Love Glue~

Seriously folks, I promise I haven't forgotten about my blog-it's just been a little hectic with tons of sickness, schoolwork, kiddos, work, home, etc etc etc!!! Give me a few days to get caught up on my holiday baking and we'll be back in business! :)

Short Cute Kid story: Quote of the Day:
This afternoon while sitting together on the couch-totally out of the blue~
Ellie Girl: Mommy? Are we held together with glue?
Me: What??? (VERY confused)
Ellie Girl:You and me! Are we held together with love glue?? Does God make us stick together with Love Glue?
Now, where in the world does she get these things???? However, it made me smile and I thought that sounded pretty nice-held together with God's Love Glue! :)

What a Day!!!

So my wonderful hubby has been traveling the last couple of days for work, so me and the hooligans have been holding down the fort. It has been a rough couple of days, to say the least. I know this is one of those times that I am going to look back on and laugh, but currently, I am expecting to look in the mirror and see my hair COMPLETELY gray! Come along as I share the events of the last couple days in the Brandt household:
So my normally sweet, complient, easy-going son turned 3 last week, and I am pretty sure got replaced by aliens during the night with a monster. Seriously. This child has turned into a dramatic, mean, disrespectful terror! He walks up to his sisters, wacks them in the face, and walks away like that's a completely normal occurance. He has bitten Claire, something he has NEVER EVER done in his life, twice. Both times were in the bathtub (why?? who knows!!!) and both times have been close to drawing blood! I've been bitten a couple of times in the past and holy shamoly-those little teeth are SHARP! So there's that drama going on...
Meanwhile, little sister hooligan is again on a "discovery" rampage, with her brother as her very willing accomplice. Yesterday, I sent them outside so I could work on some homework for a few minutes. Ellie tells me they are playing in the water, to which I reply something to the effect of "tell them mommy says get out or they are in trouble" which usually works. Not so much this time. Eventually I go outside to see Claire and Darren standing in the MUD in the STREET (ok, the curb, but still a place they know they are not allowed). I discipline both of them, they cry pitifully, and I return inside thinking that all is well. NOOOOTTTTT!!! My eldest child again dutifully tells me that Darren and Claire are back in the water. I head back outside and this time Darren has gotten a bucket, is scooping up the mud/mucky water and DUMPING IT ALL OVER CLAIRE'S HEAD!!!!! One would think the child getting dumped on would cry or SOMETHING, but nope-she's happy as a lark!! ***HUGE sigh**** Ok, so silver lining is that I gave them a bath, which meant they didn't need one that night-trying to think positive here!
So, I finally get them in bed, heave a HUGE sigh of relief and head to bed myself with a HUGE headache. I never sleep too well when Sam is gone-I hear noises and just miss him there beside me I guess! :) Wake up this morning-STILL a huge pounding headache. Being preggo, I can't take my good migraine meds that I normally would, so I ask Ellie if she would mind keeping an eye on the kiddos so I can sleep a little more and hopefully that will help. They can each have fruit snacks to tide them until breakfast and they can watch cartoons or read books quietly. She agrees (she's AWESOME btw-don't know what I would do w/out her!!!) So, amazingly, it's quiet and I get up about an hour later. I walk into the kitchen and the headache is back in FULL FORCE! Claire is up on the counter (having seen big sister move the chair to climb up to get the fruit snacks) and pretty much emptied out the entire cupboard there. She also managed to open up the bottle of dish soap and is COVERED in it, along with the counter and all the spilled contents. LOVELY!!!! Do you know how hard it is to WIPE up dish soap??? I do, and it's IMPOSSIBLE!!! So, I stick Claire in the tub (AGAIN-she's REALLY clean these days), and she starts rubbing her eyes which of course, burns like the dickens, I'm sure! I finally get it rinsed out and then stand her up and turn on the shower so the suds will actually rinse off her instead of just bubbling. She is already upset about her eyes, and this is the icing on the cake. She is NOT a happy little girl. We finally get the soap all rinsed off and she looks like she was on drugs with her red eyes, so even though I am still a little disgusted, I just put a diaper on her and we snuggle for a while. Peace ensues until a little while later, Mommy is again distracted by one of the 6 million things I need to do that never seem to get done when Claire walks out of the bathroom BUCK NAKED with a wipe in her hand. She had pooped in her diaper, then proceeded to take it off, wipe her bum with some wipes (that she was still carrying around), and then sat on the potty seat, which was on the floor, not the potty at the time. By the time, I figured out what was going on, she knew I was mad and collapsed on the floor, poopy hiney and all! GGGGRRRRRR!!!! You guessed it, there was nastiness ALL over and I swear I was distracted for 5 seconds! How the heck are they so fast?!?!?! The silver lining to this story is that I am now seriously considering potty training her-or stapling her pants to her.
WHEW! That was theraputic just writing about these last couple of days. Rereading all this, it really is kind of funny. Some days I just don't know if I can do this, but somehow, it always works out, even if Mommy is gray by the time she's 30.
So my wonderful hubby is home (THANK GOODNESS), so I need to fill him in on my last few days and demand a 5 hour massage and a foot rub! :) I'm kidding-I know he works hard, and this is MY job, but I think we need to discuss a raise at least...

