Growth spurt, anyone?

I'm wondering exactly how much food that Kellen can actually consume.....he's really going to town over here! For the past couple of weeks, he's eaten nonstop for dinner from about 6-8 PM. And I pretty much mean nonstop.

Take tonight for instance...

We got home and he was hungry, so while I was getting things warmed up, he ate a banana. I finished warming dinner up and he ate dinner (about half of a VERY LARGE sausage dog, corn and green beans). He and Tatum got a bath, then he told me he was still hungry. So he ate an apple, then another banana, then another apple. He's now eating a bowl of grapes.

So he's pretty much been eating continuously since 6 or so, save for the short time he was in the bath. And this has been our pattern for the last two or so weeks.

Whoa, buddy! I'm just waiting for him to shoot out and up. Really. I'm expecting to go into his room one morning and to have him have sprouted overnight. At least I'm trying to prepare for it, anyway.

New 'do

While I'm updating...(and going in reverse order) I should make a note about my haircut.


I got my haircut last Wednesday. Really cut.


As in really short.


Really.


Way shorter than the picture I took as the 'model' for Valerie. I think she was just overly excited because it was obvious my normal rules were out of the window. And this is what I ended up with after she was through.







This is the original picture of the 'model' that was to be used for the cut...Slight difference, don't you think? (Julie, the link is just for you!)


I fix it a little differently, but since everyone (but Kellen) seems to like it, we'll call it a success. And since Matt thinks it's the best haircut he's EVER seen on me, and he's known me since '96 and his opinion should be the one that matters most (other than mine, of course), I think that's a pretty good sign, don't you?


Kellen originally told me that he liked me, but not my hair. When I asked him why, he indicated that it was because it stuck out and was spikey. He's now changing his tune and told me this morning that he liked it. I guess he's gotten used to it.


Unfortunately, I seem to be the one that it taking the most time to get used to it! And I'm immensely frustrated that I cannot find my pommade that I like anywhere...I've had the stuff for, like, 5 years or so now (probably longer, truth be told), and NOW...when I really need it for styling, I can't find it anywhere. Grrr....

My birthday weekend

Considering the weekend I had, I have to entitle this my birthday weekend rather than my birthday...simply because the celebration lasted all weekend long!

It was such a wonderfully full, but relaxing weekend!

Friday night started with Kellen's last t-ball game of the season (*sniff*), then my parents and brother came over for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, my dad's birthday and my mom's birthday.

Saturday my dad cooked breakfast (YUMMY!) and I took my mom and Kellen to get me a birthday present, then I had a baby shower to go to, and when I got back, we hung out a little and Matt cooked steaks on the grill (oh my..so VERY YUMMY!!! I could eat steaks like that so very often, but it would be oh-so-bad if I did)

Sunday Matt and I went to church, and came back to my parents and brother cleaning up the house as a surprise for me...my brother vacuumed, they cleaned up all their stuff, made all of the beds, cleaned both of the kids rooms (which, of course, only stay clean for about five minutes), cleaned the kitchen, you name it...then Matt cooked sausage dogs on the grill and we had lunch, cake and ice cream and our birthday celebration. Then they had to leave...the kids went down for their nap and then I went down for mine. And my Maw Maw was on her way over.

I woke up from my nap...



wait for it...





4 hours later!!!!

to an empty house.

15 or so minutes later, I heard them all pull up, then saw Matt running to the backyard with something in his hands. My MIL and the kids came in, and a few minutes later Matt came in and found a reason to ask me to go out to the backyard, where he had put together a HAMMOCK STAND for me!!!!! We've had a hammock for years, but I've never had it up....and I have it now!! I'm thrilled beyond belief!!

I, of course, immediately went and laid on it, and then had two munchkins join me, and Matt pulled another HUGE box from the side of the house....it was another present from Maw Maw and Paw Paw...a storage unit/seat bench for the deck...and he started putting it together. So, now all of the kids toys have a place to go on the deck, AND it can double as seating! I LOVE IT!

Maw Maw wanted to take us out to eat, but I said I would rather have her watch the kids and let Matt and I go on a date...so we went and watched Wolverine! It was GREAT!

Then today my office had a small party for me this afternoon (cake and ice cream)...so I feel totally spoiled right now!!

But...today is Daddy's day......sooooooooooo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!!

It finally happened...

I'll update on my wonderful birthday later, but for now...some grossness...

It finally happened...After almost 4 months to the date from my half marathon...one of my toenails fell off today. And surprisingly, it came off all in one piece. Odd.

