Loved this

Before Chloe's accident, she was struggling a bit in reading and math {here I go with the Before and After again}. Of course, while she was home I helped her a lot with her homework, and I think that one-on-one time with her really helped.

I was so happy to find this in Chloe's graded papers folder yesterday:

Missed

For those of you who don't know. My husband moved his office home in September of 2009. Overall, it's been good for us. It's kinda fun to have him here throughout the day. He's upstairs, so it's not like he's all in my face all day or anything! ;) It's also fun to have lunch with him most days! And the kids love that he's home - even though it means they have to be quiet when they go upstairs during the work day.

So the other day, I went to my friend Kate's house to get my haircut. I had car pool that morning, so I left my house at 7:15 and just headed to her house from there - no sense in coming all the way home when I could hang out with her until our hair dresser arrived! ;) {Nothing like a game of Super Mario Bros. for Wii with your best friend! ;)}

Ryan called a couple of times that morning. Then a couple times in the early afternoon. And then finally at one of the calls, it hit me. He misses me!!! So I said to him, "YOU MISS ME!!! That's why you're calling me so much!" And he was all "yeah, I do."

And you know what?!? That made my heart glad.

Struggling with my Emotions

I'm struggling.

Picture this:

All three kids with no shirts on. They each have a straw that is under their armpit. While they blow into the straws, it makes a sort of farting noise. They march around the house blowing into their straws and making these farting noises. It's annoying, to say the least. I let it slide for a bit, cause they are happy and having fun, but then it's just too much.

I tell them to stop. All done now. They continue to blow into the straws. My voice raises a bit and tell them again to stop. Still more blowing. Then I blow up! "I've had enough of the fart noises! Put the straws in the trash!"

And then I look at Chloe. She's got a scar from her collapsed lung, and I can see it cause she still has no shirt on. It's a constant reminder for me of how bad things really were.

I lose it.

Why can't I just let the stupid fart noises slide? Why does it bother me so much? Why do I get upset so easily?

I know I'm just being a mom, and sometimes, I just get frazzled, but I have a hard time drawing the line from being a mom, and being a mom of a daughter who nearly died and I am reminded of it every time I try to discipline her. Shoot, I'm reminded of it every day I look at her! She's a miracle!

I feel like, how dare I yell at my daughter who IS HERE!!! SHE'S HERE! She could be dead, and she's not, and I'm choosing to yell at her!?!? What is my problem!?!?!

I need to find a balance, and I just can't! I feel guilty EVERY time I discipline my kids, and I know it's probably wrong to feel this way, but I just can't help it! Not sure what to do about it either.

Here I go again...

Another one of those long random posts! ;)

Here goes:

Chloe's doing really good - minus some headaches, which the neurosurgeon's nurse said she will have for quite some time. It's a bummer really, but if this is all we have to deal with after her accident, we'll take it. She's also pretty bummed that she can't play outside at recess. The weather has been getting so nice out, and all she wants to do is play outside. Apparently, yesterday she played on the sidewalk at recess time, and I had no idea she did this. I've told her to sit on the bench. Ugghhh!! It's just such a hard decision. If we let her play and she falls and hits her head on the sidewalk, we've got a huge problem. I hate living my life in fear, but if we can try to prevent something bad from happening, we will!! So, it's back to the bench for her.:(

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My mommy is here to spend the weekend with us! :) I just love it when she is here with me! Lots of time to chitty-chat while folding the never ending pile of laundry! She always seems to enjoy folding the laundry. I wish a little bit of that would rub off on me! ;)

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Today, I was the VIP for my nephew Bennett's preschool class! :) I was second pick. First, being his daddy. I was completely flattered that he chose me!!! He was so excited when I walked into his class - grin from ear to ear! We had a fun time doing crafts and playing games together - something I don't get to do often with JUST him! Love you Benny Boy!

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I got my hair cut yesterday. I was planning on having it grow out, but absolutely hated the growing out process, not to mention, I really just like my hair short. Before I got it cut, I ran to Jewel and got a box of hair dye. Yeah, I only spent $0.46 on it! ;) {I used some left-over catalina's!} Gotta love that!

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Speaking of Jewel...kinda glad that week is over! Phew! It was a whirlwind of Catalina's, but good nonetheless. Looking forward to a couple weeks of "regular" shopping before another Catalina surge like that one! Was it just me, or was it hard to keep all the deals straight!?!?!

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Alrighty! I think that's it for now!

They're HERE!!!

Today, my hubby came down the stairs asking me if I was expecting anything from FedEx.

Why yes, I am! I was waiting for my Christmas Photo Cards to come via the US Mail, certainly not FedEx, as I hadn't even paid shipping for the things.

He opens the door and accepts two little packages. Of course, he starts to open them! How dare him?!? ;)

Any way - they arrived in perfect order. All 100 of them - WITH envelopes.

Is it too early to send them out?!? ;)

If you haven't order your FREE cards yet - go quickly - before 11/30/09. I didn't have to pay shipping for them, but my friend Susan did - about $6 for 100 of them - which is still a great deal!

Have I told you that I love free?!?

