Happy Birthday to ME!

No, it's not my birthday...unless you ask Charlee.
I was editing photos in my office when Char came running from the living room.
"Mommy, mommy, come see what I did for your birthday!"
"What did you do for my birthday?"
"I put stickers on the table for you!"
"Uh, you put stickers where?"
"Come see!"

"Charlee, thank you for the stickers, but you can't put them on the coffee table. Please put them on a piece of paper for mommy."
Charlee tried to remove the stickers and put them on some paper...then she informed me, "I can't get dem op."
I explained that that is why you can't put stickers on tables.

I Love Fall

Today is a good day. Here are some reasons why... It's Sun. and church was actually relaxing and not stressful. Justin will be home in an hour! It's beautiful outside. I have dinner in the crock pot and the house smells so good. I LOVE cooking in the crock pot, and Fall is always the best season for it. I love coming home from church to the wonderful aroma of a dinner that is already made. My girls are behaving themselves and playing together nicely. The Amazing Race starts tonight, and did I mention Justin is almost home?!

Going for a Ride

Along with the squirrels there is a statue that always catches Justee's attention. I usually drag her toward the park and away from it, but today I let her play for a while. I had my camera with me and so I got to snap a few pics. She sat down and went for a little ride in the wagon.

I didn't coach her to do anything, she did it all on her own and was having a blast. She thought it was so fun to walk around and pat all the statue kids' heads; she even tried to help the boy pulling the wagon. Then, I was getting ready to take a pic of her staring into the girl's eyes on the back when she surprised me...and kissed her. I luckily took the pic at that exact second. I couldn't believe it...I thought it was pretty funny.Sydnee and Charlee have really been into fort making lately and they are always making forts with their blankets. I went up to check on them tonight and they weren't in their beds. It didn't take long to figure out that they were under the beds. Here is proof:
...crazy girls

Justee (like most kids) rubs her eyes when she is tired. After dinner tonight she was a very tired little girl. Here is a messy faced, sleepy baby girl:

Pree Days Left

Sydnee missed the bus for the first time today; it better be the last time too. During the drive home from the school, Char asked, "When is Daddy coming home?" I said, "In three days." Charlee got excited and said, "Pree days?! Dat means he is almost here! I can't wait por Daddy to be home!"

You played volleyball in the Olympics?!

I have been going to Gold's Gym and playing volleyball on Mon. and Wed. nights for over 6 months now. There are some really good players that come and we get some competitive games going. The bad thing is that since it is an "open gym" setup, we also get the occasionally "I haven't played in years" but they should say "I haven't played in years and even then I wasn't any good" type. Mostly, the people who show up on a regular basis are really good.
Two weeks ago all that changed...I walked into the gym to 2 new faces. I always get nervous when I see new people because I wonder if they are going to mess up the game. (I know it sounds mean, but it just isn't fun if people can't play.) These two men looked a little...let's say...awkward, and I didn't have high hopes in their volleyball abilities.
Then came the words... "Hi, I'm James. I haven't played volleyball since the Special Olympics."
My jaw dropped and I was a bit stunned and thought maybe this guy was playing a joke on me. Then I took in my surroundings and realized that both men were the "Special Olympic" type. Now, I don't want to sound ignorant here and I was all for the two guys having some fun and playing for little while. They are very nice guys and one of them has a pretty good serve, but they can't play at this caliber. {Tonight, one of them told me that he can't hit the ball twice. He hit it and then I set it for him and he just let it fall. I asked why he didn't get it (I asked nicely, I am nice to them...I don't know how it is sounding in my writing, but everyone is really nice to them.) He told me that he learned he can't hit theball twice when he was in the Special Olympics.} I know that what we play is a far cry from Olympic volleyball, but it falls pretty far from the Special Olympic side of the spectrum.
The bad part of all this is that they have been coming every time now, and keep saying "see you next week." when they leave. I think everyone is being too nice to them...they keep wanting to come back. jk Like I said, I wouldn't have a problem with them coming for a half hour or so, but the Kid's Club closes at 8pm and I have to leave...they stay for over an hour and leave at about 7:45. I only get 15 mins of normal volleyball time? That just isn't right. The other bad thing about this situation is that a lot of the other people who always come, don't come in to play until they see these guys leave. So we have small numbers and that just makes it worse.
I have loved playing volleyball...it is a kind of release time for me. I have looked forward to that time for when Justin is gone; if it is all messed up now, I will be really disappointed. Maybe it's selfish of me to think this way, and expect their fun to be sacrificed so I can have fun...but can't they have fun doing something else? Is that too much to ask?


go ahead, tell me what a jerk I am

Funny Things Boys Do

While I was fixing Sydnee's hair for school this morning she told me that there are 3, sometimes 4 boys that always chase her at recess. I wanted to write this down so I could remember how she said this. It went something like this...
"I just can't get them to stop chasing me. Mom, why are they always chasing me?" Then she answered her own question, "Maybe because that is the only way they know how to have fun."
"Are they nice boys?" I asked.
"Not when they are chasing me! When they are chasing me, they are scary!"
I just hopes she feels that way later on...Boys that chase you are SCARY.

