Two Green M & M's

When Campbell got home from school today she couldn't wait to tell me about her day. She learned all about St. Patrick's Day and Leprechauns. She was telling me this story about two green M & M's with such enthusiasm that I just had to share it. It was so hard to keep a straight face, but somehow I managed.

Here's Campbell's story.....

"Mrs. Sullivan ate two green M & M's before she read us a book today and when she spoke her voice sounded just like a Leprechaun! I tried eating two green skittles just now and it didn't change my voice. I guess it only works if you are a teacher."

I wonder if she will remember this next year and give her teacher green M & M's on St. Patrick's Day......

Fast Cars

After the kids and I dropped off a meal for a friend who just had a baby, we headed to Advanced Auto to get an air filter for the van. It's rarely a dull moment while we are traveling especially if Riley has anything to do with it. She is definitely my little chatter bug.

Recently, she has been fascinated with my driving. She insist that I go faster. I have to remind her daily that I can't because I might hit the car in front of me.

Just to prove it, here's a little conversation we had on our way home from running errands today.

Riley: "Mommy, did you buy an air filter?"

Mommy: "Yes, Riley I did."

Riley: "Where does it go?"

Mommy: "Under the hood of the van."

Riley: "Will it make the van go faster?"

Mommy: "Riley, you are a girl after my own heart!"

The Bible Says....

I was in my room minding my own business earlier today while Riley and Jackson were playing near the bed. It's very common for Riley to get Brent's bible and open it up and start "reading" it. (I wonder if he has noticed that it's in a different place each times he reaches for it).

Anyway, Jackson was getting a little rough with our cat and I over heard Riley tell him something. I didn't quite make it out the first time so I asked her to repeat it. Here is what she said:

Riley: "Jackson, the Bible says not to bite your cat. You can only pretend!"

Well, there you have it!

Just thinking......

It's hard for me to comprehend that Jackson will be turning one at the end of this month. A week later Campbell will be turning six. Not to mention that Riley is already three years old and will be starting preschool in the fall. Where does the time go? The next thing I know my babies will not be babies anymore.

I truly believe that being a mommy is the hardest job I have ever had, but the most rewarding. Thank you Brent for allowing me to stay home with my children while they are still young. I wouldn't trade this time in my life for anything in the world!

Weekend Guest

• It was Campbell's turn to bring home the class pet, Fluffy, over the weekend. Fluffy, as you can tell from the pictures is a Guinea Pig. I picked him up Friday morning from Campbell's school and then took him back this morning. It was a new experience for all of us. Even our Cat, Mittens didn't seem to mind the visitor. Just in case, we put our little guest on top of the dining room table to keep the "innocent....innocent."

• I had no idea how messy these little critters could be. Each morning when I came down to check on him he would have hay all over the table near his cage. Some of it even found its way on the floor. I found myself using the dust buster everyday to clean up after him. I didn't care too much for that.

• Even though he was a little messy the kids loved him! Fluffy on the other hand simply tolerated us for the most part. Campbell loves all animals and of course asked to hold him as much as possible. We found out very quickly that he had extremely sharp claws. So, as long as we wore our gloves, it didn't seem to bother us that much.

• Honestly, as much as I enjoyed seeing my kids happy, I was glad to see Fluffy go back to school. The last thing I need is something or someone else to clean up after!
  
  

Star of the Week

Campbell is "Star of the Week" at school. All the kids in her classroom get a turn to bring home the class mascot, Star. Over the weekend we took tons of pictures and put it in his journal and printed out all of Campbell's favorite things to be turned in on Monday. She presented it to the class in addition to sharing something special from home each day of the week. Yesterday she brought in a Barbie. Today she took her Diamond Castle Laptop. Tomorrow she is torn between her camera or one of her favorite books. On Wednesday she will eat a special lunch with her teacher, Mrs. Watson and invite a friend to join them. On Friday she gets to bring in a special snack to share with her classmates. She has already decided to take those yummy cookies from Wal-Mart with the pink icing. I hope they have some left over! : )

We really did have a lot of fun doing it even though it was a lot of work on my part. You can check out more pictures of Star under "Our Pictures".

Sweet Moments

• Riley was looking intently at my wedding photo placed on top of my jewelry box in my bedroom the other day. Then she said, "Mommy, you look like a princess in your dress".

• My heart simply melted right then and there. Oh, so sweet!

• On a different note, Campbell is growing up so fast and it amazes me how independent she is becoming. I have really enjoyed having her at home from all the snow during the week. She is such a huge help to me with the two younger ones. Although, with this new "independence", she brought something to my attention that I wasn't quite ready for the other day.

• She wants her ears pierced!!!

