, the trash can by the bed, the bathroom light on to lead the way. Gray is sleeping too! I am all alone, watching SuperManny--yes...Super-MANNY~ hilarious!
It is shows like these that make me feel like I am actually doing a pretty good job with my kids. So, thank you very much to the producers of SuperManny, who give me quite a ego boost whenever I catch the show. I think I may actually be doing something right here.

A Great Purchase!

Dear Entryway System (this is what pottery barn calls you),
Thank you for coming into my life. You have made me so happy over the past 3 months. Every time I pass by you in my garage, walking from my car to the door leading inside, I give thanks for the special piece of furniture you are turning out to be. My life is easier because I have you in it. Now, each child's shoes have a special place just for them, as do their jackets, sports equipment, and all the many other things that have no place to call home. I love your cute little hooks inside each cubby. Backpacks stay quite nicely on them! Please excuse us if we treat you too rough. Sometimes we stand on you to reach your amazing top shelf, (that holds our hats), but we don't mean any disrespect. You serve your purpose quite well and we are forever grateful for the order you bring to our lives. There have been many, okay lots, of occasions when our shoes don't quite make the baskets, but we are practicing and trying the best that we can! Please remember we are young and, should I say it?, sometimes.....a little lazy! We do hope that you hold up for many years to come and we are forever grateful to our Aunt Mandi and Uncle Zach who introduced us in the first place.
Your Friends,
The Carrington Family

p.s. If you want one, my brother in law sells them--just like pottery barns--but A WHOLE LOT cheaper! Let me know!

Everyone Loves Nachos?!!

Today I ventured to Wills school to eat lunch with him. He is always asking me to come, and I have been up to the school quite a few times, but I am convinced he would like me to come everyday if possible. I think he is wondering what I could possibly be doing all day with him gone? Sitting on the couch watching TV, I guess. Because I knew I was going to surprise him today, I purposely did not pack his lunch. I usually pack his lunch because he is a picky eater, but I saw on the lunch calendar NACHOS, and thought, "Everyone loves nachos".
Lesson learned: Pack his lunch on "nacho day". There were a total of 3 chips underneath a pile of questionable meat and cheese sauce. I am not a stickler when it comes to eating a balanced meal 3 times a day, but when your child eats 3 plain chips and then his cookie, I take notice.
I did not say anything to him because 1. the sweet boy did put some iceberg lettuce on his plate, and 2. because I want him to enjoy me coming to eat lunch at school. I sat back and listened to him talk with his friends and grin ear to ear that I was there! So Sweet! I love him so much.
Today was hat day and Wills whipped out the craziest hat he could find. It was so cute to see him walking down the halls with so much pride wearing that thing. His class is very diverse, which I love and it made me miss my teaching days....(just a little) . The kids are so sweet. One little Hispanic girl told me my hair was just beautiful, which is funny because it was really not looking beautiful at all! Another boy told me my baby (that would be Gray) was pretty!?
I was able to help half of the kids open there juice boxes, and one boy open up his milk carton (after he attempted many times with his MOUTH). Wills' teacher informed me that when an adult comes to eat lunch, all the kids are attracted to him/her like a magnet.
I loved it! I love to see children from all cultures and backgrounds all together, and Kindergartners are so sweet. I loved seeing how Wills interacts with everyone. He is truly a kind-hearted kid. I have been so pleased with our public school experience this far. His teacher is a believer and I know God's hand was on that! He is succeeding too! In fact, his reading has really taken off. I am so proud of him.
Forgive me for a long "brag on my kid" post", but I am so thankful for how God has blessed me, I just have to share it somehow!
This last picture cracks me up. The teacher tells the kids to "catch a bubble" in your mouth when she wants them to be quiet. So, here is Wills catching the biggest bubble he can possibly hold. I thought he was going to pass out...I mean, I had to remind him to breathe! He really really wanted me to see him catching his bubble!

"I'm Lovin it!"

This is the kind of day that makes me so happy~ It is January 19, yet sunny! Warm! 65 Degrees! I love it! It has been awhile since the last post and it is simply because I am just in survival mode. Last week was miserable cold, as was the week before, and I just don't do good with cold weather. It is so hard for me to stay inside! I don't want to bundle up the kids and myself to go play in the yard. I want to send them out in flip flops and shorts and feel the sun on our faces.
January has long been my least favorite month of the year. Falling right after the high of Christmas, always cold, we are usually sick, and it is a long month on top of that. Not meaning to be Debby Downer here, but just saying it as it is! I am tired of our playroom, tired of trying to find something to do (inside) that doesn't cost money! Whah Whah Whah!
Alright....pity party over because Praise God when He blesses us with days such as this! We have spent almost all of our waking hours outdoors, enjoying the warmth of what is to come....Spring! Please come fast, Please Please Please!

'For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
'The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
'The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!' "
Song 2:11-13 (NASB)

32 days and counting....

