Love How That Little Mind Works

Drue loves to brush my hair. And I love having my hair brushed.

Sometimes, however, I have to cut our sessions short because it relaxes me so much and makes me so sleepy that I fear my motherly duties will suffer should someone require my attention right away and I am snoozing away on the couch.

She wanted to brush my hair this evening but we had to run an errand so I told her she could do it when we got back. She remembered this promise about 5 minutes before their bedtime so I let her do her magic for a bit.

She grabbed my brush, a comb, and Tate's plastic pliers and got to work. Reese and Tate were sitting either side of me on the couch watching. In a flash, Tate disappeared. I figured he was plotting mischief seeing that I was otherwise occupied so I called out to him.

He didn't answer but I was already halfway in my hair brushing trance so I was just going to let him get away with whatever he was doing....this time.

A few seconds late he reappeared, with a big grin on his face, carrying my straightening iron. What a cutie! He scrambled back to his spot and started (halfway gently) doing my hair with it.

Of course my trance was now shattered but who cares?

Tate still seems so little to me, that I forget he is turning into a real little boy with real little thoughts and real little plans to carry out those thoughts.

I figured his plan evolved one of two ways:

"Drue looks like she's having fun. I'm going to go find something to do Mommy's hair with too. I think I'll head up to that place where she always fixes herself up." (And just happened to stumble upon my straightening iron.)

OR

"Hmmmm....I think I'll run upstairs and get that red clicky thingy that Mommy plays with in her hair but always tells me not to touch because it's hot!".

Sweet times.

A Tale of Two Phones

To all those sweet commercials where the husband/wife cleverly surprises their spouse with jewelry, or car keys, or some other big surprise....I say BAH HUMBUG!

Last year David got me a new cell phone for Christmas. A really cool razor flip phone...and it was going to be a TOTAL surprise. When I got home from work one day he cleverly swiped my old cell phone and snuck out my sim card. His plan was to put the sim card in my new phone, place it in my stocking, then call it. How sweet is that?

Well it would have been VERY sweet had I not decided that I needed to text someone at that precise moment. I grabbed my old phone off the dining room table and the screen was blank. I tried to turn it off and on and nothing happened. Thinking the sim card had just been shaken loose I took the back off to discover....NO sim card whatsoever. Of course, I started screeching that someone had taken my sim card, etc when David walked up behind me and said with a sigh, "Surprise...Merry Christmas."

Of course I was ecstatic anyway but we both laughed about the sweet surprise being ruined.

Fast forward a year...to today. David has been hinting since his last business trip that he wanted a touch screen internet phone. He went on and on about how cool they were. And he kept hinting that his phone was up for an upgrade anyway.

I have never handled our phone plan or services, or anything like that but giddily bopped into the T Mobile store this morning and announced that I wanted to surprise my husband with a new phone for Christmas. After we settled on the right plan and price for the new phone, the salesman looked at the computer and said, "Oh. David is the only one listed on here who can make changes to his plan."

My heart sank a little because it wasn't going to be a fun surprise after all again. I would have to go get him and drag him up to the store to get his own phone. The salesman went to talk to his manager who came back and said, "We're not going to get in trouble for this are we?". I laughed and said, "No, but if he needs to come back up here with me it's no big deal."

They really liked the idea of me wanting to surprise him so after I gave them David's last 4 social security numbers, which proved to them, that I was indeed, in a close relationship with him, they let me get it.

I dashed home knowing full well I wasn't going to be able to wait til Christmas to give it to him. (We have never been able to wait to give each other our presents). I was planning on stealing his idea from last year and slip his sim card into this new phone then hide it somewhere so he would have to call his phone when he needed it.

We were meeting up with friends at the mall, so my plan would have to wait until aftwrwards. But I slipped the new phone into my coat pocket anyway. We were going to the same mall where I just bought the phone, so if he did drag me into the store to look at it again, I would be ready and say, "Why don't you just use the one I have in my pocket?".

Sure enough, on our way out of the mall we passed the T Mobile store. I have zero capability to put on a poker face or act natural when I have a big secret. So I was a bit nervous.

"They're pretty busy today," David commented.

"Yep", I replied nonchalantly, scared he could hear my heart pounding.

He stopped under the big poster advertisement for his phone and remarked, "I don't think I want that phone anymore."

I looked at him strangely and managed to squeak out a casual, "Oh?".

Part of me thought he must somehow know I got the phone was toying with me. Because that is David to a T.