Racecar Kisses

Darren has always been kind of a Momma's boy, and he loves to give kisses to his Mommy! :) His mommy has absolutely no objection to these kisses, knowing that all too soon, he will be too embarrassed and that period of my sweet little man will be over. Lately, he has become more creative with his kisses. A few weeks ago, I was tucking him in and he commented that he wanted to give me a "fireworks kiss". I still to this day have no idea what a fireworks kiss is-just that he takes a deep breath before planting a kiss on my cheek! Tonight, however, was a new one. I had taken off his clothes to change him into his jammies and he jumped up and ran to the other side of his room, commenting that he wanted to give me a "RACECAR KISS MOMMY!!!". I, of course, was all for it. So, my beanpole son, wearing only his diaper, took a deep breath, revved his scrawny little arms like he was running for a few seconds, and took off across the room, and JUMPED for all he was worth into my arms with his little arms tight around my neck and the best little boy kiss you can imagine. He held on for a few seconds and then he looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes, almost as if he was asking "whatcha think Mommy?" I was hooked and I think I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. He kept looking at me until I just had to laugh and then I told him that I LOVED racecar kisses. That was all he needed and headed out of his room, on to bigger and better things. I read him and Ellie a book, and then told them to give Daddy a kiss good-night and head to their beds. I bet you can guess what kind of kiss Daddy got tonight too! By this point, there were apparently requirements that Daddy didn't know about, like you have to stand a very specific distance away and that you are supposed to catch the racecar kisser when he jumps at you. The distance problem was easily solvable, but when Daddy didn't catch him, the resulting crash had us all laughing hysterically. Attempt 2 was very succesful, as was 3 and 4, and then I had to shut it down as things were getting a little crazy. :)
As I tucked him into his little bed, I gave him a little zerbert on his cheek and thanked him for the racecar kisses. He smiled at me with his mouth AND his eyes and said "You're welcome Mommy". Melts my heart I tell ya! All too soon, he's going to be too tough to give his mom ANY kisses, let alone racecar ones! Don't grow up too fast little man and keep those racecar kisses comin'!

