Boo!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do the 'trick or treat' thing this year. Last year Lianna helped pass out candy to the other children, before she went out herself, and there were many very scary costumes. Some so scary, that she didn't want to answer the door anymore.

This year we played it safe and attended our church "Harvest Fest". There was a bounce house, hay ride, cake walk, bean bag toss and more. The kids had lots of fun, and collected a cookie jar full of candy. They're set for the next few months now. Here's a picture of our babies just before the fun got started.

Wet Noodles

My sweet sister in law recently broke out the wet noodles. The whippin' didn't really hurt (wet noodles hardly can) but the message was clear. More pictures of my niece and nephews. :) Well Carrie these are for you (and Nanna, Gram, Nene, Gina, Janie, GGrandmaT, GGrandmaS, and anyone else who loves my children).

We were outside playing today after naps. Please disregard the no pants no shoes look. We were in the backyard out of the view of the general public.

If you ever have trouble getting natural smiles out of a young child, here's my strategy. Start asking them to make silly faces. Growl, Frown, Cry, Scared etc and pretty soon they're cracking up at them selves and making real smiles instead of forced ones. Here's a snap of Lianna's scary face.

Here Brooks is after stealing Canaan's special blanket. See that mischievous playful grin? Does that look familiar to anyone?

Survival of the locationist?

So hurricane Ike was no dud like Gustav. He hit hard, and the strength of his winds were felt all the way up here and into north Texas. Thankfully he didn't bring too much rain, but many homes have been damaged from trees being blown over onto houses, car ports, power lines, even cows. That's right... D was telling me a cow on his lease needed to be put down after having a tree fall on it.

D and I fared very well. We had no damage to our home or vehicles, and the debris strewn about our yard was nothing 3-4 rakers and a couple hours couldn't handle. We lost power again, but only for... drum roll please... 18 hours! We spent one night without AC and lost none of our food. Our neighbors across the street (and I mean literally) didn't fair so well. They suffered no damage to property, but were without power for 7 days.

Darrell and I did our best to share the electric wealth. My friend from the other side of the street came over to blow dry her hair, another friend came to use the hot water in our shower, we became a store house for 2+ families' of food, and we had anywhere from 1-3 extra families over for dinner for several nights. It was actually fun to cook with friends and visit with neighbors. I was glad to have some quiet nights when all was over, but really enjoyed the fellowship as well.

The good thing that came out of all of this for me was that I realized I'd been relying on the TV way too much. Since the hurricane my children have been sitting in front of the box much less, and have been outside or playing with toys more often. I never was big on allowing them a lot of TV time, but had started relying on Sesame Street to occupy everyone while I tried to dress myself, and the boys.

On a different note: Brooks has bounced back from his surgery completely. He actually GAINED 5 pounds in the first two weeks afterward, and is trying desperately to eat us out of house and home. Doesn't he know we're on a budget?! Oh, I probably neglected to mention that as well, D and I have now been 'Gazelle Intense' for 1 month! Thanks Dave Ramsey!

Hurricane a Commin'!

We really got away well when Gustav came through. He watered our grass pretty well and cooled things off for a bit. Two days before we, and the rest of our small town, stocked up on water, batteries, and propane. We didn't end up needing any of it. Our lights never even flickered. Now our neighbors across the street lost their power for a few hours, but we were good to go.

Now Hurricane Ike is bearing down on the gulf coast of Texas and all of SE Houston has been evacuated. Schools and businesses are all closed from the coast all the way up to I20 apparently. Lianna doesn't have school in the morning, and all the public schools are closed as well. Many of the evacuees have headed this way and are taking shelter in churches and schools in town.

D said he should be home tomorrow after lunch. Wow! Thanks for the 1/2 day off work Ike! :D

However, there seems to be a bit more panic this time around too. There was a line at the gas stations today around lunch time... it was 6+ cars long by 6:00 this evening. Glad I filled up this morning before things got so hairy.

