Favorite moments

Here are some of MY favorite moments from Thanksgiving weekend:

1. Having 8 kids running around the house while all of the adults sat and ate their lunch, not caring if the kids were hungry!

2. Talking to Kim in the bedroom on Sunday (about you know what)

3. Baking with Kelly and Marcus

4. Laney asking if I could curl her hair

5. Brett blending in SO unbelievably well

6. Marcus and Uncle Frank going bowling together

7. Marcus and Uncle Frank and Brett going bowling together

8. Going shopping with Aunt Patsy

9. Missing momma and daddy, as a family

10. 7 out of 8 kids staying at the other house so Marcus and I could have a date

11. Having a date with my husband

12. Making up with my husband after a disagreement

13. The sound of 8 kids together playing, laughing, arguing and having fun!

14. Devin opening up and playing so well with Caleb and Olivia

15. Listening to the stories told all around

16. My family going with me to my family gitogether (black slang)

17. Having a family that loves each other enough to put up with each other for that long! :)

Four Things I Love About...

FOUR THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY FAMILY:



Four things I love about Ryane:

1. The special laugh she has that nobody hears but me.
2. The way only she can make Micah smile.
3. How much she wants to be like me.
4. How she poses for the camera (EVERY time)
















Four things I love about Gracie:

1. Her sense of humor.
2. How much she loves her daddy.
3. How she can fall asleep anywhere, anytime.
4. That she is always willing to give hugs...whether you want them or not. :)

Four things I love about Devin:

1. The way he says "momma".
2. How he wants to be JUST like his daddy.
3. The fact that he sleep walks, and talks, and cries, and...

4. How he loves his sisters and brother.















Four things I love about Micah:

1. His grin.
2. The special smile that ONLY his daddy gets.
3. The way he looks at me when he nurses.

4. His beautiful brown eyes.















Four things I love about Marcus: (Sorry no pic to post)

1. He is the Father of my children.
2. He loves the Lord.
3. He respects me.

4. He accepts me for who I am...an extremely white girl with a lot of flaws.

Conversation with Ryane

Walking through Walmart, Ryane looks up to the ceiling and sees a giant poster of Destiny's Child. She looks my way and says "mommy, is that Destiny's children?

THE PROFOUND THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I have nothing profound to say today. I just figured I haven't blogged in a couple of days so I had better put something on here.

I did have a date on Saturday night. (I am sure you have already heard about Marcus' bathroom incident. Well, I have a question for all...WHO, and i mean WHO in their RIGHT mind brings a 4-year old to an R rated scary movie? Hmmm? Who? We go into the theatre and sit down. Were getting all comfy, the movie is getting ready to start and I hear "mommy". So I turn around and there he is a little boy, Devin's age, sitting with his mommy and I presume his daddy. Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on being scared poopless when you know there is a little boy behind you who you know is unfit to be in that theatre? Oh, I wanted to have the nerve to say something so badly, but I just thought lots and lots of bad things about the parents. Then, get this, after the very scary movie, we get up to leave and the "daddy" speaks to Marcus. Apparently they worked together in the past. Go figure. Marcus didn't say anything about the little boy but deep in my heart of hearts I kinda wished that he would. (Shhh, don't tell him though)

Well, the movie was really good. We had a date to see Saw when it came out so when we caught the advertisement for Saw II, we both said we wanted to go again. And guess what...there is going to be a Saw III (at least is left you with the impression that there would be a third one.) It was so scary! It was gory too but not too gory. It was the kind of movie that lets your imagination tell you what happened. I love dates with Marcus, we don't get them very often. I love a good scary movie!!!!!

Those of you who don't, SUCK!

I am so utterly excited about Marcus' Christmas present! I want to tell you all about it but I can't. Marcus reads my blogsite and he would know. BUT I AM SOOOOO EXCITED! I want to blab all about it. I think he will really really like it. It is going to take a little work to keep it a secret but I am going to try my very very best! And I will be really really mad if he finds out what I am giving him before Christmas day! VERY VERY VERY MAD. So no peeking!

Hey since everyone reads this, here is an idea. Why don't we get together at Kelly's house the weekend before Christmas? Or close to it? Then we can celebrate Christmas together! How does that sound? I think it's a great idea! Let me know what you think! We can draw names at thanksgiving. Sound good? Huh? Someone Answer me!

Who am i really punishing here?

The house is all abuzz! Micah is sitting in the middle of the living room screaming just because he can. Devin is shooting the torpedoes off of his new car, following with a "YES!" Gracie is running through the house being Gracie. I am folding laundry on the couch and Ryane is telling me about her book from school. Everything is going well Gracie heads into the living room about the same time that Ryane heads toward the bedroom. Thunk! Followed by OWWWW! In passing Ryane has decided that now would be a great time to smack Gracie in the stomach. Not hard enough to cause any damage, but just hard enough to sting like the devil and stightly take Gracie's breath away. Conversation follows.

