Preschool Has Begun!

This week marks the first week of preschool for Brendan and Aubrey. Aubrey is now attending 5 days a week in the 3 year old class and Brendan is also attending 5 days a week in the 4 year old class. I was SOOOO ready for them to start school!

Brendan is an old pro at preschool. He had no apprehension whatsoever. Aubrey, on the other hand, was somewhat apprehensive, but all in all, she did well. She didn't cry and from what Russell tells me, she had a great first day. She called me on my cell phone as soon as she got home and she was so excited. Looks like this is going to be year number two of her playing with the boys and not girls. She is a follower of a little boy named Sam. She's much bigger than Sam. We'll pray for his safety! :)

I have been working all week at the big consignment sale in Gwinnett County this week. I love it because I can get the kids their entire wardrobe for a fraction of the cost, but MAN am I tired! It's a lot of work! I did get the kids some beautiful clothes, though. Way too many, but beautiful just the same! I'll post pic of my loot at a later time.

Here are some photos of their first day of school. We are really excited about this year. The kids are really enjoying school and are excited every morning. We will miss Mrs. Emily as a teacher, but luckily for us, she is a great friend so we still see her sweet face!

Until next post...

Dear Aubrey

Dear Aubrey,

Yesterday was your 3rd birthday and I can't believe how big you are! Three years ago yesterday, God gave your daddy and me the most precious gift...you! We could not have been more excited to see your sweet face! Weighing in at 6 lbs 2.2 oz and measuring 18 inches long, you were a sight to be seen, and heard!! Lord, girl! You screamed for almost an hour straight! You were mad!! It was music to our ears, though.

When you were born, the first thing Daddy said when he saw you was, "Oh my GOSH!! She's so little!" You were little, but you were healthy and beautiful. I think Daddy was smitten right away. Love at first sight!

The first thing I said when I saw you after you were delivered was, "Is that my baby? Look at that black hair!" You were absolutely perfect!

The past 3 years have flown by and I pray that the years to come slow down a little bit....or a lot. You are so funny, strong willed, stubborn, loving, and joyous. I'm so glad you are mine. As I sit here typing this, you are sitting on the couch with Daddy with your party dress on, along with dress up shoes, play earrings, and all of the jewelry you could find out of your birthday presents. You cried when Daddy told you that you couldn't take your new pink shopping cart to the store with him. You survived, though.

I pray that you grow to be a compassionate, loving, forgiving, smart, intelligent, humble, beautiful woman. You are my greatest love, Aubrey.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful Girl. I love you with all my heart and soul!

Love,
Mommy






Daddy with his girl, right after delivery.



Russell looks so tense here.


With Mommy at last. Look at her dark skin and hair. Complete opposite of her brother!

Happy Birtday Aubrey!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl! She turned 3 yesterday! Today we celebrated by having a party at paint-it-yourself pottery studio. She had a blast. All of the kids did. They were amazingly quiet as they ever so delicately painted their masterpieces. I'll have to post a picture of Brendan's when it is finished. Oh my! What a mess! Aubrey just HAD to paint a bear. In case you didn't know, Aubrey's first love is her "White Bear," followed a close second by her "boy" Sawyer. Both of whom made an appearance at the party today. Here are some photos of our celebration. Hope you enjoy!!


The happy family at the party!


The whole group.



Aubrey with "Her Boy." She LOVES Sawyer.


Holding her party balloons!

Her pink Cinderella Cupcake Cake. All her idea.
You can see her super cute birthday hat our friend Delynne made her. THANKS SO MUCH, DELYNNE!!!

Busy, busy, busy

I guess I'm only good for blogging about once every 4 weeks or so. I'm such a slacker. I'll try to make this a brief summary.

This month has been so busy. We are well traveled and quite tired, but it was well worth it. Shortly before the 4th of July, Brendan, Aubrey, my nephew Ridge and I went to visit family in Illinois and Missouri for a week. The 10 hr drive to IL only took us 14 1/2 hrs and the 12 hr drive home from Missouri only took 15 hrs, so all in all we didn't do too bad.

Our week started with leaving out early Tuesday morning and arrived at my Uncle Max's house around 6:30ish. We stayed in my mom's hometown for 2 days visiting as many cousins and family as we possibly could. Thursday night, we drove to St. Louis, about an hour drive, to stay with my cousin Darcy and her family for two nights. Then we left and went to Springfield, Missouri to visit my dad for 3 days, about 5 hrs with the kids, and then ventured on home. Lots of traveling. Lots of cranky kids. Thank goodness Ridge went along. I wouldn't have made it out of Atlanta if he had not have been there to pick up dropped toys and change out DVD's.

