DEAL OF THE DAY!

Beau Michael is sooo into dinosaurs right now, and I have been wanting to get him one of the Melissa&Doug giant plush dinosaurs for awhile now, preferably the TREX, but hey, any one of them really. They run about $29.99-39.99 plus S&H, and so I have held off. Well...today at my local goodwill, I was perusing the toy isle and low and behold...there in the middle of the toy isle was a giant Melissa&Doug plush Stegosaurus for a mere $5.99!!! Needless to say, I bought it!

How on earth???

I don't know where or how she got it, but she did. Not once, but twice...

WIGGLES

Leah did so well sitting and watching the wiggles when we went to the show. She was so good! Once we got there, she was in awe, she said, "Giggles, big!" Luckily we were on the outside of an isle very close to a bathroom for a quick diaper change, I forgot to change her before the show started, and she leaked a little, on me ofcourse. Greg, the yellow wiggle, apparently has some heart problems and can no longer perform with the crew on stage, so they have a sub for the shows, his name is Sam, and he was quite good. I highly recommend THE WIGGLES for young children to go see live. They are so energetic. Anyway...got some pics.

"It's just like a MONSTER TRUCK!"

Jack finally got a new truck, which he has wanted for some time. The boy was sleeping when he brought it home, and so once he woke up I took him out to see Dad's new truck, and him being into monster trucks as much as he is right now, his eyes lit up and the first words out of his mouth were, "DAD GOT A MONSTER TRUCK?!"

THE WIGGLES!

You may think me quite crazy, but I am sooo excited! The Wiggles are making thier way 'our way' this month, and I got tickets to take little Leah as one of her birthday presents. I just cannot wait to see her face! I took Drew when she was about 2 or 3, and it was 'WIGGLY SAFARI' I think, this time it's 'WIGGLES RACE TO THE RAINBOW'. Hopefully I will get some photos...if they let me take my camera in!

FREE COFFEE???

Okay, so busy here lately...no time to blog, but had to let you all in on this if you didn't already know it. On March 15th, starting at 10:00 AM, Starbucks will be giving out free tall coffees. I think it only last for a few hours that day, and not sure why they are doing it, but hey! Mark your calendars and take advantage of it! I know I am!!!

I rarely get the chance to photog Leah before she ever so urgently removes all items from her hair that I have worked so hard to place. But, today, I was ahead of myself. She became distracted in play, and so sweetly leaned out and said 'CHEESE!', which gave me the chance to take this adorable picture. Soon to be 2, she is quite the little handful, but such a sweetie!

Ah, Leah!

The terrible two's are most definitely full speed ahead in this little one! Just in the past few days...she was holding the kids toothpaste in the shopping cart, and her and Beau were in the 'car cart', so sitting right next to eachother, as I was putting groceries onto the counter she wacked Beau in the head with it, not once, but twice!...Then we were at my parents visiting a couple nights ago, and Beau was playing with toy tool box things, with a toy hammer, it's hard, but it's a toy, and once he put it down, she walked right up and picked it up then hit him smack on the top of the head! That girl!!!...Then yesterday as I was cleaning up the kitchen, and also talking to Beau, I see Leah's reflection in the picture window and call her name, she comes running around the corner with a pizza cutter rolling it around on top of her palms! When did she sneak that? AUGGHHH, I have no recollection of her ever even opening a drawer or being in the kitchen with me! Just 30 minutes later as I'm toting laundry to the washer, I go by the kitchen and see my purse on the floor, but cannot find a Leah anywhere! I notice that there are gum wrappers on the floor too, and you know she isn't even two yet, but once I finally found her, she was chewing a piece of GUM!!! I discipline this girl, she gets placed in her crib for quiet time when she gets in trouble, and I firmly tell her NO, but she is so hard headed, so mischevious, so awnery! I just don't know what to do anymore! It's always something, always the one thing or things no other child ever even thought of doing! Why is this???

???

