Purple Belt Test

Zman has been taking Tae Kwon Do for a year and a half now.

These are some shots from his last belt test.

He reached sparring rank several belts ago.

He is only 4 belts away from becoming a Black Belt.

He knows his self defense so don't even think about sneaking up on him...

He should need a permit to for those hands...

;-)

We are so proud of his commitment and follow-through.

Keep up the great work, Zman!

October bday gathering

Okay. It's time to back track...

Mostly just documenting some family gatherings as an excuse to post some pics I finally rescued from my camera!

These are from our October Birthday family gathering... Here's Sweet Pea and Uncle T... We all think he's pretty funny!

Here's Sweet Pea and MiMi.



"Ohhhhh, Nanny! I'm soooooooo tired and you have the best hands EVER!"

"Another picture, Mom? Really???"

"I think I'm being pretty patient..."

Sweet Pea, Nanny, and Aunt Tina.

We also took some pics outside of all FIVE kids together since the big boys were there too. Those pics came out classic family pics. You know, no one looking at the camera at the same time, eyes squinting, kids looking as dismayed as they really were. Not a one worth posting...

Stay tuned... I'm hoping now that school is "out", I can get caught up. Sorry Andrea, I know this is going to be painful for you. Take 2 Tylenol and say the Serenity Prayer before reading the next few posts....

Ho-Ho-Cluck-Cluck-Mooooo

Guess where we had dinner tonight???

Driving home from basketball practice,

Hgirl sees

in the dark,

through traffic,

across a parking lot,

and in to the restaurant

to find the Santa Cow

in Chickfila.

I'm not one to pass up their diet lemonade these days

so

we crossed traffic,

drove through four parking lots,

and went in to the restaurant

to see the Santa Cow

inside Chickfila.

Look at her face...

It was so worth it!

Memories in the making...

I couldn't believe my eyes when we woke to this...

and this...

and neither could they!!!
Once they got over the shock, they did what any normal kid would do when they see snow...

SNOW BALLS!!!

And then they did what any normal kid would do after making snow balls...

Throw them!

Then run!

Then throw some more!

Then wait to be thrown at!

Meanwhile, inside...

Sweet Pea did some jumping while the big kids were having a blast in the snow.

She also had an important conference she couldn't miss...

She had to make sure Santa had updated his list since last May!

And after a morning full of fun in the snow, you have to have some of these!!!

It's a rule!

Now, since I had my camera out, I decided to show you what our house looks like at Christmas time.

This little side table holds our newest "tradition" in the making.

It is a magnetic Nativity Advent Calendar.

If you look closely, you will see a shepherd, sheep (2) Mary, Joseph, the inn keeper, 2 stars, and THE star. Those magnets were all in the first 9 boxes.

Here, Zman just opened box 10 and found the donkey.
I have big plans for this tradition in the future but for now, the kids are just enjoying pulling out whatever magnetic surprise they find each day.

Later in the day, Sweet Pea wanted to show you how much she loves sitting like a big girl for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And oh, those teeth! None yet but her favorite "chewy" is the wrong end of this spoon!

Later in the day, I looked out to see a fine "mist" of flurries.

I watched....

and watched....

and watched.

Hgirl had a choir performance to go to.

"For the 100th time, NO, you can't go back out in the snow and play."

Then, as I watched, it got heavier....

and heavier....

and heavier.

WHAT AM I THINKING!!!

She's four.

She has the rest of her life to sing in the choir!

I'm 37 and never in my life have I seen something as magnificent as this!!!

GO!

PLAY!

Taste some snow

And throw some snow balls for me!

And that's what they did...

It snowed for over 4 hours straight!

And really, it is a shame there was no fun to be had

in all that snow!

With all these friends!

(This was only about half of them!)

Even our pup decided she couldn't miss out on this experience!

And my lone little flower managed to stay out to enjoy this rare Texas treat.

As the night came to an end,

the kids took off layer

after layer

after very wet layer.

They warmed themselves by the fire

and then a warm bath

and then got into some warm jammies

finally ending the day in their warm beds.

I had a wonderful time reliving the events of the day as I downloaded

picture

after picture

after picture.

(204 to be exact!)

And knowing

this

is the stuff

family memories are made of!

Family of Secrets...

Like so many of you, we spent our weekend visiting family.

I saw a lot of family I had not seen in quite some time.

I found out we have a family secret that seems to be in our genes.

It must be in our genes since so many in my family are afflicted with this curious behavior.

