Introducing...WOODY!!

Today Frances and I had a long conversation about her imaginary friend Woody. He takes on lots of interesting characteristics and is, of course, a very convenient scapegoat. Today I learned a lot of the "back story." You will be interested to learn that Woody lives with his grandma and grandpa. His daddy died, but he will be coming back soon. His grandma and grandpa both have long yellow hair, because boys can have long hair too. Woody can chew gum whenever he wants because he is six years old. Woody's grandma is a teacher at a school in Harrisonburg. Woody also has a one-year old sister named Abby.

Julie's wedding

This weekend Frances and I were honored to participate in our friend Julie's wedding to Chris. Frances was the flower girl and I was a bridesmaid. She did an AWESOME job. We started the wedding weekend out with Frances' first manicure. She picked a sparkly yellow color to match her flower girl dress. She enjoyed being a "big girl" and getting her nails done. She sat remarkably still for the whole experience. It is worth $5 to take her for a manicure every Saturday morning, so she will sit still and I could read a book!! Hmmm....

After the manicure, we went to a tea party downtown. Frances picked out a very pretty flower cup. We had a delicious salad, chicken sandwiches, squash soup (that I really did eat-in front of witnesses, mom!), and scones and hot tea for dessert. She was quite the little lady throughout, and all the other women commented on how well she behaved. She made me very proud.

We had to go shoe shopping after the tea party, because as it turns out Frances' shoes were three sizes too small! Oops! She is quite glad to have new Disney Princess sandals and I am glad that her size was on sale for $9!!

We picked up Henry from Day Care and then picked up Ken at home to go to the rehearsal and dinner. Afterwards, Frances and Henry both passed out from a long day. I took care of a last few wedding details and collected my stuff for Saturday morning.
My Henry alarm went off at 5:30 on Saturday morning and after a shower for me and a bath for Frances, we headed over to the hotel to get ready. We got our hair and makeup done and the headed over to the church. I actually remembered to get myself in a photo, so I can remember what I look like all cleaned up! Frances is a bit pouty because she burned her leg on a curling iron at the hotel, but one Care Bears band-aid later, she was a happy camper again.






Obviously, I didn't have a way to hold the camera during the ceremony, but I did get a shot of Frances afterwards standing on the altar. Sorry about the strange expression. She doesn't like to pose for pictures without hamming it up.

After the wedding, Frances got her first Limo ride (and Mommy's first one as well). She was quite excited with a big grin on her face the whole time. She danced throughout the whole reception. I'll get the videos up later. Henry enjoyed the music as well and tried to crawl onto the dance floor several times. We left the reception at about 6:30 and headed home. Here is my little Princess after a 12 hour day!

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Birthdays are a special day to thank God that you are here.

2. Summer is my favorite season because of swimming, staying up late, catching fireflies, lots of Vitamin D, and Ken cooking all the time because he loves to use the grill.

3. I feel my best when I sleep well.

4. Anything I don't have to cook is my favorite food!

5. First impressions are often wrong, so keep an open mind.

6. The best piece of advice I ever received was to remember that "This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad." )Psalm 118:24.

7. And as for the weekend, today I’m looking forward to manicures, tea party, rehearsal and dinner, tomorrow my plans include Julie's wedding!!! and Sunday, I want to sleep!

Thankful Thursdays

Three weeks in a row!!! Since I am only picking three things each week, sometimes it is hard to narrow it down. I am thankful for so many things, but I am trying to pick things that have had a major impact on my week. This week it happens to be three people:

• My son, Henry. He is awesome. He changes so much everyday, but he is still my sweet little baby. I am often late getting ready in the mornings and it is usually his fault. I just finished nursing him and he fell back asleep. I like to lie in bed and just watch him sleep. He finds that thumb so fast!! And I rub his little peach fuzz head. His cheeks (both sets) are ever so squeezable! He loves the water-baths and pools. He constantly crawls into the bathroom and tries to climb in the tub. He's actually done it before! Right into Frances' bath!! What a splash. And then he played for a bit and climbed back out! That was a bit of a slippery catch for me. He is also trying his hand at surfing with his sister:
• I am thankful for Julie. She is getting married in 2 days!!! We met at church and she has been my right hand ever since. She is Henry's godmother. She is the one who drove me to the hospital when I had kidney stones in January. She has watched the kids any time I have needed her. She has actually called to "borrow" them when she knew I needed a break, but refused to ask!! Now that is a friend! Frances and I have the honor of participating in her wedding this weekend. I am proud to stand at the altar and support my friend as she begins a new life as a wife. And I am especially looking forward to repaying all the babysitting (but I'll give her a chance to just be married first!)
• I am thankful for my boss, Pam. If you have met this woman, you have seen the face of God. She would do anything to help anyone. She gave me a job when she didn't really have a job to give. She has been flexible with that job to allow me the time to have my second job at my church (not because I needed more money, but because I wanted to serve the youth at my church). She has raised two AMAZING daughters- and I hope that mine turns out just as well. She is a friend, a mentor, and a second mom to me. I don't know where I would be without her hand in my life.