Sydnee

I felt like I needed to add some pics of Sydnee because she has been left out of the past few posts. Nothing exciting to write about, so I just have the pics....I better get to making my handouts for church tomorrow.

Morning Walks

Charlee, Justee and I have been taking walks in the morning with Cherelle and her 2 youngest boys. The weather has been great, and it is nice to get out and have some good conversation. Charlee usually likes to ride her bike, but she doesn't get to everyday... Sometimes she likes to push "her baby" in her stroller...Justee usually screams half-way through because she wants out of the stroller to run free...Sometimes I take Dozer if it isn't too hot and we aren't walking too far (the poor dog can't handle too much exercise; he is always trying to lie down and take a break.) Whatever the situation is, I enjoy our walks and I am not looking forward to it getting too much colder. I love Fall weather and I want to enjoy it while it lasts.

Here are some pics from our outings:

Justee chasing Jace trying to get Char's shoe back:

I have the hardest time getting Jace to smile at me.

Justee's Pics

I finally found the solution to all my problems! ...Ok, maybe not all of my problems, but I have found a new routine that should work pretty well for me. I get Sydnee off to school and then get the other two hooligans ready for the day and we head off to Gold's Gym. The kids play in the Kid's Club and I get to get some much needed exercise. Plus, I can shower and not worry about the girls tearing up the house. Then I am all showered and already out of the house, so any errands that I have are easy to take care of. The girls love to play there and it tires them out; so another pro to this plan is that when we get home, they are ready for a nap. Yay! This costs me one dollar per child (being that our membership is covered by our health insurance.) Not bad aye? It seems to be working so far. Hopefully I don't get lazy and forget how well this is working out...

Now for pics of Justee from the park yesterday:

Justee loves to chase squirrels

They were letting her get pretty close

I Should be in Bed

It's late and I am bored and not yet ready to go to a lonely bed. SO...I thought I'd post some pics from today at the park while Syd was at gymnastics. The girls were so dirty and raggedy from playing outside today (it was a gorgeous day today!) and they were definitely not fixed up for pics, but this is what they look like in the evening of most days, so oh well. Charlee is so funny about getting her picture taken. She likes to pull that phony "cheese" smile, but she doesn't like to look at the camera while doing it. If she is looking at the camera she isn't smiling. I don't think there has ever been a picture of her that shows how beautiful she really is. I guess I'll just have to keep trying. ;) I'll post the pics I took of Justee tomorrow.

I love this pic because you can see a hint of crack peeking out. I sent Justin this pic and he said, "That's Chuck."

Justin's Birthday

Justin got home on Fri. at about 5 pm and the girls were so excited to celebrate his day-late birthday. Sydnee really wanted to hide, jump out and yell surprise and spray him with silly string when he walked through the door. She was really worried that he would get home before her. If that was the case she wanted me to make him wait outside until she got home. Luckily she got home first and he didn't have to stay outside. ;)

We blew up tons of balloons and Sydnee and Charlee hid in the closet when he was walking to the door. They did everything as planned and had a lot of fun.

After things settled down a bit, Justin opened his presents and we ate cake. I had a hard time deciding what kind of cake to make Justin. I have made him different things like a Broncos head, a football, a helicopter, and I couldn't think what to do this year. Then I thought about the fact that he has been loving mint chocolate chip ice cream lately, and I decided that was what I would do; make him a mint chocolate cake. I made a chocolate cake and added a few Andes mints to the batter and a little mint flavoring to butter cream frosting. I topped it off with Andes mints and a little caramel. It turned out to be a very yummy cake.

As for his presents, he got a Nikon Coolpix camera so he has one to take to Afghanistan, I made him a little scrapbook so he had pics of the fam to take as well, and the girls picked out some Red Vines because those are daddy's favorite.

It was a team effort to get all 32 candles on the cake......and to get all 32 back off of the cake.I had to include the following videos in this post. All day I slowly blew up all of these balloons and Dozer was confined to his kennel because he becomes a dog of mass destruction when he sees a balloon. Dozer's theory must be: the only good balloon is a popped balloon. Dozer was chomping at the bit to get out and get a hold of all of these balloons, so I thought it would be fun to set him loose on them when the party was over. I think having so many balloons to choose from confused him; he just wasn't sure which one to pop first. ...Justee didn't enjoy herself as much as the rest of us.

