We Have A Visitor!

I was so excited a few weeks ago to learn that my friend Tenneil was coming to Springfield to see her sister, that meant she had to come see me too!  She is just nice like that!  I met Tenneil when we lived in Iowa and we both attended church in Moline.  She has a little boy Austin that was Callie’s buddy in Bible class and we became fast friends. 

Callie and Austin on their first outing to Whitey’s in Moline, IL. :)

Tenneil (along with a few others) saved my life when we found out we were moving.  She just jumped in and painted and cleaned and whatever else was needed so we could get our house sold.  She is an awesome decorator and staged my house when we put the sign up.  So awesome that the house sold in three weeks!  Needless to say I was ecstatic for her to come see this house and tell me what I should do to it!

We had a great time!  She was able to stay at our house with Austin for two nights before going to her sisters.  We talked and shopped and played and had a great time.  I also got a lot of ideas for my house and bought some stuff to make it more our home.  I don’t know why it helps to have someone with me to say “yes, buy it!”. 

I didn’t take too many pictures, I just don’t think about it.  :( I really am trying to get better at that!!

This picture was from one evening when we went to get the family (and us) some Andy’s Custard.  We made a pit stop at the go-cart track!  We drove past the track and Tenneil commented that she loved go-carts but it always seemed the guys did that while the mama’s sat on the sidelines.  So, we made a u-turn and had some fun!  One of the workers took this with Tenneil’s phone.  Check out the other worker behind my car!  Cracks me up!!!

We talked, shopped, talked, and shopped some more.  I got to know her sister which was nice.  Especially since her sister has lived here longer and knows some of the best places to shop!  We all had a great time hitting flea markets and antique stores.  We had eight kids between us so my big boys did a great job of babysitting in the car at some stops so we could run in and run out!  Such a  good time!

Hopefully she’ll be back soon, we had a great time catching up  and decorating!

Words That Actually Came Out Of My Mouth This Week!

“Let’s wait until it get’s a little closer to worry about Halloween costumes.” 

Why are my kids so obsessed with costumes?

“When Kellen was in Kindergarten I spent $50.00 on his Halloween costume.”

Maybe that is why they are obsessed with costumes!

“Seriously?”

Who knows why I said that, but I say it all the time so I know it has come out of my mouth this week.

“Wow, look at that fort.  I think that is every blanket we own!”

After the boys built a fort in the basement with, literally, every blanket we own and some sheets and sleeping bags thrown in.  Impressive, but can you say “laundry”?

Did you know a Krispy Kreme doughnut has seven points?

Yes, I joined Weight Watchers this week.  Except for the part where I am starving, it’s going great!!!

 

“I guess you can sleep in that.”

Telling Callie she can sleep in one of her brothers plain white undershirts.  The girl has more cute jammies than any one person needs, but she wants to look like her brothers!  The excitement was so great I didn’t have the heart to say no!

Better Than Last Year, I Think…

Well, Easter has come and way gone this year.  It was a crazy time.  Easter is my favorite holiday, and it seems to be crazy every year!  Not the way I would like to enjoy it.  I love Easter because it is spring!!! And because you get to buy pretty new dress clothes!  And there are the Easter eggs, the bunnies, the pastel colors everywhere…I could go on and on!  Easter 2010 was crazy all because of me.  I had too many things planned at once.  Not surprising I know!  

The week of Easter we had just gotten back from a trip to Tulsa, where I never took a picture!  I took my camera, but never took a picture.  Trust me when I say we had a great time!  While I was there we did some shopping.  I decided since I was running out of time to make Callie a dress, I would buy Callie an Easter dress.  Between Nana Charlene and I, we managed to pick out three dresses, two purses and a pair of shoes for Callie.  Just in case.  You never know what mood I would be in!  I had also decided to order a pre-made, pre-pleated dress to smock, in case I had time.  I really didn’t think it would be here in time to even start, but oh well, we had backups!

The Monday after Easter was the day to take things to our local Just Between Friends sale.  This is a huge consignment sale that I have been missing while being in Iowa.  I started going to them in Tulsa, and have since sold stuff through them in Norman and OKC as well.  So, the week before Easter I had to get all my stuff ready to sell.  Never mind that I had known about this for a few months!

And the week of Easter my parents were coming for a visit.  This was a good thing as they haven’t had much time to visit us and my dad was coming to help me hang shelves in my John Deere room.  Since I would be dragging stuff out of it to sell at the consignment sale, this would be the perfect time to do this.

And there was all the usual stuff:  school, co-op, homeschool PE, probably orthodontist appointments since we manage to go at least every other week!

