My Baby is 3!!!!!

Three years ago, my kids were snowed in at school, and I went into labor! I remember looking out the window, thinking, "of course, I go into labor with all my kids locked into 2 schools, 4 miles away!" Thanks to a few hefty 4 wheel drives and some neighbors, they were able to get our kids from school, and my grandparents came to stay with them until the baby came! Everything went great, best doctor, hospital, delivery, experience of all my children. Oh, yah, except for the nurse that said, "It's a girl,with all that hair, I'm sure of it"...only to have a boy make his entrance! Can't believe this little baby, is no longer a baby!



Hunter celebrated his 3rd birthday over the weekend! We enjoyed having homemade tacos and angel food cake with strawberries for dessert! He was so excited to open so many bday cards from all his family, and many of his grandparents send him $5! Thanks to my awesome discount shopping, we turned is collection of $5 into $100 worth of toys! Here are the things he got!







It took us over 2 years to get pregnant. I thought maybe God thought our family was complete. Truthfully, I think I will always want more babies! I am so thankful he sent us another special little person from Heaven! I feel so blessed to have been given this little guy to love and raise! Happy Birthday, Hunter!

Holding it all in

So today I had a glimpse of myself in my 10 yr old. I think I am a good communicator. For better or worse, I say what I think and how I feel most of the time. But, there are times when I now if I "let it all out" it makes it harder on others and hurts feelings. After awhile holding it all in a little at a time, my vessel overflows and I can't hide it anymore.

Tonight the older boys had some friends over and they made a plan for the games they were playing " to be fair". I noticed Carter left the "fun" and went to his room. When I called to him, he said "I'm fine". Mothers intuition is a great thing. I went to him and after MUCH prodding the tears just fell. He was so upset but didn't want Ashton to get in trouble or the friends to go home. He had justifiable reasons for his heartache.

I felt hurt for him. I cried for him. I wished I could take his sadness away. The look in his eyes just broke me. And then I saw it, he was growing up. Trying to hold in all the feelings, trying to be " just fine". Trying to be a BIG kid. Ugh, stupid grownups. I learn a lot from watching my children.

So tomorrows a new day, he will play with new friends, be rested and happier and we will start all over again "holding it all in" until the next time...

"I look Sexy"

I cut all my boys hair, the 4 smaller ones and the big one! I have learned through trial and error and have not done too bad. Problem is over the years the older boys want a more stylish, trendy hairstyle! I am NOT good with change and by the time I figure out how to cut it so it is clean enough for the white collar check and for my likings, they will be in their 20's!

Ashton went to a hairstylist the beginning of school and got highlights and a "cool" hairstyle. She does a great job, but I'm frugal, and can't be paying for 1 kid to have the look of his dreams and make the others suffer with cookie cutter hairstyles.

Haircutting time came again (about every 6 weeks) and as I lined them up I decided I would try to give Ashton an out of the box "do" from THIS hairdresser. I spent almost an hour doing his...afterwards he was so thankful and said, "I love it, I look Sexy!"

I knew what he meant, he was happy, felt confident, on a 8th grade level..hip, but that phrase, the word, "sexy" that is said to mean so many different things, bugged me! I explained to him, that isn't a word we should use.

I got thinking of how many ways I used that word as a teen, as a newlywed, sometimes even now...and after much reflection, realized the impact society had on the frequency of that word, and how the meaning morphed and changed over the years...but for me and in this house, I realized that word really was a spicy way of saying "Confident".

As a mom, I don't want to hear my 13 yr old say "I look sexy", but what I DO want is to have a boy who for 1 day, 1 week, even a month, feels confident. Sometimes a fresh look, new outfit, or "change" can give us that confidence.

So, I'm thankful that my hairdo passed the test and that he was happy with it! Here are some pics. For those who know Ashton, he has mousy brown hair. I had a box of haircolor in the cabinet and he was up for change...glad it all worked out.

The simple things

You know the stories you hear about a child getting a big, $$$ gift, only to find them playing with the box it came in more? This photo reminds me of those stories.

I am a bargain shopper and therefore come Christmas and Birthdays, the gifts my kids usually get only cost me $12, but are $50 toys! I have noticed that the one thing I am constantly finding Hunter playing with is the cheapest stocking stuffer he received, that I paid full price for and made sure everyone had a pack. HOT WHEELS TRACKS! Only one store in town carried them, the Big Blue Store! They are the best thing! He can put them together himself and builds the tracks so long!

I was making dinner and looked over to see this~his brothers have helped set up the different hills and vales for him in the past and he has learned to use the table, pillows, couch and his fruit snax bucket to make for a more adventurous ride!

There are many days I think it's great to know he can entertain himself and have fun doing it!

In the "Dog House"

About 2 days a week I work a few hours in our office for Rick. Our office is in the basement and we have a heavy duty baby gate preventing curious hands from entering. On these days I bring Hunter in the office with me where he plays and rides his tricycle.

On one particular day he was being quiet...TOO quiet! I looked over to see this:






Apparently, in our house the figurative term of "being in the dog house" is taken quite literally by our 2 yr old!

For clarification, this is NOT a punishment, he thinks it is fun to climb into our dogs bedtime kennel.

Sunday Mats

Before Christmas I was looking for a cute, easy, cheap craft for the boys to add to their church bags. I came across different ideas that I loved on blogs and in etsy. I decided on chalkboard mats! I do say that if you love these and want to buy instead of sew, I loved everything in this gals shop:

http://www.etsy.com/people/adornwithaandm?ref=ls_profile


I loved the print she used, but I needed 3 and couldn't afford to buy....so here is my version of her cute mats. Joann's had all I needed and I loved the monster print. My boys love them and it only took 30 mins to make 4! I'm getting better at this sewing business! My favorite thing to use on all my projects is extra wide double fold bias tape! It hides most of my flaws and gives it a clean edge!