Help!!! Dilemma!!!

Dag-nab-it!!!!! I washed my cell phone in the clothes washer. I know someone who recently did this and her phone actually started working after a couple of days. I just can't remember who it was.

Oh I hope my phone will survive.


Dilemma:
Fact 1: I got the bedding for the boys bedroom today. It doesn't look as cute as in the picture.
Fact 2: My friend Doris found the bedding that I truly wanted with the monkeys on it.
Fact 3: One son likes what I got today and wants to keep it. But he does like the pillow.
Fact 4: The other son doesn't like either one, but likes the monkey's better
Fact 5: I would lose $17 plus whatever it takes to ship the bedding back
Fact 6: The monkey bedding is $70 more. ***Update: It's only $22.00 more without buying the monkey pillow and with the 10% coupon I found.***
Fact 7: The green in the bedding I got today doesn't match the room
Fact 8: I really LOVE the monkey bedding! and I think it would match better.
Fact 9: update: Greg- I REALLY WANT IT


HELP!!!!

They are so cute. Atleast I think so!

My Beautiful Children!

Even though they all had different places in mind to get their picture taken, we were able to actually get this picture taken today and they all looked at the camera.

Ashley has her dress on and she likes it. And she brought her baby "Mandy" with her (dressed). I was really pleased to see that the boys already had shirts to match their sister.

I have some friends who get absolutely tremendous pictures with lots of kids. I just don't know how they do it. Well I know having the nice Cannon SLR camera is a big plus. But just getting the kids to co-operate and look in the same direction is hard enough!

bowling

These are the outfits nana and papa got. They are so cute. But I really think Mason looks like a baseball player in his outfit.


I took the kids bowling for the first time today. I thought they would really like it. And they did for the first 5 frames and then it went downhill. And it went downhill really fast! Today has been a really exhausting day. The kids have been really naughty. I think they are just tired and overstimulated with all the birthday presents. I need to get rid of some things, but I'm not sure what to get rid of. EVERYTHING I take out of the house and put in the garage, Austin asks where it is by name.

So I wonder when things will get back to normal? We go to the Bounce factory tomorrow. Maybe someone will let me sleep in tomorrow.

By the way I will never go back to the Cumberland Bowling lanes again. The woman there was so rude. I have thought about writing a letter. Too many things to go into right now. She was just so "inconvenienced" by us.

Well---good night.

Birthday Bash

Wow what a day! It was fun but crazy!

This morning I put some of Aussie's favorite shoes on him. They were a little tight and he said, "Mom these are for 3 year olds." LOL!

Then I dropped them off and headed to Target. I got there at just the right time. They were marking LOTS and LOTS of toys down 75% off. It was amazing. So I got $40 worth of toys for their birthday today.
Let's see if I can remember everything:
3 sky dancers that blow bubbles at $3.74 each
Prince Stefan (Barbie/Ken doll) for $2.74
Acoustic guitar for $7.22
Barbie purse with keys, cell phone, compact for $4.98
Playdoh kit for $2.46
Big Pink Pony stuffed animal for $4.98
A Thomas Train set for $3.24
Hello Kitty doll for $1.74

Before you think how amazing my memory is...I went and got my receipt.

So then I came back home and my inlaws had just about got the beds put together. So we finished getting the rooms together, wrapped several presents and then it was time to pick them up.

The poor kids were only allowed to see there room and not open any presents until Daddy got home. What am I saying poor KIDS. POOR ME!! I had to deal with kids not getting there presents right away. So we gave in a little bit, first they got a present from their cousin. Cute Cute chairs with cup holders. This held them over for a good 30 minutes. Then they were allowed to open Nana's presents. They got some CUTE clothes. I'll have to let them wear them tomorrow and take pictures. Then they kept begging to open more. Finally I let them open one present...then of couse they wanted more. Well, I stopped there and said we have to wait until Daddy gets home. Then the begging and the nagging really stepped up. When will Daddy be home? How many minutes? I almost put Austin to bed without opening ANY presents. So Greg calls and says he will be leaving on time. Hip hip hooray! He got home 15 minutes later than usual. So then the kids had to wait until Daddy got home and then ate his dinner. But when they finally got to open their presents they went crazy.