G: Ryane hit me in the tummy (said through tears)

M: Ryane! Come here!

R: Ma'am?

M: Ryane! Why did you hit your sister?

R: I didn't mean to...

M: RYANE! I saw you. You hit her on purpose!

R: (silence)

M: Ryane, you hit her on purpose didn't you?

R: yes ma'am

M: Go to your room, I'll be there in a minute (the most hated phrase of parenthood)

So, immediatly Gracie starts to try and tell me what happened. "Gracie, I don't need you to explain anything to me." Into the bedroom I go.

M: Ryane, you come up with 3 punishments for what you did and I will decide which one you get.

R: Um, no games, no tv, or grounded

M: Ryane, you are going to your dad's this weekend, none of those will work. I'll come up with 3 and YOU decide which one you want.

1) 3 swats
2) You clean the bedroom alone (it's messy too)
3) You give Gracie your most cherished possession

R: What is a possession?

M: You have to give Gracie something of yours that you really love. You have 5 minutes to think about it

.........5 minutes later..........

M: Did you decide?

R: (Bawling) I am going to give her Mr. Alligator. (Red face, tears, quivering lip)

M: Are you sure?

R: No ma'am

M: What do you want to do?

R: (through tears) I don't want to give her Mr. Alligator.

M: You have to pick a punishment.

R: Mr. Alligator

M: Ok, you need to tell her

R: Here, (handing him over) he is yours now. (now openly bawling)

G: (puzzled, because she hasn't been present for the entire conversation) Thank you.

M: Ryane you have to tell her why you are giving it to her.

R: (still bawling) I have to give him to you because I hit you.

G: Oh.

With head in hands sobbing quietly Ryane leaves the room. Gracie walks over to me, bends down with alligator in hand and whispers "can I be nice and give it back to her?" I look at her sweet little face and say "she had to give it to you for punishment" Gracie with her big round eyes looks at me and says "I know, but she is making me cry. Can I please give it back to her?" In a hushed voice I say "...on monday..."

Just at that moment Ryane whips around the corner and yells "I changed my mind, I want to clean the room. Is that ok?" So of course Mr. Alligator is back with his rightful owner, the bedroom is being cleaned by Ryane and Ryane alone, and Gracie is not upset anymore.

Gaaa! Punishment is HARD!

A Teary Entry

I just got Kelly's email. Enough said? Should be but it's not. I sit here right now typing this showing her 110% of my support. As we all should. NO ONE who has not been through this has any idea of how hard this is for her. This is one of the worst things that could happen to someone. Support her any way you can! The best support???? Prayer would be at the top but everything is very important. Not just important but necessary. She needs us right now and I know each and every one of us rallies around her as much as we THINK we can, but it's not enough. GO the extra mile when you think you can't. You can and you should, it will be so appreciated. Every little bit helps when you are in this kind of need. Love her, support her, cherish her!

Now, to those of you who have a spouse, significant other, lover man, big man, little man, any man: BE THANKFUL. Get down on your knees and thank God that he brought someone special into your life! It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, that is easy to say when you are high on romance but be sure and say it when you are running low too. We all fuss and grumble about our mate but we should really be grateful to have them in our lives. I know I am. I have been where Kelly is and it isn't fun. It's lonely and dark and scary and you feel like there is noone else there with you. I have been there but I am not anymore. God brought Marcus into my life. I know that I bitch and moan all of the time but I love him with all of my heart. He is my rock when I falter. He is my strength when I am weak. He is my sanity when I am nuts. He is my joy in the middle of sadness. He is the fudge swirl in my vanilla ice cream. He is my goodness. He is my comedian. He makes me laugh when all I want to do is cry. He is the father of my children. Because of him, I am able to be at home taking care of my family. Because of him we have a roof over our head, a car to drive, food to eat. He is a wonderful man and I know that I am guilty of not telling him near often enough.

So, once again, to all of you who have a significant other: BE THANKFUL! (and tell him)

Watching Children Play...

One of the most fun things to do is to watch children play. They have the most fun with the littlest things. We have a back/face massager and the girls have gotten it out and are massaging each others backs with it. I can hear them from the kitchen laughing and carrying on while they make noises just to hear their voices quiver!