• We have openly communicated to her that when she is older she is allowed to get her ears pierced, but she has never actually asked for it. I don't know if it has anything to do with the fact that she has been spending a lot of time with her Nana and all of her "accessories". I simply told her that I would talk to her daddy and we'll decide on a good time for this to happen. She hasn't brought it up in a while so I'm hoping it was a one time deal.

Riley's Birthday Party

Riley is excited that she gets to decorate her own cupcakes!


Riley has a wheat free and egg free cupcake. The rest of them are
from a regular cake mix. You can't even tell the difference!



My sweet Riley!

As soon as the grandparents arrived at the party, we immediately let Riley open her gifts and then dug into the chocolate cupcakes and ice cream. It was pure and simple, but we all had a wonderful time watching the kids play with all the new toys. Even Jackson got into it there for a few minutes before he went down for his nap.

After the party, my mom and I got away for a much needed manicure/pedicure and a short trip to the mall. Once we returned we all went out to eat at Smokey Bones BBQ! Yummy!

I just love birthday parties and family time! It's a great excuse to eat cupcakes and ice cream without the guilt!

The Big Day

Riley will officially be turning 3 years old on Monday, but we are having her birthday party tomorrow morning. My parents arrived in town yesterday and we are all getting the party preparations together for the big day.

Every since we moved to Roanoke, it's been our tradition to take the girls to Captain Party before their birthday so they can pick out all the party favors. This year Riley chose "My Little Pony". She loves My Little Pony. Therefore, it was the right choice!

Most people know that Riley is allergic to wheat and eggs. Thankfully, the new Kroger in town has a good selection of wheat and egg free products. Considering, I'm not a baker, it's extremely convenient to be able to purchase a wheat free cake mix from there. I simply substitute an egg replacer for the "real" thing. This was the first year I tried this particular kind of egg replacer in her cupcakes so I was a little worried about how they were going to turn out. Ironically, it looks like a thumb print in the middle of each cupcake, but they taste delicious. I had a nibble of one of the "not so pretty ones" and I was pleasantly surprised how good they are. Once I slap a little icing on top, Riley will not even know the difference!

Today I need to make the regular cupcakes for all the rest of us. I love birthday parties. Pure and simple, I love cake!

Dance Recital

The girls getting ready to perform.


Campbell doing "High Kicks"


Campbell and her friend, Hannah


All the dancers with their teacher, Miss Emily.

• Campbell had a wonderful time at the dance recital. She wasn't looking forward to it in the beginning because she wasn't wearing a tutu like all the other dancers. Considering she was taking Jazz, her teacher wanted her to wear a Jazzy costume. As you can tell, we had to improvise on the costume just a little. She is so long wasted that the outfit was a little low cut for my taste. She didn't seem to mind. I think she liked standing out and being different once she arrived and saw all the different colors and styles.

• Campbell's class was the last class to perform and she did a great job. She is really shy, but when it comes to performing in front of others, she tends to come out of her shell and get the job done. It surprises me at times to see how determined and brave she can be with a crowd of people.

• After her performance, Brent gave her a bouquet of flowers. What a great way to end the day!

• Ironically, she isn't interested in taking dance this go around. She just wants to focus on school and that's OK by me. When she is ready to get involved in other activities, I'm sure she will let me know.
  
  

Well Visit

Jackson's well visit went really well this morning. He weighs 18.8 pounds and is 29 1/2 inches long. He is 70% in height and 25% in everything else. He didn't even cry when the nurse pricked his finger when she checked his iron level. (iron levels were good...by the way) He only cried for literally 2 seconds when he got his Hepatitis B shot.

So far he has two teeth and the doctor could feel where his top teeth were starting to come through. He just found a new love for cheese and yogurt in addition to all the other fruits and veggies that he eats.

I almost went into shock when Dr. Moore recommended that I bring him back in three months for his 12 month visit.

What??? 12 months??? How can it be?

My little man is growing up so fast.

Christmas Memories and 9 months old

Christmas is such a special time in our house. The smells of baking, spending time with family and most importantly the anticipation of the birth of our Lord and Savior. The girls enjoyed listening to the Christmas story and lighting the Hope, Love, Peace, Joy and Christ Candles. Thankfully, we were able to slow things down a bit this year and the kids didn't seem to mind at all.

Here's some pictures from Christmas morning with a few of their favorite toys. Campbell loved her Fancy Nancy Doll and Riley was thrilled to receive the pink Three Musketeer Barbie from Santa. Jackson doesn't really know what's going on this year, but seemed to be interested in his stocking for the most part.

