project 365, week 45

only 7 weeks to go!! this year has passed by so quickly, and i have loved making project 365 a part of it. i dont think i'll be doing it again though. i feel like it has kept me from blogging as much as i would have otherwise, because i always thought 'oh, they'll just hear about it when i blog for 365." i'm definitely glad i did it though, and i may do it again down the road.

i have to share what molly said to allen the other night. for my faithful 365 readers, some of you may remember a few weeks ago when we rescued a turtle from certain death by roadkill. molly randomly started talking about it the other day and was telling allen all about it.

molly: "colby went to put him by the water, but mommy said not too close, so he just put him next to the water, but the turtle was scared so he went in his shell so he wouldnt be scared." imagine this all with no breath inbetween thoughts and without actually pronouncing the "r's."

allen: "the turtle was scared of you?"

molly: (nods)

allen: "would the turtle have been scared of me?"

molly: (nods)

allen: "are you scared of me?"

molly: "nnnooooo. i'm not a turtle."

i love how their minds work. that girl cracks me up.

pictures!!

SUNDAY, november 1st

no picture. booo.

MONDAY, november 2nd

i ordered the kids' birthday cake a few weeks ago at walmart and scheduled for it to be picked up at 5pm today, the night before they're 9am party on tuesday. allen calls me from walmart and says, "the cakes not here. they dont have any record of it." after checking the other walmart in town to make sure i wasnt losing my mind, we came to terms with having to buy an off the shelf pre-fab sheet cake. no, i wasnt going to attemp to make my own. i've been down that road and dont care to visit again. heres our lame birthday cake. colby and molly thought it was fantastic.




TUESDAY, november 3rd

happy birthday party day! we bid on and won a party to jungle java over a year ago; a combination cafe/indoor playscape. fabulous! the bummer was that the gift certificate required we have the party on a monday thru thursday (no weekends). with me having rehearsals in the evenings, that limited us to a morning party. that being said, it was small and we were limited in who we could invite because of it being on a weekday morning. the kids all had a great time, though, and wore themselves out (i.e. a rare afternoon nap!).

WEDNESDAY, november 4th

colby decided he wanted to write a story about his friend zachary. he asked for help spelling the words he didnt know (one, zach, touched), and (obviously) wrote it without help. i am so proud of this kid! he's doing so well with the homeschooling. he just turned 5 a week ago, and he's already reading and writing! sorry, had to brag for a second. :)

THURSDAY, november 5th

dentist appts this morning! colbys been a few times, but this was mollys first visit. some of you may have read my previous entry, where i explained the whole day. basically the dentist told molly she cant use her pacifier anymore, so we took them to the hospital to give them to the newborn babies so they can use them. shes done great! shes asked for it each night, but we remind her where they went, and shes perfectly fine! thank you, Lord, and dr. bain.

FRIDAY, november 6th

colby got a moon sand kit for his birthday. i wouldnt dare let them use it in the house (i avoid messes at all costs), but it was a beautiful day, so they played outside most of the afternoon with the moon sand, sidewalk chalk, etc. i do wish it would get just a little cooler, but the afternoons really have been fantastic!



SATURDAY, november 7th

allens been wanting to clean out the attic for awhile, so today was the big day. we got everything down, and made a throw away pile, a keep pile, and a 'go through and condense' pile, and still have some work to do. we even sold a few things on craigslist and made some money. the kids were adamant about me taking their picture with santa and baby Jesus. i was happy to oblige.

a milestone perhaps

we took the kids to the dentist this morning. colbys been a few times already, but it was mollys first experience. allen and colby went back together, then molly and i went to another room. she cried at first; i guess all the 'stuff' is intimidating to a kid seeing it for the first time. she settled down quickly and cooperated well with the hygenist though.

when the dentist came in to look her over, he said the roof of her mouth is malforming due to her still using her pacifier. we've known for quite awhile that the paci needs to go, and we've even attempted to take it from her a couple of times, but its a;ways very short lived. shes been limited to bedtime only for several months, but apparently its still doing a number on her mouth and teeth. he said if we can get them away from her now, that her mouth will be able to correct itsself without having to have any kind of corrective stuff done later down the road.

hearing all this we said (with the dentist still sitting there), "molly, did you hear that? we have to get rid of your paci. the dr. says its going to mess up your pretty teeth." molly said, "ok." like it was no big deal.

when we got in the car we addressed it again.

allen: "molly do you want to have pretty teeth?"

molly: "yes."

