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Rub-a-dub-dub, Three Kids in a Tub

Ruby having fun going down the wet slide

 

Well, I finally was able to get the pictures to upload correctly.  Now I am off to bed.  I wish I could list all that I did today!  But why would I bore both of you?  I can say that Monday was incredibly productive.  Incredibly.  You should see under my kitchen sink.  And I pulled a massive amount of weeds from the front yard.  Here I go…I better stop now.  

But I do have to say that I cannot get over how Molly and Mack are like two peas in a pod.  They played all day together.  Ruby just jumps in and out of their play–sometimes she just wants to annoy, while other times she truly wants to do what they are doing or at least get them to do what she wants to do.  The only time intervention is needed with Molly and Mack is when I hear her yelling at him, “NO, MACK!  You sit down.  You sit down right now.  I am the teacher.  You do what I say!”  Mack usually comes out crying for someone to help him.  Molly quickly changes her tone and all is well.  Don’t ask me where she learned such a harsh tone because I have no idea.  

 

I think today is a list day…and maybe some pictures….all to help me sort out my mind on this Monday morning.

1. We took the kids to see UP last night.  Josh and I enjoyed it and the kids seemed to, but there were many perilous moments filled with growling, mean dogs, shot guns, etc….Not sure we made the best decision.  We’ll stick with G-ratings from now on.  At least we didn’t see the 3-D version; they may have been scarred for life!

2. I stayed home from church yesterday because Molly had a fever on Saturday evening with some stomach issues.  I terribly miss church when I don’t get to go.  We’ve all been dealing with her crazy requests “because I don’t feel very good.”

3. Mack has been sleeping in his big boy bed since Friday night.  So far, so good.  Sunday morning he did wake up at 6:00am and push the gate down to get out of his room.  

4.  I paid bills on line and realized I might have overlooked our car payment.  I fretted over it, but then realized I actually made three car payments in April.  What in the world was I thinking?  I mean, we can all agree there wasn’t much thinking involved.

5.  Ruby is starting to wash her self in the tub.  And she is loving being able to brush her own hair.  Little by little she is becoming more independent.  I love it.

6.  I am doing a Bible Study on how to know my role as a woman and how to defend my mind and my marriage.  I am learning so much and am so thankful for the Word of God that renews my mind and helps me in all situations.  The spiritual warfare has been a bit “amped up.”  I am excited to see how God will be working in our lives over the next few weeks.  I am praying that the Lord will confirm the works of our hands and that the beauty of the Lord would shine upon us.  He has a plan;  I want to trust Him more.

7. I am going to do some role-playing with the girls today in an effort to teach them manners and how to introduce themselves, etc.  We’ll see how it goes.

PICTURES:

Mack was a huge help to Josh as they put up the big boy bed we borrowed from the Anderson’s.

 

 

Mack

 

I have more pictures, but they are being difficult this morning.  And in an effort to not spend the whole morning on this silly computer, I give up.  Here’s to a productive Monday!

This week has been so busy.  The girls went to Vacation Bible School all week and loved it.  We had to be in the car by 8:30 am each morning.  

Mack and I got some things done while the girl’s were at church.  Monday included a stop by the drycleaners, the post office, the car wash and Wal-Mart.  I went home to unload all the groceries and put them away and then it was time to go back and get the girls.

Tuesday was our TJ Maxx and Target day.  That took up our whole time, too.

Wednesday we came home so I could bake homemade cinnamon rolls for their teachers.  That took up the whole time…and I got the bathroom clean and did some laundry.  Jed, Alex, Faith, Ella and Annie all came over after VBS to celebrate Jed’s 5th birthday party.  The kids got crazy with the water and had a lot of fun.  Annie and Ella stayed all day.  I even gave them back to their mama and daddy clean from head to toe.  I was so proud that it worked out that way.  

Thursday, Mack and I went to Wal-Mart again to make a care package for Katherine, Ruby’s friend who fell and busted her upper lip/cheek area.  She couldn’t finish her VBS week, so we thought a visit might help her feel better.  I also got a hair cut Thursday night.