I wasn't as fortunate with the grocery shopping though. We always do our shopping on Thursdays. I have been going in the mornings while Lianna is at school, but today I was caring for my friend's 8 week old daughter and decided to wait to shop this afternoon. BIG mistake! The whole town was at Kroger this evening. I drove by at 5:00 and the parking lot was FULL. Um, did all 30,000 people decide to go grocery shopping at the same time? I dropped of the kids, and went by myself to get groceries at 6:15. I was in awe as I grabbed one of only two carts left and looked up to notice the line of people waiting to check out. WOW! The line was literally 25+ people long and all lanes were open. I put my cart back, turned around and walked out. I still have not groceries, but am going to go back late tonight, or early in the morning.
What disturbs me is that I may have to go to Walmart simply because they're more likely to be better stocked after experiencing a 'run on the store'.

Glad I found a sitter for the morning... looks like I'll have one more stop to make. Ugh!

Flying Colors

Well Brooks came out of surgery wonderfully. We arrived at the hospital right at 6:15 a.m. Lianna and Canaan spent the night across the street with their friends. Justin and Heather... Thank you so much for making this way easier on D and I. We are so blessed to have you two for neighbors.
After checking in at the nurses station, Brooks was weighed and measured, then we were shown to a patient room. Here we changed him into his hospital gown (he really didn't want to, but with a little coaxing we got it on). Not long after that a nurse checked his blood pressure and temperature, brought us a little bag of 'goodies' for him to play with, and then we waited. I guess at about 7:00 a nurse came in, gave Brooks a sedative and showed us to the OR holding area.
This is where my stress level and anxiety spiked. I actually had to excuse myself to the ladies room. Brooks was a champ though. We waited there for about an hour. The sedative made him kinda loopy. His eyes were very droopy and he was off balance. A sweet nurse came in and gave him the mouth piece for the anesthesia. It smelled like bubblegum and she explained to Brooks that they'd use it to blow up a balloon. Somehow he got that mixed up and kept talking about blowing bubbles with it. :)
I'm so thankful God brought many familiar faces by that morning. A friend and neighbor from church is a nurse anethesist and happened by while we were in holding. Our next door neighbor's son is a nurse as well, and he actually was the one to carry Brooks off to the OR. The president of the hospital came by as well. His daughter recently graduated high school and was in my bible study for 6 years. We also saw some sweet friends that apparently came by the hospital just to check on us. She was so thoughtful to offer to bring us dinner that night(and it was delicious!)
We waited in the OR waiting for about 30 minutes before the doctor came to give us a report. Everything went smoothly and Brooks was a champ. He said his adenoids were actually growing into his nasal cavity because they were so large. We waited maybe 20 minutes more before a nurse called and said Brooks was calling for me. Imagine me now, bolt out of my chair, leaving purse and bag behind and walk, Speedy Gonzales like, down the hall. I was so glad the nurse chose a quick pace as well (cause I didn't know where I was going).
When I walked in Brooks was crying and coughing and gaging and trying to crawl out of the hospital bed. I scooped him up in my arms, grabbed his blankey from the edge of his bed and sat in the chair a nurse brought for me. I spent the next ten minutes rocking and singing lullabies. Praise God he was consolable. He would cry and pull at his IV at times, but then he'd settle down into my chest and suck his thumb. When he 10 minutes were up, I carried him out of the Recovery Room where I met Darrell (carrying purse and bag... way to go D!) and we went back to the original Patient Room. There, I laid in bed with Brooks, we gave him a sippy cup of water/juice and he downed 1/2 of it in no time. The nurse then said she'd be right back to take out the IV. We hung out there for an hour, watching TV and calling friends and family while Brooks dozed off an on. Then we took our baby home.
He's been eating well and is staying hydrated. After these first two days, the pain should improve and I wont need to wake up at 1:30 a.m. to give him pain meds any more. Please pray he will continue to eat and drink and that I will be creative in finding yummy soft foods he can eat, and that I will be able to find quiet, easy fun things to do to keep him busy during the day. They don't want him running and jumping or over exerting himself for 2 weeks! Yikes! Don't they know what 2 year old kids are like?

