Cookies for Santa

NC Trip

SO much happened over the last week that I don't even know where to start. We left for NC last Thursday for a whirlwind, too fast trip. It took just at 13 hours to travel the 11 hour trip (which is pretty typical for us with traveling during the day). We were glad to be there and slept as much as we could -- until the excitement of being at mamaw's and granddaddy's sunk in :-) Then it was game on!

The kids got to play with cousin Kendal, especially since we were all on 'baby watch' for Holly :-) Just like last time we were around, RKT took a while to warm up to us. I don't think he understood why were were so loud. I consider it training :-) It didn't take too long before Faith was smothering him with kisses and he was loving it. By the end of the trip, RKT had found Bubba and *knew* that he was supposed to be playing with him! I think it is a boy thing - Bub used to do the same thing around boys.

*Super boys*

*not a great picture, but there was a lot of laughing and open mouth kissing (on RKT's part)

The girls went to the tea room in Wake Forest while the boys stayed at home doing who-knows-what.

*Faith drinking her tea with her pinkie up


*Sam was the only boy allowed to come with the girls. He was great. We went in, he ate as I ordered and was asleep by the time my tea had cooled and my food came. He woke up *exactly* when we were getting up to leave. Talk about good timing :-)

We missed having Aunt Cake there, but know that she had a great time in California with Mark and family. The big news for Kate is that she is now officially ENGAGED :-) My kids are SUPER glad to be able to really call him Uncle Mark now -- not that they haven't been, but now it is for real!

We had a great time at the annual Ward Christmas party. We didn't make it last year since Rob had just gotten back from Iraq. I wish we had been able to stay to make it to the Harris Christmas party too, but Santa comes to our house -- he doesn't bring presents to NC for us :-) We think we have a plan, though, for next year. That way we can get to both families.

*Tuter thought he was just fine :-)

We did stay just long enough to get to see Holly. The newest Harris/Thornburg was born Monday night. We got all of the kids in the car to go see her and several things happened all at once to prevent us from getting there. First, Josh was asleep before we went two miles. Second, Sam started crying when we put him in the carseat and didn't stop -- knowing that we were going to strap him in for another 13 hour trip the next day kind of broke a mama's heart. Last, the girls were insanely loud -- which meant that they would have gone to sleep before we got to the hospital. Rob generously offered to keep all of the kids at mom's but since he can't feed Sam (genius me forgot my pump and a bottle), we nixed the trip. We packed the car, said our goodbyes and headed to the hospital (you didn't think I'd leave without seeing my new niece?!?). Got to the hospital and were told that Sam couldn't go onto the maternity floor. So, we did shifts. Girls first, then boys :-) What a cutie!! Holly Noelle Thornburg. Hopefully we will see her again soon :-)

*the smallest baby I have ever held! She was 7lbs, 10 oz (which isn't small, but smaller than mine). Grace couldn't believe that she was 1-1/2 lbs smaller than Sam was when he was born. That is when the "aww..."'s and "she's tiny" started :-) Such girls I have!

*the girls loved her!

So we got home SUPER late Tuesday since we traveled again during the day (which means more stops). Got into some horrible sleet/freezing rain weather. Miserable traveling conditions, in other words. But we got home -- Raleigh missed us. All of the fish survived. Overall, the trip was too short but packed with fun.

*Sam, miserable, but out of his car seat for a butt break -- does he look like his daddy, or what?!?

Next -- Christmas in Kentucky.

Samboni's 4 month checkup

I can't believe that Samboni is past the 4 month mark! He went to his 4 month checkup on Monday. I was shocked that he is only 14 lbs, 11 oz but a whopping 26 inches long. That puts him at 34th percentile for weight and 74th percentile for height. WHAT?!? 34th percentile? My eyes immediately watered and I asked if I should start supplementing. Know what the doc said? NOPE. Sam was laying on the table while she was trying to listen to his heart and she started chuckling. "Does he ALWAYS move this much?" she asks. YEP... Always! "Well, no wonder he can't keep any weight on" :-)

So, it is official. I have a wiggle worm for a son. He is a cute wiggle worm :-) And he likes to eat my face...