Beau Michael has totally regressed to constantly wetting his pull-up or diaper AGAIN! He recently became sick again, and was having alot of loose stools, not getting to the toilet, so we started putting a diaper on him most of the day and night. Now, he makes no effort, even though he is no longer sick, to go potty on the toilet. It is so frustrating to me, and I try to hold back my dissappointment, not making a big deal of it, and today bought a bag of rolos, which are his fave candy, to give him some incentive again. I just don't know what to do. He is 3, and I feel like I have failed in potty training him, any pointers would be great!

Braggin' Momma

Yeah, I've got some super smart girls here...not sure where they get it, ha! Grace brought home an amazing 3.72, 5 A's and 2 B's...brains do not lack in this house! Drew did equally as well, with the teachers comment making my day..."Drew works hard to do her best. Her skills levels and confidence as a student have increased. Drew is a wonderful friend to all and a delight to teach." This is me...BEAMING! Love those girls!

When it rains...it pours...

So, finally, in over 3 years, me and Jack got away for the weekend to the coast for our Anniversary. It was so nice, no kids, great weather, just calm, and quiet mostly. However, ofcourse, we were ready to get back home to the kids, isn't any Mom or Dad?
Beau and Leah had been exhibiting cold symptoms, and Leah's have pretty much subsided, but the boy is still ill. So,yesterday, I had some errands to run, and I get them out the door, run back in for something, and run back out to find the boy with his pants down peeing in my flower bed! I figure, atleast he's not peeing in his underwear, right? So, I run back in again, this time as I came back out the door, I see a big turd laying on the ground behind him, poo on his rubber boots, pants, and underwear as he still stands pants down trying to pee in the flower bed! I was horrified! Get that cleaned up, ready to go, "babies" in carseats, and the van won't start! Great! The nieghbor was home, and luckily helped me out. What a day!
Today, we were leaving to go to meet my friend in town, and I forget my cell phone, had to run back home to get it to running late. Beau started to cough like he was coughing up something, but seemed okay, we pick up my friend, next thing I know, he's projectile vomiting in the carseat! Augghhh! So, we ran to her house, she had some hand-me-downs, and got Beau changed, and cleaned up, I assumed this was a gag reflex due to the cold and mucus build up. We get to the store, I got him some sprite, he drops it all over the floor of the store, and ofcourse we weren't even supposed to have a drink in this particular store, so the lady hands me paper towels and takes off leaving me to clean it all up! Then, we suddenly smell poo, and he had diahrrea all out his underwear and down his legs. Took him to the car, fixed him up yet again, get home, and it continues as I am trying to spray off the vomit clothing and carseat outside with the hose. Get him all cleaned up a few more times, and set them up for chicken noodle soup, leave the room for one second, just one second, only to come back to a kitchen floor covered in chicken noodle soup from lovely Leah! I swear this is payback!

Handsome, holding up his first snowball!

Lulu

Leah Lou, or as I lovingly refer to her most of the time, LULU, has an extreme shoe fetish. It doesn't matter who's shoes they are, or how hard they may be to put on or walk in, she has to wear them. Here is a picture of her so proud after putting on Beau's dress shoes. Silly girl!

He's 3!!!

Train Cake Topper from www.birthdayexpress.com

Beau Michael is officially 3 today! At exactly 3:53 am, if I remember correctly. And, he is also fully potty trained to the day, but not night time yet. I don't even have to tell him to go, he goes all by himself, and it is so nice not to be changing 2 diapers at a time every day! We had his birthday party yesterday at the Pizza Parlor. I made him a choo choo cake as he once again requested. He loved it! I wasn't as pleased with it as I wanted to be, but I did not have the time or the know how to use fondant. So, I just iced it and used M&M's to decorate, along with a train and chocolate rocks. He got some new trains to add to the collection: thomas and the jet engine, annie and clarabel, ice delivery trucks, gordon, harold the helicopter (his broke), and travis the tractor, also james goes buzz buzz as well as some wacky track, the fishing dock, and cranky the crane. Then there was ofcourse some dinosaur items: doodle dinosaur (like a doodle bear), a melissa&doug dinosaur puzzle, dinosaur play and store, dinosaur doodle pro, and an imaginext Brontosaurus, a Monster Truck, and a blue camo outdoor set with tent/water bottle/sleeping bag, etc.