It is a common thread that was woven in at some point in most of my conversations with various family members over the weekend.

We have

a family

full

of

stalkers.

Blog stalkers, that is!

Turns out, I have quite a few folks who read this little blog.*

Only, they have never left a comment

so I had no idea

I had any readers.

Hmmm, maybe this is just the incentive I need to post a little more often???

Just imagine what might happen if my stalkers actually left a comment.

They might get pictures of the folks they really want to see

Instead of random Internet search pictures................

Do you feel the cyber-twist of your arm???

;-)

*(Yes, I know. There has been nothing to read lately. Too much to blog about to actually blog about it....)

Fishin'

Vince spent the weekend fishin'.

Crawfishin', that is!




I remarked that my hair is falling out... by the handfuls!

I know this is a post-pregnancy thing but it is still a bit alarming.

I also remarked that I have noticed more than a few of these hairs are brown/blond on one end... and gray at the other.

This only means that all this hair that I'm losing will be growing back gray.

Gray!



Vince's reply...

"Well, your days of romancing the stone are over.
The days of long, blond hair, being slim and fit, and being a knock out are past."

Yes, ladies. That's my man.

Ephesians 4:29

"Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them"

What part of Ephesians 4:29 was that?

Was that the good, helpful, or the encouraging part?

I'm feeling like it was more of the foul and abusive part!

Maybe he was actually living out one of the verses a few lines up:

Ephesians 4:25

"So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth..."

I questioned for a moment how much longer I wanted to be "neighborly" with him.

He spent the rest of the weekend trying to make up for it.

What he "meant" was that no matter what the years (and kids) do to me, I am still as beautiful as ever to him.

Uh huh.

Anyway.

I am over it.

Really.

I just can't let him off the hook that easily!

I mean, when a husband opens his mouth and says something as brilliant as that to his wife, the whole blogging world has got to know about it, right?!

So now you know!

Creative Alternatives

We need groceries.

I don't want to go.

Vince has been too busy to go.

We have no fresh fruit.

No fresh veggies.

No mac n cheese. (There was a time I didn't think that was possible...)

Thankfully, there was left over pizza.

I was trying to figure out how to get some type of fruit in to my kids when all we have is canned pineapple (which they had with lunch yesterday) or frozen strawberries.

I decided a smoothie would be in order.

I found out my kids don't care much for smoothies.

So I tried something a little different.

Insert Sprite instead of milk.

WOW!

YUM!

Now, I fully understand that the sugar-laden soda probably negates the healthful benefits of the frozen strawberries but is that really the point??? Okay, maybe it started out the point but now we have gotten the taste buds involved. All bets are off.

For those of you who are counting calories (and except for children, I don't think I know anyone who isn't) you could make it with diet Sprite. And if caffeine isn't a concern, you could use diet Mountain Dew.

Either way, it just might take you back to another day when a frozen, fruity concoction of the alcoholic sort used to tickle your taste buds.

Not that my taste buds ever got tickled in that sort of way... {{ahem}}.

Anyway, here's how I made it. Pay close attention. It's a tricky recipe...

1 can Sprite

15 frozen strawberries

3 packets of Splenda

Throw all ingredients in blender. Blend.

Maybe not the healthiest way to get your kids' suggested daily amount of fruits into them but it might be a nice change every now and again. You could even put it in a fancy glass, put your sun glasses on, and pretend you are on a beach somewhere far, far away... At least until one of your kids begins whining something about food or blood or fire... you know, something trivial like that...

Teething

No, not Sweet Pea.

ME!



I have this wisdom tooth that pushes through for a few weeks and then goes dormant and pushes through then goes dormant.



It has been doing this at random intervals for more than 10 years now.



Only, it has been several years since I have felt it.



I realized a few days ago that it was actively pushing through again.



Can I just say...



Ouch!



I tend to run a little low on the compassion meter.



I think the Lord is using my own pain and suffering to remind me to be a little more compassionate toward Sweet Pea and her own budding teeth.



Who would have thought that at 37 I would have so much in common with my 4 month old!!!

Do you remember this???

The first stanza of this song came back to me (after who knows??? how many years) while I was changing a diaper the other day.

The kids REALLY like for me to sing it... Hgirl and Sweet Pea especially.

But it was driving me crazy that I could not remember the complete song.

I think I'm related to Paul Harvey...

So, after singing (again) for Hgirl, I went on a mission and found

"the rest of the story!"