The Blue Chalk Story

9 years ago yesterday was one the happiest days of my life. I woke up with a smile on my face (which as those close to me know, RARELY happens! :)). I had a beautiful white dress waiting to be put on, and a VERY handsome man waiting to become my husband in just a few hours. At the time my parents were in the process of putting an addition on to their house. Progress came to a halt when Sam and I announced our engagement, as the money was now needed for the wedding!! It was all enclosed-just finish work on the inside not done. When we brought my dress home, my dad pounded a nail up on the wall and we hung my dress there so the train could fan out without getting wrinkled, etc. No one really went over there, so the dress wouldn't be in the way or get stepped on-it worked out great.
Fast forward to the time it was time to pack up the dress to take it to the wedding. Dad had gone ahead for some reason, and Mom and I weren't tall enough to reach the hanger to get the dress down. Instead of getting a chair or something, we just grabbed a piece of wood that was in a box where the construction "leftovers" were tossed to use to hook the hanger and bring it down-easy peasy, right?!?! Unbeknownst to us, that piece of scrap wood had BRIGHT blue marking chalk on the end of it, and you can imagine the rest. Yep, a bright blue streak right on bodice part of my very white wedding dress. It was right at the top in the very front-no way to miss that baby!!! I thought my mom was going to faint. I remember standing there in shock, and Jana (my maid of honor) putting her hands on my shoulders and physically turning me around and pushing me out of the room, saying "it's going to be fine, it's ok, it's all going to work out, don't worry". I took a few deep breaths and went back in to where my mom was still standing, probably in shock like I was. We tried to wipe it off, which just smeared it worse!! I'm actually quite impressed that we didn't freak out, or maybe my mom did and just didn't let me see it, but I remember that I really knew that it WAS going to be ok and that somehow my mom would get it out. Long story short, my mom called every wedding dress shop she could think of and no one had any suggestions on how to get blue chalk out of wedding dresses. I went ahead to get my hair done, etc and Mom worried about the dress. When she brought it to me later that day, you couldn't even hardly tell it was there. Someone from a dress shop in Waterloo had give her something like white-out for fabric and she just painted over the blue. No one noticed at the wedding (or at least they didn't tell me they did!) and it was a wonderful day. Today if you would look at my dress, you can still see that white spot with just a hint of blue showing thru. And you know what? I'm kind of glad it's there. Granted, if I had to do it again, I probably would have just gotten a chair or at least checked the end of the wood scrap, but it's an awesome story to tell my granddaughters on their wedding days! :) It's a reminder to me that even when life doesn't go the way I want it to, it all works out ok. My heart was so full of love that day that even if my entire dress was covered in blue chalk, I still would have been Mrs. Sam Brandt and that sounds pretty good to me.

9 years, 3 kids, one still VERY handsome husband-I'm lovin' my life!!

It Makes Me Happy

One day, I look outside and this is what I see.

I love how Ellie is so patiently helping him steer and

Darren is just soaking up what she is saying.

It just makes me happy :)

Visions of Dutch Ovens and Pie Irons Dance in My Head....

There is about a million things I should be doing right now. I just heard the dryer buzz, telling me that yet another load is ready to be added to the "need to fold" pile (and maybe even get folded!) There are a few dishes that should be washed and a huge paper due Monday that I haven't even started, but here I am-googling "campfire cooking" and checking out Dutch ovens and Pie Irons. There is some amazing stuff you can make in those things!
I do believe that the camping bug has officially bitten! I am so pumped to go camping, I can hardly wait. There are times that I doubt my sanity in this excitement because when we camp, we sleep in a tent in all kinds of weather with our 3 little hooligans all under 5! But, crazy as it may seem, I am completely ok with that. It is true that I have never camped when it was brutally hot, so that might change my opinion, but I kind of like sleeping in the fresh air. I never have a problem getting the kids to sleep because they have so much fun during the day, they are tuckered out and ready for some shut eye.
In the past we have stayed in a cabin, or borrowed a tent, but this year, we are buying our own equipment, so I am looking forward to using it more once! Growing up, we went camping every year for our vacation, and I really enjoyed it (most of the time). We tease my dad that he wants to be a hermit because when he goes on vacation he likes to "get away"-literally. We wouldn't go to fun places that had lots of activities and fun stuff to do-we would go to places like Wyoming...up in a mountain...with no showers or flush toilets...and VERY few people. That's what he liked, so that's what we did! Granted, I was far from thrilled at the time (pretty sure I wouldn't be thrilled with those accomodations NOW) but I have to give him credit. It was very relaxing-sitting by a fire reading a book (it's cold in the mountains!), eating food cooked on a fire, my dad's ghost stories (he's VERY good at them, but that's a story for another time) and then curling up in a warm sleeping bag, drifting off to sleep to a medley that only nature can provide. We had some fun times that I will always remember.
That's why I'm excited. Camping definitely isn't my idea of a perfect vacation but when I see my kids covered from head to toe in dirt, grinning from ear to ear, and then asking as we pull out of the driveway of the campground how long it is until we go again, it makes it all worth it. THEY are worth every bug bite and sunburn, every long hour it takes to pack and unpack, every second of planning and preparation. The fact that they have been ready since Winter to go camping and the fact that they haven't stopped asking if it's almost July since they heard me make the reservation. I see them outside with a little pile of sticks they picked up, pretending it's a campfire. I smile when I hear Darren say "Marshmallow" every time he hears the word camping. So I will sleep in a tent in the middle of July and forgo conveniences because I love them and I love to see them happy. THEY are why I'm pumped! :)