He is having a blast playing with his train table today! He goes back and forth, TRAINS to MONSTER TRUCK to DINOSAURS, then back again! I still cannot believe how the time has passed so quickly. As much fun as this age is, I sure wish I could have my baby boy back again!

Good Bye Baby Boy, Hello Big Boy!

Beau Michael will soon be 3, the 21st of this month. How time flies by! I just cannot believe my lovely little baby boy is now a full blown 'kid', not a baby anymore. With this in mind, I am trying to get him going on potty training, which I have postponed this past few months. I am using a similar system to the one I used for my last daughter. For everytime he uses the potty, he chooses a sticker, and I try hard to find one's that relate to his current interests, such as CARS, or trains. At first he was able to choose a sticker and get 3 M&M's from the 'potty jar'. But, Daddy messed up and gave him a whole custard bowl of M&M's when I was working one night, and that threw that out the window! So, now, once he goes potty on the toilet 5 times, and collects 5 stickers, he is able to choose a prize...which are CARS die cast cars at this point. I suppose I should be giving him gems, or tickets to turn in for the prize....Hmmm, I may have to adjust that a bit. I also let him choose his own underwear, and he chose MONSTER TRUCKS, ( he is so into that new cartoon Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks) telling me all the while, "I will not pee on those monster trucks Mom!" But, he did. And today he did have one accident, but we stuck to pull ups today after that. This evening he did go to the toilet all on his own incentive, not telling me first, but coming to tell me afterward that "I pee'd on the toiwet Mom! I did, I did!" And, he did! All alone, AND his pull up was still dry after hours from the last change. I honestly feel so alien to this, being my first boy and all, but I am finding it so much easier to just let him kind-of explore it all, without hanging over him every hour asking if he needs to pee, and is he sure??? Now, I suppose once he masters this I will have to let him out of the crib too, boo hoo. I still just cannot believe my baby boy is soon to be 3!

Go away cold wet winter!

This cold, rainy winter we are having this year is just such a downer! It is so cold, and wet. We are inside all the time! Not good on my Mommy Brain, taking in all the running and screaming that goes on IN the house this time of year! We need a nice little break, a slice of sunshine to break it all up, and let those kids run around OUTSIDE for just an hour or two of ONE day! I simply just cannot wait for spring!

Merry Christmas!

I did my best, but 4 never cooperate at the same time!

Little Leah Lou "Who", hee hee!

My Sick Son

The girls have been out of school for almost a week now, and it is sooo crazy with all 4 home ALL DAY. And to top it off, Beau woke up at 6am puking, as did Drew following at 8am. I don't know what is going on...Beau recently had a bug, seems he's really getting the brunt of it all this year. When I persisted, the doctor finally performed a stool culture, he was having so much diahrrea over a 2 week period, and it came back C. Diff (+), which is not good. Clostridium Difficile is a bacteria, normally found in the bowel, but when a person has very strong antibiotic treatment, or is immune compromised, it expresses it's presence through constant watery, mucous-filled stools, and usually the affected person is outwardly, expressively VERY ILL. Which he was not, he was eating, playing. He was not on any meds, nor to my knowledge was he in any contact with anyone that had C.Diff, and our Nurse Practitioner said she had NEVER seen a case in a child. We have brainstormed that, maybe, if she tested every child that came in with chronic diahrrea, they too, may show positive for C.Diff, but there's no telling since she doesn't test them and only did for Beau since I persisted. He was on a 10 day regimen of Flagyl 4 times a day, and let me tell you, that was real fun! HA HA, not really laughing. I had no option but to crush it, no liquid form available, and the best thing that worked for many days was peanut butter, but then he found out the taste, and was able to identify it in anything I gave him. And I tried soda pop, milk, chocolate milk, jelly, sprinkled on mayo in his choo-choo sandwich, pudding, jello, and icecream. It is so strong and terrible tasting that he just simply would not take it most of the time, so I am VERY fearful that it may be a possibility that he never really got rid of the C.Diff in the first place leading him to be sick again today, and for who knows how much longer. Please say a prayer. The Lord is always healing, and my son just cannot take much more of being so sick. I just adore him, it pains me to see him so ill.

I love you Beau Michael, My Son, My Handsome, 'My only one'!

Oh, the things they do and say...