Another interesting fact...it had already grown 1/3 or so of the way back underneath the other (dead) toenail. And there's a thin psuedo nail covering the rest of what should be my nail...so I was actually able to paint my toenail to disguise the ugliness that now is my toe.

Hahaha

Details about my lovely birthday to come...I must go eat some of the left-over steak...YUMMY!!

Why is it...

...that chaos ensues in this house when Daddy is gone? Now this isn't necessarily to say that chaoes doesn't occur when he's here, 'cause, hey...it's Daddy we're talking about. The walking embodiement of Murphy's Law.

But really...

Last night:
How many times can a toilet explode in one night? And at the EXACT moment when I'm trying to put Tatum to bed? And try as I might, neither my Wonder Woman bracelets, nor my Super Woman cape saved me from the mess that my slow response time created. And let me remind some of you that I was a sprinter in high school (i.e., I don't have THAT slow of a response time). However, in the amount of time it takes for Kellen to yell for me, and the amount of time it takes for me to realize that he's screaming for me because the toilet is exploding, for me to run in there, get him out of the way (which wasn't too hard considering he was trying his darnest to get to the highest point possible so as not to get ANY liquid on him), and to reach around the aforementioned exploding toilet to turn the valve OFF, it had managed to overflow (it types out much longer than it actually was). And wow, it overflows quickly, just in case you were wondering.

But, last night was a cleaning night for me, and it simply added to my to-do list. And now the bathroom is REALLY clean...nice clean floors, clean baseboards, clean toilet, the works...'cause if I was cleaning up after that I might as well make it worth it, right?

And as if last night wasn't enough, here's tonight:
Kellen was cleaning his room, after Caleb and he had a wonderful time playing in there (it wasn't nice and orderly before they played, and was in dire need of a picking up and cleaning anyway). So I decided to have him clean up his room and treat him when he was through to a 'special' night...our code for movie night. A short while later he runs out crying, holding his hand to me, asking for a band-aid. He had apparently burned his hand on his lightbulb in his lamp on his nightstand...and he burned a little smaller than a dime size area on his thumb. And he was HURTING!

So I had him run to the bathroom and run cool water over it while I called Matt to see if we had any burn ointment in the house, which we didn't have. So I loaded both the kids up and off to Walgreens we went for burn ointment and 'cool' band-aids. (We ended up getting camo!) The line was long, and he was in so much pain that I put the medicine on him in line. Here's the even sadder part...he was worried about me getting in trouble because I opened up the medicine and band-aids before I paid for them to put them on him! Oh my goodness what a sweetie I have in that little boy!

And back to the house we went...for what I am determined to make into a relaxing night. He asked for cereal for dinner. I obliged. And he and Tatum are now watching Wall-E.

As promised...

Here are some pictures of the Mommy Make-over. They are the fruits of Kellen's labor, the after shots of his make up efforts. I didn't think to take a picture of my manicure and pretty purple nails, and didn't get any shots of him during the process, since I was unable to take pictures of myself and all of the other adults were in the middle of their make-overs as well.





This was such a cute idea and Kellen was still talking about how glad he was that I came to his school at various points in time today!

Mommy Make-over

Kellen's class had a Mommy Make-over today...and I walked into his room, which had been transformed into a spa. This morning, before I left for work, I asked him what he wanted me to bring for the make-over.

My list was as follows: make-up, fingernail polish in red, green and blue (yes, he specified those colors), and lotion. My ACTUAL items taken included my make-up, fingernail polish in light purple (sorry, I just didn't have all of the specified colors), fingernail polish remover, cotton balls, lotion, and a LARGE junk towel.

I walked in, was greeted enthusiastically by Kellen, given a bottle of water and offered a cookie, then escorted to my seat. He proceeded to paint my nails, then gave me an arm massage with lotion (which, is actually VERY nice...have one of your kids try this at home). He then went to work on my make-up, and did a nice job! I have pictures to prove it and will post later. He ended my pamper session with a back rub and scratching, which I absolutely adore! We had to cut that short for our parade.

Yes, we had a parade through the school to show off our kiddos efforts. Picture a bunch of kindergarden mommies walking through the school wearing the fruit of their kids efforts, to the theme song of Pretty Woman, no less. We were the highlight of the day!

He was having a very 'exclusive' day, as many of his friends wanted to assist him in his make-over efforts with me, and he was having none of it. I did finally move him from saying something along the lines of 'go away!' to 'I want to be the only person helping my mommy, please go away.'

I took him home with me, and on the way to the car, he told me how much he enjoyed me coming to his school and spending time with him. I'm pretty sure his main love language is quality time.

Things I've learned...

Things I've learned since becoming a Mommy...(watch out, these are really random, and in no apparent order!)