Truly, how did we ever function before the internet and google???

Referencing yesterday's post:

When my Hgirl was just old enough to use the big potty (about 2.5 yrs. old), we still had 4 semi-adults living in our home. By semi-adult, I mean, old enough to have the coordination to change the toilet paper roll. Of those 4, I did not consider Hgirl one of them.

For whatever reason, the only time the toilet paper roll got changed was when I went to the bathroom.

Then something mysterious happened.

All of a sudden, I started going into bathrooms and seeing fresh rolls of toilet paper on the holder.

This happened several times over several days.

It was such an astounding event, after the third or forth finding, I rushed to find Vince to ask if he had done the marvelous feat.

He denied any such accomplishment.

I asked Zman.

"HUH?" was all I got there.

I pondered about the teenage species that inhabited our home at the time.

No need to waste my breath. I knew better.

Maybe I was dreaming.

Maybe I had been sleep walking.

Maybe, just maybe...



"Hgirl, did you put a new roll of toilet paper on the holder?"

"Uh-huh."



I know she thought I had lost my mind when I started doing the happy dance, swirled her around, and gave her BIG kisses and hugs while bombarding her with a barrage of THANK YOU'S.



Unfortunately, she has since lost her coordination.

I am, again, the Lone TP Changer.

It doesn't bother me. (I have many other quirks to get worked up over. This just isn't one of them...)

But it does lead me to wonder, again....

Why not?

Question of the Day...

You are just sitting there anyway...

Why not change the toilet paper roll???

I am so bummed!!!

So, almost overnight, Sweet Pea grew up on me.

Started taking better naps.

Started going longer between feedings.

Started staying awake more and in a better mood while awake.

Started sleeping through the night.

Stopped with the vomit/spit up almost completely.

Of course, she still takes medicine for it.

And I am still very strict with my diet.

It's like I told the doctor...

As long as I'm good, she's good.

But with all this growing up

And all these changes

I thought maybe, just maybe, her digestive system was growing up and changing too.

It had been so long since we had a bad day, maybe we could try solids.

Maybe I could try a slice of pizza.

(Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready's are a must for the kids every Sunday after church.)

Vince instructed me to "step away from the pizza."

I stepped away.

Honest.

But I did decide to try Sweet Pea on rice cereal for breakfast.

She took it okay.

Not bad for a first try.

But then, she got a little cranky.

And chewing on her fingers is automatic now

except

this morning

after breakfast

her hands were gagging her.

She went down for her nap fine and slept fine.

She even ate her next meal fine.

And then

it all

came up.

Not once.

Not twice.

Three times.

So now,

we are both cranky

and we both have had several changes of clothes

and I am so bummed!

I have to go do laundry now.

A Beautiful Thing...

I had heard about things like this happening.

Fanciful stories.

Fairy tales.

Old wives tales.

Urban legends.

Really, I just thought it was a myth.**



Then, it happened.

Not the first time around. No, that took at least three years.

Or the second time around. Not for at least a year.

But I guess it is true.

Third time is a charm.


It has happened enough that I can (almost) count on it.


Sleep.


All night.

From 8:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.


And sometimes, I even have to wake her up!


Sweet Pea now sleeps.


No, we haven't started solids yet so that one really is a myth.


Your babies really CAN sleep through the night on a diet of ONLY BREAST MILK!

She just started consolidating her wake times and nap times

and then,

without warning,

night time.

Sleep.

It is a beautiful thing!

**(Of course, there is that one friend whose kids reportedly have some weird "sleeping gene" that they are born with... NICOLE!!! This stuff is old hat to her... but just as precious, all the same! Sleep.)

;-)

I don't know who Murphy is...**Updated**

But I don't like his law!

We got the flu vaccine on Friday so we wouldn't get sick.

Hgirl started running fever last night.

I'm behind on my laundry but decided the beds needed clean sheets.

Two of my three kids woke up with wet beds this morning.

Vince asked how things were going this morning.

I told him no one was throwing up.

As soon as the words left my lips, Sweet Pea puked all over both of us.

Murphy, have I got a thing or two to tell you...


** After reading this again, I realized I should let you know... the puke was a case of over-eating, not a virus... PRAISE GOD! Thanks for your concerns. Hgirl is better and has only had a low grade fever tonight. Fingers crossed that continues through the night or better, goes away completely... and for good!

I know it has been a while

so here are some

Precious Pics

of our Precious Pea

She is such a Sweetie!