The girls got to stay at Grandma's last night since they didn't have school today. They have so much fun over there, I think it is one of their favorite places to go. I don't even think that they do much else at Grandma's then they do at home but they LOVE it. Micah and I met them at the park today for a Lee's chicken picnic. Oh, if only you knew how hard it is to eat mashed potatoes and gravy without a fork or a spoon. Mom called it making memories with the girls, I called it using chicken bones and container lids as silverware. We had fun none the less! The girls ate quickly so they could go play in the park before we had to come home. I looked over at one point and Gracie was on her hands and knees and Ryane was using her back as a climbing tool. Hmmm, Kim did I ever do that to you?

Micah bear has a runny nose today. Everything he chews on gets covered in slobber and snot, including me. Poor baby. We slept in this morning since the girls weren't here. You go back to bed thinking "yeah, I can get a little more rest" then you wake up thinking "that was a horrible dream, I never should have gone back to bed" That sucks! I just wanted to catch up on my sleep though. Micah had me up from 2-5am Sat. night. Marcus got up at the end of all of it and tried to help but when Micah realized I wasn't around and he was dozing back off, he started to cry again. I finally put him in bed with me only to realize that the Apple/Prune juice he had the previous day was working it's magic. After a lengthy diaper change and a second nursing session, he finally went back to sleep. So did I, but we still had to get up for church, drudge! I love church BUT it is just so hard when you are missing crucial sleep. But we went anyway and it was nice...till choir practice last night. Yeesh! The choir director was a little grumpy himself, he even didn't answer two of my questions! The nerve of some people!

WE SOLD THE WHITE CAR!!! YEAH!!!!!

The following conversation took place while switching the title to the car over to Crystal's name (the girl who bought the car)

Crystal to Micah: Do you want to come home with me? (in a sing songy kinda voice)

Me to Crystal: Oh, you'd like him till it was time to eat.

Crystal: Why, does he get cranky when he's hungry? (still in a sing songy kinda voice)

Me: No, he is just breastfed. (typical answer I give)

C: Oh, so is she (pointing to her 5 month old daughter)

M: (completely shocked because she doesn't look or act the part!) Oh really, that is GREAT. It makes for such healthy babies. They are so much smarter too!

C: You'd never know that with my son! (2). I breastfed him and he ain't very smart at all.

M: (shocked even more) Oh, I am sure that he is going to be a VERY smart little boy! (in a sing songy voice, trying hard not to show how awkward I felt)

C: Well, I was breastfed too but I ain't very smart either... well, I am the smartest one in my family though.

Now, how is that for a breastfeeding advocate? People like that make me want to keep it a secret that I live in KY. (note, she came to the courthouse in her pajamas) Now, normally I would not a make a big deal out of this next point but I guess it is a crucial point in the life of this girl. She went through the welfare office to get help purchasing her car. We all know that I have been there done that and I am pro-help when you need it but...this girl is the embodiment of the welfare stereotype!


The new breastfeeding logo: Breastfeed your baby, it don't make em no smarter!

Another Saturday

Ok, so after I got all of the pictures posted I realized that I had left of my beautiful mini me, Ryane. Then Kim called me out on it. So, I had to get my little butt in gear and put a pic of her up. Isn't she precious in her Flapper dress? She loves it! It was one of the best $1.00 that I have ever spent. Yes, I said $1.00. Gracie's costume was $1.00 as well. For that matter, Micah's was $1.00 too. My momma taught me how to seek out the bargains! So our halloween cost nothing more than $3.00 and a little time.

You know, the posting part of this I love, it's the loading of the pictures that I don't love so much. We have an older scanner that likes to act contrary at times. Like sometimes I scan a picture and it holds it captive for a little while. It's almost impossible to find. Ugh!

Well, it is another Saturday and Marcus has to work until 5:30 today, that stinks! We had a great saturday last week so I guess I can't complain too very much. I guess I will do some laundry and clean the bathroom, blah blah blah. Oh, I do need to take Ryane to Lebanon to try and pick up some jeans for her. Inevitably every morning she wakes up and says "mom, I don't have any clean pants" Now, that really is true because she only has like 2 pair. So, today I am on a mission to get her some blasted pants!

So I am sitting here realizing that Devin is not on my blog anywhere. So I must post a picture of him too, because his little toothless grin in so cute. Some of you may have seen this one already. Others maybe not, but it's one of my favorites from the pumpkin patch. Could he get any cuter?

I don't know what to do with all of these good looking men in my house!

I played the role of the good wife and mom last night and made a large dinner, roasted chicken, pinto beans and cornbread, corn mac-n-cheese and potatoes. We got to have another family dinner. Yeah! We discussed Christmas presents! I am so excited I know exactly what I want to get Marcus, it's just gonna take a little miracle to pull it off! I think I can do it, IF he will behave and not peek. I honestly don't know if I can trust him not to peek though. Sorry babe, but you have admitted it before. Christmas is so fun!

