Lessons from God

God is funny, and I don't mean in the haha sort of way. He shows or teaches us something in sometimes the most unusual ways. We are told in the bible, "In every thing give thanks", but if you're like me, we don't do that. We aren't thankful in every thing, we have a tendency to complain if things or situations in life aren't going our way. But God has a reason for every thing that happens in our lives, even if we don't always understand what they are.

He taught me something EARLY this morning at 1:30. It's kinda silly and nothing that has a huge impact, but a lesson just the same. While I've been "complaining" about our "bedbug" issue, I hadn't been seeing what I should be thankful for in that situation.

At 1:30 in the morning, I am awakened by Payton running into our room crying. And not the typical souding cry, but one that is more of a whimper, something's wrong sort of cry. I jump out of bed just as she gets to our bathroom and vomits all over my bathroom floor and rug. I get the light on and I am standing there in a stupor (not really awake yet) thinking,"Holy cats, no way!!" She proceeds to vomit again (I am now FULLY awake) and I grab her and get her to the toilet just in time. I now have the task of cleaning this mess up, (Crim, are you gagging yet?! :) ) but THANKFULLY it's on a hard surface, rugs can go in the washer and she got out of bed. I finish that and then have to get my poor, pitiful girl bathed. When finished, I get her all dressed again and get blankets to lay on my floor next to me, but she wants to sleep in our bed. I tell her that I am afraid she will throw up in my bed. She says to me, "I won't frow up in you bed, Mommy, I pwomise!" (Not typos) Guess where she slept for the rest of the night?! That's right, our bed!!

I climb back in bed at 2:03 and I am still awake at 2:37, last time I looked at the clock. During that 30 minute time, I am thinking about the "bedbug" issue and thinking that that is much better than what I just had to do as I stare at my precious baby sound asleep as if nothing just happened.

Oh yeah, Jeff and the other two slept through the whole thing. Something else to be THANKFUL for!!

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
I Thessalonians 5:18

Until next time...

"Bedbugs"

Bedbugs is the nickname Jeff has given the girls. The reason for this strange nickname is because EVERY NIGHT at least one, if not all three of them end up in our bed. I don't know what brings them out of their bed in the middle of the night to walk in the pitch black to our bed, but they do. I have lugged them back to their own beds (Jeff usually just moves to the couch) and a little while later, here they come again. GRRR!! It probably wouldn't be too bad, but they are not still or quiet sleepers. Kendal has a tendency to kick, turn sideways or lay right next to me. Payton grinds her teeth--BAD!!! Try sleeping through that! She does stay in one place typically. There are times when I've had no idea when she got in bed with us until the awful grinding sound starts. She gets moved back to her bed then for sure. Bransyn is an all over ME sleeper. It doesn't matter if I'm on my side, belly or back, she will climb on me to sleep. Also not easy to sleep through! While there is part of me that says, "One day the last thing they will want to do is get in bed with their Mommy and Daddy, so enjoy it now"--the other part of me that is severely lacking in sleep says, "Man, stay in your own beds-I JUST WANT TO SLEEP!" :)

Until next time...

Sweet...Not So Sweet...Sweet...Not So Sweet...

No, I am not refering to some sort of drink or food item. I am actually referring to my children. Do you ever feel like your kids have a Jekel and Hyde personality? I have had those days and today was definately one of them. One minute they are playing happily and sweetly together and the next minute they are screaming at each other and sounding just evil. When Kendal got home from school, the three of them were happily playing in Payton and Bransyn's room while I was fixing dinner. I am hearing all sorts of laughter one second and the next all three, yes all three of them were crying and carrying on. I still at this moment have no idea what happened because all I could get out of them was, "she hit my head, nuh uh, she hit my head, no she did it, Kendal did it, Payton did it, Bransyn did it". SERIOUSLY??!! At that moment, I was totally at my limit so all I could do was separate them and tell them to stay away from each other...or else! Not sure what the "or else" was, but thankfully they didn't push me on that one. They did their own thing for awhile and got sweet again. Until dinner...

Why is it when they have food placed in front of them that they have never tasted, they automatically say, "I don't like that!"? A rhetorical question, but one that I really wish I could have an answer to. That is so irritating to me! They basically refuse to eat dinner and then want to eat cupcakes, marshmallows, fruit snacks or some other crap food and get all upset when told "No way Jose!!" Kendal did finally force most of hers down so hopefully as the other two get older meals will get easier.

Bransyn and I had a very sweet moment earlier though. I was sitting in the chair at the computer (I seem to be doing that a lot more often lately) and she climbed up in my lap so I had to stop what I was doing. She let me put her in baby hold position, which doesn't happen too often anymore. She laid back, closed her eyes and was sucking her thumb so I started singing "Rock A Bye Baby". When I finished, she opened her eyes and said (around the thumb) "sing it again". We did that routine 10 -15 times before I finally said, "OK that's enough", but who knows how long she would have laid there with me singing that song. Which, quite honestly, is a horrible song that I have never understood..."and down will come baby, cradle and all". But hey, the kids seem to like it so I figure, "if it aint broke"...