Today I dropped off the kids, went to see our new house’s landscape being put in, then cleaned my car out, then came home to vacuum my stairs and do more laundry.  Then, when I went to pick up the girls I had to hold back the tears.  The teachers have been so wonderful to them, and they have learned so much and  made some good friends.  I have such fond memories of VBS growing up…and I am so thankful that my kids are a part of such a phenomenal church that does so much to make sure the children are taken care of, have a great time and feel very loved.  By the end of the week Molly was playing and had made new friends.  I am so proud of her!  Ruby survived without Katherine, and she wasn’t sure she could.  I am proud of her, too.  She really remembers those Bible Stories!  

Ruby seems to be “getting it” as far as being kind.  She has gone out of her way to do some nice things for Molly or to let her go first at different times.  And Molly, surprisingly, apologized out loud to Ruby with NO prompting from me.  (You know, usually I have to say something like, “You apologize to your sister right now or you will never get to have another popsicle again.  Ever.”  Somehow I just don’t think that is so effective.)  I was so proud of her for apologizing to Ruby this morning and being specific about what she did wrong.   Little glimpses of hope that go a long way for this Mama!

Here are some pictures from this week:
 All the kids and Jed with his cake

Mack and Ella hanging out in the tubs of water!

Jed shooting water on the slide so that the girls slide down super-fast!

Annie and Ella in one of many outfit changes.

Tuesday morning of VBS

Friday morning of VBS….

I promise Ruby was happy about going.  She has just recently gotten to where she doesn’t want to take a picture.  She even said to me this morning, “I don’t want you to put a picture of me on the blog.”  I told her I wouldn’t put it on the blog and she replied to me, “I know you are gonna put it on the blog, Mom.”  Is she 5 or 15?!

Also, on the first two days I was very sure that the girls were bathed and all cute in what they were wearing.  By Friday they picked out their own clothes and didn’t get a bath the night before.  And it was perfectly fine.  Ruby has got this thing about not wanting to wear anything with ruffles.  Any shirt that has a ruffle on it will not go over well with her.  It makes me crazy.  I guess I just need to get over it, huh?

This is the birthday plate from Ruby’s party.  She chose this design with her hand print as the sun and the thumbprints of her friends as the flowers.  I think it turned out so cute and will prove to help us remember her 5th birthday party.

And here are the piggy banks that my girls painted at the party.  I will be delivering the rest of them to all of her friends very soon!

After VBS, we went to Sonic to get the kids a slushee and a hamburger.  Molly is all about the drink.

Mack and Ruby kept getting BRAIN FREEZES……SO FUNNY!

So all in all, a wonderful week was had by all.  I think I will go lie down for a minute or four hundred. 

Happy Friday!

This is the neatest thing.  Gran and PawPaw gave it to the kids while we were there this past weekend.  You hook up the blue thing to the hose, turn on the water, then the kids can press their buckets down on the blue thing and it fills up with water!  Neat-O.  They love it, and I do, too.  

Mack can even do it all by himself.  That is IF his sisters give up their buckets.  He fights pretty hard for it.

 

So this afternoon right after I gave up on “rest time” for Mack and Molly and right before my hairdresser called to say that she didn’t feel well and couldn’t keep my appointment this evening (UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I decided to show the kids their surprise that I got for them while they were at VBS:

Big “tubs.”  I filled them with water and gave each of them a water gun.  (I got the idea from our friends, The Anderson’s.)  When I walked in Target today and saw these, I thought the kids would enjoy playing in the water this way.  And they did!  A lot.

Crazy Kids.  Please notice Molly’s face in these—

This is the little girl whose teachers in EVERY class she goes says about her, “She is so quiet.  She never says a word.  She just wants to hang out near a teacher.”  She is CRAZY at home and talks non-stop.  And makes silly faces.

And, don’t worry, Mom.  I am watching them and making sure no one drowns in the tubs.  🙂

This is what my sink looked like while I was watching them:

And this is what it looked like after:

Progress.  It took a while, but it got done.