Here is why I do it!

25 Random Things

So I have been browsing on Facebook lately and I LOVE to read "25 Random Things About Me" that people posted. I never did one back when that was the thing to do, so you, my lucky loyal followers, are blessed to be reading (drumroll, please)......

25 RAMDOM THINGS ABOUT ME!!!!

1. I do not have OCD like another member of my family (ahem, TRAVIS) but I do have a couple tendencies. They are as follows:
a.)My money in my wallet (when there is some there! :)) has to be all facing the same way, in numerical order, smallest to biggest.
b.)towels and washclothes all have to be facing the same way and showing the "nice" sides.
c.)I hate it when things don't match such as bottles (the ring has to be the same color as the bottle, etc) and sippy cups (each cup has it's own lid-do not mix and match)
2. My name is spelled with an "i" at the end so as to be different from a lamp.
3. When I get stressed, I power rock in our recliner. If it's really bad, I can do it for a couple of hours at night. Sometimes I have to put the blanket over my head. Don't even talk to me if there is a blanket over my head.
4. I hate decorating. There-I said it! Anyone who has seen my house, this is not a surprise. My walls are bare, except for the ones Andrea has decorated for me. I think this is because I am not artistic in the least and I get so stressed about it not looking good that I just don't do it!
5. I have the DVR programed to record "Jonas". It's a show about the Jonas Brothers. It's such a teenage girl show, but I love it. I don't know any of their songs at all-not even a title of one-but I still like their show.
6. I've never had a pedicure.
7. I really do not like cooked carrots, but I eat them because I want my kids to do the same.
8. I had a dream about Sam before I started dating him. I told God I was done with men-HA HA I was like, 18-dumb girl! :)
9. I hate fingernails. My kids get theirs clipped all the time because it drives me crazy.
10. I love to decorate cake. Sam gave me a kit last year for my birthday and Ellie and I love to use it.
11. I want to learn how to tap dance.
12. I have a slight pillow obsession. I take it with me whenever I travel and no one is allowed to touch it or breathe on it. Seriously! I don't even let Sam sleep on it. I trace it back to when Trav and I had to share a bed-his head smelled funny.
13. I would rank Berenstien Bears very close to the top of my all time favorite books list.
14. I really do not like popsicles.
15. I had 2 goals in my life-to be a football cheerleader and have a job where I could run stuff over the beeper thing. I am happy to report, I met both goals by the time I was 17! :) (I do have new goals now....) FYI-I still do love to run stuff over the beeper thing. Self checkout anyone????
16. I changed the spelling of my son's name because I saw a football player on TV that I thought was good looking...so Darin became Darren! :)
17. Even though I am not pregnant, I still cry sometimes when I see touching commercial on TV or things like Extreme Makeover:Home Edition.

DUDE! This is harder than I thought....I'm only on 17!
18. Movies scare me. They always have. My poor husband doesn't get to watch anything remotely scary or even too dramatic. I have to leave the room when the scary parts come on.
19. I always said I refused to have an odd number of children. Then Claire Bear came along.....
20. I love it that Ellie is a girly girl and that Darren is all boy. Claire is just mischevious.