But he went on to say, "Yeah, I think I want the one that has a stylus and you can actually write on the phone screen itself instead of having to use the keyboard."

I guess I was still looking strange because he jokingly said, "You didn't get it for me did you?".

My eyes welled up with tears as I slipped the phone out of my pocket and held it out for him to see.

He thought I was showing him my phone, because they are both black so he laughed and said in a teasing tone, "Oh is that it?".

When he looked closer and saw it was the new phone, he stopped in his tracks and took a double take.

There we stood in the middle of the mall...another ruined surprise...a phone he wasn't even sure he wanted now...and tears falling down my cheek...oh, and a 2 year old that was so far ahead of us, he was almost out the door to the parking lot. Sentimental Christmas memories...

Of course, we are already laughing about it now. David looks like a little boy excited about his new toy. He is waiting for his internet service to be activated on it, and picks it up every 30 seconds to check it.

I guess I will start working on what I can try and surprise him with for his birthday...in February.

I'm pooped...literally

**Disclaimer: This post is not for the faint of heart or the easily grossed out.

Vomit, snot, diarrhea, curdled milk in hidden sippy cups....no one ever said Motherhood was glamorous.

But todays' event topped the charts for me. And I still shiver when I think about it.

We are in the midst of half heartedly potty training the boy.

After he stripped himself down naked this morning, and I finagled him out from behind the couch, I walked him upstairs and sat him on the potty.

A few seconds later he proclaimed he had tee teed a "little bit" in the potty and hopped off. The girls proceeded to come upstairs and Reese got on the potty next.

As I walked by Tate's room I saw his unmistakable "poopie stance" out of the corner of my eye. He was still without a stitch of clothes on so in one Mommy-sized bound I reached him and scooped him up by his armpits. I hadn't really thought my plan through, however and, I kid you not, the next few seconds seemed to occur in slow motion.

As I was running through his room, holding him at arms length, I remembered that Reese was still on the potty. I knew he wouldn't make it to another bathroom so I figured I had two choices: I could shove Reese off the potty, or plop Tate in the bathtub.

I was at a full run by the this time (again, still experiencing it in slow mo) when I saw Tate's head look down to the floor. The porcelain base of safety was now in my sights when I felt... it.

Unbeknownst to me, Tate had dropped his load on the floor while I was running. My foot connected with the largest ball o' nasty just as it was falling. Let me tell you, a drop kicked ball of poopie does not make a pretty sight. It flew EVERYWHERE! It squished between my toes...it hit his door...and it made a big smeared trail on the carpet. And the horrific smell spontaneously permeated the entire upstairs, and I fear, my nares for the rest of the morning.

Of course, it just took one little goofy grin from him to melt my heart and almost make me forget about my moment of mortifying messiness...almost.

That's one explanation

Overwhelmed at times by the clutter, laundry, dishes, grime, and goo that comes with a family of five, I have been known, on occasion to blurt out phrases such as,

"We live in FILTH AND DISGUST!"

or

"We live in a PIT OF DESPAIR!"

or worse phrases that I can't even post on here.

Just to make everyone aware of my feelings on the matter.

This morning, after wandering through all the rooms in the house and finding them all a wreck, I walked into the kids' bathroom and exclaimed, "We live in GROSSNESS!".

To which Reese replied, "I think the grossness is Tate!".

Hmmmmm

Last night during her bath, Reese and I were having a discussion. And, as she was explaining something to me, she made the following realization:

"Mom...I've known you...well...for almost my whole life..."

Friend or Foe?

I try and point out all the neat Christmas lights and displays to the kids as we drive by them. The other night as we were nearing church, I pointed out the church just across the street from ours.

It had 2 huge stars lit up on either side.

After the girls "ooohed" and "ahhhed" over the stars, Reese asked, "Is that the enemy of our church?".

Alabama

 

Our Thanksgiving venture to Alabama was a success! The kids did great on BOTH 12 hour car rides. I was thrilled, flabbergasted, and a teensy bit disappointed that I wouldn't have any humorous experiences to blog about. Tate needed a little coercing (tackling) to get back into the van after each pit stop, but overall the traveling part was great. It was a bit spooky to be driving the back roads of Alabama in pitch black darkness, since we didn't arrive until 9pm. But it sure kept Tate quiet as a mouse the last 30 minutes or so because he was scared of the dark.