1. Poop can defy gravity...and go all the way UP a baby's back while they're sitting upright. Don't ask me how, but I know it's true. And if you're reading this and you're a parent, you know I'm right.

2. Bodily fluids can go a L-O-N-G way coming from a baby...pee, poo, spit up, throw up. It's amazing how far some of those things can travel. There should be an Olympic sport, and it could be judged on both distance and force. My kids would, at the very least, medal.

3. Girls can projectile pee too. Seriously, this one threw me for a loop. I didn't know it was physically possible, but it is.

4. The person who invented the saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk" didn't breastfeed their child. They would understand the value of that stuff and cry if it got spilled, too!

5. 12 pounds was heavy when I was in my 20's and working out with it...another rep sometimes seemed impossible. Now, "more" is sometimes the phrase of the moment and my kids weigh MUCH more than 12 pounds. I should cut myself some slack on the 'official' part of working out and simply play with them more often.

6. Sometimes a kiss and a hug really DOES fix everything.

7. Boo boo ice solves mystery illnesses, random bumps, and other assorted owies.

8. Love buckets need to be filled the most when those that need the filling seem the least lovable.

9. Taking a deep breath is good. Taking five or ten is better.

10. 'I help you' - Letting your kids help can actually be productive, so long as you don't expect them to live up to unrealistic expectations, and don't set them for yourself either. (I'm still trying to live this one out, especially the last part of this one...)

Back on...

So I went for my first jog since the half today. Here are my thoughts...

1. It's been too long since I have run and I've missed it.
2. It's been too long since I have run and my body can tell. :)
3. Even a quick (my words, not actually quick by anyone's standards) 2 mile jog can feel GREAT and hurt at the same time. Interesting.
4. I should probably run in the mornings, because running at 8:30 PM has given me a slight energy burst, but I actually need to go to bed.

From Purpose Driven Connection, Daily Devotional...


Margin Comes From Managing Your Time
by Rick Warren

In our Devotionals series, Pastor Rick Warren discusses the Bible passages that inspire him the most. Today's Devotional is based on this passage:

"Then Jesus said, 'Let's get away from the crowds for a while and rest.' There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and His apostles didn't even have time to eat" (Mark 6:31 NLT).

Jesus experienced enormous stress and pressure, yet it didn't seem to disturb His peace of mind. In spite of opposition, constant demands, and little privacy, His life reflected a calm sense of balance.

What was His secret?

1. Identification: Know who you are (John 8:12). Eighteen times Jesus publicly defined Himself. There was no doubt in His mind as to who He was. If you are unsure of your identity, you'll allow others to pressure you into their molds. Trying to be someone you're not causes stress!

2. Dedication: Know who you want to please (John 5:30). You can't please everyone. Even God can't! Just about the time you get "Crowd A" happy, "Crowd B" will be upset with you. Jesus never let the fear of rejection manipulate Him. No one can pressure you without your permission.

3. Organization: Set clear goals (John 8:14). Jesus said, "I know where I came from and where I am going." Preparation prevents pressure but procrastination produces it. You work by either priorities or pressures.

4. Concentration: Focus on one thing at a time (Luke 4:42-44). You can't chase two rabbits at the same time! Jesus knew how to handle interruptions without being distracted from His primary goal.

5. Delegation: Don't try to do everything yourself (Mark 3:14). We get tense when we feel it all depends on us. Jesus enlisted twelve disciples. Don't allow the fear that others may not do as good a job as you, or that they may do a better job than you, to keep you from asking for help.

6. Meditation: Make a habit of prayer (Mark 1:35). No matter how busy Jesus got, He found time to get alone to pray every day. A daily quiet time is a great stress decompression chamber. Use this time to talk to God about your pressures and problems, evaluate your priorities, and discover the rules for successful living by reading the Bible.

7. Relaxation: Take time to enjoy life (Mark 6:30-31). Balance is the key to stress management. Work must be balanced with fun and worship.

********************************
I keep seeing things about 'margin' and it reminds me to STOP, THINK and PRAY about things and opportunities before I immediately say, "Yes," which is my natural tendency. Why is "No" such a hard word to say when we're adults? Is it the fear of disappointing someone? And if so, shouldn't we fear more disappointing God by not doing what HE wants us to do?

Just my musings for the morning...

Catchin' a break...

Not that I'm getting one yet, but I'm hopeful that soon we'll be catchin' a break around here. We've been 'sick city' for what seems like ages...but it's actually been a month and a half or two months. Really. One of us will get something, then it makes its round, and just when we think it's gone, BLAM!, there's another something waiting in the wings to attack.

Enough is enough. Really.