COME ON! 5 MORE! YOU CAN DO IT! Hmmmmm.....
21. My son does not drink from pink sippy cups or use pink plates. My girls do not drink from blue sippy cups or use truck plates. Wierd, I know. And what's even wierder is that I don't have anything against it! It doesn't bother me in the least if someone else's kids do it or even if someone else gives it to my kids that way, but I just can't!
22. I hate dusting. That is the first job I am giving to my kids. They do it a little now, but I still have to do it after they do. But I am longing for the day.....
23. I have a group of moles on the back of my leg that look like 2 eyes and a nose. If I would ever get a tattoo ( I NEVER would, but run with me on this) I would just tattoo a little mouth under it and make a smiley face. How cute would that be?
24. I would love to write a children's book someday. I just don't have a clue about what.
25. Daffodils are my favorite flower and when our garden blooms, my children bring me handfuls of them! :)

TA DA!!!! Wow, that was harder than I thought!

It is now almost midnight and I have successfully procrastinated going to bed for several hours. I should probably think about heading there now and see if I can think of some more random stuff to share with you all.....

One Simple Reason....

Yes, I am still alive-I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. There has been a lack of posts for one simple reason-barf. A couple weeks ago, all 3 kiddos had a HORRIBLE stomach flu-stuff coming out all over if you get my drift. Then to top it off, Sam had to be gone for a couple of days right in the middle of it-although I am pretty sure that he planned it that way to avoid the barfing! Actually that's not true and I shouldn't even joke about it. Sam is superdad anyway, and when there is barf involved, he is even better. Knock on wood, I haven't had to clean up barf off the floor yet. I honestly believe that God knows that I CANNOT handle barf, and Sam has always been home when the kids get sick. I can do the clothes and clean up the kids, but anything major makes me heave. Once again, I am reminded that God has given me the gift of someone who is strong where I am weak!

So, back to lack of posting...I can hear you saying that you understand sick kids=no time for blogging, but since all 3 of them were sick, I seriously got nothing done and then things were stacking, and Stacking and STACKING!!!!! You know those weeks where you wish there were about 4 of you and then maybe you could actually make a dent in the stuff that needs to be done? I have had a couple of those in row! :) However, I am happy to report that things are getting caught back up a little. Claire still can't tolerate any milk and very little to no milk products (pizza with no cheese anyone?) otherwise she gets terrible tummy aches and blow out diapers, but we are working on it. Her pediatrician says that's normal after being as sick as she was, and my little milkaholic is adjusting to soy milk for the time being.

My Elliegirl, not feeling so hot, barf bucket never far away

During my time of trial and barf, a friend sent me a hillarious "barf story" about her daughter and it made me laugh, which was EXACTLY what I needed. So, in honor of her and in honor of my lovely week, if you have a funny barf (or any illness) story (something funny or sweet that was said while sick, etc-I realize sickness in itself isn't funny), post it in my comments section or send me an e-mail and with your permission, maybe in the future when the flu is rampant again (or maybe when we all need a good laugh!) I will post them to remind us all that laughter really is a pretty great medicine!

BUSTED!

While Mommy was busy helping Ellie keep it in the bucket, Little Mr. Hooligan (who was definitely on the mend as you can see) manuvered a chair to where he could reach the M & Ms (a fav for both of them!) and would eat one, and share one with Little Miss Hooligan (not so much on the mend, but obviously enough to climb into that chair and snarf down candy!), and then repeat, and repeat, and repeat! When I came around the corner, they both shoved a whole handful in their mouth-they looked like chipmunks! They thought they were pretty clever!

Silver Lining: At least he was sharing.....

Have a wonderful (and barf free!) weekend! :)

Our Weekend to Remember!