Oh... and I made that pitiful little hat. We call it his "coolio" hat :-) See the resemblance?

Bubbaism

This morning, Josh had the hiccups. He always has the hiccups right before he throws up, so I asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom to throw up.

Bub- No, my stomach is just out of breath.

That was his explanation of the hiccups :-)

Faithism

Scene -- Last night the whole family went to Brandenburg to a Hail and Farewell. It was in a sort of old school type diner joint. Pretty neat. Had some retro stuff on the wall. The room that we sat in had records on the wall and ceiling -- old 45s and the big ones too (though I had to look those up because I can't remember what they are called -- 33-1/3s?). Well there was a clock made out of the big one... Faith was sitting on our friend Gina's lap during this interaction --

Faith - Look at that clock made out of a big CD

Gina - It isn't a CD, it is a record.

Gina then tried to explain that you put it on a record player and put the needle down and it would play music.

Faith - OH... I know what you are talking about.

Gina - You do? Good!

Faith - Yeah, I saw one on the Flintstones.

Hmmm... how old am I?!?

Our Thanksgiving

Well, I can't really believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone. Ours was good. At least Rob got home in time. I picked him up at 2am Thursday morning -- I hadn't been to sleep, and got as much day-before prep done as I could. The turkey cooked WAY faster than I anticipated, so instead of eating at 4-5, we ate around 1. Thank goodness for the day-before prep! I only had to rush to get the two casseroles done.

I was very glad to have mom, dad and Katelyn here for Thanksgiving. Kate will be gone for Christmas -- her year to go to CA with Mark -- so this turned into our Christmas visit with her too. Though I didn't have her present yet.

Speaking of presents... I have NO idea what to get anybody. Any ideas?!?

To continue my random ramblings... Sam is sick. Don't really know what is wrong with him, but he is GRUMPY! He won't sleep over about 30 minutes at a time and just wants to be held. Held... by me. Only me. Nobody else. Do you know how hard that is?

Anyway... here are some pictures :-)


The girls wore the stockings to decorate the tree...


G-mama putting up ornaments



Blurry, but you can see that Faith just realized that Ma'maw, Granddaddy and
Katelyn are going to leave



Josh likes Sam's swing too

Sam's new girlfriend... the glowworm. He makes out with her :-)

I'm Back :-) and a Faithism

Been a while... seems like I've been going nonstop since Rob has been gone. The chaos will continue to increase, I am sure, over the next couple of months.

Anyway... Faithism --

Today Josh went to CDC (Child Development Center - our daycare) for a few hours while I went to volunteer at the girls' school. Sam and I came back home for him to eat and to get Faithers off of the bus before getting Josh -- I was running out of time! So, we got to the CDC, got Josh and were coming out when Faith asked me if it was the side of the day.

*What? The side of the day?

*Yeah - not the beginning or end, but the side (insert hand jestures here to emphasize side)

I guess we need to work on some vocabulary -- that would be middle.

And another...

She was so excited to show me her Thanksgiving art today. She went into her bookbag, brought out this piece of construction paper --

The teacher told all of the kids to color one side of the paper blue. Then she gave them the materials to glue their Mayflowers on. Do you see what she did? She told me that the sky is blue so she put her blue at the top.

Chicken Dance

Make sure you notice every other kid is being pretty subdued -- but not my Faithers!

Hoopin' and Hoppin'

Today was the annual Hoopin' and Hoppin' event at the girls' school. It is a time when each class comes to the gym and hula hoops and jumps rope. It coincides with the annual food drive. Theory is that we are exercising (making our hearts strong) and giving back to the community (making our hearts stronger in a different/giving way). Here are some pictures. I am having trouble uploading a video, but will try again later.