I was going to have their birthday cake on Saturday, but we ended up having ice cream cake tonight. Yum Yum Yum!!!!! Here are a few pictures of them enjoying their new toys. I hope you enjoy.




P.S. I'm so glad 3 is over! I'm looking forward to a wonderful year of them being 4.

Also, Greg asked Ashley if she wanted him to put up rails so she wouldn't fall out of bed. She apparantly gave him "the LOOK". So here she is tucked in with no rails.

Bedrooms

They LOVE their new rooms!




I'll have to blog again later. This is the only thing we allowed them to see until Daddy gets home. They want to open up their presents so bad!

Twas the night before their birthday

I'm tired. I don't really have much to report today.

My inlaws made it here safely. The kids really enjoyed playing chase with Nana.

Tomorrow is the day. For some reason I'm getting worried about how they will like their new rooms. I've got a lot of work to do to get things ready for them. I wanted to do some tonight, but I'm just falling asleep.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight and got the last of the birthday presents. Holy cow, everything is so expensive. I just felt sick when I spent another $150 on birthday stuff. That is probably why I'm so nervous about what they will think.

Christmas in July

Sunday, Ashley wore the first dress I made for her. And I got lots of compliments on it. I was feeling pretty good about myself making 2 dresses without a pattern and they turned out pretty nice. So today, I attempted to make the doll a dress that matched. It sure humbled me! Oh my! I made it 3 times and it still is not great. I got so frustrated, it about drove me to drink. (but instead of driving to Sonic and getting my favorite rootBEER- I chose to stick it out at home and finish it up.) It will have to do, I just have to move on.


We went to Chick-Fil-A tonight. The theme tonight was Christmas in July. Santa Claus was there and we got this cute picture taken. They gave this picture to us for free. I just love Tuesday night Chick-Fil-A! The whole family eats for $6.

I sure was not as productive today as I was yesterday. So it's 10:46PM and I'm tired and I just have to get several things done before tomorrow.

So good night for now.

productive day

Well I did it. I went with the quilt set below. I really like it and it will grow with them. And really it's all about me right? Just kidding. So I will get the character sheets that they want and we will all be happy.

Now for the room. All I have to do is put a little navy and red somewhere else in the room to create a visual triangle, right?

Wow today has been a very productive day. I got a lot of cleaning done!!! I was in the mood to clean. I don't know the last time I have ever been in the mood to clean. I'm not sure that I ever have been in the mood before. Anyway, I made a sizeable difference today. Mason looked at the kitchen and said, "Daddy will be so happy." awwwww! And even though they didn't help clean up the kitchen they all ran to Daddy and said, "WE cleaned up the kitchen." They did help pick up their toys in the toy room though. I really need to have another productive day tomorrow too.

Today I had some special time with just Ashley. They all LOVE to play and write words on the computer. Most of the time she will type jibberish. But today, she typed words. I would say the sound and she would find the letter and type it. Here was her list of words: ASHLEY DADDY MOMMY UNCLE WES BLANKIE CAMERA LIST TORNADO. I was so proud of her. She rarely shows me how "smart" she is. She tends to take the back seat around the boys. But this time it was just her and me.





Then I had some special time with just Austin. He is SO interested in tornadoes. So last night I showed Mason and Austin some video clips on the internet of tornadoes. And today Austin just wanted to know more. So we looked up some more things about tornadoes. We learned several things. And he said to me, "Mommy, are you learning me about tornadoes?" I said, "I am teaching you about tornadoes." But he now knows that a tornado occurs when the hot air meets the cold air. And he knows (and I know) what a vortex is. I showed him how there is a vortex when you flush the toilet. I also found a craft where we can make a tornado with 2 2liter bottles. So I guess I'll have to buy a couple so I can make it for them. He is so inquisitive. He just blows me away!






So I cleaned and I taught. What an excellent day. (Mason took this picture.)

Should I go for it or keep on looking?

I like this one. And it is an excellent price too. It doesn't match their room...but I really like it.
So what do you think? Should I keep on looking or go for it?

Sunday happenings

My friend Doris is very wise! She suggested that I just get them sheets right now; and I can wait until I find something I really like for the quilt or comforter. It's summer and they really don't need it right now anyways. So I have time. Wow Doris! It's hard to give someone "time" but you actually managed to do it. :)

Of course I still spent all my 'free' time looking up children's bedding on the internet today.

