Parties, Painting and Patiently Waiting

This blog is done in rememberance of Cooper - yes, Cooper has passed away. Kevin came up one morning and pulled me aside to break the news - he thinks we let the house get too cold overnight and that is why he died (is 64 too cold for a beta fish?). I told him that he was the one that had to break the news to Drew (you all know that I would have NEVER let the house get cooler than 72). He did and Drew was not phased (did I mention that Kevin told him while Drew was watching TV?). Drew did ask us tonight where Cooper was (guess he really wasn't listening when we told him the first time), so we reminded him that Cooper had died and he started to get upset so I told him we could get a new fish. Guess what Drew said his name will be -- Cooper 2! Right now, though, I am happy to have my Southern Living Hurricane (what had become Cooper's home) back! I'll make the boys buy a fish bowl next time!

So all of the April birthdays are over (well except for my cousin Edmund: April 29th)! And boy was it crazy for a week or two! Don't you think that all 4 year olds need FOUR birthday parties? Well that is exactly what Master Drew had - one as his preschool, one at home with Mom and Dad, one at our house with his friends, and one at Gama and Jimbo's house with our hometown clan! In fact, I was very surprised that he didn't wake up last Monday asking where the party was that day.

Here are a few pictures from Gama and Jimbo's house. So I have to mention that Drew insited that he open each and every present and is came through the door. I know, I know, it's sad, but I was finished arguing with him and trying to explain to him that presents were not the most important thing and all that stuff...he obviously DIDN'T get it this year. Maybe at 5 he will grasp this concept a little better. He was however, very thankful and LOVED all of his nice gifts. This was his typical expression after opening a gift (shown here opening army guys from Nanny and Poppy - another battle I lost and Kevin won [the whole "no guns in the house" thing]).


We hadn't seen Brook, James and baby Liza in such a long time! Drew and Ellie were so excited to see them and loved playing with Liza. Drew kept calling her to come over and look at what he was doing! And I am pretty sure that Ellie thought she was a baby doll! She just wanted to pick her up and drag her around (but who wouldn't - look at how cute she is!).


Here is Ellie, cutting her eyes at Brook and getting ready to go after Liza!


So Liza found safety in Mommy's arms!


and Ellie crawled in Jimbo's lap!



Since this was Drew's fourth birthday cake, he decided that he would take a try at serving everyone (note the cake falling OFF of the spatula)


and Ellie decided to feed everyone!

And yes Ellie is in nothing but a diaper. I have never understood how some people feed their kids and not one morsel gets on their clothes! My kids have it from head to toe, on every inch of their body, clothes, hair and all! And needless to say, I did not want to try my luck at getting green cake icing stains out of their clothes! My track record with stain removel is NOT GREAT!

So I let them smear it all over their little bodies, instead of their clothes!

Here is Katie and Matthew - the two brave ones that kept Drew and Ellie the morning after the final party. I was informed that Ellie had green poop (a little two much cake you think?) - now that takes a good aunt to change!

And poor Kevin, with his birthday being two days after Drew's, he gets forgotten in all the craziness! But we were able get a babysitter and go to dinner for his birthday and actually eat in peace and quiet. You know it is funny because we are so used to having the children with us and talking/disciplining/eating/disciplining/feeding/disciplining/cleaning...and disciplinig that we hardly know what to do with ourselves when it is just the two of us! It was so nice! And after dinner we went to Target and I now know why it is probably a good thing that I have to go with children most of the time! There is so much great stuff in there that I have never seen or either missed it for several reasons, some of which include: darting from the back of the store to the front to "go potty" (AFTER asking as we walk through the front door and right past the bathrooms "Drew, do you need to go potty?" "No," is always the answer - guess I'll never learn), holding a screaming 18 month-old in my arms that is having a fit to get down and run up and down each and every ailse, working a 12 hour shift and wanting to do nothing but GO HOME or various other reasons that I could go on and on about, but I won't bore you with the details, and will just say my checkbook is glad I am not able to shop at Target in peace and quiet!

