PICKIN' WILDFLOWERS

It was another gorgeous Friday but a tad on the chilly side. Mac and Mag went and rolled around in the "flowers" for a while. Unfortunately, those are in our yard which is probably why the TruGreen salesman stopped by yesterday. Either that or he knew Brett lived here. Ask Brett about his Kirby salesman sometime. The Kirby salesman that Brett let in our house. The Kirby salesman that stayed for 3 hours!

Sweet man sucking his thumb the entire time.

While Mac and Mag were playing outside, Mary was inside eating lunch. I decided to snap a few pics since she was strapped down. She's the only one of our kids to ever take a pacifier after a few weeks of age.

My new favorite. Reminds me of one I had of Maggie when she was about Mary's age.

Not a flattering picture but in total mid-laugh. I could just bite those cheeks.

She's done now.

CAT FIGHTS AND LATE NIGHTS

Okay. I'm finally getting around to writing about Mac's big ole scratch on his face. He has gotten in a really bad habit of messing with Charlie, Chucky as Mag calls him, Charles when he's in trouble. Chuck likes to spread out on our bed and take cat naps. And I mean spread out. He's a big boy. Well, Mac loves to pull his tail or bop him on the head with cars or trucks or anything with wheels. We've been trying to close the bedroom door when Chuck's in there because we knew the retaliation was near. On this day, Chuck snuck (I think it's actually proper to say sneaked but I don't like that word) in without us knowing. Brett and I are in the kitchen and hear Mac crying as he runs in the kitchen with blood dripping down his face. It looked a lot worse than it was. After texting a pic to some friends, I was assured it didn't need stitches. Well, we couldn't get Mac to tell us what exactly happened at that point. Chuck was curled up on the changing table by then like nothing happened. He kinda just looked at us and in Mr. T manner & cat talk said, "I pity da fool. I pity da fool that pulls on my tail." We knew he was guilty. So, on to another issue we've been having. Mary Brooke is her name and fighting sleep is her game. Since everyone is so close in age, we just basically tried to keep her content and quiet at night so the others could get to sleep and stay asleep. That usually meant Brett walking her or putting her in our bouncy seat with "Praise Baby." When she fell asleep, we'd put her in her bed. It's been rough for the last few months. Like a newborn in the house again. Well, one night, we heard her crying & the crying getting closer and closer. She was in her bouncy seat in the living room, mind you. Imagine the freakiness when your bedroom door busts (I know, it's actually bursts but again, I don't like it) open and a big baby comes barreling through. She flipped her seat over and crawled slap out. That sleepytime plan was out the window. So, since she's not our first child, we have no issues with her crying it out in her bed at night. Mag and Mac would just have to suffer through it for a little while. The problem lies that Maggie shares a room with the beast. So, the night of the cat fight, we play fruit-baby turnover. Mag had already fallen asleep in her bed. We put MB in her crib and the wailing begins. Brett scoops Mag up and throws her in our bed. Then we hear Mac yelling, "Mary cwi-ing! Mary cwi-ing! So, we plop on the couch with Mac for some milk. Brett asked him again what happened with Chuck. He fesses up. We were almost crying, ourselves, from laughing at his expressions and story. "I bwoo (blew) in Chucky's face like dis(really big blow) and Chucky smiled... Cheese!... and said, wee-wee and did dis (arm motions like cat slapping.) Then a fly joined us on the couch and Mac freaked! Bless that little guy. He's got a long road ahead of him. Anyway, while he's running from the fly Brett puts Mag back in her bed since Kong is now silent and puts Mac in our bed until he gets over the fly trauma. We had several night like this but Mary will now scream for a minute or two and then is down for the count. If you are still here, I apologize that this was so stinkin' long. But, if you are, I invite you to drop by our house at any hour of the night to have some milk or help thwart any cat or fly attacks. Call us Motel 6, we'll leave the light on for ya.

"IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD"

This past Friday, the weather was absolute perfect. I mean perfect. I took Mag and Mac to school and Mary and I went for a nice walk and ran a few errands. After we went to pick them up from school, we came home and Mary was o-u-t. And she stayed that way for 3 hours. I hate to say this but it was really nice. Mag, Mac and I had lunch on the back porch and then played all afternoon. I took Mac in for his regular 3-4 hour afternoon nap but he kept yelling, "Outside! Outside!" So, I caved. It was too nice a day for him to miss it. So, we swang, jumped on the trampoline, played with bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles, & played hide-n-seek. BTW, that game has always freaked me out and still does. The thought of hiding and not knowing when the seeker would sneak up and find you? Yeah, not a fan. Anyway, I won so that was nice. Mac was really loving the slide at one point. Mag would wait at the bottom and catch him every time he slide down. He was greeted with a big hug and "Oh, Mac! I'm so impressed and proud of you! I love you, buddy!" And, being the little momma that she is, she'd run in and check on Mary for me. Once, she told me to not let him on that slide until she got back. She came back out, hugged him where his little feet barely left the ground and said, "Oh, Mac. You are just getting too big for me to hold." I can't describe her little sweet face. I'll try though. It was like a lip crinkled up, head shaking slightly, bittersweet, my youngest child is graduating from high school & got a free ride to a really expensive school face. Anyway, we had a great afternoon and of course, headed straight to the tub after all that playing.

I'll tell you. With all three in there, that water was niz-as-ty.



I have a really cute pic of all of them in the tub but then I remembered that lady who got her pictures developed at Walmart and was arrested. So, it worried me. Hopefully, whoever is reading my blog wouldn't be so cruel/stupid to turn me in for something like that but I just don't know about you people sometimes. ;)

Sucking on a paci and reading a book.




All clean and momma feels much better.

And these two wear the same size diaper.






Well, he just couldn't make it without a nap. Poor guy fell asleep while watching "Scooby Doo."

Such sweet, little feet.

Not sure how he sleeps with this going on. Kong doesn't care if you're asleep or not. She'll roll slap over you.

Nice close-up of that kick to the face.

And lastly for tonight, this. Remember the little blond-headed boy who has a thing for W's and wheels? Here he is taking the vacuum for a walk. I think that face is saying, "What? There's nothing weird about this."

FUNNY HAIR DAYS AND A B'DAY DINNER

I used those pipe cleaners that Brett made Mary's mouse tail out of for Halloween and made her Pippyish pigtails. This is day one.

Brett Paul did a fantastic job on his hair! I love it. Mac cried when he looked in the mirror though. I'll explain about that big scratch when I have time to sit down and write about that nights' events. If it happens to leave a scar, it will be in the same place as Dylan McKay's so he's in good company.

His little pale self reminds me of Edward Cullen.

Funny Hair Day, take 2. Mary goes to school on Mon, Tues, & Thurs so she got to join in the fun this time.

The back view of her six little piggys.

I really wanted him to wear it in a butt cut but Brett had already stuck his mega-hold gel in there and it wasn't budging.

Love this little monkey head.

We all went to Wing's to celebrate Andy Mac's 31st b'day. Here's the old birthday boy.

Great pic of Johnna and Laurie Beth

Me, Lani, Ember, and Leigh.

We're trying really hard to not do our usual Olan Mills pose. Plus, I'm trying to showcase my big daddy Sapphire ring that perfectly matches my shirt.

I look really wide there. Not sure why I turned so twistedy. Twistedy can be a word.

The boys.

MORNIN' ALL

Top 'o the mornin' to ya! (said in my best Irish accent) Since, I am part Irish, ya know. I'd like to ask you folks a favor. Look to the right. See that little "follow" button? Click it. I can see the view counter thingy rising but click on "follow" so I know who you are. Don't think you have to be a fellow blogger to do so. Anyway, been a tad busy this week so not much blogging happening. I usually do most of that at work and haven't been able to this week. I still have to post from Mary Brooke's b'day party and that was over a month ago. Oh well. I'll catch up. I will try to post pics from this morning soon. Funny Hair Day at school. Sweet Mac looked precious, thanks to his daddy and his stylin' gel. And Mag looked like Pippy Longstocking even though she doesn't have a clue who that is. BTW, when I was little, I loved Pippy movies. However, if you weren't careful, you'd "rent" (who rents anymore?) the generic knock-off version where the mouths didn't match the voices. I'd like for Maggie to see a good Pippy movie. Anyone remember the names of those and how to avoid the annoying ones? Hope you all have a wonderful day. I just arrived to work after going for a lovely walk/jog with Brett Paul. It's a beautiful day and I'm so on my way to fitness! I'm pumped! Stoked! Summer will be here soon and I wanna be ready! Plus, I need much more energy than I currently have to chase these babies all the time. Wish they'd share some of theirs. Oh, and this weather gets me ready to take a family trip to Lowe's and go home and do some planting. But, that will have to wait. You know that this is just a teaser. I'm sure we're due for some more winter weather. Remember that year that it snowed in April?