The kids had a blast in IL. They have never seen so many lightning bugs! We actually had to sleep with a jar one night. They also went to their first parade and carnival. They didn't know they had so many cousins. They absolutely loved it. Thanks to everyone that put up with us. I know Darcy and Tom were glad to see us go! My kids were TERRIFIED of their PUPPY!! It was so crazy. They LOVE big dogs!! Terrified of little ones. Go figure.

In Missouri, my dad took the grand kids to the original Bass Pro shop. The kids could have cared less about all of the animals but were fascinated with all of the boats. The next day we all went to Bennett Springs State Park. They raise trout there and the kids can feed them in the hatchery. They loved it. We watched all of the fly fishermen and even saw a man catch one. Brendan got his first pair of REAL cowboy boots there and he is chomping at the bit to wear them. I had to tell them they are for school. I don't want them to get worn out before the fall.

We are safely home and have been busy, busy, busy. We've been to birthday parties, the zoo, the pool, and lunch dates. I can't believe the summer is almost over. They go back to preschool on the 17th of August and maybe then I can relax!.

Until next post...


Aubrey at Bennett Springs. It's had to see all of the fish here.


My nephew Ridge posing with me at the parade.


Aubrey wasn't so sure if she liked the parade or not...until they started throwing candy.



Brendan made fast friends with his cousin Bryce. Look how sweaty he is!


C A N D Y!!!!!!!!!!!! Check out Brendan's face! Priceless!

Has it Really Been A Month?????

I'm such a bad blogger! I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted anything! What an eventful month we have had. Where to start???
Let's see...the kids finished up preschool and have been keeping me busy, busy, busy this summer already! We are spending lots of time at the pool with our friends. As a matter of fact, Aubrey swam all on her own today, with a swimmie, but still...without mommy. I'm so proud of her. Brendan took swimming lessons for a week and I really think it traumatized him. The swimming instructor would sing "Ring Around the Rosie" and then dunk the kids under the water at the end. You cannot sing that song ANYWHERE without that kid yelling, "I don't want to go under! I don't want to go under!!" Bless his heart. He is swimming in the pool with his swimmie and will put his face under water when asked, but that's about it. He is using his arm surprisingly well in the water and I really am proud of his progress. The funny thing is that that little booger is so NOSEY! He uses that swimmie to get him all over the pool and he's waddled his way into every group of kids, teens, or grown ups in the pool. He's such a mess.

I've gotten really bad about taking pictures lately. I need to get better. I don't know that I have any recent pics, but I'll certainly post some if I find them. I went to Hilton Head, SC for a girls weekend, no husbands, no kids. Just Emily, Staci, Sandy and I and it was so nice. I didn't take a single picture!! What was I thinking? I have a really nice camera, but I think I need a little point and shoot.

Last week Brendan attended his first Vacation Bible School. He thought he was going to preschool. He made lots of cute projects and learned some really cute songs about Jesus. Unfortunately, the only one he sings around here is "The Chicken Dance Song." Great!!

Monday, we went with our friends to the Atlanta Zoo...again, no pictures. Five moms and 11 kids...yes, 11 kids! It was SO INCREDIBLY HOT!!! We had fun, though. The kids loved seeing all of the animals. There is a parakeet exhibit where you can go in with a small stick of food and they fly right up to you and eat. They LOVED that and I can't wait to go back and do it again. Aubrey was really, really, really cranky at the zoo Monday. She cried pretty much all day. When she wasn't crying, she was screaming at me. That part of the trip wasn't fun. Tuesday, we decided to go spend the entire day at the pool. Again, she was so grumpy. When we got home, she fell asleep on the couch at 4:30. By 8:00 she was not awake and when I checked on her, she was running a fever. I tried to give her some Motrin, which she LOVES, and she wouldn't take it. She said her throat hurt. I picked her up and got her undressed and low and behold....a rash all over her body. Then it dawned on me what I was looking at. Russell had it before when we were dating...SCARLET FEVER!!! Off to the ER we go. Penny went with me. There they confirmed my suspicions and she's now on the mend with the help of antibiotics.

I've been babysitting my best friend Penny's 6 year old twin girls this summer for her. She went back to work full time so she is in need of someone to watch them. We have LOVED having them here. Every time we get in the car now, Aubrey asks, "Are we going to pick up Reese and Ayden." I love those girls with all my heart. It's going to be a great summer having them around.

Russell and I are in the process of building the kids their swingset. It's quite a chore, but they are going to love it. I'll post pic when we are all finished.

I'd better get off of here for now.

Until next post...

4 Shots for the 4 Year old!

Today was Brendan's 4 year old check up. Normally, he LOVES going to the doctor because our friend Marie works there and she hooks him up with a Popsicle, goodie, sticker, you name it. However, for this check up he needed 4 shots so Marie advised me ever so politely that he had to get his check up on her day off. She didn't want to be the one to give the shots. I don't blame her. The morning started out pleasantly. Aubrey was excited because she knew she was going to Mrs. Emily's today while Brendan went to the doctor, however neither wanted to go to school beforehand. "Why can't I go just to Mrs. Emily's house?", Aubrey asked. So sweet.