Another project that we recently took on was having the house painted. Doesn't everyone choose to have their house painted when they are 34 weeks pregnant, redecorating their kids rooms and working nearly full-time? I know, I have lost my mind, but we just couldn't pass up the opportunity when it came along. So I quickly picked out colors for my downstairs kitchen/dining/living room and my bedroom and hall bath. Now some of you may remember the "Coral" (aka: bright flurouscent glowing) room in South Hill or the "Eggplant" (aka: dark purple gone wrong) bathroom in Richmond, but for the most part I can pick out paint colors pretty well. I have to say I am very pleased with all of my color choices execpt for 1 and of course it is the dining room and living room - the FIRST rooms you seen when you walk in my house. The color is called Sherwin Williams Hearts of Palm and I really like the color but it is just a little to "limey" on my walls and in certain lighting I feel like I have a lime green house! I think it would look ok with the right decor, so do I repaint or redecorate? I have lost sleep over this decision over the past few days (well not because of this, but my pregnant bladder wakes me up and when I lay back down to go to sleep paint colors/decorating ideas are running through my head)!!! I am so frustrated because I am entirely too cheap to want to pay someone to come redo it, and I really don't want to do it myself (nor do I think I'll have much luck convincing Kevin to help me) and the whole idea of redecorating another room just wears me out! Ughhh! I'll post pictures of the color later! Meanwhile, the girls room is pretty much finished, with the exception of curtains! I'll post pictures of this later too - it turned out really cute! I am waiting on a few things for Drew's room and it will be finished soon too!

Otherwise things in the house are moving on along! Drew only has a few more weeks of preschool left, Ellie is talking a little more each day (and I do mean a VERY VERY little more - she absolutely REFUSES to say Mama), Kevin is getting busier at work and I am getting bigger by the day(as are my ankles)! Hopefully not too much longer before out newest addition will be here! I am sure that she will decide to come a week later or so, since I am expecting her a few weeks early!

Hope that everyone is doing well and enjoyed this beautiful weekend! I had to work, but probably better that I keep my kankles hidden under compression hose and Danskos!

Love to all!

Sun, Soccer and Sleep

Happy Birthday Drew!!!

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day for a soccer birthday party! It was 80 degrees and perfect for all of the kids to play soccer in the yard. Drew had so much fun playing with all of his friends today that he couldn't even make it home from dinner without falling asleep! And he didn't even wake up to Ellie's screaming in the car for the last 5 miles home - one worn out little boy! But he had a full day.

It started with decorating for his birthday party! The dining room was transformed into a soccer party table with decorations...

a soccer ball cake...

a soccer field cake...

and a 4 year old little boy ready for his friends to arrive...soccer jersey and all! Drew helped me make each of his friends a soccer jersey with their number, a soccer patch and their name on the back! He was so excited to give each of their friends their presents!

Here is everyone ready to play!



And showing off their name (everyone turned around so nicely - except for Miss Ellie)!

We had cake (note my face - the wind kept blowing out the candles... and you try explaining to a 4 year old why the candles aren't lit!!!)


make that TWO cakes (of course Drew wanted Vanilla and Mommy wanted chocolate - so we compromised and had BOTH)...

and ice cream...

And Drew opened all of his presents! Now being the honest person that I am (and knowing that some of my neighbors might be reading and call me out on my misleading blog order), I must admit that these pictures are in the typical order that a party should go. Something like this: friends arrive, play for a while, have cake and ice cream and THEN open presents...right, sounds normal? Well Drew would have nothing of that! He was absolutely insisitent that he open presents IMMEDIATELY! It was all we could do to make him wait until everyone got there to open presents. If it was up to him, he would have opened each gift as it was brought through the front door! I promise, we really have tried to teach him that it is not all about the presents, but what can I say, he's 4! So needless to say, Drew opened...

they played with all of his presents...

played a little bit of soccer...

Ellie got in the drink bucket (filled with melted ICE, she wanted to play in the water so bad but she couldn't understand why it was so cold)...

played games with Nanny...

blew bubbles with Nanny...


and ate orange slices!

So today was a packed day and we now have two soundly sleeping babies -- soon to be two soundly sleeping babies AND two soundly sleeping parents!

Hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather!

Love to all!

Happy Easter!

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!




Pretty normal day - imagine that! Drew and Ellie woke up to Easter baskets full of goodies and eggs hidden all over the bonus room. While Drew had a good time finding all of the eggs, Ellie was insistent that each one be opened as she found it so that she could eat the candy out of it! So by 8:30 this morning, Ellie had already eaten enough candy to last all day! We went to church and today was Drew's last day in his three year old class! He will be FOUR on Tuesday - I can NOT believe it! His teacher was so sweet to him since she knew it would be his last day. I am a little bit concerned because now he has to go to "BIG church" for the first part of the service and will then go to children's church. This requires being QUIET! Will post on how this goes next week!

We worked on some birthday projects this afternoon and then hunted some Easter eggs with neighborhood friends!