I thank God daily for all three of these people in my life. There are many others of course, but I have set my limit at three or else I would be really late for work!

Where has the time gone?!

I haven't been able to blog for a few days. I feel so behind!! Last weekend, we went to Newport News for a DYC meeting. We finished up and polished our plans for this year's Convention!! We spent the weekend at a convent on the campus of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church. We got to Newport News a little early, so we took the kids to the beach. Henry loved it! He tried to eat all the rocks and crawl right out into the water. Frances loved getting in the water and jumping up and down.

This week at Day Care, the kids are going to Bible School. They LOVE it! It is "Power Lab." The church we go to does an awesome job of putting it all together. It is great to hear all these kids come home talking about scripture and Jesus' teachings. Some of them don't hear it much otherwise.

Possibly TMI

You have been warned...but this is my blog, so I am going to write it down!! I just got out of the shower and was in the living room in my Victoria's Secret underwear. Frances saw that there was a crown on the front of them (their logo).
F: Mommy, why do you have a crown on your panties?
Me: I don't know, sweetheart.
F: Is it so everyone will know that you are the bestest mommy of all?
Me: Yes it is, Frances. Yes it is!!

Friday Fill-In

1. A smile is a great way to start the day, especially when it's from your kids.

2. Sequence for Kids is my favorite board game. Frances got it for Christmas one year and we love playing it together. She calls it the "chip game."

3. I would love to have more organization in my life and less clutter.

4. When I think of the Summer Solstice, I think of long, lazy summer days.

5. I just remembered I need to pack for this weekend!!

6. One of my favorite song lyrics goes like this:

"And I'll praise you in this storm

and I will lift my hands

for You are who You are

no matter where I am

and every tear I've cried

You hold in your hand

You never left my side

and though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm"

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to seeing DYC friends again, tomorrow my plans include lots of Convention work and Sunday, I want to see the beach!

Thankful Thursdays

I am impressed with myself for actually remembering to do something two weeks in a row!! Yay me! (In my head that sounded like London Tipton, which is really sad. If you get that reference-that's sad too!)



This week I am thankful for:

• Our gorgeous weather. The past few days have been absolutely awesome. Not too hot; not too cold. There has been lots of sun, but a nice breeze also. I was able to spend most of Tuesday outside with my kids from school. Despite a slight sunburn on my leg, it was quite comfortable to sit and watch them play.

• Popsicles. I bought some new ones at the store this week. I decided not to go with the classic orange, grape, and cherry flavors. We always ended up with a box of orange ones that no one really wanted. The ones I bought are citrus punch, tropical punch, mango punch, and kiwi strawberry punch. I like 'em, Frances likes 'em and Henry LOVES 'em. I don't think Ken has had one yet and if he doesn't hurry back from his business trip he may not get the chance!!

• My daughter. Frances is quite the character. Some days I want to walk around with a tape recorder and record everything she says. Of course, she would stop saying funny/profound things if I did so, but I can still wish. Some of my favorites from this week:

F: "I didn't kick her! I pushed her with my foot!"

F: "Mommy, I went in my room and talked to God."

Me:"Really, what did you talk about?"

F: "I told him I was mad at you because you said to get my pajamas. Then I laid on my pillow and cried it all out. Then God made it better!" (BTW, Her face was completely dry when she said this to me, so I'm not so sure about the crying part.)

F: "Mommy, Woody [her imaginary friend] was really bad at school today. He got on red [the "worst bad" color on our behavior chart]."

Me: "Really? What did he do that was so bad?"

F: "He did all the bad kinds of bad stuff. He ate snack outside without a teacher. He threw his cookies on the floor. He was not nice to his friends."

