May 28, 2008

The Ickies

We are on day 3 of the icky sickies. Gracie (the dog) started it on Monday morning and then Livi got it on Monday afternoon (not that I think they are related, but just a funny coincidence).
Carson woke up Monday morning and has been getting into the habit of making his bed, so he did, and came upstairs, and after a short time I started smelling something nasty coming from downstairs, so I went down there and Gracie had pooped 2 big piles and barfed 2 big piles right on Carson's bed! It was SO nasty to say the least. And I was so mad that she didn't even try to let us know that she had to go outside, this was not the first time she's done that, so gross. I guess she couldn't control it.

We had a great day on Monday, rode our bikes to Skypark, played for a while, then went and played tennis for a while, had a picnic, and then rode home. Livi took a nice nap and then complained of a tummy ache when she woke up and wanted to go right back to bed. So we put her in her bed and a little while later when Jason went back down to check on her, she threw up. It was her first time getting sick, it's so sad, isn't it? They seem so helpless.

So it was a long night with short bits of sleep, and she doesn't seem to be able to keep much of anything down. I think she has a small piece of bread in her belly now, but that's it.

I'm SO thankful for a washing machine, that's for sure. We've definitely been using it!
We got out for a little walk today, I bundled Livi up in the stroller and we took a couple rounds about the neighborhood, it felt good.

May 17, 2008

Fun things to make

I have come across a couple fun free pdf patterns and tutorials, so I thought I'd share the love. Enjoy!

Hangtags at Lula Louise
How to cover wooden drawers at Lula Louise
Simple notecard with buttons at How About Orange (LOVE her blog)
An emergency downloadable birthday card & envelope at How About Orange

There are tons more, I'm sure, but wanted to share those with you. It's so fun finding these!

May 16, 2008

The muddy firefighter

Carson is pretty determined to fly. He's been watching birds lately trying to figure out what makes them able to fly and not him. We've tried gently explaining that God made our bones different and all the other parts of our bodies that are just completely different, but he's holding out hope that some day he'll lift off (and catch a fish with those crazy talons!) :-)

Goggles and Bubbles





I just feel so bubbly with love for my kids. Sometimes I think my heart just might burst with love for them. Sometimes the hard times make the good/sweet times so much brighter. I just love who God made them to be....Livi's sweet, happy, funny, imaginative nature, Carson's creative, active, contemplative nature, they are both such wonders. I love watching them grow. And I hope I never forget these precious days.

May 15, 2008

Lovin' the Tile

We used to have carpet in our bathroom. The people that sold us our place had offered for us to keep the bathroom rugs, and we thought, sure, how nice! Upon moving in we understood why....there was a dinner plate-sized bleach stain in the middle of the bathroom floor which they had covered with a rug. The former owners are very nice and we see the lady probably once a week as she is a FedEx driver in our neighborhood, so we just had to laugh.

Carpet in a bathroom can just be nasty. Boys, potty training, toothpaste, water + carpet does not equal goodness.

So we finally got some tile in there a couple weeks ago and we are loving it. They tile guy was awesome and he did a really nice job. It's so much easier to keep clean and it definitely looks nicer.


May 8, 2008

The Dark Cloud

I feel like a dark cloud that's been lingering over my life has blown away today. It's just been a rough week, or couple weeks, but especially this week.

God is so awesome to give us new mercies every morning, and I feel like today after I spent a little time realizing that I've been giving in to the temptation to feel defeated and discouraged and stressed, etc., and confessing that I wasn't letting the Lord be on the throne in my life in every area, and just putting some things down in an email to a friend, I just feel lighter.

Jesus says: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest".....so I did, and he did. What a wonderful God.

I also decided I need to be taking better care of myself...so I tried to eat better today and drink more water and I think it resulted in more energy and clearer thinking. I read in my Real Simple magazine a long while back that drinking water helps with clear thinking, and it makes sense. I never really put the two together, but I really think it's true.

Nothing huge going on, just dealing with trying to get the kids to behave in public, and to have them be more respectful in the way they talk to me, etc. Carson had a mega-tantrum as we were leaving Costco....I thought we were done with those....but he was so mad that I wouldn't let us eat pizza there since he wouldn't listen to me while we were standing in line. I had asked him to stop chasing Livi around because it makes her crazy and she screams with glee, but it just gets out of hand, especially in a place where there are so many people around. So when he continued to do it, we just stepped out of line and walked out the door....fortunately he didn't realize what was going on till we got outside, but it wasn't pretty on our way to the car.....screaming, crying, boy was he mad, mad, mad. He must have said "but I want to eat pizza here!!!" thru all the crying at least 65 times....the whole way home. It was not fun.

Then later in the day yesterday we had to go to the post office and we had to wait a long time, and they were just being crazy and I couldn't get control of them. I was feeling really hot and sweaty from the stress. The clerk offered them stickers once we finally got to the counter, but I told them we weren't going to be able to take them today, can't reward that kind of behavior. Arggg. So we left and on our way home Carson made some sort of snotty "na-na-na-na-na" comment and it just set me over the top and I started crying, cried the whole way home. And he got a spanking for disobeying me, but at dinner he told Livi with a smile that it didn't hurt.

Gee whiz, this mom thing can be rough, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. With Mother's Day approaching, I've just been thinking about my precious little kiddos and all the wonder that they are. I'm so grateful to be their mom, I just pray that God will give me the grace to lead them in the way they should go, and that He would help me not go crazy in the mean time! :-)