You think we should... what?

My middle child, for as long as I can remember, has always gotten sick so much more easily than his sister and brother and always had really high temps when he was sick. I remember one year, he wasn't even a year old yet, and he started running 105 while we were in Houston visiting family. We took him to an emergency clinic and they couldn't find anything wrong. Ears and throat looked perfectly normal. In the last couple of months Brooks has been to the doctor at least once a month for 'something'. Most recently it was for another fever above 103.5 and some random low grade (101/102) temps off an on for 2-3 weeks. Does that make sense? I mean, he'd run a temp one day, and then be fine, and have a fever again 4 days later. This went on for about 2-3 weeks. His pediatrician noted his large tonsils, and swollen glands and mentioned that she'd made note of similar things happening earlier in the year. But still ears were fine, and no strep in his throat. Another unexplained high temp. Ugh

Well finally, we decided it was time to see an ENT. Don't you love it when nurses and doctors use adjectives? As parents we only ever see our own kids, so we don't have anything really to compare things against. So when we first walked into the nurses office/exam area and she noted that Brooks's tonsils were 'practically kissing back there' I thought... ooooh... that isn't good. We didn't have to wait long for the doctor to come in and give Brooks a once over. While discussing symptoms and asking questions the doctor described Brooks's adenoids using the word 'monstrous'. By this time, it was not a surprise to me that he thought we should have them taken out.

Brooks is 2.5 years old, but he is scheduled for his first surgery on Wednesday, September 3rd at 7:30 a.m. I'm sure if you're a mother, I don't have to tell you how incredibly nervous I am. This perfectly qualified anesthesiologist is going to put Brooks under, they will give him an IV, and then our new ENT is going to go down my son's throat and cut out pieces of his body. Then when he wakes up, I've been told to be prepared for some freaking out, screaming, and a child that cant be consoled. My guess is screaming and crying after throat surgery isn't a good thing, so I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for all of this ahead of time.

What scares me the most, is putting myself into his shoes. How do you explain to a 2.5 year old that this doctor is going to take you away into a strange room and give you some silly air to breathe, then cut things out while you're asleep, and I'll be right by his side when you wake up. He's never been to this hospital... he's only seen this doctor and his nurse once, and I'm just not sure what I can do to make anything go more smoothly.

In the end, I know he'll be better for it. If I wasn't certain of that, we wouldn't have scheduled the surgery. He'll be healthier, eat better, probably fill out more, and have more energy after all this is over. Mommy just has to make it through Wednesday morning.

Last Firsts

We've been experiencing a lot of these with Canaan. Because he is our last child, I've been trying to make a point to really enjoy all of his accomplishments. When he first smiled, I realized that was the last "first smile" we'd ever have. The same when he first sat up, or rolled over (but not in that order). Well Wednesday was a very special day. We experienced our last set of first steps. Canaan finally found the confidence he needed to take his first steps. Any other time we'd tried to encourage this landmark ability, he'd just sit his little bottom down.

Darrell had the grand idea to stand Canaan up about 2-3 feet away, but facing the couch. When he let go of Canaan, instead of sitting, our little boy took 2-3 steps and reached the couch! It was a monumental moment with lots of cheering. We did it several times so Lianna and Brooks could experience it with us. We're all excited, but no one as much as Lianna. She knew we were waiting for Canaan to start walking before we take our family camping trip. It has therefore been scheduled for mid-October, and she cant wait. :D

Will add pictures or video as soon as I can capture this new skill on tape/CF card/or whatever.

