my sweet girl

when she thinks no one is paying attention, molly 'reads' to herself. whether its a book she already knows and gets mostly right, or shes just looking at the pictures and making up a story to go with them, its the sweetest little thing.
i caught her doing it today with Goodnight Moon and i ran a grabbed my camera and taped her without her knowing. theres a long pause in the middle, but you can hear her 'reading' for most of it. almost 2 mintutes in, i think at a minute and fifty seconds, she says something like, "oh no, its dark again! what ever shall we do in the dark?" then she turns the page and says, "all night long the cat sit in the chair."
i love it! hope it doesnt bore you....
on a side note, i spent almost 5 hours (not in a row) building Lego sets today. we inherited a few of the big sets from a friend of ours and i just pulled them out for the first time for colby to play with today. so of course i 'got' to build the pirate island set and the metro park and service station. you'll see pictures tomorrow for 365. i just heard colby in the living room say, "mom, i'm having some tenical ish-yous (technical issues) with this gas station!"
i must go save the day!

mass quantities of vomit

whats that you say? its been too long since ive posted about one of my kids vomiting? well, lucky for you friends, the wait is over!!
granted this one is not as funny as my past experiences have been, but its none the less satisfyingly grotesque.
the night before last i was sound asleep when allen taps me on the leg.
allen: "where's mollys other bink?" (bink is what we call her bear she sleeps with. its actually a little blanket with a head. you moms know what i'm talking about.)
me: (completely not awake) "huh? wha? is everything ok?"
allen: "i just need to know where her bink is!"
me: "give me a second to think!..........its in her hamper. it smells like pee."
allen: "well, its that or vomit."
me: (definitley awake now) "what?? whats wrong?"
allen: "she threw up. i took care of it. go back to sleep."
me: "why did she throw up?"
allen: "i dont know, she didnt tell me." (nothing like a little sarcasm at 3am)
i laid there deliberating if i should get up or not. he told me not to, which he most likely meant. the mommy in me wants to get up and make sure everything is under control, but he told that he took care of it, so if i do get up he's going to think that i dont trust him. or does he really want me to get up, but he doesnt want me to feel like i have to? i was still deciding when he came back in. i asked for more details. it was all over her sheet and everything else in her bed, but not on her. he changed her sheet and pillowcase and put her back to bed.
allen: "did you not hear her crying?"
me: "no! i never do!"
this is something i no longer possess; the ability to hear my kids crying at night. when they were bitty babies i heard them, even without a monitor, but once they hit about 20 months something happened and that part of me shut down. on the occasion she cries during the night, allens the one that hears her and goes in to take care of it 99% of the time. the other 1% of the time when i do hear her, its usually because i'm up using the bathroom or coming back from the gym at 645am, which is still considered 'night time' at my house.
we were kind of back asleep when he hears her again. i of course didnt, but i felt him throw the covers back and jump out of bed. this time i was right behind him. about half an hour had passed since the first incident. she had thrown up again.
fresh sheet, fresh pillow case, fresh pjs. bink was ok this time.
again 30 mintues later. same drill.
and again 30 mintues later.
by this time the first load of vomit laundry was done, so we had a fresh sheet to put on the bed.
i made the decision to not put her back in her bed based on what had transpired over the past 2 hours. i was sensing a pattern. (you're probably thinking, 'well its about time genius!')
being concerned about dehydration, allen gave her something to drink and she almost immediately threw it up.
so we sat in the dark in the living room with a few towels for protection. molly wanted daddy, so they fell asleep on the couch together and i slept on the floor next to them. colby came out and woke us up at 715 so we could get him ready for school.
molly threw up a grand total of 10 times from 3am to 9am. why i kept count, i'm not sure. a friend of mine said i did it subconciously to keep my sanity.
by 11am she seemed fine, and had her appetite back. we stuck to the B.R.A.T. diet all day and didnt have any more issues.
when colby got home from mothers day out, i tried to keep them away from each other as much as i could. going through that experience with him is one of the last things on my wish list right now, right above public humiliation (shout out to those of you doing the esther study).

anyway, all is well. we were super stir crazy today so like a madwoman i took the kids to the outlet mall in the freezing rain (please come back spring weather!) to use my 30% off Gap coupon and hit the clearance rack at Childrens Place. then i played pirates with colby for an hour (you'll get a picture of that on saturday. cant wait, can you?) while mojo slept.

praise the Lord this is really the only sickness we've dealt with this whole winter season, even though its not winter anymore, but you know what i mean.
i'm good with that.

interview with colby

interview with colby, 4 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you!

2. What makes mom happy? following directions

3. What makes mom sad? not following directions

4. How does your mom make you laugh? tickling!

5. What was your mom like as a child? just like me but a girl (thats pretty accurate)

6. How old is your mom? 109

7. How tall is your mom? forty-eight four

8.What is her favorite thing to do? do Bible study

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? stuff thats boring to me and exciting to her

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? doing CATS (the musical. i was in it.)