Last weekend, Sam and I left the kiddos in the very capable hands of Grandma and Papa Brandt, and headed to Des Moines for a Family Life Marriage Conference called "A Weekend to Remember". I have confessed to Sam and will admit publicly now that deep in my heart, I was thinking that this would be a fun weekend away from home and Sam might learn a few things about how to be a better husband-to put it in their terms, I was bringing Sam there to fix him. Instead, God convicted ME and opened my eyes to so many truths that I wasn't living. If you would humor me, I would like to share with you a few of the things that I learned that I think will change my life:

1. I was created by God to be the perfect partner to my Sam. When God was creating me, He gave me gifts to compliment my husband and weaknesses where Sam is strong. The same holds true for Sam. We were created to compliment each other. Pretty awesome if you stop to think about it!

2. Expectations without communication leads to conflict! My husband is not a mind reader! :)

3. I need to reject our cultures pattern of 50/50 performance relationship, where I only do my part if I feel he is doing his. Very hard for me to do, but I am loving the results!

4. Sam and I have completely different communication styles-'nough said! :) However, one thing that I have been trying to take to heart is "Always respond to emotion with emotion, and fact with fact". They gave the example of a man commenting to his wife that they had gone over budget and his wife flies off the handle and starts crying about how he doesn't love her and is always yelling at her about money. That's responding to fact with emotion. FYI, it works well with Ellie too! :)

5. My priorities need to be in the Godly order of God, my husband, and then my kids.

There was so many other things that I'm not putting here, but it really was an awesome weekend. It was so much fun to spend time with Sam without all the distractions of home. We laughed more than we have in a long time, had plenty of time to talk, had a LOT of honest discussions, and even shed a few tears (ok, that was me...not Sam! :)). It was wonderful to be ME for a whole weekend. I adore my children, but sometimes it's hard to be someone's mommy all the time, and having a chance to have a break from it all was so nice. Sam was so great about the whole thing-I know this definitely wasn't his cup of tea, but he did it because he knew I wanted to. Sam is definitely my gift from God and I am so glad I had the opportunity to be reminded of it yet again. Love ya Babe! :)

What I Miss About Toddler MomLife - FamilyLife MomLife Today

I just read this and it brought tears to my eyes. It's so true and even though at times I do long for those things, I know this little stage goes by so fast and someday, I'm going to long for it again. Toddler Moms-this is a must read!
Love,
Tiff

What I Miss About Toddler MomLife - FamilyLife MomLife Today

Oh My Little Claire Bear

You know, God is showing me again that HIS plan is the best of all. This little peanut here is living proof of that. I think most people know that she was our little surprise baby (notice I didn't say mistake baby-she was NEVER that). She is definitely my most challenging child as well, but there are things about this little girl that I have come to admire. She is the most determined person I have ever met. If she really wants something (mostly toothbrushes out of the bathroom drawer) she will do whatever she can to get it. The SECOND she hears that bathroom door open she is there in a flash-you would be amazed at how fast this little person can move! And she has gotten in trouble so many times I lose track, but she knows what she wants and she is going to do whatever it takes to get it.

She is always observing and watching. She loves to watch her older sister and brother, and I'm sure right now in this pic, she is thinking "MAN, I wish I was out there with them!!"

Claire Bear is my little sweet tooth girl! Her second word, only after Daddy, is "cookie"! She adores her daddy and has a special little smile that she gives him that melts him to a big pile of daddiness. He would never admit it because he's too manly...ok, he probably would admit it. :) She usually gives him that "squishy face" smile when he's eating dessert, and he can't resist sharing! :)

"What? You talkin' to ME? I've just been kickin' it here with Pops...chillin' in my John Deere hat! I have NO idea how all those toothbrushes got out of there!"

And the girl can accesorize! She LOVES hats! Or if no hat can be found and a daddy is available for some assistance, tights work just as well! Seriously, she thought she was SOOOO funny with those on her head-it was hillarious.

And no matter how much grief she gives me (and it's A LOT, trust me!) she can ALWAYS make me smile. Her smile and her laughter are so contagious, that you would have to have a heart of stone to resist smiling along with her. And Lord knows, when it comes to that little sweetie, my heart is anything but stone.