Tatum and I are still coughing are heads off, and my brief (although longer than either Matt or Kellen, thankfully) bout with a stomach something this weekend hit her today after nap. Bless her heart...the teachers at school tried to clean her up as much as possible, but she was in dire need of a bath when we got home. Ug.

And the washing machine is once again on overdrive.

However, two highlights of my day were picking up the kids, respectively. Nothing makes you feel loved like having a two year old run to you from across the room with her arms up, yelling, "Mommy...come on, Mommy!" OR having a 5 1/2 year old run at you full blast from Kids Klub, give you a HUGE hug, and say, "I missed you all day today, Mommy!"

Well, today I got BOTH of those. All in the same afternoon. What a day...

AWESOME!!

So on Wednesday after Kellen's t-ball game (where he did GREAT and paid attention and everything - no playing in the dirt, horsing around, etc), he tells us that he was named the Student of the Day during taekwondo.

Way to go!

As if that didn't make us proud enough, he told us today that he was named Student of the Week for Kids Klub!!

Considering ALL of the times that I've been told, 'Wait here just a second, one of the counselors needs to talk with you about Kellen,' this year, I cannot BEGIN to tell you how thrilled I am with him!

I am just so over-the-moon proud of him!

What a WONDERFUL week!!

So, despite us having a slight issue with him obeying tonight, he is enjoying some ice cream before bedtime as a treat...and we're having to figure out what BIG treat we'll do tomorrow night to REALLY celebrate...since the movie night at the school has been cancelled (stinker!).

YAY Kellen!!

Happy Easter!

I think this next picture is just priceless. The look on Kellen's face as he's looking at his sister just absolutely melts my heart. And I was uploading the pictures this afternoon onto the computer and Kellen saw them and remarked, 'I like looking at my Tatum.' Man, I love how much he adores her!



We actually did Easter baskets after we got home from church and had naps...the kids had fun with them...

Kellen's basket....

Tatum's basket...

John 20

He is alive!

He's not young anymore...

but he's having a hard time remembering it!

Matt and Kellen were trimming some more limbs this afternoon, and Daddy decided to show off by jumping from the ladder to the limb. Well, he forgot that he wasn't 20 anymore.

He attempted to Tarzan leap from the tree. Somewhere between leaving the ladder, grabbing the tree and hitting the ground, his shoulder came out of socket. Well, let me get more specific...his shoulder came out of socket when he grabbed the tree limb, which assisted the crash to the ground quite a bit.

OUCH!

(Now, for those of you who don't know, this isn't the first time this has happened to Matt. Luckily for us (or unluckily for him) it's happened so often that he's able to put it back in himself, which meant we didn't have to go to the ER to have them put it back in place for us.)

Poor guy...he had to put it back into socket with minimal wincing and verbal complaints, because both the kids were outside watching his 'show' and were intensely concerned about him. Tatum kissed his shoulder and wanted to get him 'bo bo ice' to make him better, and Kellen was just all over upset and couldn't bear to watch him at all. Of course, Kellen was over it immediately as soon as Daddy said he was ok, and exclaimed,

"When you flew through the air that was SUPER AWESOME!"

Boys!

It was just a quick errand!

I went to pick up Tatum at school today...wasn't gone too long, and came home to find this. I REALLY wasn't even gone that long. Really.

Um...what is it about boys and destruction? He was supposed to do some small trimming. I think we need the same dictionary.

Of course, once Tatum saw her Daddy up in the tree, she wanted to go up there, too...

Spring Break, Part 1

Yes, I know it's been almost a month, but hey...at least I'm trying, right?


So after I got off of work during spring break, we went to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's (well, Tatum and I joined the males of the family, who were already there). On Thursday, we HAD planned to go to the zoo, but considering they had every entrance blocked off becuause it was so busy (we must not have timed it well and arrived too late), we switched gears and reversed our initial plan.


Downtown Aquarium it was.


And the kids had a BLAST! It was Tatum's first time there, but Kellen had been there a few times. He acted like he didn't remember it when we were discussing it, but I think he remembered it once we arrived there.




This particular exhibit was fairly close to the eels, which Tatum absolutely did NOT like. It was interesting to see her intense reaction to certain things, both at the aquarium and at the zoo (stay tuned for Spring Break, Part 2). I wonder what causes a child, with no prior history with an animal, to have an intense reaction to it - one way or another, really?


At any rate, she wanted NOTHING at all to do with the eels. And made it well known to anyone within ear shot.



Petting the sting rays at the discovery zone. For some reason, Kellen was a little nervous this time. Tatum was excited about seeing them, but wasn't sure about actually petting them. She wanted to get her hands in the water, but was wary about actually touching them.