 

 

 

Drue loves all of my Uncle Tom's dogs that live there. This one is Hunter.

 

 

 

Reese caught quite a few little fish and was thrilled each time. She wanted to hold them, and throw them back, etc. Drue caught one little fish but wasn't getting anywhere close to it to get her picture taken.

 

 

The kids are always happy to see Morgan...and climb on her...and text message on her phone...

 

 

We're not a big "picture poser" family, but I managed to get in a few shots here and there...

 

 

 

 

We got to meet my nephew Kyle for the first time who is a doll baby! I think he and Tate will be able to get into some real trouble together before too long.

 

 

Drue's other favorite little dog friend, Sassy. We even got her a little stuffed dog that resembles Sassy for her birthday since she talks about her so much.

 

 

Cute shot of Kyle and Carrie.

 

 

The kids all thought Uncle Joel was a hoot! Drue was enthralled with his "magic acts". She also liked to comb his hair.

 

 

Cozy little pallets on the floor of our room. The first night we were there the kids pleaded with me to sleep on the floor with them so I slept between Drue and Tate. The next night I slept in the full bed in the room, but in the morning they all ended up with me anyway.

 

Joel kept saying "I'm convinced there are no bass in this pond", then one afternoon proved himself wrong...in a BIG way! He also shot a deer while we were down there but poor Bambi's picture didn't make it on here.

I understand a little more where the term "cabin fever" must have originated from. The last full day we were there, it was rainy, so the kids were all cooped up inside most of the day. Which is hard when there is such a wide expanse of outdoor fun to explore waiting just beyond the window panes. All in all we had a great time. It was fun getting to spend time with all my family, which doesn't happen too often these days. I'm very thankful for all of them.

More Middle Child Memories

The other night Reese got sent to bed early (as punishment) and Tate was already in bed. So I asked Drue if she would like to snuggle with me on the couch and watch a "Mommy" show (aka HGTV decorating episode of some sort).

A few minutes went by when she snuggled in even closer and said, "I like this."

I kissed the top of her curly head and she went on to say, "Tate isn't crying....Reese isn't talking....I'm having peace and quiet. I like this."

Rub a Dub Dub

I cannot begin to recall the last time I took a bubble bath.

No, really. My memory of a relaxing soak beneath the frothy bubbles cannot connect with any recent timeframe.

I rolled my sleeves up at work today because I got warm, but quickly jerked them down again to cover my dry, scaly, white arms.

So I decided that a nice long soak in the bath was warranted this evening. Complete with skin so soft oil and Mr. Bubble. Of course, all the children were intrigued. I mentioned to Reese that I was going to take a bath.

"Can I come?".

"No".

"But I'll be real quiet."

"Still no".

She went bounding off and I thought that was the end of it. A few seconds later, the CD player in Tate's room started blaring. I listened more closely to the music and realized it was her lullaby CD I played from the very first night I brought her home from the hospital.

That was the most relaxing music she could come up with to play for me. I thought that was so sweet! And I thought it was funny that she remembered me explaining to her that the difference between Mommy bubble baths and kid bubble baths were that mine had more relaxing and less rubber duckies.

Drue bopped in about that time and wanted to stay. Her request was declined as well. She couldn't tear her eyes off the full bath of bubbles. "I just want to see you get in".

After that I told her she had to sneak out of the bathroom and shut the door.

Ahhhhh.....I settled back.

47 seconds later Tate burst through the door and stopped in his tracks when he saw me immersed in HIS bathtub. He made a beeline for me but his entrance was denied also.

Not much later he snuck back in the bathroom, completely nude, except for a huge smile and I couldn't say no. In he climbed and just sat at the other end of the bath beaming.

Reese followed and made herself at home as well.

I felt bad that Drue was missing out so we called to her. Reese said, "Drue! Come join the family fun bath!".

So my third little visitor was added to my shattered moment of peace.

Reese said, "I wish our bathtub was bigger....so Daddy could get in too!".

Needless to say, I will be drawing up a lawsuit for Calgon on the grounds of false advertising....

Jolly Ol' Visit

 

I wasn't quite sure how to approach this years' visit with Mr. Kringle. Should I try and prepare the children weeks before our impending visit, randomly plopping them down on strange mens' laps who happened to be sporting a white beard? Or should I take the surprise attack tactic and leisurely walk into the mall whistling a merry tune, then BAM, "Kids, we're going to see Santa today"?.