Faith doing the Animal Dance

Everybody sing with me now... Y-M-C-A

Grace seemed to not want to make a fool of herself. She would spin the hula hoop around as hard as she could and then stand there waiting for it to drop. She didn't even swivel her hips! She is trying to catch it in this picture-

Though it looks like she is airborne, she is not. Lazy butt slung it around and then stepped over!

Josh did NOT like the loud music -- he cannot stand loud noises. There was a little Pre-K boy holding his ears, too. PS - look at that fuzz head! That boy needs a haircut!!

Samboni slept through Grace's time, but was wide awake and on my hip for Faith's (which is why I don't have a pic)

Oh... and yes, I did hula hoop. There is actually a picture of it :-) But I am not going to post it here for the world.

Getting to know your family & friends

Welcome to the new 2008 edition of getting to know your family and friends. Here is what you are supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun. Change all the answers so that they apply to you.

1. What is your occupation right now ?
hmmm... occupation. Well, being a stay at home mom to four kids aged 6 and under seems to occupy my time. I get paid in giggles, hugs and kisses. Does that count?

2. What color are your socks right now?
no socks... flip flops still


3. What are you listening to right now?
Into the Wild soundtrack -- Eddie Vedder is YUMMY :-)

4. What was the last thing that you ate?
an Oreo :-p


5. Can you drive a stick shift?
oh yeah... and, most of the time, prefer to!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
mom


7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
yes!

8. How old are you today?
30


9. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
College football -- though I definitely prefer to watch it live

10. What is your favorite drink?
Odd question... hmm... diet cherry pepsi, I guess. Though I have to limit myself since Samboni is nursing.


11. Have you ever dyed your hair
nope... not even once

12. favorite food?
mexican


13. What is the last movie you watched?
in the theaters? I have no clue. I watched Tinkerbell and The Holiday just last week.

14. favorite day of the year?
Christmas -- I love seeing my kids' excitement

15. How do you vent anger?
either sleep or go for a walk/run -- I know, two quite different methods, but it depends on why I am mad


16. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Simon -- and I think that is what Grace will be getting this Christmas :-) Then I can play again

17. What is your favorite season?
Fall


18. Cherries or Blueberries?
fresh Blueberries or dried cherries... just depends

19. Do you want your friends respond?
Yes


20. Who is the most likely to respond?
Those who have the time

21. Who is least likely to respond?
Those who don't have the time.


22. Living arrangements?
me, Rob (when he is home), Grace, Faith, Josh, Sam, Raleigh, Dixie and about 12 fish

23. When was the last time you cried?
I have cried daily since Sarah died. It is still just too new and sad. I can't imagine what her family is going through.


24. What is on the floor of your closet?
shoes, probably some dresses that the girls have pulled down

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?
I'll say... Analee. Mom and Katelyn are up there, too but I've known A longer than K -- and mom and I really became 'friends' (from mother/daughter) around the time I had G. Something about the trip to Hood from Leonard Wood that shifted our relationship -- and it has been so fun knowing my mom as a friend -- though I still treasure her advice as my mom.

26. What did you do last night
stayed up until 1am doing absolutely nothing. I can't get to sleep when Rob isn't here.

27. What are you most afraid of
outliving my children

28. Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?
Spicy


29. favorite dog breed?
I don't really have one... though we have a rat terrier, she is a little too hyper for me.

30. favorite day of the week?
Saturday


31. How many states have you lived in?
four, if you count TX, which I AM counting since I lived there for 7 weeks and had a child there.

32. Diamonds or pearls?
pearls


33. What is your favorite flower?
roses

correction and funny videos

one and a half weeks to go, not two and a halfweeks. Thank goodness.

The kids had their first extreme sour candies today. Hilarious. I thought I was going to pass out from laughing. Bubba's is the only one you NEED to have volume for :-) Hilarious

Grace is the only one who stuck with it.

Faith went running...