Salt and Pepper

Is your marriage FireProof? D and I has an awesome privilege with a handful of Grace Bible Church ministry leaders to view a special pre-screening of the movie FireProof. It stars Kirk Cameron... remember him?... and was created by this mega church in Georgia and thousands of volunteers. Did you see Facing the Giants? Same church.

FireProof is going to be an awesome outreach tool, and an awesome way to open the door to conversations with friends and neighbors about Christ and his design for marriage. I'm so stoked about this... it's a great movie, the acting, well... there's been better, but it's great given ALL the cast were volunteers. All time favorite quote from the movie goes something like this... Being fireproof doesn't mean you'll never experience a fire, but that you'll be prepared for it when it comes.

This movie really does a great job on touching on real problems people experience, real sins people have to work through and real variety of advice you get from friends, both good and bad. It's a fight, but it is SO worth fighting! And this movie is SO worth seeing! It opens in theatres on September 26th.

What does this movie have to do with salt and pepper? You'll have to watch it to see. :D

Duplicate

I posted these on my business blog because, technically it was a 'shoot'. However, the client never paid, and the little girl photographed is mine. (wait, can I be my own client?) :) I took Lianna out Saturday morning because I wanted to remember her at 4 years old. I think I'm going to try to do this with all my kids. For every birthday we'll go somewhere fun and funky and try something new or just be together and take pictures. Just me and her/him. Well I dressed Lianna in a fun sassy outfit, and we went to the SFA parking garage! Ha! Like I said... something different. :D

My apologies to those who frequent my photog blog as well... these will be a repeat for you.

Now back to watching the olympics! I'm SO addicted.

New Additions

I'm so thrilled to announce that today, my brother and sister-in-law are in the hospital. :D Seems like an odd thing to say, but they're due to have their first child, a girl, within a few hours. This will be my very first neice (I have no nephews either) so I'm excited to be an aunt, and excited that Lianna, Brooks, and Canaan will have a cousin! They do however live in California, so we wont be seeing them much this year, but, there has been much talk of a move to Texas within the next year. Congratulations AJ and Stephanie, and welcome Audrey Marcella!

Open Mouth Insert Foot

For once, I'm not the one with the foot hanging out, but have been the recipient of a mouth+foot moment. Tonight D and I dressed up a little and went to church for the SOS Banquet. We enjoyed a crazy weekend where 8+ young men camped out on our living room floor for two nights. Lianna L-O-V-E-D it! I think she felt like the miraculously adopted 8+ big brothers. :D

Anyway, they closed the weekend with a banquet. D put on a nice button up collared shirt and I donned my most favorite baby doll dress. I call it that because it's very fitted around the chest, with lots of roushing (ok, have no idea how to spell that word but that's not the point) but it gives me a lovely full chested look. ;) The skirt poofs a little and hits me just below the knee, to hide a bit of a post baby pooch I'm still carrying.

An acquaintance approaches me (I really don't even know her name) at a table where I'm trying to keep my children occupied while we wait for dinner to be served and congratulates me. Um... thanks? She asks, is there something I should be congratulating you for? I say, um... no. Don't think so. Her response? Well... congratulations on looking so cute in that pretty dress. OMG! That conversation didn't just happen did it? I'm so mortified!

Wait... it gets worse.

Thirty minutes later, I'm waiting in line to get food for the children and a better acquaintance. One whose name I DO know, greets me in line and asks how I've been feeling. Confused, I say I've been great. Then she reaches out... oh yeah... you know where this is going... and pats my stomach and says she didn't know I was expecting. AAAAaaaaahhhh! I'm Not!

The rest of the evening is a depressing blur of replaying events over and over in my head, and snapping at my children for most anything. Ugh! I don't think I can ever wear my favorite dress again.

For a visual: I SO do NOT look pregnant!

Impromptu Silliness

I was preparing to snap a couple pictures for my neighbor for her Join the Journey entry that she and her son wrote, but while I waited on them to come over, I took advantage of the pretty light and photographed my 3 favorite subjects again.