Nicholas and Will before the hunt! Could you ask for better smiles??? So sweet!



Everyone waiting for the "1...2...3...GO!!!"



Drew has a basketful of eggs...


and Ellie found a few too!

Now show us your eggs everyone...

Kevin entertained with bubbles that the Easter Bunny left!

Hope everyone else enjoyed their day! Happy Easter!

Christ the Lord is Risen today!!!

Love to all!

Paint, Projects, and Pancakes

So I started out wondering what in the world I was going to do all week with Drew and Ellie: Drew had spring break, so no school, and I only had to work on Wednesday - which left me at home with the kids ALL DAY LONG on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday AND Friday!!! In my emotional state, I was looking forward to spending time with my kids but also wondering how in the world I was going to entertain an 18 month old and a 4 year old at the same time AND finish all of my half started projects around the house, but we made it and now it's FRIDAY!

So let's just start by saying that Michael's is NOT Ellie's favorite store. In fact, she starts crying the moment we walk through the front door. So I should mention that I have a hard time concentrating in Michael's to begin with (my "pregnant ADD" kicks in and I can't remember what supplies I need for each of the 100 projects I have on my "to do" list). Nevertheless, I become even more distracted with a screaming 18 month old and a 4 year old requesting a "prize" on each and every aisle we walk down (I know, I shouldn't be bribing, but what can I say). To top it all off, I usually get home only to be missing that 1 important supply so am yet again, stuck with a half done project and another necessary trip to Michael's with my two little "shoppers."

Yesterday, for whatever reason, the kids decided to be halfway cooperative in the craft store! I would say that I was in there for almost an hour (almost 4x our normal stay)! Maybe I was just more tolerant of being THAT Mom with the screaming toddler and I for some reason thought it would be ok to be talked into that "prize" with the price tag of $12.99 (WAY more than I usually spend on prizes, which Kevin has informed me I should not be doing). When I told Kevin about Drew's new "Tech Decks" his remarks are "So that's why Drew always asks me for a prize when we go somewhere." I guess I get desparate for some shopping time and bribery is the one thing that works! But anyway, yesterday I was able to get a lot accomplished in Michael's and even finshed a few of my projects!

Before I reveal my projects, I need to tell you about a project that Drew and his buddy Shawn thought would be fun! I have blogged about all of Kevin's sanding and painting projects that are taking over our garage (not by his choice, but by my direction) right now so you can imagine what these two got into. Yep, that's right the paint. And it literally took less than 45 seconds. We were all outside playing and Drew and Shawn went into the garage, as they often do to get a toy. I am not even kidding you, not 1 minute later I looked up into the garage to see paint on part of the chest where it did not belong. I run up to the garage only to find PAINT everywhere!

On the steps...

the back of the tricycle...

the garage floor...

and of course on little legs...

I could not believe the amount of paint that covered stuff in our garage in a matter of minutes! I was telling the boys how disappointed I was in them and asking who painted each thing, to which Drew promply and innocently answered "me" or "Shawn" with tears in his eyes. Continuing to interogate in my stern disciplining voice I asked "And who painted the inside of the chest?" to which Drew very innocently (and with a serious face) replied "Which part, the top part or the bottom part?" I burst out laughing by his innocence and his desire to make sure he was telling me the truth (since one of them painted the top and one of them painted the bottom)! It was so funny to see him so upset over each question I asked and to then be quite intent on getting the answers to my question correct! Needless to say, it is nothing that a little paint thinner can't fix. But it did make for an interesting "talk" when Daddy got home!

So on to my half done projects that I finally finished: The first is this little sign that I got online from http://www.scribbleitonline.com/ It has our last name and the year we were married. It came with a silver tin that you are supposed to put it on, but I just wasn't into the bright silver, it just didn't "go" with the rest of my house. So I found a piece of wood (at Michael's of course - on the Monday trip aka: the BAD trip, not the Thursday trip aka: the $13 prize trip) and spray painted it, then tied a ribbon to it and hung it over our TV cabinet down stairs. We never watch TV down stairs and it is haning on one of the doors so if we decide to open the doors we still can.

I also got some frames and used scrapbook paper and rick rack to frame some black and white pictures for the girls room.

And I finally finshed my little birdie project! It is quite possibly the most crafty thing I have EVER done. The picture doesn't do it much justice, but it looks really cute hanging from the ceiling in the girls room!

Here is an up close of some of the birds. I decorated them with scrapbooking supplies from Michael's.