I think I will let them pick out their own sheets. I know Austin wants Thomas the Tank engine. I have no idea what Mason will pick. He is a follower, so I bet he will get the same as Austin OR he will be persuaded by his sister somehow on what to get.

Well I really need to get my act together this week. I've got a lot to get done before their birthday. (Including cleaning the house) Why is cleaning such a chore? Anyway, my inlaws and neice are coming for the kids' birthday. I don't know what day they will be here. If they are here on Thursday, maybe they can help me set up the boys beds. (***hint hint hint*** if you are reading this.)

Oh something cute happened today at Pizza Hutt. We sat next to table who had at least one deaf person sitting at the table. Austin was quite fascinated with them doing sign language. He turned to us and said, "look they are doing sign language". Then he said, "sign language is MY exercise" Then he just starts moving his hands like he was talking. It was so cute. Then he showed Greg 2 signs that he made up. The first one meant 'it's slippery' and the second one meant, 'don't fall in the hole' . I got a picture of that one.

WooooHooooooo!

God is Good!

I got wonderful twin beds that can be made into bunk beds for $100.00. I am jumping up and down. Here is a picture of one of the beds at the house I bought it. I will have pictures of both rooms on Thursday when I have them all set up for their birthday. I felt doubly good, when I went to see the beds and told them how excited I was. The guy said, "Well God just orchestrated this very well." It is a young couple getting married next month and they just bought a queen size bed. And they needed the bunk beds out so they had a place for their new bed. I'm just so tickled!

I went to Scrap It today. I only got one 2 page layout done. Most of the day was spent talking and calling Target stores to find the bedding I want to get the boys. Unfortunately, all of the Targets don't carry it anymore and they didn't have anything left. I looked it up on Ebay and found them there for double the price they were sold at Target. So does anyone know of where I can find some cute boy bedding? I really don't want to buy Thomas the Tank Engine comforters if I can help it.

And while I was at Scrap It, my friend Jill told me about a great sale Publix was having on cereal. So I went and stocked up. It was buy one get one free and then there was a coupon for 75c off 2. And then they had those little bags of teddy grahams on sale for buy one get one free and a coupon with that for $2.00 when you purchase 4. I racked up on some great deals.

Well thanks for your prayers, I can't wait to get everything set up for them. Anyone want to come over and help me decorate?

Things they have said

Mason was typing on the computer and I asked him what he was doing. He said, "Oh I'm just doing busy work." When he got done he said, "Wow, that was HARD work." Where in the world did he get I'm just doing busy work? I thought that was cute.

At dinner time I was asking the kids who will pray. Usually Mason points to me and says, "you do it." This time I said, "Austin we never get to hear you pray, will you please pray?" He said, "OK but I'm not going to say it the old way.....Dear God in Heaven is the old way....I'm going to sing." I said ok. I was expecting him to sing a little song that maybe he heard at school. So out of his mouth for a prayer he sings, "I want them to go away....." I'm rolling my eyes. I just stopped him and said, "I'll pray". How can I teach him?

So last night, I told Ashley I was not able to find the horse that she wanted for her birthday. She said, "Welllllllll, you can just go to another store and find it." Then I said, if I can not get it, what else would she like to have. I told her to think about it. So she thought about it a little bit and she said, "I want a snowman and snow." LOL! I don't think I can get that either!

I plan on scrapbooking at Scrap It tomorrow- any of you locals want to join me?

beds-say a little prayer

Ok prayer warriors...please say a little prayer for us to get twin beds or bunk beds. I just saw where someone is giving away 2 twin beds. I have emailed them and have not heard a reply yet. OH PLEASE! OH PLEASE! This would be perfect for their birthday. I also saw someone selling wood bunk beds for $100. This doesn't include the mattresses. So this could get very pricey.

With Ashley getting her own room, I'm afraid the boys are going to be jealous. It would just be so nice to do something different with their room. So if I am not able to get the beds, do any of you have any suggestions of what I can do for the boys?