Pictures from the royal gala

Things really went well, except for one little girl missing out on the pinata. I really should have gone out there and organized our dragon slaying a little more. As it was, he was half dead by the time I made it outside, and poor "B" missed out on all the fun cause she was in the little princess's room. Otherwise, everything went relatively smoothly. Only the dragon was slayed, no other injuries to knights, princesses, or parent by-standers. The cake looked pretty good considering it was home made, and transitions between activities went smoothly. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

A little lopsided, but very yummy. ;)

Ever wonder what girls would do if they ever waiting on boys? Why primp and twirl of course.

Happy birthday to Lianna!

Mmmmm... strawberry cake and ice cream.

Thanks "E" , I love Barbies!

Oooh, what could it be?
Look Mommy! Whitley got me a pink sleeping bag!

Fun was had by all. I'm exhausted, but already starting to think about January when Brooks turns three... hmmmm airplanes maybe?

Party Preparations...

So Saturday is the big day. The Thornton home will be transformed into a castle and filled with lots of princesses and knights. D and I have been busy making swords and shields for the event. I'm going to attempt my first castle cake and hope it looks something like this and this put together. I'll do my best to put someone in charge of a camera so parts of the day will be recorded. Wish me luck, oh and pray only the dragon is slayed, and no princesses. ;)

Bed Buddies

If you'll remember back a couple weeks ago, I posted about the trouble I was having with Brooks climbing into bed with his baby brother. Click here for a review. Well last night I was in the shower when D popped in and said Brooks was asleep in Canaan's bed. Nothing out of the ordinary... until he started to describe to me how they were laying. He said, "imagine them laying on their backs, bottoms together with their feet intertwined." My first thought, "You HAVE to get the camera!" (I'm sopping wet with shaving cream on my legs or I would have done it) So when I finally dry off he's laying in the bed camera in hand. When he turns it around for me to see... well, here's the image. Isn't this just the sweetest thing ever?!?

Time flies when you're busy

Okay, so it's almost July, and I haven't posted since Canaan's birthday!?! Man, I'm behind! Well I do have good reason.

*Caution Big huge run-on story ahead*

Lianna went home with Nanna after Canaan's birthday, so the next week I toted the boys to Houston to go get her. On our way home Wednesday, Brooks started throwing up. By Friday he was feeling much better, but by then Lianna, Darrell and I were puking. Canaan was the only one who escaped the bug. My mother had also texted me early Friday morning about 5:30 a.m. (I know the time because I was up listening to D puke) to tell me my grandmother had passed away. She was 85 and lived a full life and was in ill health the last 3 years or so. Is it terrible that I was actually relieved when she told me? I was so glad for her to be in a better place, with a new body. She now knows who she is and all her memories back. Anyway two days later, we've recovered from the bug and D leaves for Missouri with the church youth group for 5 days. Meanwhile, I travel to Shreveport to pick up my sister, and brother who are flying in for our grandmother's funeral and take them (and the children) to Houston. We spend a few days there visiting family and eating at yummy restaurants. When we come home my sister starts puking. Ugh! Are you kidding me? D gets back from Missouri the next day, and thankfully my sister is well enough to fly home as scheduled. The whole family takes the trip to Shreveport to see them off on Friday evening. Saturday brings a photo shoot (see the "do over" post in my business blog) and a birthday party. I then have the rest of the weekend to decompress. Ahhhh. We have a good 3 or 4 days of our normal routine before Brooks starts to run fever. It's not that high (101... remember Brooks is my 103/104 kid) so D and I decide to continue with our plans for date night Thursday. We celebrate our anniversary in Lufkin with dinner and a movie. But I must mention, I got roses (18 beautiful red ones) for the first time in a long long time. The last time I got flowers was for my birthday back before Lianna was born. I felt very loved and very special. We arrive home that night and Brooks had thrown up and was running 103.8. Ugh! See what I mean!?! Friday I take him to the doctor and well, now it's Sunday night, and he's improved, but not better. The other two have fared much better, Canaan only has the crud, no fever; and Lianna has had some low grade fevers but no crud. Go figure! I hope you guys have had a much better month of June. I feel like most of mine was spent in the car, cleaning puke, or being under quarantine.