A BOY AND HIS "W"

Today's post is in honor of this little man.

Let me start with saying that he has got to be one of the sweetest little guys ever. When you meet him and he flashes that sweet smile, you're hooked. He is the most relaxed little fellow, just like his daddy. The perfect temperament to be sandwiched between to domineering sisters. Backing up a little bit. He turned two in September and started school. In THE best class, I might add. Have I mentioned how blessed we are to be able to send our kids to a day"school?!" The BEST dayschool in my opinion. Anyway, Janet McCracken and Leah Brown are awesome. Mrs. Janet has been teaching for 23 or so years and hasn't lost any enthusiasm. I need to dig up some pics of her on dress up days. Mrs. Leah is one of our neighbors and the sweetest thing. Anyway, the only thing Mac was saying at the time was "Gunk, Gunk." He repeated with the correct number of syllables and the correct pitch of your voice, but no words. For instance, if I said, "I love you, Mac." He would say, "Gunk gunk gunk gunk." I know you can't hear my tone but it was a perfect match. Dr. Petitt sent him for a hearing check, perfect. Sent us to a occupational therapist, no problems there. Well, the third day of school, he came home and recited his entire alphabet and counted from 1-10. Obviously, he had known these things for a while but was not verbalizing them. His teachers thought that just getting away from Motor Mouth (Maggie) did the trick. He didn't have to talk. She'd even lean over, smell his rear, & tell me he needed changing. And probably 25-30 times a day, we hear, "I get a hug? I get a kiss? I wuv you, mommy." And he goes around the room saying this to each family member. However, he is very unique. More like quirky or strange.

"W"

This little man is obsessed with the letter W. He can say his entire alphabet, sing it in two different tunes (regular & the SuperWhy version) and tell you the sound that each letter makes. But, W is the one that he loves.

He sleeps with a W. He has been sound asleep before and at 2 am, we heard him squalling. Brett went in his room to find that W was out of his reach. Mac was yelling with tears streaming, "W! W!" Brett handed it to him, he hugged it really tightly to his chest and calmly said, "W." He then curled up on his pillow and went back to sleep.

He brings you paper and pen and says, "Draw a W! Draw a W!" He seems to have misplaced this one.

We had lunch at a friends' parent's. They had crackers in the shape of letters. He had us dig through until we found a W. He ate the other letters and held on to the chosen one.

He loves the local weather channel. Here he is pointing to the "w" in highway. He's very happy with this channel. There is always a W. I picked the kids up from school last week and asked Maggie how her day was. She responded with lots of gabbering and details. When I asked Mac, he replied, "I wuv a W."

He loves the W in my mom's window seal. Can you see it? I'll help you. It's the shape of the plant leaves. He'll come in our house when we get home from somewhere looking for W's. "W. Where are you? I can't find you." Nursery workers at church have asked us what the deal was. Said he takes their hands and walks them around the room pointing out each one he finds. His speech therapist still goes to his school once a month. It's state funded and free so why not. She always leaves a report for me. One noted that he was one of the brightest there. Mrs. Janet said that he is the go-to guy when asking questions because he knows all the answers. The last report said that he had much knowledge but it easily distracted by the letters in the room. Ya think?!

Our friend from church, Tim Thomas (Uncle Tim as Mac calls him), showed him that he could hold three fingers up and make his own W. As Brett said, Mac just looked at his hand, with mouth hanging open, as if he were thinking, "I've had the power this whole time!" When a friend of ours kept the kids for us one day, their 7 year old daughter, Anna, met us at the door. She had drawn a W on her hand to make Mac feel comfortable in their house. She knew the trick.

He also likes wheels. A lot. You have to keep an eye on him in a store because he will absolutely bend way over and follow anyone pushing a buggy or stroller out the door.

Here he is at Brett's mom's family reunion. Not long after this, we heard a crash. Mac had flipped it over to get a closer look at those wheels.

And lastly. What could possibly make this little guy happier than a wheel with a W.