11. What is your mom really good at? Bible study

12. What is your mom not very good at? playing (bummer)

13. What does your mom do for her job? be a mommy

14. What's your mom's favorite food? corn on the cob (what? so not true.)

15. What makes you proud of your mom? playing with me (which i'm not very good at apparently)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? mother bear (from Little Bear)

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play and pick up

18. How are you and your mom the same? we have hands

19. How are you and your mom different? she has longer hair and i have shorter hair

20. How do you know your mom loves you? by giving hugs and kisses

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Africa

project 365, week 10

week 10!!
this year is flying by at a ridiculous pace. i think doing this project keeps me even more aware of that than i would be normally.
i missed wednesday this week. so sorry. i thought about it many times but never acted.
i have multiple pictures on multiple days, though. hopefully that will make up for the oversight.
link up to saras blog if you have pictures to share!!


SUNDAY, Mar 1st
i realized as i was going to bed that i hadnt taken a picture for the day! i snuck in a got this one of colby. not great, but it was the best i could do. at his mdo they've been recognizing people who serve in the community and have had a few come talk to the class (fireman, policeman, pastor [my husband!], nurse, and UPS man). the UPS man gave tshirts to all the kids. colby slept in his for the first few nights till i finally had to wash it again. he's sleeping in it in this picture. its a size large, so he can barely keep it on. so cute.




MONDAY, Mar 2nd
some friends gave us tickets to the UT vs Baylor game. i hadnt been to a UT basketball game, so i was really looking forward to it. the game was pretty slow and UT hammered them, but it was still fun. notice my scarf? monday was scarf day!

TUESDAY, Mar 3rd

all the bowls were being washed in the dishwasher, so i ate my cereal out of the smallest mixing bowl we have, which is still way too big for cereal, as you can plainly see.

THURSDAY, Mar 5th

the kids and i went to my parents house after bible study and lunch. dad was working in their backyard getting sod laid. colby caught a ride on the wheelbarrow.

FRIDAY, Mar 6th

we had a great family day outside getting the yard cleaned up, flower beds cleaned out and weeded, bushes trimmed back, etc. colby and molly played with the sidewalk chalk and colby managed to get more on his rear end than on the sidewalk i think.

SATURDAY, Mar 7th

i had to do 3 pictures for this day (i guess that makes up for missing wednesday)

the kids' first time fishing! we went to a local 'duck pond' with some friends of ours and spent about an hour and a half out there fishing and playing. colby didnt catch anything but evan caught a fish and a turtle and allen got a duck tangled in his fishing line. its all catch and release, and the duck came out unscathed as well...maybe a little traumatized.

fish numero uno

father and son

then on to pei wei for lunch. he hasnt quite got the hang of the chopsticks.

have a blessed week! thanks for stopping by! :)

caution: no tadpoles!

we were out working in the yard this morning as a family; so much fun and a beautiful day for it!! around 11:30 i went in and made pb & j sandwiches. the kids werent ready to come inside so i suggested we eat outside. the idea was met with an enthusiastic "YEAH!" from molly and colby so i proceeded to load up the plates with picnic-y foods and promptly delivered them to the waiting mouths in the driveway. allen opted to sit on an upside down bucket and colby noticed a warning on the side (right at his eye level). we flipped the bucket over and he looked at it intently for several seconds, then announced, "you cant put water and tadpoles in that bucket and then put your hands in it."
i pushed for an explanation but he couldnt come up with one on his own. with some help from daddy he finally decided it was because our hands have germs and tadpoles are allergic to germs.
logical enough.

so if you ever see this warning on the side of a bucket, please, whatever you do, do not, put tadpoles in the bucket. if its unavoidable, then for crying out loud, don't touch them!

its the little things

we were at the park yesterday with a friend of mine and her little girl (AWESOME day for it!) and there was a woman there with her two kids. her son was 3 and he and colby became fast friends. they were playing in the dirt with sticks, drawing and digging and whatever boys do with dirt. at one point i was about 20 feet away from where they were playing, trying to keep an eye on both he and molly, and i heard him say
colby: "this is what Jesus died on."
the other mom: "oh, a cross?"
colby: "yes. he died for our sins."

YES! preach it, colby! i have to admit, i was proud. its so encouraging to hear that hes 'getting it.' we talk often about God and Jesus and our salvation. he loves to hear about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins; it's probably his favorite story. i also try to mention throughout the day the things God has done for us and what He has made and blessed us with, etc. i loved hearing him share that with someone else, and correctly! the conversation didnt go any further than that but i was happy that it came up at all.

topic shift....

allen was putting molly to bed a couple of nights ago and he came into colbys room where i was and told me molly was waiting for me. the rocking chair is still in her room and allen thinks she does this back and forth thing with us at bedtime because he leaves her to sit in the rocking chair while shes waiting for me to come in. it must make her feel like a big girl or something. anyway, so i went in and there she sat in the rocking chair in the dark. i scooped her up and sat down with her cuddled up on my lap and i asked her
me: "did daddy pray?"
molly: "yes, he pwayed fo me. he's such a sweet boy."
me: "(giggling a little bit. i still love to listen to her talk, even though its nothing new) he is a sweet boy."
molly: "you're a sweet boy too. daddy loves us."
me: "yes he does."

i just love my kids so much. i hate it when i get frusterated with them or get annoyed with something they're doing, or not doing as it may be. i am so blessed to have them and it's these little, seemingly insignificant things that remind me of that.
thank you, Lord for my sweet babies.

happy scarf day!

2009 is the year of the scarf and today is scarf day!
so save a neck; wear a scarf. and make sure its super cute!