Bubba thought sour hurt :-p

Apparently

According to mom, you know a three year old is a three year old when s/he starts using 'actually' on a regular basis. Well, I have one for you, mom. Apparently a four year old is a pre-k four year old when she uses 'apparently' in every sentence. Faith has started apparently-ing me to death :-) I had to tell her today that apparently every sentence doesn't need to end in 'apparently'. Apparently :-p

another week down

3 weeks down, 2 and a half to go...

There are quite a few ways you know there is a three year old in your house. First, the toilet paper is never on its roll. It is WAY too much fun to unroll it. This is how ours looks...

Second, if that 3 year old is a boy, there are hot wheels everywhere

Does this just scream "Yo baby. What's happening?" or is it just me

.

Here's Sam's new elephant. I learned a lot of lessons when making it. You really should exaggerate the size of things... like his trunk. Okay... it is dinky, but now I know. I also learned that the place you leave open to stuff is important and should be the straightest stitch possible. But you know what? He loves it. The trunk stays slobbery.

Sarah Parker

I am sad to say that Bubba's Sarah passed away this morning.

I pray for peace for the Parkers.

This is from Grace's 5th b-day party -- 2 weeks before Sarah's diagnosis. You can tell that she had already begun to favor her left side which was the reason she was eventually taken to the doctor. She was SO happy that day and would ask everybody for a bite of their cake :-) This is how I will remember her. Such a sweetheart.

Egg Tectonics

Oh... I remembered -- Faithism

Today we were watching the Science Channel. The show Understanding: Volcanoes, to be precise (not new -- it was OnDemand). I know, we are geeks, but Faith has an interest since this is 'V' week at school and you knowI love it. Anyway... the show was explaining plate tectonics using a hardboiled egg as a visual. The yolk is the core, white is mantle, shell is crust. But they were talking about volcanoes and how (back in the day) there was confusion about how the volcano seemed to move until scientists realized that the egg was cracked (plates and plate tectonics). Faith looked at me --

F: Mama, I know how the earth was made

me: you do? How?

F: It started as an egg and then it grew up.

Maybe the egg visual was effective, but not very clear -- at least not to the 4 year old audience. But I guess there probably aren't TOO many 4 year olds watching :-p

Blogs

Do you ever log into your blog, hit the 'new post' button and then completely forget what made you think you had something to write about?

Hmmm... maybe it is just me.

M&Ms

post #4 of the day ... a new personal record

I have a complaint. I remember M&Ms having the slogan "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" -- doesn't that still exist? Whoever came up with it didn't have a three year old, hot sticky handed little boy! He has red, blue and yellow all over his hands!! He was a good sharer though... I got all of the red ones. They tended to be hot, half melted and stuck to his hand, but it was sweet for him to share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JP!!

Movies

Post #2 of the day...

There are so many movies I want to see right now. Most are kids' movies, but that is kind of my life right now. Madagascar 2, HSM3, Bolt... I think I am missing one.

On a grown up note, I really want to see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It is not showing anywhere near here, of course. Now that I know it is a book, though... I'd like to read it before I see it anyway, so looks like I will have time before it goes to DVD. I'd also like to see The Secret Life of Bees. I didn't read this one until last week, so I looked at who was cast in the roles and the casting people did a great job. I did like the book for that one.

So, as I sit at home not going to the movies, I have watched a few movies this week. A good friend of ours let us borrow Tinkerbell. Cute. The girls really liked it and Bubba laughed out loud at a few parts. It wasn't too long so it kept their attention most of the time. It didn't keep my attention all of the time, but I had popcorn to make :-) It had a good lesson of learning to like who you are.

I also watched The Holiday on Encore. I liked it... it was WAY predictable but it had Jude Law in it (looking SO very good) and that can make up for the fluffy story line. Who wouldn't like to look at him for an hour and a half movie ;-)

I also watched Stranger than Fiction with Will Ferrell. Unlike my dear hubby, I am not a fan of the typical Will Ferrell stupid silly movies (Talladega Nights, Old School, etc). This movie, though, I liked. Really showed that he is a good actor, not just a comedian (not that there is anything wrong with being a comedian).

Anybody out there watch anything good lately?