I sing this song to Beau, and sometimes he even asks for me to, it goes, 'Beau Michael, My son, He's handsome, The only one!' So...the other day I was blowdrying my hair to get ready for work, and as I turned off the blowdryer, I heard that boy telling his sissy ever so matter-of-fact like, "NO! I'M A SON! I'M THE ONLY ONE! I CAN PLAY BASEBALL! I CAN BE A ROCKET!" Whoa! Look out world!

We finally got our christmas tree up and decorated just yesterday, and Leah will just not leave it alone no matter how many times I tell her NO! Little stinker! She repeatedly removes the bulbs, which to her are 'balls'. So, tonight, I was putting in some laundry, and I hear Beau yell, "MOM?! THERE'S A MESS! WEAH DID IT!" I am honestly thinking, book thrown on floor, cars tipped out of basket, then I enter the living room, and there before me are 2 completely shattered christmas bulbs! And, Beau is sitting right on top of it all. My guess...Leah removed them, no doubts, and they were playing chase as usual, and they stepped on them. Every year, less bulbs make it back to storage than the year before!

Goin' to see Santa

Last night we went to "Christmas Land", and the babies had a blast. Leah, who is in love with teddy bears loved the 'Teddy Bears Picnic' scene, and there were model trains galore for that Boy. The big girls have been so many times that they like to go since it means it's christmas time, but they really aren't so thrilled about the scenes anymore. Beau was so excited about the trains he stood there for a good half hour, and the man controlling one of them even stopped one right in front of Beau and made it toot it's horn, which just thrilled that Boy! There was even a Thomas with Annie and Clarabel trailing behind him. On one side, as a train passed by, Beau said, "That's a Diesel!" And he was right!
At the end there is always Mr. and Mrs. Claus. And I never in a million years thought Beau or Leah would go up to him and sit on his lap, so I left the camera at home...low and behold, Leah actually cut in front of some other kids to get up to Santa, I had to keep reminding her to 'wait her turn', and she's say every few moments, "My turn???" Then, when it was her turn, Beau decided he would only go up to Santa if they went together, and THEY DID! Santa pulled both of them up onto his lap, and Leah just snuggled right up to him, and Beau emmediately spouted out, "I WANT A BOB HOUSE AND A BIG BENNY!" Santa then asks Leah what she wants, and she just looks at him and lays her head down on his shoulder, not saying a word, and Beau looks at me, "MOM, I THINK SHE WANTS A BABY!" Then he turns to Santa, "SHE WANTS A BABY!" Everyone around giggled, it was so cute! After they were off of his lap a lady offered to take the picture and email it to me, but they were already headed down the steps, and another child was on his lap. I won't forget the camera next time though!

Mine Apple!

"Nose"

Mmmm, mine apple!

Sweet little Leah was demanding an apple tonight. I usually cut it up and put her in the high chair, but I gave in, and she was in 'no no' heaven! She sure thought she was something big eating that apple all by herself while walking around! Silly Leah Lou!

Fall Fun

Beau Michael had been begging and begging to go "pay in the weaves!" And so, finally it was dry enough to get out and rake some up for them to play in. Leah just wasn't so sure, she chose to stand back, but Drew and Beau jumped right in!

Gotta Love Halloween!

Every year I try to find the perfect costume for each of my kids. Beau is sooo into Finding Nemo, I just had to have him be Nemo! And, I tell you, boy did he have tons of people commenting on his costume, and he was the ONLY NEMO!

Leah, well, she is still a personality that has not yet fully revealed itself, but I think the Bumble Bee was pretty darn cute! We came upon a house where the lady handing out candy just happened to be Gracie's teacher, and she was also dressed as a bumble bee, along with her dog, and as Jack walked up with Leah, she hollered out "My Daughter!" We all thought that was kinda funny.

Little Drew was Esmeralda from disney's Hunchback of Notre Dam. She was a very good Esmeralda at that, I crimped her hair to make it look wavy. But, after all that trouble she says, "Esmeralda was a stupid costume. Next year, I want to be a Wizard!" Well, okay then...we'll see.