And another highlight of the day was this cute lamp I found for the girl’s room at our new house:

I don’t usually spend very much money, and I am sure Josh will be glad when VBS is over, and I don’t have so much (2.5 hours) free time.  When I have all three kids, I stay home.  I spent all of my cash, so I guess Mack and I are stuck at home the rest of the week.  Oh, well……

Ok, so the title is a bit dramatic, but I am mourning today.  Mack knows how to climb out of his crib.  Am I sad that my baby is growing up?  That his once tiny legs that curled up under his body while he slept are now able to be thrown over the side of the crib?  

Not so much.

I am mourning because I promise that his nap time was my only time of solace.  

I am mourning because how I had known sleep (even with Molly’s interruptions) is changed forever.  I am telling you, it seemed I slept with one eye open all night long.  Misery.  I just knew he would get up.  And he doesn’t just get up and come to me or Josh.  He makes a straight line to Molly and Ruby’s room to wake them up.  And who’s to say he won’t just roam down stairs and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or hunt down a diet coke?  

Seriously.  What is a mother to do?

So after three jumps out of the crib last night, he finally stayed in there…all night…but how was I to know that?!  Josh hid behind the curtains after he got out of the bed the first time so that he could see how exactly he got out of the bed.  He is a clever little dude and waits approximately 2.5 seconds after you shut the door to make his attempt to escape.  

Today I am trying “rest time.”  Usually Mack is in the crib while the girls rest on the couches looking at books or watching BETWEEN THE LIONS.  I put them all on the floor to rest.  That is what they are supposed to be doing, but it really doesn’t sound like that is what they are doing.  I will leave you with some pictures…I better go check on them…the little rascals.

 

We had a fun time in Albany.  I will try and write all about that tomorrow…swimming, family, food, Elmo and other monsters, and the longest drive home ever.

Summer time fun is here!

I have been dreading the pool time, if I can be quite honest.  I secretly wanted to skip swim suit season and all that it entails and hoped the kids just wouldn’t notice.  We live a stones-throw from our neighborhood pool and pass it each time we leave, so my plan wasn’t exactly realistic.  We started on June 1st with a trip to the pool.  I enlisted Mrs. Mary, of course!!!  She is a huge help, and I would not have gone without her.  It all turned out to be a lot of fun!  So much so that we got up on June 2nd and did the same thing.  Ruby said, “This is just like the same day as yesterday.”  Summer time fun.

Here’s what Ruby, Katherine and Ben did the entire time:

They swam and swam and swam.  I was hard-pressed to get a picture of Katherine’s face since she spent most of the time under water….in a good way…swimming her little heart out!

NOW, the other two didn’t do much swimming, but this is what you could find them doing for the most part:

While being an Olympic Swimmer is not on Molly’s short list of things to accomplish, she may pursue a career in modeling swimmies, catering to the older kids whose mothers have yet to invest in Swimming Lessons.  

Seriously, all Mack wanted was a Coke and a bag of chips.  Molly loved trying a little of this and a little of that from the cooler and lathering herself with sunscreen.  I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of it, but the child sat in the shade with sunscreen and covered herself in it!  I guess it all goes back to the modeling…you can’t have wrinkled skin and be in magazines.  

We are off to Gran and PawPaw’s today to spend a few days with them.  The kids are excited for more swimming and more summer time fun!  We will be seeing Elmo LIVE! on Saturday, so that should be lots of fun, that is IF Molly isn’t horribly afraid of the big, hairy, monster that will be dancing all around the stage while we sit on the third row.  We’ll see……

OH, and since Ruby spent the night with Katherine, I let Molly sleep in Mack’s room.  We made a place for her on the floor.  They laughed and played for an hour or so, then finally Josh laid down the law (actually, he just laid down with them), they drifted off to sleep.  It was so cute.  These two play incredibly well together.  I love it.

Here’s to a great week and some more sleep overs in South GA!

Ruby had a great time at her birthday party.  She loved having so many of her friends around her.  She loved wearing her new sassy shirt and skirt, too.  She even slept in them and has the outfit on today.  Oh, the battles I choose not to fight.  

We had the party at EARTH, PAINT AND FIRE.  The kids painted a piggy bank, then had ice cream and cake, opened presents and went on their way.  It all turned out just fine, but I would have rather had the party at our own house out in the back yard…I just thought we would have been moving by now, so I decided to plan for another place to have the party.  Ruby had fun, so that is what matters most.  