Dozer is obviously winded in the 2nd video and we decided we better make him take a break...we didn't want the fat, out-of-shape pig to die of exhaustion. So we let Syd and Char pop the remaining balloons. Of course they made a competition out of it to see who could pop the most. I had just taken a pic with the camera turned and then thought I wanted some video, so I just used my digital and didn't turn it back. That is my excuse for being so stupid and taking the video sideways.; )

We all had a great time celebrating Justin's bday (even Dozer) and I hope Justin had a great one.

Memory Game

I just saw this on Kevin and Brittany's blog and decided to participate...

MEMORY GAME

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I or you and Justin had together. It doesn't matter if you know us a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about us, we'll assume you're playing the game and we'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

32 years old

Today is Justin's birthday and he doesn't get to be home for it. He has been gone for a week and will come home tomorrow, only to leave again on Sun. for 2 weeks. I wanted to write a nice post about Justin, but I just can't seem to pull my thoughts together. We will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow and I'm sure I will write more then. I just wanted to acknowledge his birthday and say that I love him so much and I can't wait for him to get home.
Happy Birthday Justin!

Questions I don't like to answer...

Last night as the girls and I were driving home from Gold's, Sydnee asked what a spouse was. I explained that it was a husband or a wife. "Oh, so you have a spouse cause you have daddy!"
Me: "Yep."
Syd: "So kids don't have spouses because kids aren't married."
Me: "That's right."
Syd: "I can't wait to grow up and have a spouse and be a mommy." ...pause... "Umm, does it hurt when the Dr. takes the baby out of your stomach?"
(Sydnee has been under the impression that when you have a baby, you go to the doctor so he can take the baby out and give to you. I just haven't felt like explaining the actual process to my then 4 year old.)
Me: "Yes it hurts."
Syd: "How does the doctor take the baby out? Does he open your stomach?"
I think to myself... Great. It was easy to let her make her own assumptions, but I can't lie to her. Now I have to tell her more.
Me: "Umm, the doctor doesn't really take the baby out. The baby comes out of a special place that women have for babies. Sometimes, the doctor has to cut some people's stomachs to get a baby out if it won't come out on it's own."
Syd: Gulp! "Where's the special place that babies come out of?"
I'm thinking...how can I change the subject?
Me: "By your bottom."
Oh my heck the laughing that exploded was unbelievable. Char and Syd just kept rolling and saying "by your bottom?" hahaha
After the laughing stopped Syd said, "I don't think I want to have babies."
Me: "Oh it's not that bad, and it's part of life. You'll be fine."
Then I turned the music up and was thankful that she didn't ask how babies got in your tummy.

Life

Sydnee has been loving school and gets up pretty easily in the morning. She has been wanting to take a lunch to school so she can use her new lunchbox, but I have been enjoying the easiness of having her eat school lunch. Last night she begged me to let her take a lunch, so I told her if we got up early enough I would make her one. She must have been excited because she was up 45 mins earlier than normal and I had to send her back to her room (so I could go back to sleep) with the promise that I would still make her a lunch. When it was time to get up, I made her favorite sandwich, peanut butter, jelly and banana.

Charlee and Justee are doing just fine with Syd gone all day. They play pretty well together and haven't seemed to notice that Syd isn't here. They are both excited when she comes home though, and run to greet her with a hug. Here is one way Charlee has been entertaining herself...

Good thing Cash is such a good sport.

Sydnee also started gymnastics back up yesterday. She goes on Tues. and Thurs. for an hour. She really improved over the summer even without classes. I tried to sign Charlee up for a class, but her age group was full. While Sydnee attended gymnastics Char, Justee and I played at the park.

Making Me Smile

Tonight I went up to Syd and Char's room to check on them. They were watching Shrek 2 as they were falling asleep. I noticed Charlee was crying quietly and when she saw me she started really crying. I noticed the movie was at a sad part and when I asked Char why she was crying she said she was sad because Shrek was sad. I'm sure her being tired contributed to the tears, but I couldn't help but think how sweet that was...It made me smile.

That reason for smiling was a bit different from the reason the girls made me smile during breakfast: Sydnee was giving Charlee burping lessons. She kept trying to tell Charlee how to burp and when Charlee would just make the sound, Syd would ask, "Was that for real?" and Char would proudly say, "Yep."

Souper Saturday

The Enrichment activity today was 'Souper Saturday.' We made crafts and ate soup. I signed up to do "I Spy Bags." They are those fun bean bags with items in them that kids can try to find. The girls had fun this past week picking out their fabric and fun items to go inside their bags. It was suggested that we make a list of all the items that we were putting in the bags. I thought about that and I decided that since my girls can't read, a written list wouldn't be that helpful, so I took a picture of all the items and attached the pic to the bag. The bags aren't perfect, but I think they passed the test because my girls seem to love them anyway.

Right after I took this pic, my camera batt. died so I didn't get to try to make Justee look up for another pic.