F: "Henry! Get in the boat! You are sinking!!" They were playing in the laundry basket and Henry climbed out.

So Cool!!

Since it is summer time, Frances and I have been eating popsicles after dinner this week. Henry was staring me down a few days ago, so I jokingly gave him a lick. He usually doesn't like cold things, but apparently he LOVES popsicles. I was cutting up little pieces for him to eat, but that wasn't enough for him tonight. He reached out and took the whole popsicle. And actually ate it very well!! I took it away from him when he got to the stick and he threw a hissy fit! I had to cut up the rest into pieces and feed those to him too. I'm not sure about what the deal is with the smacking noises-he's been doing that all week. And yes, that is food all over his face. He fed himself burritos, fruit cocktail and mixed vegetables for dinner tonight. It wasn't pretty, but I sure was proud. He probably ate more than Frances!!

Last night Frances generously shared her popsicle with him. She tried to share again tonight, but I had just given him a bath, so she couldn't.

Calling All Mommies!

I need some help/advice. My one-year old son moves a lot while he is sleeping. I hear him constantly whacking his head on the bars of the crib. Usually it doesn't wake him up, but sometimes it does and he cries. Also, some mornings he has indentations on his head where he slept against the bars. It doesn't seem to bother him, but it looks really uncomfortable. He does not have any bumper pads because he already tries to climb out of the crib as it is, and I don't want to give him a "leg up" so to speak. Any ideas??

Field Trip Day

I got to go on our first field trip of the summer today. (I missed the trips last week because of other appointments.) We went to see the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I really enjoyed it. I think the plot got a little bit complicated for the kids, but they enjoyed the magic parts of it. After the movies we went to the park, ate lunch and played. After weeks of reminding the kids to pack everything they needed for their lunches, I actually forgot my fork! Thankfully, one of the kids had an extra, so I was able to eat my salad without using my fingers.
Today was a beautiful day! The temperature was absolutely perfect. There was a warm breeze blowing. I got a tiny bit of a sunburn on half of one thigh. All in all it was a great day!

Father's Day

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day with Ken. We got him a GPS, so of course he used it to find our way to church!! After church we ate lunch and Henry took a nap. We had a nice walk to the grocery store for some supplies. Ken grilled some steaks for dinner. I asked him if it was okay for him to cook his own Father's Day meal. He said it was fine with him since he loves to grill. We had steak, mashed potatoes, and a yummy carrot and cauliflower mix. We watched a few episodes of Monk and then put the kids to bed. It was a, uneventful day, but those are good to have every once in a while.

I love a parade...

Yesterday morning when I got to work I walked in on a conversation about a parade. It turns out that Weyers Cave was having a parade and lawn party and my boss was having a float in the parade to advertise the day care. Well in typical "me" fashion, we all decided to join in on the parade at the last minute. Stacey and her kids joined in too, as well as Kristen and hers, and some other families from the other day care. We all dressed in red, white and blue and waved American flags. Ken drove the truck (even though it was a Ford) and the rest of us sat in the bed or on the trailer. We threw candy, blew bubbles and shot silly string at people. It was quite fun!
After the parade, we went over to the lawn party. Stacey and the kids came with us and we watched rides for a little while and then went on the cars and the airplanes. The kids had a great time!! Of course, none of us wonderful mothers had cameras with us, so I don't have pictures, but if anyone sends me any I will post them later.
Hopefully today I will be going to get Frances' pictures and then I can post for her about the Safari Park trip on Thursday.

Thankful Thursdays

In an effort to be more positive about life in general, I am starting "Thankful Thursdays." Each Thursday I will be listing three things I am thankful for. I hope to keep this up on a regular basis. Let's see how consistent I can be...

• I am thankful for my husband. Today I had a hard day. I dragged Henry around in the heat to a meeting. I woke him up in the middle of a nap twice because I had to be somewhere. Frances had a field trip and didn't take a nap. So when I got home for the evening, I was tired and cranky. I called Ken and asked him if he was coming straight home from work. He said he would finish up what he was doing and come home. When he got in the door, he took over feeding Henry and let me go. I was tempted to stay gone a long time, but I knew he had had a hard day too. I realize that it is unfair to hand the kids over to him as soon as he walks in the door, but he let me do it today and I am grateful. This is just one example of why I am thankful for my husband.
• I am thankful for my house. It may not be neat and organized. It may not be large enough to hold all my stuff (see previous sentence), but it is home and it is nice to be here. On a hot day, it is nice and cool to come home to.
• I am thankful for Tang. Boy that stufff tastes good!! Nice and cold, just tangy enough. I love it!!!