allen: "then we need to get rid of paci."
molly: "ok. we have to get rid of paci so i can have pretty teeth."

me: "your paci is making your teeth sick. maybe we should go give your pacis to the babies at the hospital who dont have pacis."

molly: "yeah, lets go give my pacis to the babies."

i remember hearing somewhere that a mom took her kid and the pacifiers and they went to the hospital and handed the pacifiers to a nurse to 'give to the newborn babies." then the nurse of course just went and threw them away. but the good thing about that scenario is the pacifiers are then out of the house and you're not the bad guy. the pacis were given to someone who needs them, not taken away randomly.

so we went home, collected her pacifiers, and went to one of the hospitals here in town. a friend of ours is the director of the clinic, so she met us and took us to the pediatric wing where she had a couple of the nurses (who she had explained the situation to) come out to meet molly. molly told them very matter-of-factly what she was doing and offered the bag to the nurse and gave her a hug. it was one of the sweetest things i've seen in a long time. molly genuinely thought she was helping the babies and she made sure to tell the nurse that "each baby gets one pacifier."

then they gave her (and colby too) a sticker and a coloring book and a little thing of bubbles to take home.

we topped of the day with a fun lunch and ice cream.

now, its only 2:30, so we'll see if i still think it was a great idea when bedtime comes tonight.

however, theres no turning back. even if she cries and throws a fit at bedtime, we have no pacifier to give her, and hopefully the pictures from today will remind her what she did. and we'll of course blame the dentist....

project 365, week 44

happy birthday colby!! my sweet boy turned 5 on wednesday. i cant believe its been that long; and molly will be 3 next sunday (the 8th). the kids' party is on tuesday (this will probably be the last year of the combined party), and then i'm sure we'll do something for mojo on her big day. colby got gattiland and a trip to the toy store on his birthday. its been quite a week of celebrating. school kind got put on the back burner. we did do a little bit on tuesday and friday, but not the normal amount for the week at all. and then theres halloween. somehow we managed to not go into a sugar coma, so i'd say it was a good week. :)

SUNDAY, october 25th

we went to lunch with our sweet friends the lamberts, then went and got ice cream. i dont know why, but i love this picture. thats april in the back, laughing at something one of our husbands said, i'm sure. they're goofballs.

MONDAY, october 26th

my first ever professional hair coloring. i went darker about a year ago, and have been trying for about 4 months to get it back to as close to natural as i can find in a box. i finally gave up and asked allen if he'd let me spend the money to have it fixed by someone who knows what they're doing. its so nice to have pretty brown hair again.



TUESDAY, october 27th

the pre-birthday toy clean out. making room for whats to come.

WEDNESDAY, october 28th

happy 5th birthday colby tyke! dunkin donuts for breakfast. yum! my mom came and took us to gattiland for lunch and colby got to go shopping for his birthday present. it was a fun afternoon.

THURSDAY, october 29th

mimi and papa came for the day. the kids both got their birthday presents and we went to chuck-e-cheese for lunch. kids' pizza two days in a row. i've had my fill, thanks.

FRIDAY, october 30th

colbys dressing as the tin man for halloween. i couldnt find an axe at a store anywhere that wasnt covered in fake plastic blood. i could have ordered one with his costume, but i thought surely i could find one at a party store for less $$. sooo, i had to cut an axe out of cardboard and spray paint it silver. not too bad.

SATURDAY, october 31st

happy halloween! colby went as the tin man and molly went as dorothy. we went to the churchs fall festival that morning and then i had to go to rehearsal. that evening we went to my granparents house so they could see the kids, and we did our trick or treating in their neighborhood. the kids had a great time this year.

have a fantastic week!!!

project 365, week 43

what a beautiful week!! cooler weather, a little rain; its actually feeling like fall. maybe it'll stick around...or not. this is central texas.

SUNDAY, october 18th

i dont know what it is, but something about the fall months, moving into the holiday season give me the urge to bake. i made 2 batches of pumpkin spice muffins and chocolate peanut butter brownies in the same day. for no good reason. oh. my. goodness. these are soooo good!!!

MONDAY, october 19th

i made tacos for dinner, and allen gave us some pre-dinner entertainment with the tortillas.

TUESDAY, october 20th

a group of us went to a fairly local christmas tree farm that also hosts some fall acitivities. we decorated pumpkins, walked through a 'crazy maze', fed the farm animals, rode a hay ride (again and again!), and that was just what we did before lunch! we had a fabulous time and the weather was perfect for it. this is a picture of all the kiddos together on the hay ride. best buds.