• Jackson is nine months old today. He is such a happy little boy and full of smiles. He is making all kinds of noises and doing his best to talk. Brent and I are convinced that he is saying, "mama and dada" when he looks at us. Maybe he is, but he will never do it on command. He is pulling up on everything and is in the beginning stages of "surfing" the furniture. He is also a BIG eater. I can't imagine how much he will be able to consume when he gets older. Brent will have to get a second job just to feed him.

• He has a favorite toy.....balls! Any will do. Between three kids we have plenty of them. Although, now that we have a boy we have accumulated a couple of footballs just his size. One for Alabama and the other for Virginia. I think he is destined to be a football fan...I can't imagine why??

• Happy New Year....tis' the season to watch football. Or at least in my house!

Having fun in the snow.....

We measured up to 13 inches of snow in our back yard. This has definitely been the largest snow we have gotten since I moved to Roanoke. I've been waiting a long time for this. Poor little Riley can barely stand up in it because her legs are so short. She's not a huge fan of it, but will tolerate it for a few minutes at a time. I think Campbell can stay out all day in it if we let her. Although, a nice warm cup of hot chocolate is very convincing when mommy and daddy are ready to go inside.

Taking turns on the snow sled. I think it's time to upgrade with one that has a rope on the end of it.

Riley was having fun making snow angels. We'll get pictures of Jackson in the snow later on today. I'm sure he will enjoy eating it if we give him the chance.

A Big Heart

I knew I should have gone to the grocery store last night when the kids and I stepped foot into Wal-Mart this morning. It was packed!!! Bumper to bumper carts were everywhere. Thankfully, my kids were being well behaved at the moment and I didn't need to get that much on my list.

In the middle of my shopping run my cell phone rang and it was Brent. He was inside of Wal-mart returning some items and said that he would come and find me. Not only did he help me with my shopping he even offered to stand in line to pay for the groceries while I took the kids home.

He will definitely get brownie points for that one!!! It's the little things he does that makes me love him so much. He has such a big heart and extremely thoughtful.

Thank you honey....I love you!

Gingerbread House

Campbell's Kindergarten Class did Gingerbread Houses today. They actually made them out of milk carton's. With a little white icing, graham crackers and some candy, it turns into a master piece. This was right up Campbell's alley too. She LOVES doing crafts. The best part was after daddy came home....she got to eat it!

Campbell loves Mrs. Watson.

You can view all the pictures on the right hand side. Just click on "our pictures".

Didn't quite make the cut...

Brent and I attempted to take pictures of our kids this weekend "together" for our Christmas Card. Needless to say, this particular one was a honorable mention, but didn't quite make the cut this year. Although, I just had to share it because the expression on Riley's face is priceless! Can you tell she didn't want her picture taken?? I just have to laugh every time I look at it.

Thankfully, we did get some pictures of them individually that turned out really cute and we are going to use instead.

Merry Christmas! Hope you have as much fun with your "Grumpalump's", (...umm...kids) as I do!

Feeling better

Yesterday after I took Campbell to the doctor she immediately started feeling better. Funny how that happens. Today she woke up and you would have never known she was sick at all. Ironically, no one else in our house caught the virus. I thought I was catching a cold earlier, but it turned out to be my sinuses. Thank goodness for Neti Pots!

At it again....

Well, I thought Campbell was in the clear, but I stand corrected. Her fever just won't go away. She vomited a couple of times today, but it doesn't seem to phase her much. It's so pitiful watching her lay on the couch all day. Poor thing doesn't have an ounce of energy to her name.

Hope my sweet Campbell is feeling better soon.

One of those days....

It's been one of those days and it has just started. All three of my kids decided to wake up before the crack of dawn. I woke up with my left eye matted together. Therefore, I am headed to the doctor with possible pink eye infection. Campbell is home from school with a fever, Jackson is teething and Riley....well... she is just glad to have Campbell home with her for the day.

Hopefully, Brent will be able to come home long enough for me to take off to the doctor. I'd rather not take all three kids with me if I don't have to.

Other than that....it's a good day. Calm and relaxing.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's that time again. We are all looking forward to visiting my family in Alabama for Thanksgiving/Christmas. Considering we do it all in one stop, we have started referring to our visit as Merry Thanksgiving. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Since last year at this time, we have added an addition to our family. I can't believe that Jackson is almost 8 months old. Not only is he crawling, but clapping his hands, sitting up without any assistance and trying to pull up. Not quite there, but almost.

Riley is potty training. We are making progress, but we still have our share of accidents. She actually went to the potty all on her own yesterday without any help. She is starting to get the hang of it. We have to be fully potty trained by the time Preschool starts next year. I think we can do it.

Campbell is loving Kindergarten and seems to be doing very well and absolutely loves her teacher. It amazes me how much she enjoys learning and is eager to share her knowledge with us.

I just love this time of year. Especially being able to spend time with my family makes it even better.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.