Micah is not making this easy for me so I have to go amuse him for a little while before he breaks my keyboard. ttyl

Photo Album

Check these out...

The unexpected gift is the most cherished gift...

Very little means more than knowing that someone is thinking of you, whether it is a kiss on the nape of the neck, a card slipped into your hand, or flowers sent to your home. Can you think of anything better to put a smile on your face?

I got flowers today! For no reason! It has been so long since I received flowers that I didn't know what they were for at first. Then it register in this piddly brain of mine that somebody loves me! Who, you might ask? Well, my hubby of course. The man that swears I cannot be surprised. (It is really hard to surprise me but that's a blog of a different color) He surprised me today. I love it! Aren't surprises the absolute best? I surprised him too but that story is not for the faint of heart.

Onto the kids, Micah has 2, count them 2 teeth! I am so not ready for him to be 6 months old already. I love when he first wakes up in the mornings. His little puffy eyes are straining against the morning light breaking in the room. He blinks several times before he can focus on me, but when he does I fall in love all over again! Who would think that a baby boy could have brought me this much joy? Don't get me wrong, I love Devin with all of my heart but I don't get to see him go to bed each night and wake up each morning. I can get up in the night and peep in on Micah and see him slumbering in his bed. I must be quiet about it though, for if he awakens while I am staring at him, he thinks that it is time to play.

Ok, so we are driving by Mcdonalds to day and Ryane from the back seat says "mom? Who is McRib? He is back at Mcdonalds"

On a wonderful closing note, tonight we sat around the dinner table as a family (which I love doing) and ate chili dogs (hey, I aint emeril). ANYWAYS, like I was saying we were sitting around the table as a family and out of the blue, Marcus says I love you because...then he proceeds to go around the table and tell each person 1 thing he loves about them. Then we all took a turn. I love the family table, you can't get any better than that! Well, yes you can. After dinner we all went to church together.

Ryane's Thanksgiving Essay

The following is Ryane's Thanksgiving Essay that she wrote for school:

There are so many things I am thankful for. The number one person that I am thankful for is God. He caused me to be able to see, hear, feel, talk, smell and to walk. I am also thankful for my parents because they take good care of me. I am having a good life. I am thankful for God because He saved my life. I am also thankful for my grandparents because they also take good care of me and they won't let me get hurt. I am thankful for my aunts and uncles because they also take good care of me. I can still remember them but I don't get to see them a lot. I am thankful for my natural father and I also don't get to see him a lot either. I am thankful for my step-brothers and my baby brother and my sister. I am also thankful for my friends. I am thankful for Jesus becuase he died on the cross to save our souls. I am thaknful for the fire department, they can put out fires in cases of emergency and we won't get hurt. I am thankful for great-grandparents and i don't get to see them a lot either becuase they live so far away. I am thankful for my home so I can live in. I am thankful for the pets that I have had. I am thankful for Christmas because it is Jesus' birthday. I am thankful for Easter because that is when Jesus raised from the dead. I am thankful for all of these things becasue everybody takes care of me and never lets me get hurt.

Halloween

Oh the joys of going house to house collecting candy with you mother worrying about strangers and razors in the apples and poison in the candies, well that is a life no more for me (at least while I live in Campbellsville) For you see, we have wonderful churches in town that set up Trunk of Treats. A bunch of church members decorate the trunk of their car, pull up a chair and pass out candy to the bazillion kids that stop by. It's great! I love it! We hit 3 churches and the University and by the time we do that, it's time to go home. On the way home we walk down one road, one way and that is it. But then of course we go to grandma's house too.

What's funny is that last night (halloween) I called grandma to say "we will be there in a little while" and do you know that she had the nerve to tell me that she wasn't going to have anything for her precious grandchildren? I talked her into it although she didn't want to. So, we are on the way to grandma's house and Gracie chimes in from the back seat "Mommy, Grandma always has the best stuff on Halloween"

NOW, who out there would like to give grandma a good tongue lashing? I was ready to, but I didn't. I just made it a point to tell her what Gracie had to say...you know the good old fashioned guilt trip.

Onto the costumes...Devin was with his mother this halloween so we didn't get to trick or treat with him but he was a Ninja. Gracie wore a lovely, flowy, ballerina type, longer, lavendar number. Doesn't really have a name but she looked beautiful. Ryane went as a Flapper Girl. Absolutely hilar! And last but definitely not least, Micah was my Teddy Bear. They were all so cute, pictures will have to be developed and posted.

I know, I know it's called a digital camera but personally I like the good old fashioned 35mm. It's takes better pictures, plus it's like opening a present...you are never sure what you get until you open it.

That was our halloween and we liked it!