I chose the latter. I thought that would be the less painful way, so they wouldn't be able to spend too much time worrying about it. Kind of like the time I went to the dentist for a "consult" and was told, after I was secured in the chair that I would, in fact, be getting a root canal that very day.

We came prepared. Tate's favorite "blue key" (blue blanket) was still in the drier when we left home so we grabbed his second favorite "kee key" (green blanket) and were on our way. I figured he would have to be pried off my person like last year and I wanted the poor little guy to have at least an ounce of comfort during his 30 seconds of misery.

I also thought the surprise tactic would work well on David, too. He hasn't graced us with his presence during too many of these visits in years past. And I didn't want him to try and talk me out of going on his day off. We had planned to get the Christmas tree this afternoon after we all picked Reese up from school. As we were pulling the van out of the school parking lot, I announced we would first be making a quick stop to see Santa. This was met with mixed responses. Reese was excited and started planning what she was going to ask him for. Drue said, "Nooooo". Tate just loves all things Christmas and looked eager. And David said, "WHAT?!".

There was no line. Just one little family was still milling around the big guys' knee. Tate ran on ahead and began exploring the little village props. Reese was right up with him. Drue was trying to blend in to the back of my jeans and holding tight to my hand.

Santa greeted my herd and I got into position to run after a screaming Tate. Tate did run. Toward Santa! And hopped right up on his knee like he was his long lost Grandpa, grinning from ear to ear. Reese hopped up on his other knee. And for one tiny second I thought this visit would go off without a hitch.

I turned to finagle Drue off my pant leg and position her just right on the arm of the oversized chair, but she was having no part of it. She didn't make a scene. She just quietly kept saying "No....no.....no". I know, I'm heartless. All for the sake of a picture.

I first tried to talk her into standing next to the chair. "No".

David pointed to a smaller chair behind us that I could pull in front and have her sit on. "No".

Santa was sweetly trying to coax her somewhere near the vicinity and had heard us calling her "Druebie". He thought her name was "Ruby". So he kept saying "Here Ruby, come over this way....".

He finally said, "I have an idea".

Which I enthusiastically repeated to Drue, "Santa has an idea!".

He let us in on his plan to stand behind the chair and have all the kids sit in the chair.

I could have kissed him. If David hadn't been standing 5 feet away next to the camerawoman....

Reese and Tate slid off his lap and assumed their positions. That's when Drue got up there and leaned into Reese. That was so sweet to watch. Sisters who can fight over who gets to sit at the front of the bath and get upset when the other one looks out their car window....can always count on each other in their time of need.

Early Chritmas Gift

I need to be posting about our trip to Alabama for Thanksgiving but I have been busy playing on my new toy that David got me.

The kids and I rolled into town at 9:15 Saturday night from Alabama. David was closing that night so he wasn't home to greet us. The kids were still kind of wired from the ride and, since I was not stopping for ANY REASON that last 2 hours of the trip, they were all hungry, thirsty, etc. So I got them a small snack and headed down to the basement to connect with the outside world via internet. I had been without it for 5 days!

I plopped down in the desk chair and discovered that a piece of notebook paper was taped over the computer monitor that said "Stop! What are you doing? Don't you want to play a game with me?" It directed me to go to where cookies were "easy to bake" so I headed upstairs to Reese's easy bake oven. There I found a clue that led me to a "place of reflection" around the fireplace....the mirror.

That sheet said to get Reese, have her stand on a chair in the kitchen with a camera, and take my picture while I opened a box with my surprise in it.

I still had no clue as to what it was and was totally surprised to open the box and find a laptop computer! I have been wanting one. I just thought it would make things a whole lot easier. Even when I just have to google something real quick, the kids either get into trouble upstairs while I'm in the basemen,t or they all file down there after me and cause such a commotion that I can't even remember what it was I was going to look up.

So I was just THRILLED to get my very own laptop...that I will graciously share with David...sometimes. It has already come in very handy...I googled a recipe without ever having to leave the kitchen...I plugged away on it one night all cozy under the covers of my bed.

It meant even more to me that David had taken the time to come up with a little scavenger hunt complete with little clues. Sweetness.

Guess I better take back the tie I got him for Christmas...

Every Year...

It's "Operation Christmas Child" time again and every year we've participated, the kids always make me laugh with the things they say about it. We go over why some kids don't have any Christmas presents, why we are picking out fun things to send thousands of miles away, etc.