Well, I do!!! I read on Freebies 4 Mom that you could get a FREE 20-page, hard cover, personalized photo book. INCLUDING FREE SHIPPING!! Well, I just created mine - here's a glimpse! ;)

If you enter the Promo Code: BONNIE at checkout it should be completely FREE - mine was!

Hurry though, apparently they are only giving away 25,000 (you won't know if they are sold out until you check out) of these babies, so go grab it! :)

Sneak Peek!

Alright, so I was just so happy with my kids the other day when I was taking their pictures for my Christmas cards. If I told them to smile, they smiled. If I told them to hold hands, they held hands. Occasionally Brett would lick Owen's ear or something crazy like that, but overall they did so well!

This picture did not make the cut for the card, but it's a sneak peak at the real thing! :)

Halloween 2009

Yes, I do realize it was nearly a month away, but I feel like I have to document it - especially cause my kids costumes were so stinkin' cute! {in my own humble little opinion}

Anyway, so the theme this year was pretty obvious! HA! I tried to convince my hubby to dress up and then I could be the wicked witch, but no go there.

Friday night we went to Trunk or Treat. The lines were long, but the candy was a plenty.

"We're off to see the Wizard! "
{the sunset was beautiful that night!}

Chloe loved to be called Dorothy.

Brett loved getting his face painted!

Owen wanted nothing to do with getting his picture taken.

This was the first year in A LONG time that we all went "trick or treating" {even though we were really "trunk or treatin} together! So fun to be together!

Most of the kids that night. {Sorry Amy, we couldn't find you!}

My favorites! ;)

On Halloween night, we had my in-laws and cousins come and Trick-or-Treat with us.

Not sure if you can see him, but there's a tin man in the group! :) We also had Ben 10, a 70's chic, Santa and a little Dutch girl!

Now they are really "off to see the Wizard!"

We had such a fun time, and we are STILL eating the candy!

How did I get through those years?

After going through my old blog and seeing all of those posts - I read just about every one of them {324 POSTS IN ALL} I really don't know how I did it. I had three kids in three years!!!! Take for instance the time that Owen ate Brett's poop when Brett was potty training, or the time that Brett squeezed an entire tube of toothpaste on Owen's head just as I was getting ready to walk out the door, or the time that they thought the grape tomatoes were balls and had them all pretty much squeezed all over my kitchen floor...the list could really go on and on!

Some of the blog posts had information in it that I didn't even remember! I'm just so thankful that was sane enough to journal it all and I have it to look back at as a memory keepsake!

The finished product!!

I know I promised pictures of our craft, and I'm not even sure if anyone even cares about it. But - because I promised, here they are...

I guess you could call it Candy Cane garland?!?! I chose to hang it on my mantle, and it looks really cute. Their are clips on the back of the canes so you can clip Christmas cards or pictures on them.




Here's some close ups of the candy canes...

Wordless Wednesday - Owen's Birthday Cake(s)

I know - no words! Look closely at the expiration date. March 16 2006! That's why it ended up in the trash!







For more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 minutes for mom.

Happy 2nd Birthday Owen!!

I can't believe that 2 years ago I was sitting in church with contractions. Whispering to Ryan that, "I think I might be in labor!" And seeing the expression on his face while trying to be quite. I made it through the sermon, only to tell Jen that I wouldn't be at MOPS on Wednesday! :)

I can't believe that we couldn't come up with a name for our little Owen. I think Ryan read the entire Baby Name book while I was in labor. We waited until he was born before actually settling on a name. I couldn't imagine his name being anything different. He's our perfect Owen.

I can't believe how perfectly he fit into our family. It was as if he was always a part of it. Well, minus the crying from 9 p.m. ~ 1a.m. EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT. But that only lasted about 6 weeks, so that's a distant memory! (Ryan might beg to differ!)

I can't believe how quickly Owen is growing up! He is walking and talking, and isn't my little baby anymore. Parts of me are excited for the years to come. But then other parts are pretty sad that he is growing up to be a little boy.

He is our sweet little Owen, and you CAN believe that we wouldn't trade him for the world!

Happy Birthday my "little guy!" Mommy loves you!

Chloe got her hair cut ~ ALOT!!!!!

Last night Chloe and I had a girls night out, and went to the salon to get our hairs cut. Chloe knew that she wanted her hair cut, she just wasn't sure how short. She said that she wanted it pretty short, and she also wanted bangs. She's never had bangs! So I made a sad face, when she said she wanted them, and she said to me, "it's o.k. mom, I'll still be me!" She's so sweet!

We get to the salon, and she told the stylist how short she wanted it. I wasn't so sure about it, but I let her make her own decision. As I was getting my hair trimmed, I could see her getting her hair cut. It was kind of sad to see all of that hair go. The entire time we were getting our hair cut, she said she wanted bangs, and then she didn't, did, didn't. It was crazy. Finally, she said she wanted bangs, and just as the lady was about to cut, she said she didn't! She's a little like her mommy, being so indecisive. Needless to say, she didn't cut bangs (I'm secretly glad about this) and her hair looks adorable!!