Brendan performed like a champ at first. He peed in a cup with no problem and actually thought it was so cool. He did GREAT on his vision test. 20/20 in both eyes. He didn't participate well in the hearing exam at first. The nurse wanted him to say "yes" every time he heard the machine beep. Instead, he would wait until the test was complete and say, "I heard those beeps." Finally, after 3 different attempts I suggested that Brendan count the beeps out loud. That did the trick. Perfect score! I was so happy. I had his urine tested for glucose because he pees ALL OF THE TIME!!!! The Dr. said his levels were fine and that it was very common for boys to have more frequency in their urination and accidents were not at all uncommon, especially with his Erb's Palsy playing into it. (Erb's Palsy is the clinical name for his arm injury.)

After all of the fun stuff, came the not so fun stuff. The finger prick and 4 shots. HOW TERRIBLE! He was SOOOO VERRRRY BRAVE!!! But bravery failed in the face of pain. MY heart was absolutely broken with every cry, tear, and plea for help. I mean, are 4 shots absolutely necessary at 4 years of age? Can't they do one at 4, 1 at 4 1/2, one at 5 and so on? He'll never want to go to the Dr. again, Marie or no Marie.

After he was all bandaged up from the 4 shots that were given by the slowest nurse of all time, I had to get him a special surprise. I mean, I HAD TO!!! Off to Wal Mart we went and I bought him a Leapster hand held preschool video game system. I know, ice cream would have been a heck of a lot cheaper, but I'm a softy and a firm believer that gifts can buy you love :)

My boy is SO BIG! I can't believe he's 4. He weighed in at 44.4 lbs and 40 inches tall. Think I should have played the number 4 on the lottery tonight? :)

With a little Motrin and lots of hugs and kisses, (and carrying him on my hip because was scared to walk on his sore legs) he happy, safe and snug in his bed. I can't believe I have to do this again next year with Aubrey. 14 and a half months to go....

Brendan Funnies

Brendan has only been awake for about a half an hour and he is already cracking me up. He came in to wake me up this morning and looked horrified when I opened my eyes. I realized that I forgot to wash off my makeup last night before I went to bed and could feel that I had mascara all over my face. It was evident from my pillowcase. Brendan points at my face and says, "Oh no, Mommy! Your eyes are broken!"

Aubrey was playing "gas station" with the adding machine and her flash cards. She was pretending to be a cashier. All of the sudden I could hear her saying, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Brendan says, "that's a bad word Aubrey." I told Brendan that she didn't say a bad word. It was ok to say gosh, but if he didn't feel comfortable saying "Oh my gosh," he could say, "Oh my goodness." He replies without missing a beat, "Or I could just say, 'Oh crap!' " Hmmm, which do I prefer? :)

Happy 4th Birthday Brendan!!!

Dear Sweet Brendan,

Today was your 4th birthday and I am filled with tons of emotion. My life was forever changed when the nurse placed you in my arms. My heart has never felt so much joy. What a perfect, precious gift from God.

I hope you had a perfect day today! I loved watching you wake up in excitement this morning because you knew you were now 4. I loved listening to your excitement as you got dressed for school because you couldn't wait to tell your friends you were 4. I laughed and laughed taking you to school this morning because you were angry that I bought your class cookies and not a cake. I beamed with pride as I watched you blow out your number "4" candle as your classmates sang the birthday song to you. I allowed you to play until the sun was long gone, just because it was your birthday, and I soaked in every last expression and giggle you made while you were running with your sister and your friends. I loved the excitement in your eyes as I held you in my arms like a baby and told you the story of your birth before I put you to bed. You love hearing that story, and I love to tell it.

One day when you are older I will tell you the WHOLE story of your birth and help you understand why you have a special arm. It will help you understand why Mommy is always a little sad on your birthday because she is reminded of things that happened that day that hurt you. But know this, above all else, you are the greatest gift I have ever received! You have given me more joy than I could have ever dreamed possible. You are loved more today than yesterday, but less than tomorrow, for with every breath, I love you more.


Happy Birthday, Brendan!

I love you forever and always,

Mommy


I love that new baby cry. Notice his right arm doesn't move at all. :(

I love this pic of Russell and Brendan. Russell was an amazing father right out of the gate.























Look how yellow he was. He had such a bad case of jaundice.

Where have I been??

Where have I been? You must be wondering. Well, I've been here, just not blogging. So much is going on! Where to begin..

Firstly...I GOT A NEW CAR!!! Well, it's new to me. Russell came home from a poker game a couple of weeks ago and said that he thought it would be a good idea to get a Tahoe or Trailblazer. No, he didn't win THAT big, but his guy friends convinced him in one night that I needed a new car when I've been trying to convince him for 2 years! Long story short, after much shopping and test driving, I am a proud new owner of a 2005 Tahoe and I LOVE IT!! It's so pretty!