A Day Off...

Wednesday is usually my day to work at the church, but Henry had a doctor's appointment right in the middle of productivity time, so I took the whole day off. I kept Frances home from school and Ken had the day off as well. It was nice having an unplanned day.

Henry had his one-year check-up today. He is 20.2 pounds and 31 inches tall. According to the chart from the doctor's office, his height seems to be in the 90th percentile (YEAH!) and his weight is about 15th-20th. Not sure how he is so skinny since all he does is eat, but that's what the scale says. He got two shots today and was a real trooper about it. I held him as the nurse did it. He smelled the alcohol and gave me a look that said he knew something was going to happen. He cried briefly, but then he found his thumb and was quiet by the time I left.

We got home and he took a nap. Ken and Frances had gone out to the store, but got home shortly after we did. Frances was supposed to eat lunch and then nap, but of course, she never went to sleep. What am I going to do with her? I would be fine with her skipping her nap if she wasn't such a pill by 6pm. I took a short nap and then had to go out to a meeting at church.



This afternoon I went out and filled up the kiddie pool. The kids put on their suits and jumped in. I put up our umbrella to keep the sun off of them, but it made the water cold and poor little Henry was shivering while we was crawling around the pool.
He also discovered how to get in and out of the pool by himself. We ended up putting the Little Tykes slide into the pool and both kids got a kick out of sliding down into the water. Henry did it head first most times!

Check out his "I don't really like the feel of grass, but I have somewhere to go" crawl. It's precious!!

Henry's birthday

Sunday was Henry's first birthday!! We had a family party for him. Both sets of grandparents attended as well as both of my brothers and Henry godmother, Julie. We had fruits and veggies, chips and chicken salad. We also had the cake I showed a sneak peek of in the last post.

Henry got some really cute bathtub toys, new clothes, some trucks, a stacking toy, some dishes, a punching bag type penguin, and a ride on lion. He really enjoyed opening his presents, and Frances LOVED helping him.

He ate some crackers and a ton of fruit.

He liked his cake, but he had to be encouraged to get messy with it. Julie even put his hands into the icing. He gave her a very confused look.

He tried to use his fork to eat the cake with. Frances did the same thing when she turned one!!

All in all it was a good day. We all went to bed a little late, but everyone slept well and woke up fairly easily.

Sneak Preview

In a few short minutes my little baby will turn one year old!! Actually, he was born in the afternoon, but we won't split hairs. I decided to go with a jungle theme for his birthday. I printed his invitations on jungle themed paper and bought plates, cups and wrapping paper. I also baked him a lion cake.



I didn't follow a real pattern-I just kinda made it up. I think it turned out pretty well. I wish I could have made the mane go all the way around his head. I can't wait to get the "after" picture!!

Almost there!

I cannot believe it, but my baby Henry will be a year old in 4 more days. I spent part of the day at church trying to sum up the year for youth ministry. Then I tried to come home and clean my house for his party this Sunday. The weather had a different idea for my day, so because of the tornado warnings I went and picked up the kids early. Frances never napped today and Henry had a short early afternoon nap, so it was two grumps that I came home with. I got a LOT of laundry done and mostly put away. The living room is actually traversable for the first time in a long time. All in all it was a good day.

There were four in the bed and the little one said...

Well our morning certainly started early enough!! Frances wet the bed at about 5:30am. I told her to change her panties and come get in bed with us. So she turned on the light to look in her drawer and Henry started crying. Ken went in to check on him and of course, he had wet the bed also! So at 5:30 this morning we had two half dressed kids in the bed with us that thought it was playtime. Nobody went back to sleep.
We got up early to go to the early Mass. After Mass we met up with Julie and Paula's family to get ready for the senior brunch. I think it turned out rather well. We had about 35 people attend. We served fresh fruit, sausage and pancakes. For the pancakes, we had regular syrup and strawberry and blueberry syrups. We also had fresh blueberries and strawberries, walnuts, pecans and almonds, and whipped cream.
We got home about 1:00pm and everyone else is taking a nap. I don't seem to feel tired in the afternoons, so it's usually hard for me to take a nap. We are supposed to go to Shayna's graduation party after everyone wakes up.