Firsts

First Haircut -

On June 7, 2008 Canaan received his first haircut. I had just woken him from a nap so he was still a little sleepy when our famous "kitchen beautician" began her work. He did great! Darrell's mom held Canaan in her lap so D could tend to our other guests, and I could snap pictures. Here are the highlights.

Dude! I just woke up, what is Miss Chris doing, and why is everyone looking at me?






Doesn't he look handsome!?! I'm not sure if the look of shock is from realizing he'll never look like my baby again, or realizing that Daddy got a fancy new (to him) camera off EBay, so essentially mom has two now. :D Ha!

First Birthday Cake -

I got all creative and made this cute little caterpillar cake for Canaan's birthday. I know, no big surprise to those of you who've seen my flip - flop and choo choo train cakes. I thought a caterpillar was fitting given Canaan's preferred mode of transportation up until he was 11 months old. I did however completely forget to take a picture. Imagine a bunt cake cut in half, and then shifted and put back together to make a long "S" (or caterpillar) shape. Then coated in green icing and some random orange and red designs. It probably could have been prettier, but it certainly tasted good. Canaan seemed to like it too!

Notice the match used for a candle. Yeah... after 10 minutes of searching for birthday candles I KNOW I have, I gave up, and agreed to use a match as D suggested.

The whole hand approach. He actually did just stick one finger in the icing at first, but one taste was all it took and he started in with all four fingers.

Oh yeah... this is the life!

So happy!

Happy Birthday Baby!

Well my little boy turned one on Tuesday, June 3rd. At first it doesn't seem like a big deal... after all we've celebrated 1st birthdays twice before. However, Canaan's is different. I'm experiencing this sweet sadness along with the joy of seeing him learn and grow. See, he's my last baby (God willing ;D) and so this is essentially my last first birthday, until we have grand kids, but that's not happening soon... I mean really, Lianna's not even 4 yet.

To fuel these emotions a little more, I've agreed to have Canaan's hair cut for the first time on Saturday. See according to Darrell, Canaan came out needing a hair cut. I've held him off for a year now, but the deal was, we weren't going to cut his hair until he was at least one, and well, now he's one. As most of you mothers know, after that first haircut the baby in them just seems to dissapear. Those sweet baby curls never come back (or are never allowed to because before they can it's haircut time again). I suffered through this last summer with Brooks, but he was almost 18 months old. The difference is, he was born almost completely bald, and hardly had any hair until he was a year old, while his brother had a head full of dark hair at birth.

Brooks' first hair-cut... May 31st, 2007

A recent photo of my sweet Canaan. I'll post his haircut pictures over the weekend.

Oh and for those of you who are concerned about my one year old having a "high and tight" (the only haircut D knows how to do); I'm having a professional come over to cut Canaan's. He's too young for the military look in my opinion. We'll do clean cut, with a little length on top I think. :)

It's so hard when they're so sweet

For the past week or so, during nap time and bed time, D and I have been having a small problem with Brooks and Canaan playing in bed. I love that my boys are old enough now to play together, and that they enjoy each other. I honestly don't mind if they want to talk and laugh even after they've been tucked in. However, a problem arises when Brooks docent stay in his bed. On several occasions this is what we come to find when checking on them after bedtime.




Darrell even found them laying down together one morning (we seriously think they may have stayed the night in there together), though usually Brooks just climbs in there early in the morning to play. It's so sweet, yet, against the rules! I'm torn not knowing what to do... so today, I just decided to take a picture! Ha!

PS. for those that don't know, Brooks sleeps in a bottom bunk in the same room. He apparently just loves climbing into the crib to be with his little brother.