This year was no different. We ALL went to Target this time to pick out the gifts. Each of our children fills a shoebox to send. (The girls and I picked out Tate's stuff for him while he and David were off looking at manly things like tires and tools).

Reese picked up a little book to send. Which, yes, would have been perfectly fine. But I kind of steered her away explaining that we were sending to children her age and younger so #1-They might not even be reading yet and #2-If they were reading, it might not be in English.

This sparked the following conversation between Reese, Drue, and myself in the middle of Target.

Drue: I don't know anyone who doesn't speak English.

Reese: Alina doesn't.

(Alina is her little deaf friend at school)

Me: Well, Alina does speak English...she just does it with her hands by signing the words.

Reese: Oh, right. Well, everyone in the whole world speaks English...just in a different way.

Ask Before You Toss

I abhor stuffed animals.

I know...I know...what kind of cold hearted person doesn't like cute, cuddly, soft stuffed animals?

A mom whose house is being overrun by the little darlings, that's who.

I haven't always had an aversion to them. I loved my stuffed ET doll growing up, and Paddington bear, etc.

I finally hit my breaking point one day when I looked in the girls room and couldn't see their beds because they were covered with stuffed rodents, dogs, bunnies, and on and on. I know their room will never look like the cover of the Pottery Barn catalog, but this was just too much. I have to dig the girls out from under a mountain of these animals, just to kiss them goodnight. And have been known, on occasion, to accidentally tell a build a bear, "I love you, sweet dreams...".

I was forced to make the rule "Only 3 stuffed animals are allowed on your bed". The girls carefully went about selecting 3 special companions to sit upon their freshly made beds and to also keep them company at night. 3 has now been pushed to 4, because Reese has 2 special bears that are small enough to really just count as 1.

Occasionally I have to make a sweep through their room and remove the extra offending animal friends from atop their girly pastel quilts.

The other night I was tucking Reese in and as I fluffed her pillows, a small stoutly stuffed angel baby flew out from behind them. Hmmmm...so she's trying to hide them from me by sneaking them behind her pillows, I thought. I quickly grabbed it in one hand and tossed it into her closet.

Reese sat quietly observing this on her bed then said in an almost whisper, "That was my dream angel...I use it so I can dream about Jesus."

Of course, the dream angel was swiftly returned to her designated spot by a mommy who felt about 3 inches tall!

Election Day

Now, don't be scared off by the title and think I am going to climb up on my soap box and talk politics...because with my luck, we are out of soap anyway due to the enormous amounts of laundry I wash in a week.

David works late tonight so he wasn't home to watch the election results with me. I switched the TV to the results around 7pm "just for a second" to see what the reports were so far. I thought the kids were going to freak out when they saw boring men dressed in suits rambling on about 2 guys they aren't too familiar with.

But to my surprise...they were actually INTERESTED! At ages 6, 4, & 2 they were INTERESTED in the Presidential Election! Grandpa John will be so proud. I thought that was really neat. Granted, Tate's only addition to the conversation was, "What Grandma dat?" when they flashed up Elizabeth Dole's picture...

I only started talking with Reese the other day about the President, because we voted at her school and she heard her teacher talking about it. So I reminded her who we voted for and she was cheering him on during the election coverage. She even wanted to make a sign for him to wave around.

Each time they announced who won in what state Drue would repeat the name they said and would ask, "Did they win?" to which I had to keep reminding her that they just won that state, we didn't know the overall winner yet.

Reese announced that she didn't want a new President. She said there have already been a lot of Presidents and there wouldn't be room on the wall to hang another Presidents' picture. I know these fine mens' faces don't adorn any walls in our house, so she must have been talking about a wall at school.

It was just neat sharing a little bit of history with them. (Did I actually use the word neat and history in the same sentence?). I told Reese that the man who wins tonight would be in her history book someday and she would have to memorize his name and everything. They think it is pretty cool that the winner will lead our country...but they think it's even cooler that he will get to live in the White House.

Drue and I were the only ones who made it til almost 9pm watching the coverage. Tates' fever spiked and he fell asleep in my lap. Reese fell asleep on the floor curled up under a blanket.

Reese did ask who I was going to vote for next time and I explained that was 4 years away and I didn't know who was running yet. I said, "You'll be 10 then, Drue will be 8, and Tate will be 6!". And I'm afraid that day will come all too soon for me....

What's in a Name?