It's days like today that I have to just breathe in and breathe out, thank Jesus for my many blessings because I know it could be much worse and hope we all make it to the end of day to bath and bed time. Today we did and tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully a better one. :)

Until next time...

Laughter of a child

Hearing my girls laughing and having fun together is has got to be my favorite sound. No matter how difficult my day may be going, to hear that sound makes me smile and often not even makes me laugh along with them even though they have no idea that I am or that I am even paying attention to what they are doing.

Kendal does not get to play in the tub with the other two anymore because she has just gotten way too big. Today though, Bransyn fell asleep (and is still sleeping) in the pick up line to get Kendal from school and when we got home, Kendal and Payton wanted to play outside. While their playing outside only lasted about 15 minutes, they got pretty nasty so they wanted to "swim" in the water. Which at our house means the bathtub. So I start the tub with just water because they tell me, "We don't want any bubbles Mommy, just water" and they "jump" in. They have been in there for close to 45 minutes playing and getting washed up. Kendal even washed and conditioned Payton's hair along with her own and they soaped up their loofahs and scrubbed themselves clean. Although we did have one screaming incident when Payton stuck her face in the water with the shampoo on her head and had a burning nose and eyes. Other than that, they have been laughing hysterically in there. Those from deep down in the belly laughs, the ones that make me start cracking up even when I am in another room. I'm not even sure what they are finding so funny. At one point I stood by the door peeking in trying to get glimpse of what they were laughing at. I gotta say, there really wasn't anything going on that was so funny, but to them, it (whatever "it" is) was hilarious!!! Oh, the sweet innocence of a child.

Thank you, God, for blessing me with with my little angels. May their laughter always be such a sweet sound. I am proud to be their Mommy!!

Until next time...

Template change

Decided to change the dark template that I originally had-too dark. Plus, this is a more girlie color and being a mommy of three girls, it fits me! :)

CAN I SPEND THE NIGHT WITH DADDY?

Can I spend the night with Daddy? is a nightly question in our home. One who were to overhear that question would probably think, "How sad, their Mommy and Daddy must be divorced". Well, at least that's what I like to think the thought would be, but in a world where divorce is so prevelent, who knows!?! Anywho, back to our nightly question...this question is asked every night by our sweet Payton when I tell her that it is time to take a bath and get ready for bed. Her question interpreted is actually, "Can we stay up and spend some time with Daddy?" Tonight was no different, (except that bathtime was a little earlier than usual because they got so yucky playing outside) she asked her usual question. My response was the only one I have at the time of that sweet question, "Of course, baby, Daddy would love that!" Seriously, does it get any cuter than that?!

Until next time...

OOPS!!

Well, second posting in and I've messed it up. I don't know what happened with the font color, I guess that's what I get for trying to use a different color for everything. The black is hard to read on my dark page (I may have to change that), hopefully you can read it. If there is a way to change it once I've posted it, I can't figure it out. I am seriously learning this as I go. I also noticed that I used all my family members names, which I wasn't going to do. Oh well, I guess it won't matter.

Try to do better next time...

Mother's Day

I'm a day late, but what can I say?! It was a crazy weekend. Jeff's weekend off so we stayed busy and I didn't take time to do anything on the computer. Hope all you moms had a great Mommy's Day! I did, we spent most of Saturday morning with a friend from church that took us to this great park to take family pictures. I have to say it went much better than I expected it to and I can't wait to see how they turned out. I'll share some with you when I get the whole downloading of the pictures figured out. Then we did "family yard work" in the heat, which also carried over into Sunday afternoon after church and lunch. Thankfully it was a lot cooler on Sunday than it was on Saturday. Some of you probably think, "What a horrible way to spend a day that's supposed to be all about "me"." But, I actually enjoy it, especially when we're all out there as a family and the girls are playing and getting yucky and having tons of fun and honestly, Jeff does all the hard work. :)

So...Mother's Day brings on all the sweet little things our kids give us and I wanted to share a couple of them with ya'll. Kendal made me this great card at school with colored flowers and vase that she glued on the front, open it up and it is her handprint with this great poem:

Dear Mom,

This is the handprint you have seen before

On the bathroom towels and the kitchen door.

Those, you removed so graciously,

This you may keep for a memory.

Sniff, sniff, so sweet! I think what really gets me is seeing how big her hand is. Not too long and it will be as big as mine. On the next page is a note that she wrote to me herself, exactly how she wrote it:

Dear Mom,

I Love you because you are nice to me. MoM I like your high lies. you look like aroke star. MoM I will always Love you Love Kendal.