WEDNESDAY, october 21st

our weekly trip to the library.

THURSDAY, october 22nd

another rehearsal pic; i'm thinking you're gonna get at least one a week. :) you can see the beginnings of the set against the back wall.

FRIDAY, october 23rd

thursday night while i was up at the theatre, allen carved pumpkins with the kids. we put candles in them friday night. daddy did a great job!



SATURDAY, october 24th

a little weekend yard work. time to cut everything down so it can come back thick and pretty in the spring!

have a fantastic week!!!

project 365, week 42, and the worst car ride home ever...ok, its a toss up.

some of you may have read my post from a few weeks ago when, on my way home from h-town with the kids, molly pee'd in the carseat, which combined with other factors at that moment, was a very traumatic experience for me. i didnt think it could get any worse. but it did. oh, it did.
allens brother and his wife and daugther came down from canada for a visit last week. my kids were both diagnosed with the swine flu mid week, but were thankfully both well for us to head down to h-town on sunday to spend a few days with the family. allen had to stay at church late that night, so he drove in monday morning (this will matter later).

we had a fun week. mimi had a big halloween party complete with themed food, games, and crafts. tuesday we went for a train ride and walked around the zoo for a few hours. the kids were exhausted by tuesday night. allen headed back home, and we all went to bed early.

wednesday morning we got a slow start and had a big breakfast, so instead of our planned activity for the day, mimi took us to walmart so the kids could each pick out a new toy. when we were loading up to leave molly suddenly became very withdrawn and seemingly tired (this was about 10am). she was carried for most of the walmart trip, completely uninterested in choosing a toy, and fell asleep in the car on the way home (11:15am). back at mimis, i didnt particularly want to unload molly just to put her back in the car an hour later, especially if this would involve her waking up and being cranky, so we left her strapped in and i quickly loaded our bags and headed home.

molly woke up around 12:30 right as we were coming into a fairly good size town with decent restaurant options. we stopped at a chilis for a quick bite. molly insisted she wasnt hungry. she had eaten a big breakfast, but i was surprised whe didnt want anything. shes my big eater. she kept complaining of her tummy hurting and then she started telling me she felt like she was going to throw up. i took her to the bathroom probably 4 times and nothing ever came of it. i finally was able to finish my soup and salad and colby was successfully polishing off his corn dog and corn on the cob, when molly starts doing that gaggy cough. back to the restroom we went. i promise you we werent more than 3 feet from the toilet when that big breakfast she had that morning made a second appearance on the floor of the chilis bathroom right inside the door. not a good spot. i'm sure the poor waitress that came in right behind us and stepped in it would agree. i got molly cleaned up, paid the bill and loaded the kids back up for the rest of the trip. molly seemed a bit perkier and she and colby were singing and playing. i though she must have overdone it at mimis. shes fine.

45 min, give or take, from home molly throws up all over herself. i mean she was soaking wet.

we were on a stretch of road where there wasnt anywhere helpful to pull over, so i drove about 10 miles with a screaming vomit soaked 2 year old right behind me.

i found a gas station and got her cleaned up in the parking lot. she rode the rest of the way home in a coverless carseat with only her underwear on. also i had to ask forgiveness for driving almost 20 miles over the speed limit at times, but if she stayed on schedule we would have had one more incident before making it home had i observed the speed limit signs. for that i am sorry. kind of.

oddly enough i was much more graceful with the vomit experience than with the pee experience. i have my theories but i wont bore you with them. just know that, although i came out smelling like vomit in the literal sense, figuratively it was nothing but rosey. :)

she did throw up one more time but it was at 3am on our bedroom floor.

allen took my car to get cleaned out the next day. we stayed home and watched t.v. in our pajamas. i did manage to get some schoolwork done with colby as molly slept till 10am.

as of now everyone is healthy. pray with me that it stays that way! i'm done with sick for awhile.

SUNDAY, october 11th

this is how dorothy rode all the way to mimis. that cant be comfortable.

MONDAY, october 12th

papa's already tired? the party hasnt even started!

TUESDAY, october 13th

colby and riley threw money into the wishing well at the zoo.

colby meant business.

WEDNESDAY, october 14th

a little early morning pajama playtime. this is obviously before molly started feeling bad.

THURSDAY, october 15th

no picture. sorry.

FRIDAY, october 16th

we took a last minute trip to the childrens museum. i call this the bubble wall. so cool.