Everybody's Right Where They're Supposed to Be

Daddy has been gone the last few days for work. He left for Texas on Sunday night and was supposed to come home last night and put Ellie in bed, but due to technical difficulties in Texas and fog in Cedar Rapids he had to stay last night too. Ellie really doesn't like it when her Daddy leaves. One night is tolerable, but the second night (and an unexpected one at that) seems to make her wierd. She doesn't go to bed very good and gets really tired. So, today was that second day! Luckily, we had planned to go play with Kaci and Seth at their grandparents house, so that fun diversion helped too. Then, to all of our great delight, Daddy's car was in the garage when we got home! We were all so glad to see him! Ellie of course crawled right up on Daddy's lap and out of the blue, she took a deep breath and said "Whew, everybody is right where they're supposed to be"! :) Sam and I looked at each other and I just smiled. My thoughts exactly Baby Girl, my thoughts exactly.

We Love Saturday Mornings!

This is how most Saturday mornings start at the Brandt household. Sam usually makes breakfast. I don't know how it got started, but I am quite happy to let him do it! Being the super-dad that he is he lets the kids help him make pancakes, which is what they choose 99.9% of the time for Saturday breakfast. They help him dump in ingredients and then stir, which they think is awesome fun. And it is seriously amazing how many pancakes my children will eat. Darren ususally eats more than me...honestly!

Then, on the most wonderful of the Saturdays, THIS happens-relaxing and snuggling with the kids while they watch cartoons. This has been a busy week and I am thinking that a certain little mega-daddy's girl needed a little extra snuggle time which Daddy was only to happy to give because it gives him a chance to catch up on some much needed rest as well! Sometimes life just seems so busy and rushed and Saturday mornings are our small respite from that craziness. It's just too bad that Saturday afternoon chores have to follow~ Hmmm, maybe today will just be morning all day! :)

I Love Little Diaper Bums! :)

A couple of weeks ago now, Darren had tubes put in and his adnoids taken out due to chronic ear infections and colds/coughs that would last forever! The poor kid was becoming immune to zithromax (the strongest antibiotic the dr would give him) since he was on it all the time. He pretty much had ear infection non-stop from Thanksgiving until the middle of February when the tubes were put in. The doctor that performed the surgery is semi-retired, so Darren's procedure was scheduled, it was not for 6 weeks! That is WAAYYY too much time for this Mommy to stress about things that I know are never going to happen-like "what happens if he dies from anesthesia????? I can't lose him!!" and all those completely not necessary thought. Of course these would ususally occur when I was laying in bed, unable to sleep and my brian would wander....and I would usually end of crying. (Those close to me know that Tiff cries REALLY easy when she's tired!! :)) My wonderful, VERY practical husband was tired of my nonsense and commented "Tiff, we are more likely to get killed on the way there than he is dying from anesthesia"....THANK YOU OH THOU WONDERFUL COMFORTER-that SOO did NOT help!!!! Anyway, it all turned out fine. He did great when I had to pass him off to the nurse **Sniff** I only got a little teary, but held it together admirably as well! He was a little wierd coming out of anesthesia-very restless and even I couldn't settle him down. As a last resort, I started to softly sing to him-we were in a curtained room and I am NOT a good singer, so softly was the key!! :) I sang the song I used to sing to him when he was a baby and INSTANTLY he calmed down and went to sleep. It was...I don't know the word..wierd, surprising, wonderful...??? He woke up a little later and was very restless again. I asked him if he wanted a drink (NO!) Daddy (NO!) and it dawned on me..Do you want me to sing again?? Yep, that's what he wanted and he settled right back down to sleep! Awwwww...It's such a good feeling knowing that when my baby is not feeling right and doesn't know what's going on, all it takes is my song and he is relaxed again-I love being a Mom! :) How cute is that...This is playing in the toy room waiting for surgery. I loved his little diper bum peeking out from his gown (which he was NOT at all happy about wearing!)

