lately....

Lately around our house..

Ava was in the Clayton times a few weeks ago for being the Student of the Month. We are so proud of her. She is loving school and doing great- she has informed her teacher that she is a genius and is ready to go on to the first grade. She is still into Taylor Swift and loves listening to her ipod and performing concerts to anyone that will sit there and watch her. She wants to be 7 so bad it is killing her- not sure what is supposed to happen at 7 but in her world it will be the greatest thing ever... Ava and Nathan took home the bowling trophy- after dinner we play bowling on the wii- we get into teams and it gets serious!

Ethan is the Pixo King! He loves to do Pixo's and is so excited that he has done more than Ava. He has started t-ball and Nathan is the coach and Ethan loves that- one night after a game some of the boys were not listening and Ethan very dramatically told me how "THE COACH almost got them in trouble"- Ethan's way of saying they got in trouble with the coach. Ethan also informed me since he is go good, he wants me to start giving him money on days he goes to school and gets a check for good behavior, and he wants the big money so he can buy his own lunch. Ethan and I play the StarWars Wii in the morning when Cullen takes a nap and we are on a roll. Ethan is getting so tall- I can't believe he will be 5 in a few months!

Cullen... oh, so much to say about this one.... He has learned how to drive Ethan's four wheeler. see video below- Ethan learned at 3 years old and Cullen is 17mths old- Cullen loves to play hide-n-seek, he will cover his eyes and then run to find you- it is the cutest thing and when he hides it is always in the same spot- Ethan's tent- and if you don't find him quickly he will start to call you- He is still growling- he also has decided he does not need his hands or a fork to eat with - his mouth will do just fine- like an animal- and he has a new best friend "puppy" he pulls the string and the puppy follows him- this also is the cutest thing ever- Cullen wants to do whatever Ethan is doing and since it is t-ball -that is what Cullen is doing- he got his first big boy haircut the other day at the barber shop and I asked him was he going to sit there and be a good boy like Ethan- he looked at the barber and said "No" while shaking his head- and guess what- he was telling the truth!

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Cullen is now banned from a Farm in Clayton

Well let me start off by saying I am headed to the nearest Target to buy a "leash" for my 17 month old. I swore I would never be one of "those" moms that hook their kids to one of those things... but after today I have changed my mind...

Ethan had a field trip with his class to Hidden Valley Wonders in Clayton. A lovely Christian family had the cutest little farm and they opened it up to the public. I had never been before so I did not know what to expect so I took the stroller b/c I did not have anything else and I assumed it would be ok.. Not ok..

It was hilly, grassy, muddy.... just like a farm- So Cullen had to run free most of the time. Which he was in heaven and I was out of my mind.

First things first: Rules of the farm: Rule #1 No Squealing - Cullen broke this rule the second we got there.
Rule #2 No getting near or in the water- Cullen broke that rule after he got in the creek and broke rule #1 while I was getting him out.

Rule #3 No chasing the animals- Again Cullen broke that rule when he got in the pin with the Goats and proceeded to chase them down with a stick and then crawl into their Goat house (which I can tell you they did not like very much) and tried to drink their water that was in a water bowl. I guess he thought he had found some friends-

Rule #4 And the most important stay with your parents at all times! and as you can imagine Cullen broke this one also-

I was not asked to leave but I was given a very stern look and I am sure they took a picture of my son and posted it up with a note saying: "People Never allowed at our Farm again".

Go figure I forget my camera which I never do... but I would not have had time to take any pictures thanks to Cullen-

All in all it was a good day for my sweet and well behaved Ethan!

I'm officially scared of my 17 month old.

Cullen's new thing.... when he wants me to do something he growls at me... No one else just me.

When he wants juice... he point to the refrig and says "mama grrrrrr"
When he wants me to hold him....he hold up his arms and says "mama grrrrrrrrrr"
When he wants to go to sleep.... he gets his nite-nite and says "mama grrrrrrrrrr"

I could go on and on.... I am trying to get this on video b/c I am sure you have a hard time believing sweet, cute, innocent Cullen would do such a thing....

So YES, now I am officially scared of my 17 month old little lion...

and don't dare try to pet the little lion when he is in a bad mood b/c he bites also!

my prayer today

Dear Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with 3 beautiful, healthy, smart children. From the time I was a little girl I knew I wanted to be a mommy one day. I would take care of my kids, play with them, teach them things, take them to fun places and most of all love them with everything I am. But Lord, you did not warn me.... on how hard it would be being a mom. My heart is sad this morning Lord and I need you to help me be the best mother I can be and when the kids act out, be with me so I can stand my ground giving them the correct punishment they deserve- so they will grow up and be loving, honest, caring people that love you and strive to be the best they can be.

amen

Ding-Dong goes the Bell

I had to blog this because it made Nathan and I laugh!
The other day Ethan came home and told me his friend called him a bad name. I asked him what was it and he said a "bell". Well I explained to him that was not a bad word. Ethan is a sensitive little boy and he takes things the wrong way sometimes which I thought had happened in the case. So I was talking to the little boys mom (who is a friend of mine) and we got to talking about the kids and I told her what Ethan had said. She could not figure out what her child could have been trying to say so she thought about it and a few hours later she called me and said, "I got it... I know what he said! He said, ding-dong".. I just laughed b/c Ethan associated the word "ding-dong" with the word bell, which he was right but he told me the wrong word!
The minds of a 4 year old!

a bit of entertainment courtesy of Cullen

for entertainment he does not read books, play with trucks, blocks or toys..... nope... he does this!

in the tub, on the floor, on the stairs and on the wall.......enjoy!

Less is More

No I am not talking about clothes! I am talking about stuff- all this stuff we have.
The week after Christmas I was going through all the toys and things the kids got for Christmas and I started thinking about all the stuff we have. First, let me start by saying I have never really been a "collector" of anything. The more stuff you have the more you have to dust! So our attic is not full at all. We have holiday decorations, luggage and baby clothes that is it.
I began to go through my cabinets, every cabinet in the house/closet too- and if I have not used it in a year, I don't need it. I did the same with the kids. They went through all their stuff and we started a goodwill pile. I wish I could have taken a picture of this pile. I have a 2 car garage and it was so much stuff I could not park my car in it. It took me several trips to goodwill. So my motto from now on is "Less is More."
Don't buy it unless we need it. And if you want it we need to wait a few months and if we still just have to have it then we get it. NOT talking about toys.... Kids are getting toys at b-day and Christmas only. It is a shame that they had that many toys they have not even played with.
Last week I found 3 toys still in boxes from Christmas..... NO MORE. This year Christmas is going to be A LOT different. Maybe if we can de-clutter our lives a little we can focus on the important things in life rather than all that stuff.......