SATURDAY, october 17th

the best present ever. :)

have a blessed week! stayhealthy!!!!

project 365, week 41

what a week, what a week!

i'll get right to the pictures.

SUNDAY, october 4th

on the way to church sunday night i saw a turtle crossing the road. i couldnt stand to leave it, so the kids and i saved the say and performed a turtle rescue mission. theres a park with a duck pond right by the church (i'm sure thats where he was coming from), so we returned him to the grass by the water. mission accomplished. we were a little late to church, but i think thats an ok reason. :)

MONDAY, october 5th

i looked back at the kids in the midst of all our monday errand running and saw this.....

TUESDAY, october 6th

we finally started blocking some of the scenes this week. yay!! this is what makes me excited about the show. this and dancing, which we havent done much of yet. hopefully soon!

WEDNESDAY, october 7th

colby started running fever when we got home from church. he went from normal to 102 in about half an hour. i called my best friend lauren whos a pediatric nurse practitioner, and she did not have good news; first sign of swine flu.



THURSDAY, october 8th

i took colby to the dr. at 9:30am and they put him on tamiflu to treat for swine flu. 104 fever and very red sore throat. i got home and found molly curled up in daddys lap. at 2pm she was fine temperature wise. by 2:45 it had shot up to 103. back to the dr. same story for her. i'm the proud mother of two swine flu kiddos. yay for that.




FRIDAY, october 9th
we literally laid around all day. what else are we gonna do, right? i did manage to take a shower but other than that my day pretty much looked like this.

SATURDAY, october 10th

a cold front blew in last night making the weather appropriately fall-ish. allen got the autumn decorations out of the attic and the kids helped me decorate the house for fall--my favorite season!!!

the kids are feeling much better. i havent had to give them anything for fever today, and the 'breathing issues' that are supposed to go along with swine flu seem to be staying away thus far. i'm hoping we're done.

we're supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon for houston. allens brother and his wife and daughter are visiting from canada and we had plans to stay a few days to see them since we only get to do so once a year at the very most. with the flu bug in our house, though we may not be going till monday or tuesday. the kids have to be fever free for 24 hours before we can do anything of significance, so we're praying that they will remain fever free for the rest of the day and tomorrow as well. that will make them officially 'well'.

have a great week!!!

project 365, week 40

i have to confess i'm tired and cranky right now. i'm not sure why. maybe hormones. maybe yucky weather.

at any rate, i'm posting my pics and going to bed!

SUNDAY, september 27th

i downloaded a few of the songs i have to sing in ANNIE. the music is a bit too high for me, so i'm trying to get my voice used to it. i know it'll be ok, but i'm a little worried if i'm being honest about it.

MONDAY, september 28th

molly and colby got balloons at the grocery store today and of course molly let hers go and it floated up to out skylight in the kitchen. allen manged to get it down with a paint roller pole and a ladder. i was quite impressed, and molly was grateful.

TUESDAY, september 29th

my friend lauren and i took the kids to the waco zoo today. she has an almost 2 year old daughter, who is getting to the age where she enjoys doing this kind of stuff, and she doesnt need the morning nap anymore, so we're able to do little day trips together. we had a great time. i hadnt taken the kids to the waco zoo since probably may. the weather was perfect for it.

WEDNESDAY, september 30th

tuesday evening was my parents 30th anniversary party. molly woke up in the middle of the night (wednesday a.m.) and threw up. i guess something didnt sit well with her because she was perfectly fine after that. allen gave her a hug before he put her back in bed (we had to bathe her, change the sheets, the whole nine yards), and she fell asleep as soon as her head hit his shoulder, poor thing.


THURSDAY, october 1st

i went to the dress rehearsal of Man of LaMancha at the theatre. it was sooooo good!! i know several people in it, but even putting that aside, the talent was amazing, and the set and light design incredible. i'll hopefully get to see it again before it closes. this picture isnt great, but i didnt want to distract with my flash.

FRIDAY, october 2nd

friday is one of allens long days in the fall. the youth group has parking lot duty on friday nights (we're across from the high school, so we charge $3 to the visiting team to park in our lot and the money goes to youth missions), so allen doesnt come home. molly really wanted to see daddy, so we took our dinner up there and hung out for about an hour. i'm not sure who had more fun, the youth kids or my kids.

SATURDAY, october 3rd

i had rehearsal this afternoon and allen is gone all day for baylor youth day in waco. dinner was mac n cheese. i put broccoli in it to make my self feel like a better mother.

have a great week!!