So here we are, finally Friday. Kevin took off the day and we have just been hanging out! It has been nice to have him home! He and Drew started the day off by making pancakes this morning.

and Ellie found a good place to sit and watch!

Happy Friday to everyone!

Love to all!

Feeding Follow-up and A Fabulous Friday

Happy Friday to everyone says Drew...




and Ellie sends her smiles too (please note: banana in hand and milk in cup - much improved from Monday don't you think)!






It has been so nice to be off for 2 days in a row! And while yesterday was a rainy lazy day, today was beautiful outside. It motivated me to try and be productive.

Let me start by defending my mothering abilities and showing the grandparents that I DO, in fact know how to prepare my children a healthy dinner (contrary to their current beliefs). Last night the children were fed the following:






Yes, I know that the green beans are out of the can and processed, not wholesome, blah, blah...but hey, they are GREEEN!

I even did a little Betty Crocker action this morning!




So now that I have convinced you all that I am not a terrible mother with complete lack of concern for her children's diet, let me tell you about my complete and total "pregnancy brain" (or maybe it was "been up since 5:30 am brain" due to a coughing child, she feels much better today though). Yesterday (yes rainy, nasty, stuck inside ALL DAY LONG yesterday) I decided to try and clean up a little since I was stuck in the house and had accomplished NOTHING on Monday. Started by changing the sheets on our bed and washing a load of sheets, towels, dish rags etc. Let me start by saying this is a HUGE accomplishment for me. Kevin is usually the laundary person in our house. I cleaned the kitchen, made the beds, and started to feel a little productive. Washer buzzes. I go up to put the wet laundary in the dryer and open the washing machine to see nothing but clumply little gel-like pieces of something all over EVERY SINGLE PIECE of laundary!!! What in the world??? I start digging through the laundary only to find...you guessed it a PULL-UP!!! Gross me out! I have no clue how it got in with the laundary and am even more clueless as to how it got INTO the actual washing machine. I did load the laundary, didn't I? How I didn't see it when I was loading the wash is beyond me! Thankfully, it was a Pull-Up and not a dirty diaper! Can you even imagine? It may not have been used, but I decided not to take my chances. Needless to say, I rewashed that load and dried it, oh about 5 times to get all of the nasty gelly little pellets out of it. I think I'll just leave the laundary to Kevin from now on :)



Today was beautiful and the children and I were outside after breakfast. I started a new project. This topiary is such a fun thing to play around with for each season. My aunt Mary and uncle Lynn made it. Let me know if you like it and want one! I got some flowers at Wal-Mart and started trying to make this look a little more "spring-like." Still working on it but here is a little sneak peak...




Pots need cleaning, little more color and maybe some polka dots or ribbon on the pots. Still waiting for my "Vision" to come to me! Will post more pictures when it is complete. Oh yeah, did I mention that while I am doing this, keeping a good ear out for the kids (who were outside with me playing at the bottom of the steps to the deck - do NOT freak Nanny and Poppy, I could see their little heads and was talking to them and checking on them constantly) I fail to actually look at what the kids are playing WITH until about 30 seconds to late? Yes they found it, a mud puddle. I turn my head to see Ellie grinning from ear to ear while standing in a mud puddle about knee high! Shoes, socks, jeans and all! Innocent Drew stands beside her just laughing!!! So I let them play, just glad I had dressed them in outdoor play clothes instead of something cute!



I also started a project on Thursday when we were stuck inside. I made these adorable little birds to use in the girls room.




Got a pack of 12 at Michael's for $1.99 and used scrapbook paper to cover them! Still need to decorate them and figure out where I will use them in their room I have something in mind, but not sure how it will turn out, so stay tuned for more pictures!


Aren't they cute little birdies!!





Meanwhile, Drew and Ellie were working on a little rainy day project of their own... pulling out EVERY, SINGLE, toy that they own!!!

Oh well! I guess this is what happens when you are stuck inside all day!

But today was much better! After being outside (and the whole mudpuddle episode) the kids HAD to have a bath! Drew was very proud of his mohawk (Ellie was a little leary of this)!

With everyone all clean, books read, teeth brushed and PJs on (Drew picked out new ones today at Kohl's - he insisted that the Lightening McQueen ones were much cooler than the cute puppy dog ones that I had picked out)...

hugs and kisses goodnight, now my babies are snug as bugs in rugs!

So all things considered, Thursday and Friday were more productive than Monday! I have to work all weekend (tear, tear)! But hopefully everyone else will enjoy the beautiful weather!

Would love to get some comments from those reading (click on the link below)!

Love to all!