Well the dress I ordered came on the Thursday before Easter.  I couldn’t stand it.  My parents came on Thursday and I started alternating between pricing and smocking, and trying to be a good hostess, which I am sure I was not!  This is why I titled this “Better Than Last Year…”  Remember last year when I decided to make an Easter dress in a week?  (Last years Easter saga:))  Well, this year I did it in three days.  Granted I only smocked it.  No sewing involved on this one.  But the smocking is what I love to do anyway! So, is this better since I did it in less time?  Or worse since I waited until the last minute two years in a row?  Oh well, who cares,  I love it!  I do not have a great picture of it yet.  But it is bright pink check with white and green stitching.  It is not as long as I like for this type of dress, but cute anyway!

Look at this grin.  This is her two-year-old grin.  The grin that says “I am so cute, I can do anything I want!”  (Can I just say she actually minded me tonight at dinner and even the boys were telling her good job it was such a surprise!)  Ornery!

Todd has put his foot down on the matching clothes for the boys.  This is the closest I could get without being vetoed!

Callie and Grandma having a conversation at the kitchen table.

Callie and Gannon taking a break from cleaning out the John Deere room.  Notice all the tubs in the background?  All empty now!!  I am so excited.  The consignment sale was a huge success!  Worth all the madness getting the stuff ready.  I would share how much money I made but it is embarrassing to think I had that much stuff to sell! Taking time out from the work to fly kites with Grandpa.  One advantage of living in a house with no neighbors, trees, or anything for that matter!  There was plenty of room to fly!

Callie and Gannon watching the kite action. 

All in all it was a great week and Easter, just tiring!  I really am going to start Callie’s Easter dress sooner next year.  I know, I could have used one of the dresses we bought, but I love to make her things!  I figure I need to get things made now before she refuses to wear what I make.  We are already starting to have issues with her picking out her own clothes!

So, moving right along in our little family journal.  I recently started printing my blog for 2009.  Since I don’t scrapbook, I thought this would be a perfect thing to print and bind for the kids to have someday.  They may not ever care, but it will release some of the guilt I have for not scrapbooking!  Or even just putting pictures in albums!  Anyway, I feel the need to go back and include some of our life when I get behind so we can remember what we do! 

I Not Tired

Let’s just say my kids are not “good sleepers”.  Of course, what exactly is a “good sleeper”?  What the books say?  Since I like to march to the beat of my own drummer, I always question what the books say anyway!  When Kellen was a baby and I took him to the pediatrician a few weeks after he was born I was lamenting the fact that Kellen didn’t sleep much.  Our first pediatrician (we’ve had eight up to now!) was close to retirement at this time and was full of common sense, not book sense (thank goodness!).    He said ”Well do you require a lot of sleep?”  I said no, he said , “well, he just takes after you!”  A-ha.  So, he was right.  Kellen has never required much sleep.  Even if he stays up late, he still gets up by 7:00 am if not earlier.  Garrett and Gannon sleep a little more, but still not what “experts” say they should.  Well, Callie is right there with them.  I have given up getting a full nights sleep.  She is a total night-owl, every few nights she wakes up several times a night.  It is either no waking up, or waking up four times!  Her naps are hit or miss, which is not totally her fault.  She is the youngest of four, so a lot of her naps are in the car!

Well, I say all of this to say that last Saturday we had had a long day.  I knew we had a long week, so we were all going to bed early.  Early for us is 8:30, so I guess Callie sensed that it was early.  She just kept looking at me like “what gives?”  Then she said “Why am I going to bed?”  I said “Because you are tired.”  She responded with “I not tired, I busy!”.  Yes, Callie, I know you are not tired, you are busy, but Mama is tired, so just work with me here!

Here she is after conking out one night.  Yes, once she finally goes to sleep I can turn the light on and take pictures and she doesn’t even know it, it’s just getting her to that point.  One reason she is busy is because she has a lot things to take care of before she can sleep.  She has to sleep with oodles of stuff.  Drives me nuts!  Dolls, books, purses, anything that catches her eye!  All of her babies are called “Baby” except that big one with the blue shirt in the above picture and her name is “Dolly”.  Every night it is a different group of babies to sleep with and she has to have them just so.  Added to the problem is that she is the only one that knows who is sleeping with her and  how they are supposed to be.  Sometimes they are all on her pillow with her, sometimes the are all the way at the foot of the bed under the covers.  Heaven forbid I should help with all this set up because I never get it right!  Also notice what else she is sleeping with?  Yes, an OU basketball, Grandma is totally getting in her head with all the basketball stuff!

I guess, lucky for me, I don’t require a lot of sleep!