Again...sniff, sniff, sniff, even sweeter!! Capital letters in the wrong places or none when there should be, puncuation missing and misspelled words, but this is the BEST, BEST note EVER!!! We will totally be looking back at this one later on together! And in case you can't translate..." high lies" is highlites, "aroke star" is a rock star.

Now Payton, sweet Payton. In her class, her teachers sat down one on one with them and asked them ten questions about "MY MOMMY" that they were supposed to answer and they wrote their answers word for word. Here are my sweet baby girl's Q and A's...

1. What is your mommy's name? Shannon

Correct-I only respond to Mommy or Mama from them though, not even Mom

2. How tall is your mommy? "E O P"

Not sure what this means, but her teacher said she was very adament about it and kept repeating it so her teacher wrote it down.

3. How old is she? 4 and Daddy is 6

Very interesting

4. How much does she weigh? She weighs a lot

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! Hilarious and also unfortunately true

5. What color are you mommy's eyes? Green

Very close, actually hazel, Daddy's are green

6. What color is her hair? Brown

...and red and blond

7. What is her favorite food? Hamburgers

Not even close

8. What is your mommy's favorite color? Purple

Right on, my girls know that one well! Payton and Bransyn still point out everything that's purple and says,"Look Mommy, your favorite color!"

9. What does she do while you are at school? She gives her people some food

Not even sure how to respond to that one, that's funny

10. What does your mommy like to do or play? She doesn't play

What?! Aw come on!! Guess I need to change her perception on that one!

Next year I'm sure I'll having something cute from Bransyn, but she's still a little young. I did get a sweet "Happy Mommy's Day" with a hug from her and that's all I need!

There is nothing better than being a Mommy. I love you, Mom. Hope I raise my girls to be as great and as perfect as you raised me. Ha-Ha :)

Until next time...

Jumping on the band wagon

Yes, "everyone is doing it" so I figure why not jump on the band wagon. Of course, that saying "everyone is doing it" takes me back to my childhood where if those words were spoken, my parents would have to come back with, "If everyone jumped off a cliff would you jump off too?" You know what I mean, we've all heard it, and I have to admit I'm pretty sure I've used it on our oldest daughter as well.

With much "encouragement" from a few of my more experienced blogging friends, I am venturing out into unknown territory. So, Crim, Horton and Allyson this is for you. :) I hope you (and everyone else) enjoy! After putting WAY too much thought into this whole thing, I decided it would be a great way for family and friends to keep up on what is going on in our lives and to possibly keep record of some of the crazieness of our children. You know, the off the wall things that they say or do that you want to remember, but invariably forget. So, here goes...

For blogging purposes, I will refer to my family as Hubby, K, P and B.

K is our oldest daughter. She is 6 years old and is currently in the first grade.

P is our middle daughter. She is 3 years old and attends the pre-school where I work.

B is our baby daughter. She is 2 years old and also attends the pre-school where I work.

Originally, I figured on my first post being more of an introduction of my family with happenings to come, but I actually have some "happenings" of today, you know some of that craziness I mentioned. So I have to share...

Today my sweet friend and co-teacher, Allyson came over with two of her three boys. Yes, she has three boys to our three girls (pre-arranged marriage has been mentioned). She came over so we could work on this wonderful project that we are working on for the kids in our class for the end of the year coming up. Once done it is going to be awesome, but getting there, we can't help but think, "What were we thinking?" So while we are making a mess all over my dining table, our younger four children are happily (and very noisily) playing. When it comes time to pick our older two up from school, Allyson leaves to get them (yes, they go to the same school too), leaving me with the little ones and to continue on with our work. She gets back with the big ones and the energy off those two make things even more crazy and noisy. All of a sudden, the older two along with P come running out to us, all yelling something totally not understandable because they are all YELLING the same thing, but NOT at the same time so it really just sounds like a lot of noise. VERY LOUD NOISE!! When we finally get them quieted to have one of them talk, we find out that our little ones are in the bathroom with toys from the bath tub drinking water out of the toilet. Did you get that?! I said the toilet-THEY WERE DRINKING WATER OUT OF THE FLIPPIN' TOILET!!!!!!! We, of course, go running in there to find our sweet babies with toilet water down the front of their shirts, toilet water all over the bathroom floor, which I hope means that they really dumped out more than they drank, and a half empty toilet bowl. ICK, ICK, ICK, YUCK!!!!! Allyson's question to me, "Do they do this sort of thing when they aren't with my boys?" My response, "Uh, NO!" Her response, "Neither do they." To which I have to wonder, she nor I have never had the drinking out of the toilet scenario before so what in their little brains made them do it now?! I know there are a lot of things we need to clue our kids in on, but I have to tell you, I never thought I would have to be telling me sweet, girlie girls that drinking out of the toilet is something ya just don't do.

Until next time...