Brendan and Aubrey are excited about Easter. I can't wait for them to wake up Sunday morning to see what the Easter Bunny brought them. However, I'm not looking forward to the screaming fit they are going to pitch when they have to leave their loot to go to church.

Every morning when Brendan wakes up he asks where Russell is. I tell him that he has gone to work to bring home the bacon. After about the 3rd day of this morning ritual, Brendan replied, "But he does that all the time!!" So yesterday, Aubrey was playing with her 4 purses that go everywhere she goes and she says to me, "Mommy, I'm going to work!" So I reply, "But, Why Aubrey?" She says, without missing a single beat, "I've got to bring home the milk!" We were out of milk that day. I laughed and laughed.

I feel so bad! My friend Staci started this mail program for our kids so that they would each receive a piece of mail each week. It was supposed start this past week and I totally forgot!! AND, what makes it worse was that I was supposed to mail something to her daughter this week! OOPPSS!! I mailed it this morning, so hopefully she'll get it tomorrow. I'm sorry Mallory!

I feel like I need to create holiday traditions for my little family. I decided this past Christmas that no matter what I was going to make a big Christmas, Thanksgiving and any other holiday meal for the 4 of us since we have no extended family here. My brother's family is here, but they usually spend holidays with my sister-in-law's family. So, the dilemma is that Easter is Sunday. Isn't ham the traditions meal for Easter? Russell HATES ham. I don't know what to do! I guess I'll have to get creative.

Russell and I rented two really good movies this week. Marley and Me and Slumdog Millionaire. I recommend each of those. They were so good. Of course I have my Twilight DVD, which I watched twice...yesterday. I'm terrible.

Until next post...

Brendan is on the hunt!!



Yeah, I'm cool! Check out my loot!

CHEESE!!

Take my picture so I can get more EGGSS!!!!

What a weekend!

We've been so busy! I've been too exhausted to post but no since in putting it off any longer.



Where to begin...how about Thursday? Well, Thursday the kids were released from school early so we went for a picnic lunch at Turner Lake park. I believe Staci said there were 12 kids and 5 adults. What were we thinking?? The kids had fun and I'm so glad Brendan and Aubrey are making new friends! I thankful for my new friends, too!


Friday, the kids were out of school so we decided to meet up and go to Daucet Trails. It's a FREE animal reserve and the kids got see all sorts of animals! Penny and her family, Emily, Dawson and Ava, Staci and Mason and Mallory, and Brendan, Aubrey and myself had a wonderful day. I told Brendan we were going to a park to see animals. He asked if we would see farm animals and when I told him we would, he asked me if we were going to eat any of them! Silly boy!

THEN...Friday night was ANOTHER ladies night! Emily, Staci, Sandy and I went out to see "Twilight" on the big screen, dinner, and ended the evening at Borders for a "Twilight" DVD release party. It was a hoot.

Russell had "poker night" on Saturday and won...again!! WOO HOO! I don't know what kind of conversations those boys had that night, but now he wants to buy another vehicle. THANK GOODNESS!! We REALLY need another 4 seater vehicle! I've been begging for years and he always turned me down. I don't know what made him change his mind, but I'm glad he did.

I've put some random pictures of the kids at the bottom.

Until next post...


Aubrey looking at the alligators


Brendan, Mason, and Reese looking at a snake!

Classic Aubrey!

Happy boy.

This picture is cool with the sun beams streaming over him.

Aubrey with the goats.

Ava, Ayden, Dawson, Mallory, Brendan, Mason, and Reese. Aubrey didn't participate in a SINGLE group picture!

"Look Mommy! It's raining in the kitchen!"

AUBREY FUNNY:

Tonight, Russell and Brendan left for soccer tots. Aubrey is fascinated with her umbrella. She wants to play with it all of the time. I have told her we don't open umbrellas in the house. We only use them in the rain. So, I was at the kitchen table and I heard her say, "Look, Mommy! It's raining in the kitchen!" Only it wasn't raining from the sky! It was raining from her UNDERPANTS!!! She had her umbrella open peeing all over the kitchen floor! Man, Aubrey, if you wanted Mommy to mop the floor you just had to say so! You didn't have to PEE on it!!



What a great weekend we had. As many of you may know, I have turned into a complete "Twilight" addict. SO...needless to say, I was elated when a friend of mine called and said that she had a "copy" of the movie. Russell isn't allowed, yes I said ALLOWED, to watch horror movies in our house. Fear is my least favorite emotion and even the music on those things scare me, so NOT IN OUR HOUSE. He rented a horror flick Friday and went to watch with at our friends' house. In return, they sent down their "copy" of "Twilight." I LOVED IT! Of course the book was much better, but I was more than eager to watch it a second time when Russell got home. Normally, I hate it when he isn't home, but I enjoyed the movie alone. The kids were watching a movie in my room. They did cause several interruptions...thank goodness for the pause button! I didn't miss anything! :)

Saturday, Brendan had a birthday party to attend at Rockdale Gymnastics. It was a good time. He really enjoyed himself. He kept telling everyone there, "My Thomas birthday is coming up at the jumpy place!" (We went to the Jump!Zone 2 times over winter break and he loved it!) Bless his heart, his birthday isn't until May, but I guess we will have it at the "jumpy place" and it will probably be a Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Back to the gymnastics place. Brendan is always a little timid and not always an active participant in group settings, so I was surprised to say the least when he decided he wanted to do the zip line. So, I sat on the bleachers next to Staci and talked and laughed as they hoisted Brendan up. I was so excited for him! Finally, he was going to be so brave!! My little man is growing up! And then this happened...



Brendan had a grip on that poor boy's hair like his life depended on it! Emily took this picture and was looking at me, still on the bleachers, saying, "Melinda, he's crying!" I'm sure she thought I was mother of the year:) I thought he'd get over it, but no. Then the HUGE snot bubble came out of his nose which about made me pee my pants because the boy holding him heard a few of us yell "SNOT" and he freaked out. I wish we had a picture of that! Needless to say, no zip line for my boy. At least he tried!

Saturday night was ladies night. Penny, Emily, Jennifer, Rebekah, Staci and I all went to Amici's on the square and on to Scoops for dessert. We had SO MUCH FUN! Lots of laughs! We didn't get home until midnight. I was so happy to see Russell waiting up on me...well he was on YouTube watching guitar videos. He loves playing the guitar. I wish he could do it more often.

Sunday was such a wasted day. I finished reading "Midnight Sun" on the internet and now I'm bummed. What now? Please, Please, Stephenie Meyers, finish the book!! A group of us "Twilight" lovers are going to a midnight DVD release party Friday night. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! I am counting down the days!!!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day! Bring on the green!!!!!!!!

Until next post...

What a day!!!!

So yesterday I had scheduled Aubrey for a dr's appointment this morning. When she got up she was all smiles and in a great mood. In fact, she walked up to my bed this morning and said, "Mommy! Get up!! I'm soaking wet!" Oh what a sweet good morning that was! Anyway, we got ready to take Brendan to school and since she was feeling better I decided to cancel her appointment. Here is where the fun begins...

We decided to come home. I didn't stop and get a diet coke this morning as I usually do. I came straight home and made a big tall glass of decaff iced tea. I enjoyed my day with Aubrey, folding and washing clothes and watching countless episodes of Dora. (At least it's not Wubbzy.) Finally, I decided to go ahead and take Aubrey to eat somewhere before we picked up Brendan from school. We use to go eat breakfast on Tuesdays, but since we are no longer doing mommy and me gymnastics we do lunch together sometime during the week. When I got in my car I noticed a message was left on my cell phone. It was Emily, calling to tell me that Brendan has scratched his eye with his folder when he was packing up. Evidently, they were going to have a picnic lunch outside and decided to pack up early today. That being said, bless his little heart, he had been crying for me for a good while before I got the message. NOW, in Emily's defense, she didn't call me at home because she had read my blog and thought I'd be at the Dr. with Aubrey. She feels so badly about what happened to Brendan but it is so not her fault. So, Aubs and I go up to the school and he had stopped crying but his eye was red. I took him straight to the doctor's office. Russell had a scratched cornea two years ago and it was terribly painful so I wanted to make sure Brendan's cornea wasn't scratched. HOWEVER, it was but only slightly. He cannot stand the eye drops. It's going to be a long 3 days! Before we left, I asked the doc to look in Aubrey's ears and low and behold...ear infections. For safe measure, I asked her to check out Brendan's and he had "a good bit of fluid in both ears." Translation: Ear infection any day! So now they are both on antibiotics.

I had told the kids if they were good at the Dr's office, we would go get a treat, thinking candy, ice cream, dollar store toy, something along those lines. We were walking out and I said, "Let's go get some ice cream because you were such a big boy in there." He replies, "No, MOMMY!! Ice cream is not a treat! Diet Coke is a treat!" What have I done?? I have ruined my child. My little 3 year old Diet Coke addict. Yes, I did get them kiddie Diet Cokes, and I got a small one for myself. That's the only one I've had in 2 days so I don't want to hear any crap about my caving in!! :)

Until next post...

Diet Coke blues

OMG!!! I didn't have a SINGLE Diet Coke today and now I am SUFFERING!!! OMG!!! Could I be going through Diet Coke detox? Seriously, my head is killing me. I can't open my eyes all of the way, my head is pounding, and the bones in my face actually hurt. Holy Crap!! I'm going to try not to drink one tomorrow. I hope it doesn't kill me:)

My sweet sweet boy was waiting up for me in his bed tonight when I got home from work. As soon as he saw me, he reached his arms up and gave me the best hug. He rubbed my back like I do his. It was so sweet. I love that boy. Then I went to give Aubrey a kiss, and she was out like a light. I think she might be getting sick. Her teacher told me that she was holding her ear and crying a lot today, and when we got home she was screaming! I gave her Tylenol and a few minutes she said, "Hey Mommy! My ear is all gone." Translation: her ear wasn't hurting anymore. I went ahead and made her a dr.'s appt tomorrow morning. Better safe than sorry.


Today I filled in for Brendan's teacher, and my friend, Emily. That class keeps me laughing all day long. They are so funny. On the down side, Brendan always acts up when I'm there. He doesn't do things to get in trouble, he just whines and wants me all to himself. It gets exhausting.

Well, I absolutely have to go to bed. I know my blog is boring, but I'll try to get more creative with my posts.

Until next post...

Wow Wow Wubbzy

Brendan with his frog umbrella.


Aubrey with her flower umbrella on the playground.

So my kids are addicted to a cartoon on Noggin called Wow Wow Wubbzy. It's a cute show and each episode does teach a good lesson. The funny thing is that Aubrey incorporates everything she sees on that show to real life. She can't separate the two. For instance: On one episode, the characters pretend to be spies. They were "super spy glasses." Now, any type of sunglasses are super spy glasses. I have a pair on my head right now because I had to be a spy with her all day. And she always puts on her glasses upside down. It's so cute.

This morning we were going to school and she was carring a new "sparkley" pencil. She said, "Look, Mommy! It's a magic wand!" Brendan said, "Moo Moo has one of those." I said, "Who is Moo Moo?" Brendan replies, "He's blue." I said, "Oh, is he on Kai Lan (the chinese version of Dora.)?" Brendan: "NO MOMMY! He's on Wubbzy! You REALLY need to get to know Wubbzy!"

Wubbzy always wants to play "kickity kick ball." So now, Aubrey asks me every day, "Mommy, will you play kickity kick ball with me?" It's so sweet.

Aubrey is a TOMBOY. She only wants to play with Brendan's cars, trains, and balls. The Easter dress I ordered for her came in the mail this weekend. It's a beautiful pick silk dress. I had her try it on and she said, "Look, Mommy! I'm a princess!!" That's the first girly thing she has ever said. So later on, she was playing in her Rose Petal cottage. I went in her closet and pulled out her two princess dresses Santa brought her. I said, "Look, Aubs! Isn't this pretty?" Aubs: "Yes!" Me: "Do you like it?" Aubs: "Yes!" Me: "Do you want to wear it?" Aubs: "NOOOOO!" I'm hoping that next year when the girls play dress up in the center room that she will start to dress up. I'll probably find her in the construction area with all of the other boys:)

I've posted some pictures of the kids at school today. Enjoy

Until next post....

Loving it!

This weather has been wonderful. My kids have never enjoyed playing outside, but this "spring" they love it. Thank goodness! We went to the park Friday with friends from preschool and Penny's girls and they were tuckered out. Brendan slept until 10:00 Saturday morning. Saturday and Sunday they were asleep by 7:30! How nice!! Russell and I were able to watch 2 movies this weekend after the kids went to bed. A very rare occasion at our house.

Today was the umbrella parade at the preschool. It was cute. Who know kids could get so excited over umbrellas? After school, we went back to the park with our preschool friends. The kids played and played. I'm so thankful for the after school play dates. It makes my day go by so much faster. We have another play date tomorrow! Woo Hoo!

Brendan...God help me!!!! / Gold Party

What a difficult week this has been with Brendan. I'm so perplexed!! He has always been so passive and sweet. But this week, oh brother! He has been in trouble day after day. It started Wednesday on the way to school. His smart mouth! He sneezed and wanted me to wipe his nose in the back seat. I handed him a Kleenex and he said, "NO!!! YOU DO IT!!!" I told him that I was driving and he had to do it by himself. So he screamed for me to do it again and threw the Kleenex at me. So, I pulled over the car, got out, wiped his nose, and popped his butt! I told him we don't throw and under no circumstance is he to ever talk to a grown up that way! So that brings us to Thursday. Thursday, the smart mouth never stopped. He asked me for some candy when we got home. He had already eaten a candy necklace and a sucker at the barber shop and I told him he couldn't have any more. So he responded, "Yes, I can!" I said, "I said, NO!" He responded...loudly..."WELL, I said YES!!! NOW!!" Off to the corner he went. And he made several more trips there throughout the day. That brings us to Friday when he made his first trip ever to the Thinking Chair. He got in trouble for hitting a little boy in his class. Emily, his teacher, said that it broke her heart to put him there. When I picked him up from school, she asked me if I had given him a breathing treatment or medicine that morning because he was running around like crazy. On the one hand, I'm upset that he was hitting the little boy, but on the other hand I'm glad he's FINALLY starting to defend himself!! Bless his heart, he always gets pushed around and just takes it. Now we'll talk about today. Today we had a play date at Penny's house with her twins and Baylee, Marie's daughter. He peed his pants twice because he didn't want to tell me he had to go to the potty. He knows better. It wasn't an accident either. He was soaked to his toes. As soon as I walked in the playroom, he covered himself up with a game and said, "Get out of here! I'm wet!" UUGGHH! I really over reacted. Poor little guy. I yelled and told him he would have to go home. Then I felt so bad, I let him stay and play with his friends. We couldn't go out to eat with our friends for dinner tonight, though. He was down to only a pull up. Not exactly dinner attire:)


Last night was a FABULOUS night. Penny had a Gold Party where you go and sell you broken or unwanted gold jewelry for cash. I had this old herringbon gold necklace that was totally mangled. My mom bought it for me in 1987. I also had 2 gold rings. I made $220.00! I was super excited! Russell told me that I would only make about $45.00. HA!! Let me just tell you, that money is burning a hole in my pocket! I think I am going to get an inexpensive point-and - shoot digital camera in light of the fact that I cannot find my big camera. Anyway back to the party, Penny, Marie, Dana, Kari, Megan, Jennifer, Marie, Lisa and Linda had a blast. We talked and laughed. I love girls night out! Unfortunately, I feel like I have way too many of those these days. I seriously need a date with my husband. I miss that.

Until next post...

Dear Brendan,

Today has been a very difficult day for us. In fact this entire week has been difficult. I pray that you never doubt for one minute how much I love you. You are the most special gift God could have ever given me and I am the luckiest mom in the entire world. I am so sorry for yelling at you today. I could have handled it much better and I feel so terrible! Your sad little face melted my heart. It breaks my heart into pieces to know that you had to suffer sadness for one second as a result of my behavior. You didn't deserve that.

You are a brilliant, beautiful, loving, little boy. When I held you for the first time, I knew that I was holding my heart in my hands. You have never for one second been a disappointment to me. Please know that for every cross word that I have said to you, there have been a million smiles from me to you. You are the sunshine of my life, little man. We will get through this rough patch, and there will be many more to follow. Always know that Mommy will ALWAYS be on your side. No matter what.

I love you forever and ever and ever...with ALLLLLLLLLL my heart and soul!!!!!

Love,
Mommy

Brendan the bakerman and Aubrey the policegirl

This week at preschool, the kids have been studying community helpers. Brendan's class went to the bakery today for a little field trip. He was SO CUTE! His eyes were as big as saucers. He paid close attention to everything the baker was doing. Usually, he's shy in those kinds of settings, but he pushed his way to the front of the group so that he could get a close up look. He had to be told to step back away from the mixer because he wanted to look in so badly. He talked about the bakery all day. Guess I need to dust off my Kitchen Aid mixer and start baking things with him. God help us! I'm a disaster in the kitchen. The baker asked the kids if they watched their mommies bake and Brendan didn't raise his hand. Of course, he had no reason to. :)

When I picked up Aubrey this afternoon, she was wearing a paper badge with the letter "P" on it. I asked her what it was and she said, "I'm a police girl!!" And so she was for the rest of the day! So funny. She is such the little athlete. She runs circles around Brendan playing soccer and tonight she wanted her daddy to take her outside to play basketball. She's such a tomboy. She has started sleeping with a toy train. At least it's a pink train. What can you do?

I'd love to post pictures of the field trip and Aubrey the police girl, but I HAVE LOST MY CAMERA!!! Do you KNOW how sick I am over this??? I have NO IDEA what I did with it, and it's not a little point-and-shoot, it's a big digital SLR... How do you lose something like that? So, if you are reading this, please pray to help me find it. I'm not Catholic, but I'm not above praying to St. Anthony on my knees tonight. It couldn't hurt.

Friday night is Penny's Gold Party. I hope you all can come. Some of us girls might go out afterwards. You never know!

Until next post...

A LONG FEBRUARY!!

It has been a really long time since I've posted. This month has been SO BUSY!!! We made it safely home after a WONDERFUL extended weekend at Marco Island, FL. We went to visit my dad and step mom and had a blast! It was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. We also got to go into Naples one day to visit with Russell's aunt and uncle. It was a nice trip. The kids had a great time swimming the pool, digging for shells on the beach and building sand castles with their dad. We got to see a manatee up close. It swam up the canal that runs behind the house. That was a neat sight! We ate at a cool restaurant and had a pelican land right at the end of our table. We also went to a seafood festive in the Everglades, but the kids didn't enjoy that. The music was really loud and the crowd was huge!! Lots of bikers were there and Aubrey couldn't stand the noises from the motorcycles. It was a long hot day! The coolest thing was that we had to go down this road called "alligator alley" and we saw DOZENS of alligator alongside of the road. It was creepy seeing them in the wild like that so close to the car. YUCK!!

While on this trip, I got hooked on the book "Twilight," and I have been reading the entire series ever since. I finished up the last book last night and now I look around me and see how terribly I have neglected things during my book obsession, and yes I do mean OBSESSION! I can't believe how swept up I got in those books, but I sure enjoyed them. I haven't picked up a book since "The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy." I'm embarrassed to admit that I feel a loneliness without my little vampire romance to read every night. HO-HUM.

When we got home, I was bombarded with Valentine's Day activities at the preschool. The kids came home with so much candy! Oh boy were they sugared up!!! And then....The KIDSIGNMENTS sale. That sale drains the life out of me, but I love it. I think I did really well this year. I got so many AWESOME deals for the kids and I sold everything I put in the sale except for 11 items. That's HUGE! I can't wait to get that check...to pay off what I spent at the sale:)

We had so much fun last week. My friend Emily introduced us to the Jump!Zone in Loganville. The kids loved it! Emily's two kids Ava and Dawson were there, along with Staci and her kids Mason and Mallory, Sandy with Adam and Amanda and their friend DeLynne with her kids (I hope I get this right) Madelynn, Bridger, and Emmaleigh. DeLynn also brought a friend with her kids as well. We packed the place out! But it was a blast. It was so neat watching all of the kids experience the fun from different ages. Dawson, Emily's son was too little to jump, but that little fella had the most fun of anyone I'd bet. He was so cute! Aubrey was the tiniest jumper but she was the most determined. I swear it took her a good 5 minutes to get to the top of the slide, but watching her smile during her 5 second slide to the bottom was worth watching her struggle. By the end of the day, she needed no help at all. She was just as fast as the big kids. We had so much fun, we met some more friends up there on Friday.

Brendan finished up his second season of Soccer Tots last night. He came home with a new trophy and was beaming with pride! He'll play outdoor soccer in the spring. I'm not sure if he likes it or not, but it gives him something that is all his own.

Until next post....

Funnies from the babies

So, today I decided to post some of the cute things my kids have said lately. I'm going to love this blog so I'll have a record of their cute little conversations. :)

On Sunday evenings Russell gives a guitar lesson to our friend's teenage son Dylan. Brendan LOVES Dylan and gets so excited when he sees him. So last night while I was at work, Brendan gets out his guitar and starts "strumming" and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." When he was finished, she handed Aubrey the guitar and said, "Here, Aubs. Now it is your turn to play, "Ticket to Ride." (by the Beatles) He has heard Russell playing it before. I think it is so sweet that Brendan sees Russell play the guitar and never touches it, but as soon as he sees Dylan strum a guitar, he's all about it.

Brendan and Aubrey call my dad PaPa Kelly. They were anxiously awaiting his arrival last Friday while watching "Happy Feet." When it came on, Aubrey said, "Awww, its wingwuins!" Brendan says, "No, Aubrey. Penguins! Puh, Puh, Penguins!" Aubrey replies, "AWWW, it's PaPa's wingwuins.! " So cute.

Why is it when I sit down to document these things my mind goes blank? Drives me crazy!!!! I'll have to post more later.

Two more sleeps until the beach!! Woo Hoo!!!

Consignment sale time is upon me and I can't get my stuff together!! We were very fortunate to be invited to the beach this weekend. My stepmother inherited a beach house in Marco Island, FL and she was gracious enough to invite us down for a week. We are only staying 4 days. We will be leaving this Fri and coming home on Tuesday. I can't miss that much work. We are so excited! We have never been that far south in Florida. My aunt says the beach is beautiful with shells as far as you can see. Brendan LOVES collecting shells. I can't wait to watch him. The point of the beach story is that I have to drop my stuff off at the Kidsignments sale in Gwinnett County the Thursday after we get back. I have so much left to do. It is getting overwhelming. I still have to pack and get ready for the trip. UUGGHH. I work best under pressure, though. I'll get everything done.

I'm going to put some random pics of the family on here. I've loaned my camera to a friend and I NEED to get it back!!

More to come. Take care everyone!!

So this is my first attempt at posting on my blog. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get brave and post some pics of my family.

Truly, the last thing I need to do is start a blog. I'm on the computer entirely too much as it is, but this should be fun!

I have two beautiful children. Brendan 3 and Aubrey 2. They are the biggest joys of my life, along with their dad, Russell. We have been married for 5 years, yes happily married:)

So for tonight this is all I'm going to post. More to come, and I'm excited to share our lives with anyone who is interested. Stay tuned...much more to come!