Grace always has to be something 'pretty', ever since she was tiny. Used to be I could not get that girl out of her dress up clothes to even go play outside, or go to the grocery store. She would refuse to even get dressed at Grandma's house if I , heaven forbid, sent pants! So, she ofcourse, was something pretty...

A BUTTERFLY

Seems that's the thing too for her age of girl. We passed another girl, that looked at Grace,with that jealous stare, (her wings were upside down BTW), and as she passed, she goes, "Huh! Everyone wants to be a butterfly this year!" So much drama! Anyway, all in all, kids made out, too much candy if you ask me, and I will probably, (shh, don't tell) throw most of it away like last year!

SUPER STARS!

Grace and Drew both had Parent/Teacher Conferences for me to go to yesterday, and I am so very proud to say that both of my school age daughters are pure geniuses. I am not being biased, I am only telling the truth. Grace, my dear, has 5-A's and 2-B's thus far, bringing her GPA to an amazing 3.7 WOOHOO! And, Darling Drew, well, she has blossomed into your average 'read almost anything tossed' at her first grader. So much for last years drama about her lack of progress with reading. I must say, it was so good to hear such wonderful news. I mean, I know my girls are smart, and capable, but to see the enthusiasm in someone else's eyes, and to hear it in thier voice when speaking of MY childs progress in school felt so good. Gracie's teachers think she is something special. Very intelligent. And Drew's teacher adores her too! I sure hope the rest of the year continues on like this.

Love 2 B Mom

Tonight Drew had soccer practice and so I stayed and let the little one's play at the nearby park/school playground. They just take off like rockets! A big fleet of Geese were flying by, and it was really close, Beau looked up and yelled, "WOW! EAGLES!" Leah kept saying "beebee's! beebee's!" Which is her way of saying 'birdy'. It was too cute!
Later on, after we were home, and they'd had thier bath, we were reading some books. I had gotten them the new Maurice Sendack, his very first pop-up book, it's halloweenish, and I wasn't quite sure the little ones would understand it, but Leah picked right up on it! There is a baby that enters a haunted house, and as he goes through the different rooms of the haunted house he comes upon a different monster, but he is not scared, he is looking for his mommy, so each page shows him either sticking his binky in the monsters mouth, or unwinding the mummy, etc. But all the way through, there is a bubble for the baby, he is calling, "MOMMY?" Ofcourse, I am reading this to them, and Leah is like, "OH NO! Where's sha Mom? MOMMY? A Mommy go? Oh, der Mommy is!" I was so shocked to have her understand what was going on in the book, a book with so few words at that. I think I had to go back through it about 4 times they liked it sooooo much!
Another one we got was, 'I SAW AN ANT ON THE RAILROAD TRACK', more for Beau, than Leah, ofcourse. It was a realy witty rhyming picture book, and he loved it.

CHECK OUT "MOMMY?"
http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0439880505/ref=s9_asin_image_1/102-6852940-9065736

CHECK OUT "I SAW AN ANT ON THE RAILROAD TRACK"
http://www.amazon.com/I-Saw-Ant-Railroad-Track/dp/1402721838/sr=1-1/qid=1161925697/ref=sr_1_1/102-6852940-9065736?ie=UTF8&s=books

SO GLAD TO BE DONE!

FINALLY! I finished painting Beau's room. It is a 'Finding Nemo' theme. But, he also is really into dinoaurs right now, as well as trains and planes. So boy! He was so thrilled to see it all done. So glad I am done! We now have dinosaurs crawling up the wall, fishies swimming, airplanes hanging from the ceiling, and choo choo trains everywhere!

Beau Michael...My Son

Today was Drew's day to go to the pumpkin patch with her classroom, and for whatever reason, she decided not to take the usual backpack to school, leaving behind her rubber boots and plastic bags. I had to get ready and take them to her before the bus left for the patch, so I decided to go visit my Mom at work since it was early and the babies were already in the car. When we got to her work, she was on break, so I went to find her, and we sat with her for a bit, then on our way back to the office, she began talking to the grounds-keeping lady, who was all bundled up in her rain coat, rubber boots, and hood. Beside her was her 'tractor' of sorts, towing a small trailer for debris she was cleaning up. After my Mom stopped talking to her, and we were a bit closer to the doorway, Beau Micheal says, with alot of thought in his face, "But..." then he paused, looking at us all funny, his nose scrunched up, "...where is her sheep?" I had to laugh. It was kind-of embarassing really for him to have thought she was a sheep herder or something. But, I guess the attire was fitting. My gut laugh for the day!