Molly was there, of course.  She loved wearing the apron, though it caused much confusion and a mess at potty time.  Thank goodness I had some old clothes of Mack’s in the back seat to give to a friend.  And thank goodness for Mrs. Mary who took care of the situation completely.  What a mess. 

Katherine, sweet Katherine, was there!  She made two sweet cards for Ruby to bring to the party since she had given her two other presents already!  She is such a good friend to Ruby, and I know we would have had to re-schedule the party if she wasn’t able to be there.  So thankful for the Koester family.

Mark was brave and brought both of his adorable girls to the party, and we were so glad he did!  They are both sweet, yet both as different from one another as they can be.  Ella did great in the potty area!  And you should have seen her pig!  All covered in paint.  

And here is Lily (the blonde) who was in Ruby’s dance class both years they took.  She is such a doll.  Faith is in the green shirt.  She is a sweet, sweet girl, too.  I love her whole family!  We are so thankful for the friends the Lord has given to us and to our kids so far in their life.

This is Kayla working intently on her pig.  She and Ruby have the same birth day!  And they get along so well.  We hope that they get to stay together as they move into the Elementary Department in the Fall since her last name starts with “E.”  Ruby would LOVE that.

Here are the boys of the party…Jed, Mack, and Ben.  Jed is a fire-ball, and we love him.  His mom and I were pregnant at the same time, so they have been friends since before birth!  He was the life of the party.  While the girls sat and painted, he let the balloons go and they got stuck in the ceiling fan!  He cracks us up.  So glad he was there.  And Ben didn’t realize he was invited, so he was hanging out with his dad until Ruby said, “What?  Ben’s not coming to my party?!”  Mrs. Mary made a call and then Ben showed up!  Ruby was glad, but Mack was even more glad.  We are glad Ben was there.

The whole gang painting

The whole gang eating

Ruby got great gifts!  We will be writing our thank you notes once I search this house up and down to find the cute Hello Kitty ones that I bought to go along with the whole theme…they are here somewhere!!!  In this picture she is holding up the cookies that Merrilee gave to her as part of her gift.  She loves those cookies!!  By the way, have I introduced Merrilee to the blog?  I may should ask first, but since I have already mentioned her, let me show you a picture…I like to put faces with names.

Isn’t she cute?!  She is very nice, too.  I like her a lot…which I am sure is so important to Jason, and surely he will ask me what I think very soon…surely.

 

She was showing Katherine her compact and purse that came off of her cake.

Molly HAD a cute orange skirt on when we got there…this is AFTER the apron confusion in the girl’s room.

The DADS — supervising that side of the table  (the side with perfect Annie, Molly with the bathroom incident, Ella with all her paints mixed and Jed who let the balloons go into the ceiling fan!!  They were so helpful!)  Kidding.  Kidding.  So glad they were there!

So, overall, a fun-filled birthday party!  Ruby loved having a party.  She is “officially 5…now that she has had her party.”  

OK, this is a new level of hilarious for me!  Mack drinks a ton of liquid each day.  Last night we had a little party for Ruby, and I gave Mack numerous juice boxes because that is what kept him occupied and sitting down.  Having Mack running around in a Pottery store was much like a bull in a china shop.  Oh my.  Soooo, he was wet from neck to knees this morning in his crib.  (It didn’t help that he unhooked his diaper on one side…don’t ask.)    Immediately after I said, “Oh, no Mack!  You are wet.”  He stood up with a bewildered look and said, “Melmo wet.”  I asked, “Is Elmo wet, too?”  He said, “Melmo wet!”  I picked Elmo up, but he managed to not get wet in the sea that Mack had made in his bed.  I asked Mack who wet his bed?  He said, “Melmo.”  He even went in and told Josh that Elmo wet his bed last night.  It was so very funny.  He says it very emphatically, like he knows we might not be believing his story.

Molly has had an obsession with flip-flops.  Now she will wear almost any kind of flip-flop, but BROWN flip-flops are what she has wanted.  She wears palm tree blue ones, hot pink beach ones, purple ones, clear ones with big jewels on them….not to mention the other types of shoes around here…..

