Header

My friend Jennifer sent me this Header for our blog. I absolutely love it. She sent me one more that is equally cute, I will probably put in on in a few weeks or so!!! Hope you guys enjoy!! Thanks Jen - I Love It!!!!!

New Layout

I have been playing with my blog layout the last couple of days. I think I have finally found what I was looking for. I wanted a template that let me use the whole page, instead of just a little section. I also wanted to put in a big header. And this template is letting me do it all. I really like it!! My friend, Jennifer, always has the best headers on her blog. Of course, she has photoshop, so she can do it easier than me. But, I did find a way in the Hallmart Card program I have to do basically what I was wanting to do!! I am excited about this!! I plan on leaving this way for a while. Sorry if you caught it in between. I have changed it quite a bit in the last couple of days!!!!

Avery is feeling much much better. He is sleeping well, and breathing well, and the red rear is almost gone. I am so, so, so glad about this. I hate when my kids are miserable. Maybe now, I can get caught up on my housework!!! Lily has been in coloring mode the last few days. When she gets in this mode the house gets destroyed. I know that sounds weird, but she will color a page and then cut it out. She is so into coloring and cutting. She is getting so good at it too. So, anyway, the floor in the living room is covered with little bitty pieces of paper. Guess what I'll be doing after the kids go to bed tonight!!

I hope that everyone is well!! We love you all!!!

Meet New Shoggy!!!

Well, we made the trip to Branson last night to find a new Shoggy. Lily has asked me non-stop when she was going to get her. She is just so attached to this doll. I really don't know what the attachment is, but it keeps her happy and helps her sleep, so I am okay with it. We had a few requirements. She had to have blonde hair and blue eyes like Lily (and the previous 2 Shoggy's). We also decided that the new one should have the yarn hair instead of the cornsilk hair. That way if she has to be washed, maybe her hair won't melt!!! So we went EVERYWHERE in Branson. We got her last one at Target, so I should have just went to Target first, but silly me decided to hit KB Toystore (nothing there), then K-Mart (they had one with blonde hair and blue eyes, but it had glow in the dark cornsilk hair - so that was a no go), then Kohls (what a waste of time), and finally Target. Of course, that is where we found her. We were both very excited about this doll, because she looks almost exactly like her first Shoggy (which is lost - we really have NO idea where she is at!!).

Avery is feeling much better, finally. He's actually been better for a few days now. His rear is looking much better, though it is still pretty red. At least it isn't hurting him like it was. I am glad that it is the weekend. This has seemed like an endless week!!! We hope you all have a great weekend!!! Love you all!!

Easter....

This will be a long post...just a warning. The last few days have felt like a few weeks with everything that has gone on.

On Saturday, Lily and I went to see Horton Hears a Who. It was a very cute movie. But, of course, Lily's favorite part was that she got to see her friends. Jennifer brought Melina, and Stephanie brought Caroline and Claire. The four little girls were just so cute. I took some pictures of them with my phone, but I can't seem to get them off. I am going to try some different software, and hopefully that will work. I will post them as soon as I can, because they are super cute. The movie was pretty good. I was a little concerned since the main voices were Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. They can be a little "colorful" in my opinion!!! There were, of course a few little things here and there that I didn't like. Mainly just words that we don't use in our house, but Lily doesn't quite pick up on the fact that they are "bad" words yet. We don't use words like stupid, or shut-up, or well really anything that sounds rude or disrespectful. The other day Lily called something stupid...not really sure where she heard it...and then we had to have a 10 minute discussion on why we don't use that word and what it means and all that. But she hasn't used it since. Anyway, my point was, that it was a cute movie that was ok to take children to. I would recommend it to other parents wanting to take their children to a "children's" movie.

Avery is, unfortunately, still sick. He was not able to go to church on Sunday, and he missed out on the big egg hunt at Nana and Pa's house. But, he did have fun opening all his eggs at the house, and seeing what kind of goodies were in them.

Lily got a new Barbie cheerleading outfit with pom poms and the whole 9 yards for Easter. She loved it!! She REALLY wants to be a cheerleader. It's so funny!! Avery got a Cars fold out chair. He is always sitting in Lily's Dora one, so I decided that would be something good for him. Neither one of them needs anything. Anyway, after they both looked through their baskets, Adam and Lily went to church. She looked so very cute in her new Easter dress. I didn't get to wear mine, and Avery didn't get to wear his cute little Easter outfit. I think in a few weeks when everyone is better we will all wear our "Easter" clothes and get some family pictures.