We timed it just right to be able to watch the tiger show, which was really the changing out of the tigers...They took one back, cleaned up the area, brought out some 'entertainment' in the way of some food for the next one, then brought the next one out. During the cleaning portion, one of the workers did an educational bit on the tigers, their interaction, etc. It was really interesting. Kellen and Tatum were enthralled. While the first tiger was still inside, Tatum and I were next to the glass, but she's pretty quick at backpedaling, and did so when the tiger got up and ran past the glass. Bless her heart, that frightened her and she wanted to be NO WHERE near that glass! Yet, she was still fascinated and wanted to get close again once the tiger was a little further away.




We also took the train ride to see the sharks...I am just in utter amazement of those creatures! None of the pictures turned out, so you don't get any of those...sorry!




And luckily for us, the weather was WONDERFUL for the splash pad. I had packed the swimsuits and towels already in preparation for the day, so we were adequately prepared.

Kellen loves the splash pad. Tatum, on the other hand, has to be convinced to play...she does NOT like to get splashed in the face without warning and well, it's a splash pad. Needless to say, she was slightly less enthusiastic in her playing than her brother, but she still enjoyed herself!

And as we were walking out, we decided to get a picture here on the bench. Kellen decided he was going to be monkey-man and started climbing on the shark, and I'm sure it wasn't the first time that had happened, so I just let him go. You can see the exhaustion on both of their faces!

My helper...

What a blessing it is to have such a wonderful helper. Two of them (some days) truth be told.

Both kids have been fed for the night, and we're just hanging out here at the house tonight...a rarity it seems, lately. No t-ball practice, no school activity, and we were home by 5:30ish, which meant dinner was over by 6. Again...all rarities as of late.

Back to my point.

I was putting a load of laundry in to wash, and apparently Tatum heard me. All I hear is a little girl running toward me shouting, "I help ou, Mommy! I help ou!"

Have I mentioned how much this girl L-O-V-E-S to help with laundry? As in, L-O-V-E-S it. Has thrown a fit because we didn't understand she was asking to help me with it one weekend. Really.

So I put the towels in a pile on the floor, in front of the washing machine, and sure enough, she was diligent in putting them into the washing machine. Yes, this was an added step in my process, but SO WHAT!! This gave her such joy! And as soon as we were through with that pile, she wanted to move on to other clothes...so cute! Then, she ran into the house and proceeded to tell her big brother that, "I help Mommy!!"

She was so proud.

So I asked if she wanted to help me some more, and got out the small hand vac...and she played with that for about 5 minutes...just beaming with pride that she was cleaning the carpet. No, it's not perfect, but that's not the point.

And wow....what does that say about how far I've come in kicking some of my perfectionism with that statement? Does that mean that I'm getting to the point that I'll let the kids do something if it's less than perfect or not done just the way that I would do it? Hmmm....

God MUST be moving here, folks!

Sweet words...

You have to know things will be great when your morning consists of a sweet girl and the words, "Kiss, Mommy!" followed by, "Cheek, other cheek."

Then, "Nose, eye, other eye, other eye." [I feel I must insert here that I don't actually have three eyes...she just kept going back and forth]

"Ear, Mommy."

"Other ear."

Awww....all is right with the world when things like this occur to start off your day.

Tatum's birthday & birthday party

Here are some pictures of Tatum on her actual birthday...She looked ADORABLE all dressed up that day! (Trust me, she did...the pictures may not have turned out all that great, but it was totally the photographer, not the model!)

The rest of the pictures are from her (VERY windy) birthday party, which we held nearby at the park. She had LOADS of fun playing on the playground, feeding the ducks, eating cupcakes, and of course, opening her presents. Which reminds me, I need to write thank-you notes. Ug!! Where has my mind gone??

Part of the fun was actually flying a kite...Winnie the Pooh, of course! It was certainly windy enough! Daddy and Mike worked on it, and for a little while, they even let the birthday girl play along. Except that her playing along was simply chasing after the kite as Daddy pulled it away from her! Tatum actually thought that was quite fun...Then decided she had had enough, and wanted to help with the real kite flying.




Here she is opening some of her presents...jewelry, dolls, a puppy, but the crowning jewel, perhaps, was the Aggie chair with the cup/water holder. Once she sat in it, she insisted on a water bottle, put it in the appropriate holder, and was pretty well set!



And here is the birthday girl with Daddy and Mommy shortly after diving into her cupcake...I wonder who she takes after with her affinity for all things chocolate??

Here is big brother very much enjoying the cupcake, icing and as many sprinkles that he could possibly fit onto the icing...and even some that didn't fit!