Drue picks the most creative names for some of her stuffed animals. For instance, she named one of her puppies "Chocolates May Thomas Trains" and one of her little kitties "Lollipop Candy".

But she is not quite as creative when it comes to naming her actual baby dolls. I'm not sure if she just gets the name she hears them called on the commercials stuck in her little curly head or what.

It all started last year for birthday or Christmas when she wanted a Baby Born doll. She got one and cuddled with it and drug it everywhere, slept with it, etc. But when I would ask her what she was going to name it, she just looked at me like I was odd and would state the obvious, "Baby Born ".

Okey dokey then.

Next came Baby Alive. She eats, wets, does almost everything a real baby does except cry every hour and a half throughout the night causing you wake up with dark circles under your eyes. She's cute, with little blond pigtails and Drue chose to name her....Baby Alive.

"Don't you want to give her her own special name like Mary or Rapunzel or something?!" I tried to persuade her.

"No. She's Baby Alive".

Last but not least her newest addition...Baby I'm Yours. Her birthday gift this past year. This doll was supposed to do stuff too, like make certain noises when you press her hand, tummy, etc. But after we got all those blasted plastic ties,invented by the Devil himself, undone and pulled her out of the box, she didn't make any noises.

Drue grabbed her like a proud Momma and hasn't let go since. She won't let us return her to the store to get one that works. At first that seemed silly to me, but the more I think about it, it's just plain sweet. She doesn't see the imperfections in this doll or care that it doesn't do all the things its' supposed to. She just sees her perfect little baby, the one she'd been wanting and hoping for. And doesn't want to trade her for anything else.

I am a bit afraid to visit her in the hospital someday to meet her firstborn, however. "Mom, I'd like you to meet your granddaughter...Baby Girl !".

Marker Madness

David brought the kids home one trillion boxes of markers from Target awhile back. Great!

One trillion boxes of markers of the non-washable variety. Not so great.

I wish he had also brought home one trillion boxes of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to help aide my task of scrubbing down walls, furniture, etc.

Yesterday I settled all the kids in the bath and began cleansing them of any and all evidence of the days' activities. I managed to scrub the large letter "D" written in ink off Drue's forehead but was not as successful at scubbing the indelible word "NO" off her shoulder, courtesy of Reese and a black non-washable marker.

Of course, the girls found this quite funny and in between their fits of giggles, I inquired as to the events which had led up to this moment. "Reese did it," Drue informed me. To which I informed her she was just as guilty because obviously she had sat there long enough for Reese to write "NO" (and rather well mind you) on her person. Drue had no comeback for that.

Frustrated, I laid down the following decree: "I'm going to take away all your markers until you learn to use them responsibly."

Puzzled, Reese didn't miss a beat, and sincerely asked, "But how will we learn to use them responsibly if we don't have them?".

It was then my turn not to have a comeback...

Hollaway Halloween

Hmmmm...I never realized how many letters our last name shared with this day of fun. Interesting...and catchy.

Surprisingly, the kids didn't really badger me much today about when the hour would approach that they could go trick or treating. We had them all ready by 6:30pm and they were ready to hit the streets as soon as the last shoe was put in place. It was a beautiful evening for trick or treating. Much more pleasant than the frigid temps we've had in years past.

 

Patiently waiting until I gave the "let's go" signal. It was cute because they were lying there trying to make small talk. "Drue, what's your favorite food?". "Macaroni and cheese". "Ok, now ask me one....".

 

A lucky shot of him right in the midst of actually saying "Arrrggghhhh". Tate has been telling everyone he is going to be a "pidate" for Halloween turning his r into a d.

 

They look SO BIG to me in this picture!

 

We had a great night. David stayed home to pass out candy while I corralled our group around the neighborhood. This is the first year they have all three gone trick-or-treating. They did pretty well. We always practice a little beforeheand going through different scenarios. "What if someone only gives you one piece of candy? Do you stand there until they give you more? Do you holler cheapskate and egg their house? Or do you politely say, thank you, and be on your merry way?".

I helped scoop up dropped buckets of candy at least half a dozen times. Reese has been sick ALL WEEK long and was ready to head home before the other two. We dropped her off and I had the good idea to dump out the candy so we wouldn't have to scoop up so much when the buckets plummeted to the concrete. We no sooner left the next house, and Tate dropped out the ONE candy bar that was in his bucket!