After church, Adam brought Lily home to change clothes. Then, Lily and I went to Nana and Pa's (Adam's mom and dad) for Easter lunch and the egg hunting. Lunch was delicious, as usual. I love potluck type lunches. It is always interesting to see what types of food other people like.

After lunch, our cousin Katie, read to the girls to keep them occupied while we were out hiding eggs. I usually find eggs, but this year I decided to hide. It was so much fun. Hiding the golden eggs was the funnest. There is always the hunt for the kids, and also, a hunt for the adults. It was pretty breezy, and cold so I think everyone's faces were frozen by the time we got back in!!

Lily found one of the golden eggs. There was a golden egg for each child. They had a little bit of money in them. But, to be honest, I think it's more the thrill of "finding" the golden egg than the money that is in them. Lily's basket was so full. She finally got tired of picking up all the eggs that were falling out of it, so she had me carry it. She really had a blast, and has been bugging me ever since to have egg hunts, here at the house.

Lily decided to help the Adults with their egg hunt. She tried to help Katie find the golden egg, though we had hidden it so well that we ended up having to show them where it was at.

Lily's cousins, Zane and Kendra, were also trying to help the Adult's find eggs. It was so cute!!!

Yesterday, was quite an impossibly hard, trying day. We all had appointments, starting at 8:45 to get our teeth cleaned. We got done with just enough time to hit Hardees for breakfast food. We got home around 11:00. I called the doctor's office to try to work Avery in, since his rear was so extremely burned and since he was still not breathing through his nose. They called back and wanted to work him in at 1:30, which meant no time for a nap. We ate breakfast, and I started getting Lily dressed. Since it was Monday, she had dance class, and we had to go ahead and change her into her leotard and tights. As soon as I got her shirt on over her leotard she started throwing up. I'm not talking about a little bit of throw up. I'm talking full fledged puking. All over herself, her clothes, her shoes, and my rug. So I had about 45 minutes to find someone to watch Lily while I was at the doctor's with Avery. My dad, luckily, was off work and met me at the doctors to pick up Lily and take her back to their house. On the way to the doctors she threw up again. And again it was all over herself, her clothes, the carseat, and worst of all on Shoggy. For those of you who don't remember, Shoggy is Lily's very favorite Cabbage Patch doll. She takes her everywhere, and does not sleep without her. I had just enough time to get her changed and cleaned up before my dad got there. I gave him the bag of puke clothes, and Shoggy to put in the wash when he got home. The doctor said that Avery was better, his ears looked good, he wasn't running any more fever, and there was no color to his snot. He said to take him off of the antibiotics, since that was what had his tummy so torn up, causing the severe diarrhea that was burning his bottom so bad. I thought it might be a yeast infection, but it was combination yeast and rash. So I have to treat both. I am just praying for it to heal up soon. It is just miserable for him. The doctor also put him on a stronger decongestant to help clear him out so he can breathe again. After that Avery and I went home to take a much needed nap. I woke up, got dressed, got Avery out of bed, and we went to Mom and Dad's for Easter over there. When I got there, Lily was up jumping around playing. Dad said she hadn't thrown up anymore, and acted fine. He had washed all her puke clothes except Shoggy, so I threw Shoggy in a pillow case and put her in the wash. After she got done washing, I made the HUGE mistake of putting her in the dryer. To be honest, I was just thinking that I needed to hurry and get her washed so that she would be clean for Lily to sleep with. When I took her out of the dryer, her hair had melted into a huge matted mess. I had successfully ruined Lily's favorite doll. So, Adam took Lily to Wal-Mart to get a new one. They have come up with all these new cabbage patch dolls, and it is impossible to find just a regular cabbage patch. Wal-Mart didn't have one, so Adam pacified her by getting her a newborn cabbage patch that pees. I was "thrilled" with that one. I guess we will be looking for a cabbage patch at Target sometime this week. Anyway, they both slept decent last night. Avery got up twice, but it wasn't too bad. They are both acting like they feel much better today, thankfully!!!! I am hoping we will be well enough by the end of the week to spend some much needed time outside. I could really use the fresh air!!!!

I hope that everyone is well!! We love you all and hope you have a great week!!!!

Sick Baby!!