Waiting to go see "Dr. Rover" (aka Dr. Rotenberg) and get his "ears fixed w/ a screwdriver" (not really, but that's what he would always say-screwdrivers ARE for fixing things, ya know!)

After the operation, finally drinking some juice, but ONLY out of the new Lightning McQueen cup we bought (for the sole purpose of enticing drinking!!) He was still pretty out of it at this point, but I am happy to report that he is doing wonderful and even has a cold, but no ear infections-HOORAY!!!!

And God Told Noah The Big Red Dog

Right now, you are reading this post for the sole purpose of finding out what that quote means. Here's the thing...I have absolutely no idea. Darren was looking at a dollar bill while we were getting ready for meeting yesterday and says that like he's reading the dollar bill. Sounds like a combination of a Bible story and Clifford...whatever it is, it sends my children into GALES of laughter...seriously. Like the kind where they can't even breathe, they are laughing so hard. All morning this morning, Ellie would say "Darren, say that..." and he would, and they would all be hysterically laughing! It's the kind of laughter than makes it impossible not to laugh along, even though you don't have a clue why you are laughing! It makes me smile too, just watching them laugh and enjoying they fact that they can get such joy out of something so simple (ok, and so wierd, but hey...). Sometimes I think that they have the right idea-laughter is good for your soul and who cares if it's wierd. So here's to hoping that you all have a "and God told Noah the Big Red Dog" moment in your life today! :)

I Love You Daddy

Ellie wanted to draw a Valentine Card for Daddy-this was the final result! :)

"I Love You Daddy"

She wrote the words all by herself-I just told her which ones to write!

She also added the sun on the front....not sure why, but she said it HAD to be there! :)

On the left is her and Daddy-notice her pigtails and Daddy has hair.

On the right is a heart-if you look REALLY close it kind of does look like one! :)

She left this in the basket where Daddy puts his wallet and phone when he gets home with a Reece's Peanut Butter heart (her VERY most favorite candy).
This was all with absolutely no prompting or hinting from me.

Who cares that it's a few weeks late-Happy Valentine's Day Daddy!

Precious Moments

Last night I did what I do every night before I go to bed. I check on each of my kids, making sure they are covered up and whatnot. Part of me likes to just stand there and watch them sleeping. They look so peaceful....and quiet! :) When I went to check on Darren, he sat up and looked up at me, his eyes sleepy, his little boy hair sticking up every which way, his cute little cheeks a little rosy, and said "Mommy rock?" My heart melted just a little and I said "Sure Buddy, let's go rock". I picked him up and he snuggled into my arms and we headed to our chair to rock. As I rocked him there in the dark stillness, his sleepy body snuggled into me, his breathing even, tears came to my eyes. I couldn't believe how big he is already and I thanked God for him and prayed that he wouldn't grow up too fast. I asked God to keep him safe and help him to be a true man and to help me help him become that man. Maybe it was the late hour, maybe it was the darkeness, but whatever it was... I was glad I was there.

Seems like just a minute ago....

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

I think I would love snow if it wan't cold! :) Yesterday was Claire's first time out in the snow and she LOVED being outside, although it is a little difficult to move around in all those clothes! We did a little sledding on an approximately 4 foot hill, and rode bikes on the driveway! Although some of us (my husband with his new toy) cheer when there is snow in the forecast, I think the general consensus is that snow is fun, but we are ready for it to be gone! :)

Relaxing day at home

My poor kids are so tired today~last week was a VERY busy week! Darren is still kind of recovering from tubes in and adnoids out, Ellie was busy with children's meeting and visiting friends, as well as preschool, and Claire-well, she just wears herself out being her busy little self! :) Due to the above mentioned over tired children, I decided to just chill and hang with them all day. If I get some laundry done or housecleaning done, it will just be a bonus! So for now, it's cartoons and snuggling, then on to lunch and naps for all! :) Have a wonderful day!