What do you think about me putting the train table in their room? Do you think this would cause too much trouble at bedtime? Right now we don't have any toys in their room, except for the ones they dragged up there from downstairs.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Wahoooo! I'm finished

Ok so I have finished the quilt. It's cute, but it definitely looks like a 'first' quilt. I'm still proud of it. The hardest part was the last part, putting on the backing and quilting and binding the edges. WOW! I probably will not make a quilt again. If I do, it will be significantly smaller. I will take a picture of the whole room when I'm finished.

Today, I made Ashley's Birthday dress. It doesn't look as nicely made as the last dress I made, but I still like it. I put the bow in the middle again, because it just needed something there. Now I need to make the same dress for the doll she is getting. I won't be doing that tonight though.


















I'm looking for twin beds or bunk beds for the boys for CHEAP. I would love to do there room too. But I am running out of time.

Oh by the way....

I have been so busy trying to get this quilt done that I haven't been reading anyone else's blog. So eventually I'll get caught up and read yours if you have one.

The BIG HUGE Quilt

OH mY! This quilt is HUGE!

Ok so I got all the peices together. It's not perfect but it is still cute. Now when I buy a bed spread/ comforter for a double bed, I like to get a queen size. So I decided to make a queen size quilt. Well I put it on my queen size bed to see it. It is just HUGE! I think it could possibly be a King size quilt.

Anyway, now I have to bind it. I found some instructions on the internet, but I get lost in the quilting language. Ahhhhh....a friend of mine is IMing me right now....maybe she can help. I'll be back.


Ahhhhhh! Thanks to PJ!!! I got some great directions from her. She cleared up a lot of confusion for me.

I really want to work on it some more, but I'm exhausted. It will have to wait for another day.

Here are a couple pictures of it so far... (Don't mind the mess. I guess I should have cleaned up before taking the pictures.) It will look much better in the room it is intended to go in. But it is so big, I'm afraid the pattern is going to be lost on the sides.

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

Well I think I've gotten in over my head, but I shall burst out into song anyway. I am attempting to make a quilt. Have I ever made a quilt?....NOPE! Have I been around anyone making a quilt?......NOPE! Do I have a book?....NOPE! Have I ever seen a quilt?....Yes! Ok so I'm qualified to make one right? LOL!

Anyway, part of the material I am using is from some curtains that I got Y E A R S ago. So I feel like Maria in the Sound of Music making something out of curtains. If I have enough left over I will attempt to make another dress for Ashley and one for a doll I will give her for her birthday. The doll was one of mine. Her name is My Friend Mandy. Did any of you have this doll?

So this is shaping out to be a great birthday for her IF I can get everything finished in time.
She still wants a horse that she can sit on. I don't have one of those and I don't intend to go out and buy one.

Now for the boys....hmmmmm....What will I do? I wanted to do up their room too. But I wasn't able to get any twin or bunk beds. Then I would have to get the sheets and stuff...which is getting expensive. I might have to look toward doing that for Christmas. When I had Greg get down all my stuffed animals and dolls, I saw some cute things in there I think the boys would like.

Great! Austin is up here and sees this picture and now HE wants this doll. Ay Caramba!

Ok back to singing... Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start...When you read you begin with ABC...When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi...

pink treat

Ashley: Mommy, may I have a cold treat?
Me: Yes, May I have a kiss?
Ashley: My face is sticky.
Me: Why is your face sticky? What did you eat?
Ashley: Um...it was a pink one..... Mason put it in my mouth.
Me: Oh, MASON put it in YOUR mouth huh?
Ashley: yes, he got it off the floor.
Me: Ewww...he got it off the floor?
Mason: It had paper on it.

Chic-Fil-A

So who in there right mind would stay 5 hours in Chic Fil-a if they didn't have to? I'll give you a hint... It's the person who still has on the lovely nail polish from yesterday.

So after school today, I took the kids to Chic Fil-a to meet Dana and her kids. I let them play on the playground. Then when Dana left I wondered if we could make it another 1 1/2 hours until the dinner, so I got the kids ice cream to tide us over until dinner. Then I realized that we only had 45 more minutes until the 99c deal for dinner. So I took the kids to the potty and let them play another 25 minutes.

Then we all got are kids' meals and ate.