The Carousel

My FAVORITE~The Sea Horse

Beau 'kissing' the Cow

THE Carousel

So, it was yet, the girls' 4th day of thier 4-day weekend (I was going crazy!) and I had been wanting to take them to this Carousel for some time. I had heard about it years ago, when Drew was merely 2 years old, but had never taken the kids. It really is a sight! A ticket booth sits in the corner, and they have an old fashioned popcorn popping machine with a handle like a stroller, on wheels. I rode free, only because I had to hold Beau and Leah, even though they were buckled to the horses, on either side of me. Both started to slip, and within seconds Leah was saying "All done! All done!" But, we stuck it out. It was some fun for a rainy day!

The Pumpkin Patch

We found this great Pumpkin Patch this year! It was right down Beau's alley. They had a quarter scale train, which took us out to the patch of pumpkins, he loved it! All the kids had fun, but he just could not get over the train! As it dropped us off, he ran back, running along the track watching it leave, we had to call him back! The main attraction was the train ride, but the kids were able to pick a small pumpkin as well. They certainly aren't no carver pumpkins, but to the kids, they are perfect!

Simply Disgusting...

The other day, as I was exiting Target, and walking to my car WITH both Beau and Leah on either hand, I suddenly heard, "THAT'S RIGHT BABY! I SWEAR I'M OLD ENOUGH!" I looked over real quick, and sitting on a bench were a few girls that could not have been more than 12 or 13 years old, hollering at what I then realized was a man atleast in his 20's who was also walking to his car. They continued yelling, "TURN AROUND! LOOK AT ME! AREN'T YOU GONNA LOOK AT ME, BABY! I SAID I'M OLD ENOUGH!" I was nothing short of stunned by thier behavior! I mean, how appalling is that??? All I could think of was my 11 yr. old spending a few hours at the mall with a friend, and ending up doing exactly what I had just witnessed! It sped through my mind, pure horror! I just hope and pray I have instilled in her to be above that type of behavior. And, also to steer clear of any other girl, that may exhibit that behavior. Lord Help Me!

The Jungle

Everyday, Beau asks me, "Mom, can I go dig in the jungle? Can I? Can I, Mom? Can I go to the jungle?" Well, let me tell you what the 'jungle' is. It is this tremendously large tree in our front yard. Jack, recently, cut back the branches on the bottom, so that I could fill in under the tree with dirt and plant some of my columbine seeds ( since they are supposed to enjoy acidic soil). But...as you can see, I may never be able to do so...

Go Drew!

She was so excited when it was her turn to throw the ball in!
That's my girl! Positioning the ball to kick a goal!

Drew has made a total of 4 goals in her first 3 games, and is doing such a good job staying on the ball. So much so that she tries too hard to play goalie when she should be on the ball guiding it to the opposing teams goal! She definitely has defense down. That's my Drew!

Mine Giggles!

I took the kids to the video store to rent a movie tonight. Ofcourse EVERYONE wants thier own movie, Beau is grabbing Bob the Builder off the shelf, Drew has Aladdin, and Leah is holding the Wiggles up to me while Grace hands me Herbie. I quickly let them know I am NOT renting any more than 2 movies at time. Well, ends up if you rent 3 newer releases, it's only 9.99 this week, and for each of those rentals you get a free movie from the kids older releases. So...we decided on Doogal, which was okay, but not that great...Aquamarine which we have yet to watch, and I rented Lake House... you gotta love Keanu! Beau ofcourse sticks to Bob, and Leah to Wiggles, and so as the lady is checking us through I take the wiggles from Leah to hand to the lady scan, and she starts screaming... "MINE! MINE GIGGLES! AAHHH MINE! GIGGLES!" It was so cute. The lady said, "We've had few like her!" We got home, and she refused to put it down. I had to take it from her and hide it so I could get her to bed. I feared she would chew up the outer cover, and then I would own yet another Wiggles movie.