Our poor little Avery is SOO SOOO very sick. He started coughing a little on Saturday and got a little worse Sunday and Monday, but to be honest, I wasn't all that worried about it because I just thought it was allergies. You know it is that time of year. Also, he hasn't really been sick. When he was tiny, just a couple of months, he had a small cold and ear infection, but besides that we have been so lucky, and not had much sickness with him. Lily was also so sick as a baby. It felt like she had dozens of ear infections before she turned 2. But they were never bad or close enough together to get tubes. It was definately talked about, but to be honest I am glad we didn't do it. She hasn't had an ear infection in over 2 years. So, my mom and dad watched the kids on Tuesday so Adam and I could get some stuff done around here. Mom called me around 2:00 telling me that Avery was running a little fever. Again, I wasn't that worried about it, cause she said he was playing and eating good (which are tale tell signs that my kids are sick). We had him in bed around 8:30 and thought everything was normal until about 11:00. He could NOT breathe through his nose. And he was running a little fever. I was in his room holding him until about 12:30 when he was finally asleep good enough for me to lay him down. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Just as I was started to doze, he woke up again. It was somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30 and I was holding him until 4:45. Every time I would go to lay him down, he would wake up, and his cry was so so pathetic. I just couldn't lay him and make him cry. It made ME want to cry to listen to him. Finally, around 4:45, exhaustion took over and I went and made Adam get up and hold him for a while. Of course, Adam got him to stay asleep, and had him in bed around 5:30. Avery woke up around 7:30. I called and got him in as a work in (meaning a sit and wait). It wasn't to bad, though. We got there around 9:30 and were out by 11:30. Avery was so tired that as soon as we got back in a room he went to sleep. So he just has a bad sinus infection. But the doc said it was REAL bad. Luckily we caught it soon enough that it hadn't turned into ear infections yet, though he said that his ear drums were just bulging from all the pressure. He gave us some cough med, and antibiotic. I have to say that I LOVE the cough med. I had Avery down for his nap by 12:15 and he finally woke up around 5:45. That was a GREAT nap for us both!!! And he slept REALLY well last night!!! He is not really feeling better today, but I am hoping that he will be feeling better by tomorrow!!! I never knew that I could say so much about a sinus infection!!! I have a tendency to ramble...sorry about that. I hope that everyone is well!!! We love you ALL!!!!!!!
He is trying to smile through the sickness!! He is so WONDERFUL!!!!

Beautiful Days!!!

I know that it has been a while since I last updated. Sorry about that, we have just been really really busy around here.

The weather was so beautiful here last week!! The kids had such a great time playing outside. It has given me such cabin fever now that it is rainy and cold, and we can't go out. I can NOT wait for warmer weather. Avery is old enough this year for us to spend ALOT of time outside this spring/summer!!! I have a few pictures below for your enjoyment!!

Our kids absolutely love to play on our bed. They just jump and play, and it is so much fun to watch. In this picture, Lily was pretending to sleep (fake snoring) and Avery decided he needed to wake her up so they could jump some more!!!
They are so fearless. They just flop down on the bed with reckless abandon!!! I love that they are so fearless!! I hope that stays with them!! I wish that I wasn't such a scardy cat!!!!!

Lily was goofing around, making silly faces, and I love this picture. It shows her cute little dimples!!! She is such a cutie pie!!!!

My kids have the most beautiful blue eyes (I might be a little biased). I just love my children, and I think that they are SOOO beautiful. Avery is just a little cuddle bug!! I could just squish him with hugs and kisses!!!

Another beautiful picture of our beautiful girl!!!

I think this one is my favorite of all of them I have posted today. I just love it!! It totally captures him!!!

We have been so busy, and will be for the next little bit. We have decided to try and sell our house. We have just been talking about it alot lately and we would really like to build a house that suits us better. There isn't anything wrong with our house, it is just not set up well for us. I know that not a lot of people say this, but we want a smaller house. Just the way our house is set up, it is nearly impossible for me to keep clean, and still have time and energy for our children. There are a few things that we are wanting to get done before we put it up. I am hoping we can list it by June, and it would be GREAT if we could be out of it and building by winter!!! We have been working on putting new countertops in this weekend. Well, we worked on it Saturday, and we are hoping to finish it tomorrow. Since it is Spring Break my mom and mother-in-law are not working, so they have offered to help with the kids!! I am excited and nervous to see what the next few months holds for us!! I will be posting before and after pictures of our countertops when we get them done!!! So my point is, I may not be updating quite as obsessively as I have been!!

We LOVE you all, and hope you are all well and happy!!!!

Lily Talk!!

I had the following conversation with Lily this afternoon. I just wanted to post it before I forgot. I read her "All You Ever Need" by Max Lucado before nap. In it there is a picture of a woman dressed in robes and scarves, basically covered from head to foot.

Lily: "Mom, what is that lady wearing"

Me: "Robes and Scarves"

Lily: "Why is she wearing all those clothes if it is so hot there"

Me: "People in this time wore all these clothes to protect them from the sun and wind, and sand"

Lily: "Cause they didn't have houses, or cars, or ANYTHING, Right?"

Me: "They had houses, they were just very different from our houses"

Lily: "If they had houses, then why were they outside all the time"

Me: "Because, most of the work they had to do was outside. They had to grow all their own food, and raise their own cattle, chicken's, etc. They couldn't just go to the store and buy what they needed, they had to grow it all themselves."

Lily: "Why couldn't they just buy their meat from the farmers"

Me: "I guess some people could, but most people didn't have the money to do that. They were very poor."

Lily: "But God sent them meat from heaven...meat and bread"

Now, here was a little pause, because it took me a minute to realize that she was talking about when the Isrealites were wandering in the desert. God sent them Quail and Manna from Heaven.

Me: "You're right, Lily, He did. But He didn't ALWAYS do that."

Lily: "Why?"

Me: "Well...because He did that when the Isrealites were wandering in the desert, and he wanted to prove that He would be there for them and provide for them"

Lily: "Will He do that for us."

Me: "No"

Lily: "Why"

Me: "Because he doesn't do miracles any more"

Lily: "Doesn't he want to show us that he will provide for us"

I want to remind everyone here that she is 4!! I did expect to have conversations like this one day, but not now. I was totally not expecting it, and was just going on a wing and a prayer!!!

Me: "God sent his son Jesus for us. He also sent us the Bible which is His word, and that is the proof to us that He will provide for us. It is in His word."

Lily:"So God won't talk to us"

Me: "Not now, but when we get to Heaven you can ask Him anything you want to, and talk to Him about ANYTHING."

That was the end of the conversation. She was done at this point. I was blown away, and to be honest, I had to replay every word in my head, just to make sure I didn't say anything wrong. Anyway, I just everyone might find this little conversation interesting. I did!!!!

BNC

My friend Jennifer told me about a billboard in town that said "Love God, Hate Church". I had not seen this billboard until the other day. It says, "Love God, Hate Church...we did". So they started their own church. They only meet 2 times a month on Sunday mornings. They have a website www.brandnewchurch.com. Now I just want to make my comments, so I can get it off of my chest and maybe feel a little better. This "church" is taking over in our small town. There are so many BNC bumber stickers that I can't even count them any more. I worry that this concept is becoming to widely accepted and worry about the condition of our country. How can ANYONE call themselves christians and "Hate" church. I am guessing that these people have no real concept of what the church actually is. Not the building, not the act of worship, but the people. All of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ makes up God's church. So how, tell me HOW, can you say that you Love God, but Hate His Church. I just don't understand. What makes everything so much worse is that it is a HUGE billboard right by Wal-Mart. So, of course, it will attract people who have no real concept of the church. Top that off with all the bumper stickers, and I worry about the future of our small town.

Okay, I've gotten off my chest, and I will probably regret posting this later. I'm sorry, but I will NOT apologize for my beliefs. If you don't agree, you don't have to read it. I feel that I have every right to post my beliefs. Like I said, I feel that if I say my piece, maybe I can get it off my mind, and stop being worried about it!!!

I love you all!!!!!

Hair, Snow, and Sickness

Don't you just love that picture. He is not very cooperative when I want to get his picture. He is always just trying to get the camera away from me. But I thought that one turned out really good!!!

Last night, when I was putting Lily to bed she asked if she could play with my hair. I LOVE it when people play with my hair so, of course, I let her. After she brushed it for a while, she got up and got like 20 different barrettes. She proceeded to put them ALL in my hair. Adam came in to take pictures of the BEAUTIFUL hairstyle that she gave me. Maybe this one will be the next "Rachel". LOL!!!
Me, My baby, and her baby!!!

She is so dedicated. When she gets busy doing something like this she is totally zoned out to anything else!!!

She is SOOO proud of herself!!!!

For those who aren't aware, it snowed all night last night. I think that the ground here was still to warm for it to get to bad. Cause by the time we got up it was already melting. But, Lily was soooo excited about it. She said "Mom, Mom, come look what happened last night!!!" So Adam took them out this morning when he got back home from work (I will explain in a minute). We got a few pictures for everyones enjoyment!!!

I promise I made her put on a hat before she went out. She gets to busy to keep up with it. She is so adorable!!!

Lily was so excited, cause she built her very own snowman, all by herself!!! She ran in the room when they came back in and said "Mom, you have to come and see the snowman that I built all by myself!!" Unfortunately, by the time I got up the snow had melted, and I didn't get to take a picture!!

Avery couldn't have cared less whether there was snow on the ground or not. He was just so excited to be outside!!!

He LOVES this little car. We have had it forever. It was Lily's. But he is just now getting old enough to open the door and get in and out by himself. He thinks that he is SOOOO big. It is TOO cute!!!

Once again at the car. It is kinda hard to get him away from it. So most of the snow pictures that I have gotten of him this year are with this car. I also have a few of him in Lily's Cinderella car. He is ALL BOY!!!

Lastly, I got SOOOO sick last night. It has been a long long time since I can remember being that sick. Avery woke up around 1:00 A.M. I was in there holding him trying to get him back to sleep when all of a sudden my stomach starting gurggling and rolling. I laid him down and RAN to the bathroom. For the next 2 hours, I ran back and forth between the bathroom, and Avery's room. Finally, around 3:30 I got Avery to stay asleep, and my stomach to calm down. I passed out. After we got up this morning and ate breakfast, I immediately returned to the bathroom. Now, I don't know if I have ever mentioned how absolutely wonderful my husband is, but there are just not enough adjectives to describe him. I called him at 8:30 and BEGGED him to come home. He doesn't like to miss work unless it is for a vacation day or if it is absolutely nessecary. He said that he would call back and let me know is he could or not. By 9:30 I was resolving myself to the fact that I would have to be sick and take care of the kids by myself today. I was getting them ready to go outside when Adam got home. I was SOO relieved. I spent pretty much the rest of the day in bed. I am feeling a little better now, and I am even more in love with my husband. He takes good care of me and our children!!! I think Avery my be sick, too. He has had runny diapers today, one after the other. YUCK!!!! Luckily, I've been sleeping, so haven't had to change to many!!!!!

I hope eveyone is well!! We love you all!!

My Little Ballet Dancer

Well, tonight was the first time that we have gotten to see our little Lily dance. There are 8 kids in her class. Only 3 showed up. But they were SOOOO cute. The one standing next to Lily is Brooke. They were like 2 peas in a pod. They were both so into it and so VERY adorable. The other little girl on the other side of Brooke is Bella. She was absolutely scared to death. Poor thing. She stood with her hands clasped and her head bowed through the whole thing. I felt so bad for her. Anyway, I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I didn't realize that the battery on my camera was low until we got there. So, I had to take the pictures with the phone. I wish that everyone could have been there to see, but hopefully this will work!!! Love ya all!!!

Over the weekend

Hello to all!! I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a nice relaxing weekend!!

Lily spent the day with my dad on Friday. She spent the night with them Friday night. She is always so worn out after a weekend at my parents house. Her and dad spent the whole day outside on Friday. It was such a super nice day. I was glad that she got to get some much needed fresh air!! Apparently at one point during the day she got into the body paint and painted her stomach and back (what she could reach of her back anyway) a very deep dark purple. She has a huge make-up case at their house that she always plays with, but this is the first time that she has painted her whole body!! Unfortunately, it has not washed off so well!! It looks like she has a deep pink rash. Hopefully it will wash off soon.

My sister-in-law (Adam's brother's wife) Cindy had her Mary Kay party on Saturday. We all had such a great time. I do believe that I am sufficiently stocked up on my skin care and make-up now. My mom came and brought Lily with her. It was the easiest way to pick Lily up. And, she had such a good time cleaning her face and putting on make-up. She was such a good girl. Of course, we don't let her wear make-up on a regular basis. Though, I do tend to put a little on her for pictures, and stuff of that nature. I just love that she is such a girly girl. I do have to say, though, that it gets somewhat tiresome that she dislikes wearing pants so much. Dresses are just not always practical.

Ken came home from the hospital on Friday evening. I think he had a pretty hard ride home, and was worn out Friday night, so we waited until Saturday night to visit. It was kinda hard to tell, but I think he was feeling a little better. I think he is pretty doped up (as he should be), so he was pretty quiet. He has a long hard road ahead of him, but we are all praying that he will soon be back to himself. Just keep praying!!!

Avery had lost my cell phone. I let him play with it when we are out somewhere, mainly just to keep him occupied, but he drug it out of my purse the other day, and now I can't find it. I've been wanting to get a new one, anyway, but I need to use the minutes that are left on that one. Anyway, we bought a new one for me last night. When we get it all turned on and stuff I will let everyone know my new #. I use the pay as you go phones. As little as I actually use it, it is WAY cheaper for us to go this route!!!

The pictures below (and above!!!) are some I took the other night after the kids baths, right before bed!!! I just love my kids and the playfullness that they make me feel!!!

I hope everyone is well, and I wish you all a great week!!!!

"Sissy, that is MY ball"!!!

Those kids look like they're up to no good!!!

"Avery, you can't get it"!!!!