The girls did great and remembered to say "thank you" and "happy halloween" to everyone. Tate could have used a bit more practice. A lot of people just held out the candy bowls for the kids to help themselves. The girls politely grabbed one piece and bid their farewells. Tate thought it was a free for all, and would continue to grab pieces until I jerked him off the porch. Tate also liked to run ahead for the first part of the night. But he soon got too scared of the skeletons and strange looking decorations and was content to walk next to me and even hold my hand on occasion.

I still walk up close to the doors with them, simply because the houses in our neighborhood all have a bazillion stairs leading up to their front door. Time after time Tate would be looking back at the house as he started to leave, and would almost miss the steps completely!

We really had a lot of fun. The night was over too quickly. And my little ones are now sleeping as visions of mini snickers bars dance in their heads...

Hannah Hoopla

I don't know where I've been for the past 2 weeks and why I haven't posted anything! I actually did this post one night, then lost it when I went to publish it. I just haven't been back to rewrite it I guess.

After going through a few choices for her birthday theme this year, Reese finally settled on Hannah Montana. This beat out American Idol and Littlest Pet Shop. She made a cute little Hannah. I asked her if she just wanted to straighten her real hair that night, or get the wig. Silly question. Of course we got the wig. Which she wore for about, oh, 5 minutes of her party.

 

Hannah and a fan.

 

 

 

I wasn't thrilled with how all her decorations turned out this time. I messed up the foam board limo, but stuck it out on the porch anyway for arriving guests. The gold tablecloth and stage curtain looked a little brown to me, but Reese kept assuring me that she liked the way it looked, so that's all that really matters.

Was I sad she donned jeans and a rocker tee for her party, instead of a frilly princess dress? A little. But we had a fun time.

Happy Birthday Reese!

 

Reese is 6 today! I don't know why, but that just sounds so much older to me than 5...and I am being totally serious. She can no longer flash her age with one hand, it now requires two! And I think I am also thinking about all the many changes that have occurred, or will occur, this year that will make her seem so much older also.

She'll be reading soon.

She'll be losing teeth.

She goes to school 5 days a week.

She has opinions about how she wants to wear her hair.

The list goes on and on.

Thankfully, she is still my sweet little Reese. And sensitive. We took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuhua a few weeks ago. A funny, quirky movie with talking dogs. It was about a lost dog trying to find its home and each time something happened to set it back, I would look down and see tears streaming down Reese's face.

She is a lot of fun to be around. I enjoy taking her out just by herself sometimes to run errands, etc. And she's always excited to go. She grabs her little purse and we're off.

She still likes me to carry her from time to time, especially first thing in the morning when we are headed downstairs. And I will...as long as my back holds out.

We love you Reese. You are so special to us!

AWANA

Another year of AWANA is in full swing at church.

 

Reese has moved up to Sparks this year and really likes it. It's way more challenging because she is learning more verses each week. It is so sweet to hear her recite John 3:16, I've got to record it. Don't mind her outfit please...it was camoflauge night, plus they have to wear tennis shoes for game time, so this is how it all came together.

 

Drue started Cubbies this year. She has actually been learning some of the verses right along with Reese since she was 2. She has a great little memory. She was trying to curtsy in this picture.

 

Tate will get to start Cubbies next year. But he just likes to be in on whatever the girls are doing at the time. So after I had taken both their pictures and was getting ready to load them up in the van, I looked up and there was Tate...posing for his picture.

Homecoming

 

This past weekend we headed to SBU's Homecoming/my 10 year reunion. We really didn't go for me, however. A bunch of David's friends were getting together and I thought that would be neat for him.

It was kind of a crazy, whirlwind of a time. We just spent Friday night, and Saturday morning there, then headed home. But it was neat to walk the campus again. With our children. It was strange, in a cool way, to have those 2 worlds collide. Remembering back to when we were footloose and fancy free, in charge of our own time, just hanging out together, yet now running after our 3 little offspring on the very same grounds.

The girls and I peeked into an empty classroom and I explained to them that was where Daddy and I first met. I could almost see my 14 year younger self sitting nervously at my desk because I knew David Hollaway was not too far behind me in the next row over.

The above picture was taken on the steps of Beasley Hall where I lived for 3 years. David would head over on a study break many nights and we would sit on these steps together and just talk.

It was funny taking the kids in the lobby of my old dorm...it even smelled the same...like laundry detergent because the laundry room is right underneath.

We didn't venture out to try and find the cliff where we got engaged...we'll have to save that for another trip.