Here's the before picture: (I think they cut about 6-7 inches)


AFTER: (At the salon)


At home:

And this one is from this morning. I was so excited, because it wasn't a bunch of knots. This is going to be so much easier to brush!!!!

Throwback Thursday - My sister is going to kill me for this one!

Who am I kidding ~ I actually can't believe I'm posting this one! But hey ~ let's all have a good laugh!!!

(From L to R: Melanie, my neice Melissa and me!) I'm guessing this picture was taken in 1986 sometime.

All I have to say about this is - Mom, what where you thinking giving us perms like that?!?! :) Love you anyway!

Wordless Wednesday - Making faces on the Pumpkins!

For more Wordless Wednesdays visit 5 minutes for mom.

Owen's 2nd birthday party!!

Saturday, we had Owen's 2nd birthday party! He doesn't officially turn 2 until October 30th, so I'll save the sappy post for then! :) We have been practicing for weeks how to sing Happy Birthday, and how to blow out candles.

Here's a video of him a few days before singing Happy Birthday...(don't mind my voice)



He is just so sweet! I could eat him up.

We had such a wonderfully beautiful day! It was near 75 degrees if not a little higher. It was an airplane themed party. The shirt I bought for him to wear was from baby Gap, and it had airplanes on it and said Future Pilot on it. It had long sleeves, but of course, he had to wear it, so I just put it on with shorts and sandals! :)




I took this picture mostly because my pumpkins were so stinkin' cute, but also because I couldn't believe that we had the windows open in the middle of October!



Here's a picture of all of the treatbags - only 17 this time. I think last year there were 24?!?!? The boys had little boy airplane name tags, and the girls had girlie ones! Thanks Mel!!





And I'm actually quite proud of the banner I made. I think the reason I'm so proud of it is because I hand wrote it out ~ and my hand writing is NOT neat - to say the least. Even my sister said, since when did your handwriting get so nice?!? :) If you can't tell, it's on cloud paper.



Owen waiting patiently to open his presents - he was so good all day!!



Here's THE CAKE that my mommy made! She's awesome!




And let's not forget the infamous Rice Krispie Treats! Thanks again Mom!!!

And of course, my little guy on the big day ~ singing Happy Birthday. My sister is videoing, even though it sounds just like me!

There's just something about a Diet Coke from McDonald's

I have known, pretty much all day that we were going to McDonald's for dinner tonight. Chloe had a dr.'s appt. at 4:15, Ryan had to lead Cadets at church, and Owen got a gift card to McDonald's for his birthday (Thanks Auntie Tara and Uncle Len!) :)

Anyway - by about 1:00 p.m. I was craving a Diet Coke. I actually have some 2 liters left over from Owen's party, but there's just something about a good fountain Diet Coke from McDonald's! We got out of Chloe's dr.'s appt. (it is just her asthma, and now we are on 5 medications, instead of the three that we previously were on) :( and we were on our way to get our dinner. I decided we would just take it home - I don't really care to sit inside, and Ryan wasn't with to help, so we just came straight home. I got all of the kids out, and started to bring the food and drinks in. You aren't going to believe this, but I wasn't 1 foot inside the door, when my Diet Coke falls to the ground, and spills all over the carpet. I was ticked to say the least! I set the drink carrier on the fireplace mantel, and get the kids organized with their food. I clean up the carpet, and settle in to eat my food, only to realize that their is a completely full diet coke in the drink carrier on the mantel!!! No lie! My long awaited coke was sitting right on the fireplace! Oh thank you dear McDonald's worker who made the BIG mistake of putting 2 Diet Cokes in my drink carrier instead of one!

"I'm gonna be nice to the ladies."

Last night Chloe had a sleep over. Chloe and Emma just wanted to have "girl time" in her room, so of course, I wanted to let them do that. Brett wanted nothing more than to play with the girls! It was so hard to keep him out of that room!

After dinner, Chloe and Emma asked if they could go right back upstairs after they were done eating. I had no problem with that - I was just so excited that they were having so much fun together. Brett was still eating, when he said, "mom, can I go upstairs? I'm gonna be nice to the ladies." I just thought that was so sweet!

Again, this morning, he crawled into my bed and said, "the ladies are still sleeping!" Too cute!

When he's sweet, he sure is sweet, but when he's not - get outta the way!

Throwback Thursday - Summer of 1981 ~ Part 2

Here's another picture from our vacation in the Summer of 1981. This one was taken at the Grand Canyon. (I think) Now that I look at the picture a little bit more. I think it was the place where you can be in 4 states at once?!?! I'm not sure. Everyone in my family tells me that I was really crabby during this part of our trip. Who me?!? Yeah right!! This picture is of the whole family - minus dad. I'm sure he was the one taking the Polaroid picture - he was a pretty big fan of that camera!! I love how dated this picture is! Not only the colors, but look at us! I won't go into details, you can pretty much figure it out for yourself! :) (Hey Sharon - talk about short shorts!!!) :)

Man - I wish I remembered more of my childhood!


For more Throwback Thursday ~ vist Pinks and Blues Girls!!!

Wordless Wednesday - This was not forced!! :)

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 minutes for mom.