Can I Brag a Little?

I've suspected this for a while, but now I'm just sure of it. I have the best husband in the entire world. If any of you know my man, you know he is goofy, funny, and loves to tease. If you know him well, you know he enjoys being a father and loves to spend time with his family. If you know him as well as I do, you know he's not one to back down from a challenge (not the peer pressure kind, but the kind where he is challenged to grow and become a better man) and he's always ALWAYS there if someone needs help.

I was further blessed within the last few weeks because he willingly took all three kids over the weekend while I went out of town, not once, but twice! That's right, and to top it off, on one of those occasions he even took a 1/2 day off work to boot! You have to admit not many men will do that, and most of those that do, well, they often recruit help in one form or another. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not belittling those men that do call their moms and ask if he and the kids can come over for dinner while their wives are away; I'm just saying, my man willingly took on the responsibility with no help what-so-ever!

Pretty good huh? Ha! It gets better! When I returned from my most recent trip away, I came home to a floor that had been vacuumed. Um, no, Lianna isn't big enough to do that yet, MUST have been my hubby! Wait! Wait! It gets better still. He then proceeded to tell me that the kitchen had been swept and mopped as well! Oh My God! Really!? Seriously!?

I love my husband. I really do. He really and truly supports me in all I aspire to do and become. *sigh*

Forever 18

This weekend I took 3 beautiful 18 year old young women with me to Houston. That's right!... another fun trip for me full of fun restaurants and shopping. You see, these lovely young women have a special place in my heart. They have been in my youth group bible study since they were in the 8th grade. They are now seniors in high school and about to test out their wings in this great big world. So, we naturally needed to celebrate this wonderful transition in their lives. We drove to Houston, stayed in a 4 star hotel, ate at the Taste of Texas (and yes...we all ordered steaks and finished them!), shopped Memorial City Mall all day on Saturday and jammed to the radio all the way home. While shopping we hit places like Fossil, Guess, Express, Forever 21 and Dillard's (we did stop in New York and Co and Ann Taylor Loft for me). Nothing I can think of will make a 30 year old woman feel 18 again, like spending the weekend with 3 sassy 18 year olds.

Alas I forgot my camera. I know, I'm a photographer, but if you know me, you pretty much know, I never have my camera with me (unless I've got a shoot scheduled). I will post pictures as soon as I get them from my girls. :)

Lesson for the Day

How to remove melted plastic Walmart bag/bread bag from your glass top stove:

• Step 1 : With great haste remove the Walmart bag containing loafs of bread.
• Step 2: Check loafs of bread for holes.
• 2a: If you find a large hole: slip loaf of bread into a old emptied bread bag.
• 2b: If you find a small hole: use wide roll of masking tape to cover the hole.
• 2c: If no holes are found, you're luckier than I was.
• Step 3: Allow plastic to dry for 4 days and use other three burners until you think of how to remove it.
• Step 4: Try peeling plastic bag remnants off stove. (if plastic remains, see step 5)
• Step 5: Try scraping plastic off with thin plastic spatula. (if plastic remains, see step 6)
• Step 6: Use a sharp metal wood chisel you find in husbands garage to carefully scrape up the remains, without scratching glass surface.
• Step 7: If 6 is still no help, you're worse off than I was, just go buy a new stove.

*Above all else, make a mental note to warn husband BEFORE he puts groceries down on counter and glass top stove, that the stove is still hot.

Front Yard Fun

My children love playing in the front yard. It's true, our back yard is great. There is a new swing set/slide/fort back there, as well as shovels for digging, dump trucks for pushing and a lawn mower in case someone wants to help daddy mow. However, in the front yard, there is a greater chance of seeing the children across the street. Lianna and Brooks love their neighbor friends. They seem to have the best toys too. Though they might argue that our toys are more fun. You know, the grass is always greener...

Here are some fun snaps of our evening together last week: