4th of July and maybe some other stuff...

Obviously I titled this post before I actually wrote it so who knows what will come out!

We'll start with the 4th of July. Our fourth of July started way to early in the morning. I got up at 3 AM so that Sara, Shanda, and I could go see our friend Suzanne get married!!! (None of us liked this picture of ourselves, but obviously I am the only one that can truly complain!) The four of us were so close in high school, and we all went to UCA together! Suzanne and I were roomates our freshman and sophomore years! (Then I got married our junior year so Trey was my roomate!) Suzanne married a really nice guy named Tad, and now they're moving to Philadelphia. She just received her PhD in speech pathology! (and here I am reciting the "i before e except after c" so that I could spell received correctly...no I do not feel inferior in the least!) I loved Suzanne's wedding! It was so sweet and so personal. They had a unity candle. Tad's parents lit his side, and Suzanne's brother and sister lit her side. Suzanne's mom passed away our freshman year of college, and her dad was in the hospital and couldn't be there. They had a web cam set up though so he could watch, and they could see him too. *Suzanne's dad passed away this week. Our prayers are with you Suzanne, Eric, and Lauren.* There was a break between her 2:00 wedding and her 5:30 reception. We just went back to the hotel and crashed, because remember we had gotten up at 3 AM!!!! The reception was so much fun! They had a full dinner and dancing. One of the dances they had was the married couples dance. All the married couples got on the dance floor, and the DJ would call off a year and if you had been married longer than that year, you stayed on the floor. The last couple was this little old couple that had been married over 65 years. Shanda, Sara and I have all been married 8 years to our husbands, but we didn't get to show that off. :-( At 9:45 the city fireworks started and there was a perfect view from her venue. We didn't stay for the whole thing because Sara and I were feeling a little doomsdayish and couldn't get the thought of the balcony collapsing out of our heads. The photographer took a picture of the four of us before we left so I'll post that after Suzanne sends it to me. The next morning our flight out wasn't until 10:00 so we were able to sleep in until 6:00. Did I mention that our rental car was a Hundai?? That little go-cart/lawn mower (that's how it felt anyway) got like 40 or 45 miles per gallon!! We went 240 miles in it and only had to put $10.00 gas in!! We have got to get one of those! We made it home around 5:00 in the evening and I was so happy to see my sweet family! They had spent the weekend in Little Rock at Gram and Pawpaw's. I hear they had a wonderful time swimming at Aunt Kathy's and playing outside!

A few weeks ago we got the girls' ears pierced!! Ava had been called a boy one too many times! In WalMart that morning a lady said, "Well hi little man." I couldn't take it anymore! That afternoon I took both of them to Claire's and had it done. We had been going back and forth for a while; Ainslee asked for earrings a few times, and we kind of skirted around the issue. She did really well! She sat so still and didn't act the least bit scared until they put the marks on her ears. She only cried for a second and stopped when they gave her a mirror and sucker! She LOVES showing off her pink daisy earrings! Ava didn't do quite so well! I had to hold her down while she squirmed and tried to throw herself out of my arms. The passers-by gave us some pretty dirty looks, and an old couple sitting in front of the cookie place shook their heads at me! They finally got it done, and she has been so good at home letting me clean them!

Every now and then we'll hear some blasting from Red River Army Depot. Urban Rural legend is that they're detonating unused missiles or bombs or something like that. We've always called it a sonic boom or "blasting at the plant." This morning they've been blasting quite a bit, and Layton got a little scared because it can be pretty loud and usually shakes the house. This was his explanation to Ainslee: "It's just a man that has hiccups and he's jumping up and down to make them stop. It's nothing to be scared of, Ainslee." Now I, for one, find that a little more scary than "blasting at the plant." He also said the booms were yellow...or maybe orange.

The other day I was shopping. I've had my eye on this comforter set for a while. I really want new bedding in our room! It was originally set for like $150, and I noticed not long ago that it had been marked down again to $85. Well, I turned the corner, and there it was on the end of an aisle with a big red sticker on it loudly proclaiming, $50!! $50 for the bedding that I've been wanting that was orginally $150!! Can you believe such luck??? I texted Trey! (He didn't answer me.. for some reason he didn't share my enthusiasm.) Now the problem was that I haven't been putting back for that, and I didn't have any money allocated to new bedding. (i.e. Dave Ramsey budget). So I paced in front of it a few times...and counted how many they had left (5). I knew they wouldn't last for long. I knew I couldn't just cover from other places because we've already had a couple of unexpected expenses that I've had to pull to cover. The thought did cross my mind that we do have that $1000 emergency fund still in the bank. I could pay for the bedding with that and next month replace the money in the emergency fund. Sure, new bedding isn't quite an emergency, but the fact that I know next month when I do have the money, there won't be any bedding sets left does put a little added hurry-up pressure on me. So what did I do??? I held my head up high and kept walking! Next month I will start an envelope for new bedding, and when I have enough saved up, I will find something else that I like just as much. Who knows! Maybe that bedding set will still be online somewhere!

Blog Hop

Today is Blog Hop Day!!! And this week's theme is Favorte Photograph.

This picture is Layton, 2 1/2, the day that Ava was born. When I was pregnant with her, we would tell him that I had a baby in my tummy, and he would say that he had a puppy in his tummy! When Layton and Ainslee came to see her for the first time, we had gifts for them from her. Ainslee's was a new baby doll, and Layton's was this puppy. He loved that puppy! Layton was really into the Wiggles at that time, so he named it Wags. He took it everywhere, including the hospital at his last asthma-related hospital stay. He held on to it the whole time so that he wouldn't be scared, but somehow it got left behind when we left. He was so sad when we got home and realized it wasn't with us. The hospital couldn't find it either. I can't imagine what happened to the puppy. We tried to replace it, but there weren't any more. We bought it at Cracker Barrell. Now, every time we go to a Cracker Barrell I look in their stuffed animals to see if there is one. No luck yet, but we'll keep looking!!

Now I lay me down to sleep

I wish I could bottle up our night time prayers and keep them forever. I hope that when they're 24, 22, and 21 that I can still hear their sweet voices as they talk to God. Layton has outgrown the traditional "Now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer that we taught him when he was a baby. Here's how his goes (This is what he said tonight; each night is similar but not verbatim.)

Dear God...thank you for all the people that go to church that we get to meet. Thank you that Mama's going on a air plane. Keep her saved (safe) and bring her back home. Thank you that we get to go to Gram and Pawpaw's house. Please keep us safe so we can come home and hug and kiss and love each other. Amen.

Then it's Ainslee's turn.

Now I lay me down to sleep and pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning light. Dear God, thank you for my hair cut stuff. Amen.

Because evidentally her play haircut set is very important to her. Sometimes she says thank you for her ponies too.

Then we all say the Now I lay me down to sleep prayer for Ava. I wonder what she'll tell God thank you for when she's bigger.

Trey and I also pray outloud before the kids go to sleep. I always let them hear me tell God that I'm thankful for them and for Trey. Trey usually mentions something that's happened that day or something that's coming up.

I love that time in our night. I love that they're learning to tell God thank you for the things that they have and that they're learning to talk to Him about things that are one their minds.

Pictures

We had pictures made last month for Mother's Day gifts for my mom, mother-in-law, and sister. Maegan Grant of Tatertots Photography took them, and she did a great job! I am having such a hard time deciding which pictures to buy. Click on over and see the slide show! (If you're on my facebook, this is the same link I already put over there!)

Lessons learned

Have you ever had one of those moments when you look at your kids with such pride that you can barely hold back the tears? Okay...I know, I know that sounds very dramatic. I think since becoming a mom the tears come a lot more easily than they used to (although I've always been a pretty emotional person). My dad used to tell me that I wore my feelings on my sleeves. Sometimes when I'm at a program at school I even get a little knot in my throat because I think that one day my kids will be doing that, and already I feel so proud. That is extreme...maybe I should consider some sort of emotion-supressing medication. Anyway...

Today the kids were picking up their toys before lunch. We have a rule this summer that all toys have to be picked up before lunch is served. Layton and Ainslee are both big enough to pick up their toys without help, and mean ol' me also makes them pick up most of Ava's toys too. She puts a few up, but she's not quite at the point where she can be responsible for all of her toys. There was only one toy left: the US puzzle that Ainslee had gotten down. Now usually I do not have the rule that you put up what you get out because sometimes it's just impractical. But today it just happened that I assigned Ainslee the task of putting up that puzzle. She, in all her 2 year old glory and stubborness, decided she would not. Fine. She's not invited to the table. We sit down to eat while she sits on the floor, and you would have thought she hadn't eaten in DAYS! She screamed and cried and kicked and wailed, and at one point she even threw the puzzle and its pieces. She was screaming, "I WANT TO EAT!!!!" I, surprisingly calm (surprisingly because you know how toddler tantrums can get your blood pumping!), told her that I wanted her to eat too but that she had to pick up that puzzle first.

Layton has a tender heart. He watched her, with his plate of food in front of him and tears starting to come to his eyes. Then he looked at me and said, "Mama, can I put the puzzle up for her?" I looked at Trey, and we were both thinking the same thing: How can we not let him? Sure, that won't help Ainslee learn that she has to put her toys up, but isn't kindess such a more important lesson? He got down and told her that she could go eat because he would put the puzzle up. She told him thank you and got in her seat and started to eat (actually she started to complain about the food that was on her plate, but I don't want to mention that because it just doesn't fit well with the story...maybe it does because sometimes aren't we ungrateful even though someone's doing something nice for us?).

I thought about what he was doing and the lesson that I hope he and Ainslee learned from it. It was such a simple act but still so meaningful to me. I hope they learned that sometimes you give, not because someone deserves to receive and not because we expect something in return and not because they're going to say thank you over and over and be so appreciative. You just give. You help even though it means that your food won't be as warm. You just do it.

I think Trey and I took something away too. I couldn't help but think about all that God has done for me, certainly not because I deserve any of it! He gives and blesses and there's not a thing in the world that we can do to repay him; it's all already His. It also made me think about how I can treat other people. I can give and show kindness, even when someone is kicking and screaming or complaining and being ungrateful. I can still be kind because what better way is there to show God's love?

It's summer!!!!!!

Woohoo!!! It's summer!!! School's out! It's hot! The A/C runs non-stop, and I am loving every minute of it! We are off to a great start! Last year I told myself over and over and over that last summer would definitely be the hardest one! Ava was still taking a morning nap and Layton's and Ainslee's schedules weren't quite in sync. There was never a minute in the day when they were all asleep. They were all very, very needy and drained more out of me than I thought I had to give. But man, oh man, this year has been great so far. They play all morning, eat lunch, lay down for naps at the same time, wake up, have a snack and play some more! I'm trying not to worry about how I'll get in the important stuff like housework and TV. That kind of stuff can wait until the weekends or until the kids are old enough to clean the house themselves while I sit back, turn the TV on, and read a book during the commercials. Y'all don't mind if my house is a little messy or if my clothes aren't perfectly ironed, right??

OK so what have we been doing with ourselves since school is out and Mommy doesn't have to go to work??? Well this week is vacation bible school at church. Layton LOVES it...Ainslee...not so much. She must like it a little, though, because they came home and set up all the chairs and put on a puppet show and play "bacation bible school". We have big plans to do LOTS of bowling since a bowling alley in town offers two free games every day per child. Can't beat free! On Saturdays, I am planning on taking them to storytime at Books-a-Million. Other than that, we dont' have a lot planned! Just the normal, play outside, watch out for snakes, run through the sprinklers, lazy kind of days.

I'm hoping to fit in some scrapbooking too. I still have a gift certificate to the scrapbooking store that I need to redeem. When Trey works weekends, he'll have a day off during the week so I think those days will be perfect for me to hide out and work on my scrapbooks. I am pretty far behind. I have about 4 pages of 2005 done, and that's about all I've had time for since having kids!

I also like to plan the kids birthday parties in advance. Ainslee's birthday is August 3. I am planning an evening party on that day (it's a Monday) complete with a wading pool, a slip & slide, sand area, and maybe sponge throw. I think we'll serve hot dogs since that's around dinner time. I bought sand pails to give as party favors that they can use in the sand area. Do y'all have any other ideas? Games? Cake? I was thinking about either doing floats, an ice cream cake, or sundaes. I am going to start on the invitations this week.

My two friends and I are leaving the kids and husbands at home and going to Kansas City to see our good friend, Suzanne, get married. It's July 4 weekend. We'll fly out of Dallas Saturday morning and fly back in Sunday morning. It's going to be a quick trip, but we're looking forward to the time away. I'm a little nervous about flying. I've flown several times before, but I usually take enough Dramamine that I sleep for the whole flight. Since I need to be fairly coherent not long after landing, I don't know if that will be an option. I keep trying to think of friends that have flown recently (like ever!) and have made it there and back safe and sound. That makes me feel better when I hear success stories, ya know?

The Shred...Cute kids...Prayer request

So I ordered the Shred...Ever heard of it?? No?? Well obviously you're new to the blog-o-sphere because every person whose blog I read that I don't actually know in real life (did you know people read people's blog that they don't even know! Do I have any readers that I don't know??? Probably not!) Anyway...Where was I? Oh yeah...The Shred...Everybody whose blog I read is talking about the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. It all started when I read this post a while a back on Big Mama's blog and read the post that she hyperlinked and decided that I needed to give that bad boy a try. So yesterday (a good month later) I ordered it off of a reputable website and paid for it with paypal just to be safe so that I don't relive the horrible 2daydietwholesaler.com debacle! (No! I still have not gotten my stinkin' diet pills!) So in the next week or so I expect to be shredding these pounds right off! Wish me luck!

Does anyone else think that their own kids are so stinking cute??? Oh my gosh! I just think I have the cutest kids EVER! Let me gush for just a moment! Layton, my darling, tender-hearted, Layton, upon hearing that we weren't going to church a couple of Sundays ago because the girls were sick and Daddy was having to go to work, got a little teary-eyed. He wiped his eyes and said, "I'm not going to cry; I don't know why my eyes are getting all wet." Bless his heart! He tries to be such a big boy! And did y'all know that he's fast??? Oh my word! That boy can run! I think we may put him in soccer just because he can run so fast! (Oh and Jason Rankin...if you're reading this....be sure to give Trey a super hard time about that!!!) And Ainslee has this cute little habit, when she's in an agreeable mood to answer everything with a simple, "Sure." It's very quick and a little high-pitched. "Ainslee, will you take Ava her cup?" Sure! lol...maybe you have to be there! Her life is a musical, usually to the tune of the Wonder Pets. She was...ahem..on the potty the other day singing, "There's Mama...in the mirror...I see Ava..." She's sings ALL the time! Speaking of Ava....she's gotten the cutest little personality. The other night she was making these dramatic, surprised faces where her mouth in a perfect oval and her eyes wide with shock. She expects you to mimic her face, and if you look away for a second, she gently grabs your chin to move your face back to hers and says, "Hey, hey." I was dying laughing. Every time I would look away, she would do it again! It was so funny...We should have videoed it! If you ever want to distract her from anything, all you have to do is say, "Want to go get some shoes???" Works like a charm! That girl loves shoes!

Oh we go back to Dallas next week for Layton's check-up with his asthma/allergy doctor! He's doing very well lately, but with t-ball, we're having to do more breathing treatments than we were before. I am thinking that the doctor may leave him where he is, medicinally speaking. (I didn't actually think that was a word, but speck checker didn't catch it!) I just hope he doesn't up his meds again. That stuff is expensive, and there's not a lot of generics! Say a little prayer for that, if you don't mind!