Until we are here!
I still cannot believe we are really making it happen! My kids have no idea what they are in for...I mean, they think the Galleria Mall is Disney World!
Matt and I (well, I am a little more on board than Matt) are taking the kids to D.W. for our 10 year anniversary. Yes, in our minds we long for, and have dreamed about sitting on the beaches of Costa Rica getting a little R & R, but doing both Disney and an exotic get-a-way is not an option, so we are taking the plunge!
BTW--a trip to the happiest place on earth isn't really happy on your pocketbook--ouch!
Disney is not for everybody! It is for people who are using college funds and retirement funds to give their kids a fun vacation.
In all honesty, we have saved for this and it is finally here!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. You see, the kids have no idea we are going. It would be really cruel to tell them right now because they have absolutely NO concept of time. To tell them would actually be cruel punishment inflicted on us, as they would ask constantly how many more days until we go. So, we will keep it hush hush hush and quietly plan plan plan.
I cannot wait to see their faces when we pick them up from school in 32 days and let the big news out of the bag!
Mickey, Ariel, Goofy, Here we come!! I hope you are ready for us!

A Big Yellow Nightmare

Everywhere I go, this is who I see staring back at me.

I know I did it to myself. I bought it at a garage sale for 50 cents and after washing it numerous amount of times, let Santa leave it for a little boy on Christmas morning.
Now, I have nothing against "the sponge"! In fact, I think the show is pretty hilarious! I could do without the potty words, but it makes for teachable moments, right? Well, I knew if I made a big deal about NOT watching it, that my strong willed child, would only want to see it even more. A little reverse psychology on my part. We try not to watch too much TV anyway, so I am not going to waste my time worrying about it. Anyway, back to Spongy!
Owen loves this precious little, no wait.... BIG gift from Santa. We do not leave toys all over the house! Most are kept upstairs where the kid's rooms are, but somehow,

Spongebob Squarepants is omnipresent.

The guy is everywhere! I cannot get away from him. It doesn't matter if I pick him up and take him back upstairs. He finds his way back down. I wonder if this is some cruel punishment for buying it or is Owen using a little reverse Psychology on me?

SNOWWHERE!

We worked with what we had! No, we didn't wake up a blanket of snow on the ground, but we DID get a few flakes steadily falling around 11:00. Once they started to fall, we were ready! We got bundled up and headed outside. Remember the days of waking up in the morning to find that it had snowed all night? The fact that you did not have to watch it fall, is the key here. The boys were ready to sled and throw snowballs the minute the first snowflake fell from the sky.
Wills was drilling me with questions on why isn't it snowing harder? when would the snow start to stick? and when would the hill be ready to sled down? I have had to explain to him, on many occasions, that I am not God! I am not all-knowing! It is so sweet that, at this point in his life, he truly thinks I know all the answers, that surely somehow, in my bag of tricks, I can control the weather? I hated to see the disappointment on his face as he realized our fun "play in the snow all day" snow day, was going to be more of a "play in the snowflakes and hang out inside day". We did make the most of it. We watched movies, pulled out every game in the playroom, played with stuffed animals more than I would like to have, and even got out of the house to get the kids a special cookie from Starbucks, uh-hum....and me, a very large coffee!

All bundled up and SNOWWHERE to go!

Poor guy, wouldn't keep on mittens... I know his hands were so cold, but not cold enough to keep him from eating his snack...ain't nothing going to stop that!

I think Kate played outside for maybe a good 5 minutes!!?? She is an inside kind of girl!

We had BIG plans to slide down the hills in our pool floats. We blew them all up and everything!

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalms 51:7

We are prepared!

Snow Day Tomorrow? Only time will tell. School has been called off due to the possible Winter Wonderland that we might wake up to! I really hope to wake up to some snow, as the kids are so excited at the thought of playing in it tomorrow. We had a great snow last February and our family had so much fun. Growing up in the South, I have had my share of big snow news forecasted and school called off, only to wake up to just another cold day....we will see.
In preparation for the "blizzard of 2010" we got some hot chocolate, milk, bread, and some other basic staples. I have my Art Box ready to go, some DVD's rented, and earlier today, the kids and I made some brownies (see above) and muffins for the big day. I hope to post some pictures of us playing in the snow tomorrow, but don't be too surprised if I post pictures of us watching videos instead.

It will make you Smile

Where the Wild Things really are....

I am still amazed that my boys manage to fall asleep upon the large masses of stuffed animals that call their beds, home!

Here is what I find every morning! The picture really doesn't even do it justice...there are about 20 small webkins/beanie babies hidden under Nemo, Tiger, Spongebob blanket and the Scooby Doo pillow. The other day, Owen told me he wanted a new stuffed animal, so could he go to a garage sale to get one?! Ha!

welcome 2010!

Matt and I were not too exciting on New Year's Eve 2009....we got a sitter, went to dinner and a movie and we were in bed by 10:30....not asleep though~our neighbors decided to shoot off fireworks for an hour and a half! So, while Matt snored away through the entire light show, I lay in bed, all worked up because I was SOOOO tired, but the loud booms outside my window kept me from falling asleep.
I have come to the realization that I am officially "old". I am in bed at 10:30 on NYE, frustrated that fireworks are going off. I was tempted to head over to the neighbors at 5:50 this morning (my wake up call from Gray) and start a fireworks show until 7:00.
On a lighter note, we spent the first day of 2010 hanging out as a family. We watched the Auburn game, played, cleaned out rooms, and ended it with a very cold walk at the park and then a family meal. It was a wonderful day!
I am so excited to see what God has planned for our family this year. There are a few "things" I am praying passionately about. I look forward to sharing them with you...God willing!
God has been so good to our family and we pray that our focus will be more on Him everyday.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:3-5

Little huntin' man

Skinny boy in big coat!

I dread the day I see these 2 drive out of the driveway!

Our newest battle wound. Check out the bruise on her forehead.

Happy 2010!