They had an entertainer there, named Dennis Scott. Aparantly he is a well known children's song writer. (He tooted his own horn a lot) Anyway, the kids had a BLAST. They got up and danced and played the games. Everything was geared right for their age. My kids were having so much fun, that I called Dana to come back. She didn't know if she was going to come or not. I was about to leave when she came walking through the door. So we stayed another hour. The kids got to see Mr. Cow too. I thought Mason wasn't going to let go of him. He just kept hugging him and making it impossible for him to walk.

My friends Sean and Shari Burch and their children showed up. Dennis the entertainer got them to get up and dance the "boopsey daisy" song. Oh boy do I wish I had my camera!

I had planned on writing more about my trip today, but I am just pooped. I think we may go see the free movie at Opry Mills tomorrow. It just depends if I can get myself up and going in the morning and everyone dressed and ready to go.

Good night---I can no longer think any more.

Ashley's new business

Ahhhhh...Isn't a pedicure supposed to be relaxing? Go when you want to go. Sit while someone rubs your feet and paints your tonails. Sounds so nice doesn't it. Well, I just had one today. My daughter begged me to paint my nails. So I let her. I only bargained for a pedicure but got a manicure as well. I have some errands to run do I clean up my nails or do I make my girl happy and keep them painted for a day?



Ashley is starting her new business. She will work for toys. She can make housecalls if you are local. If you need more than one bottle of paint, it will cost extra.














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On a side note: Ashley took this picture of Mason and me. I think it is kind of cute.

back in town

We are back from vacation. I have so much to talk about, when will I ever have the time to blog? In some ways I feel I should not go back and just pick up from today. But too many cute pictures and I really need to have this all written down for myself. So I suppose I will be writing several blogs over the next few days.

It took us 12 1/2 hours to get home. It was a long trip home. But we really had a great time in Ohio.

This morning Ashley came into our room and I said, "Isn't it good to be home". She said, "NO- I wanna go back to Gramma's. Can we go back again?"

She doesn't want to take the long drive again though.

Oh by the way... Greg got up early, he had to run to work before going to church. So we were going to meet him at church. I got all of us ready and I can't find my keys. I hope they are packed somewhere and I will find them soon. So Mom if you find my keys, send them to me right away please. Thanks!

Fabulous long Weekend!

Hello everybody!

We have had such a great time the last few days. First let me share these pictures from a few days ago.

This is Dana hugging my Ashley. She was so happy because my kids rarely give hugs to other people other than Greg and me.






And this is the dress that I made for Ashley. She wore it Sunday to church. And this is Papaw escorting her to the car.


































We went to McDonalds on Saturday. I did not pose them for this picture. They just got up there and did this themselves! I got a whole bunch of pictures of the kids crawling all over him. I want to put the pictures in some sort of video format, because it is JUST like what they do to me on a daily basis. I just kept thinking over and over I know how Ronald feels.


































On Sunday afternoon we went out on the boat. The kids LOVED it! Grampa let each of them drive the boat. We were supposed to see fireworks tonight, but they were cancelled due to the big thunderstorms. So they rescheduled them for tonight.












































Then on to Today...It was a great day. First the kids got into the paddle boat with Greg individually and had a super time with just Dad.

























































Then they got to ride on the tractor with Papaw (Which Gramma got pictures, but I didn't) Then We went to the Zoo and it was simply gorgeous!


















They even got to try rock climbing.



















And I want to share one more picture of the Zoo because I just think it is beautiful. This is the snow leopard.






















And last but definitely not least, we went out on the boat and saw the fireworks. Ashley fell asleep and stayed asleep through the whole thing. And Mason fell asleep during. And Austin did NOT like the noise, but we had ear plugs in his ears, his hands over his ears and then my hands over his hands on his ears. But he did turn around and said to me he liked all the pretty colors. (I just realized I didn't upload those pictures to the computer yet...so that will have to be tomorrow!)

Tomorrow we get to have a cookout and I get to meet up with a friend I haven't seen in a couple years. She just found out she is having twins. I can't wait to see her.

So until next time.... Have a safe and fun Holiday.

Happy 4th of July!

Oooooh I guess I better get to bed. I told Greg an hour ago that I wouldn't be to long.

Now I'm having a problem. Blogger is putting my pictures all over the place. If I didn't fix it this time then I'm gonna have to fix it in the morning. Good night.