BUT this morning at the park there was a little girl running around.  I spotted them first, then watched for Molly’s eyes to find them, too.  Sure enough, here she comes, “Mama, look at her shoes.  Brown flip-flops.”  I told her that if Ruby wanted to share her $5 that she got from the tooth fairy, then we would go to Old Navy and buy some flip-flops because I would love to have several more shoes lying all around the house for me to put away or for me to help the kids search for when they can only find one.  When Ruby was ready to go, we all walked home so she could get the money and we could pile in the car for the Old Navy!  I seemed to have forgotten that I had not one stitch of make-up on my face or that I had worked out to that silly Jillian’s 30-Day Shred that SAYS it is only 20 minutes long, yet it feels to be an hour long.  (Have I mentioned that I think I am just old?  Things hurt that used to not.  Jumping around the living room like a teenager doesn’t help this sad fact.)  

*****SIDE STORY:  In case you think we are crazy for giving our child $5 from the tooth fairy, think again.  We didn’t.  In line at Wal-Mart the other day, an older lady was so sweet and got to talking to us while we waited to check out.  She asked me if I minded if she gave Ruby $5 for her birthday….after the awkwardness, I said that she could and helped Ruby to say thank you and hug this perfectly nice stranger.  The next day Ruby was eating an ice cream cone and her tooth came out!  Yipee….Josh forgot to put money under her pillow because that is his job you know….so I grabbed the $5 bill and took it upstairs and told him to stick it under her pillow.  I didn’t have a $1 bill.  Ruby went and checked her pillow (she had forgotten, too), and said to me, “MOM!  This is that money the lady gave me at Wal-mart.”  I froze.  Josh saved the day by saying, “Yeah, this looks like the one the lady gave you because it has a 5 on it….What do you want for breakfast?”  It was very funny.  I am glad Ruby wanted to share her birthday money/tooth fairy money so everyone could get some flip-flops.*******

Back to the flip-flops.  I picked Molly’s brown flip-flops up, then helped Mack pick a boy pair of flip-flops out…he has been wearing the girl’s flip-flops around the house.  It’s just not right.  He now has BOY FLIP-FLOPS.  Ruby chose some silver ones.  Cute.  Then, Molly wanted pink ones.  She begged for pink ones as if they were the ones she has always wanted, not the brown ones.  After going back and forth with her, I looked at the sign  “2 for $5 OR $3.50 each”  Well, it just wouldn’t make sense to only get three.  We needed to get four anyway—we’d miss the complete deal of “2 for $5.”  So, somehow Molly got out of there with TWO pair of flip-flops, and one each for Ruby and Mack….with Ruby’s money…..oh my.  I told myself that she does get all the hand-me-downs while Ruby gets the new clothes; that brought peace to my troubled heart.

Then, the kids immediately put on their flip-flops.  Mack has MUCH trouble keeping his on his feet!  It is such fun for me to try and squeeze his chubby, sweaty, block foot into the flip-flop.  He just needs to relax his toes, but he doesn’t.  After I put them on his feet, I say, “Now, you keep these shoes ON.”  He say, ” ‘kay” every time.  “This time I really mean it, Mack.  Try to keep them on.”  ” ‘kay.”  And then he proceeds to walk right out of them.  It could be a very long summer.

 

(This doesn’t even show the ones that are randomly left in the back yard or the ones that are piling up in my car.  Nor does it show the cute ones that I really wanted to pick up at the store just today.  I held back because if I am going to be picking up everyone else’s flip-flops, I will not have time to find my own.)

Mack was funny eating his cupcake(s) the other night.  I just couldn’t quit taking pictures of him…maybe it is because I am trying to eat better.  It isn’t going all that great, but I am trying, so I just used my time admiring how he was eating instead of stuffing my own face.  Do y’all do that?  Watch other people eat the stuff you’d like to be eating?  Though I must say, cupcakes are never my first choice.  I’d much rather go for the nice slab of chocolate cake–you know, the end piece with lots of icing.  Yummmmm…..

“Um, would you like some or are you just gonna keep snapping pictures in my face all night?”