A History Lesson (according to Emma)...

Tonight, we were getting ready for bed and Emma was chattering, as usual.

"Hey Mom...Did you know that Henry Home Lincoln was our 1st President?"

"No, Emma - George Washington was our first president."

"Mom, but we learned at school that Henry Home Lincoln..." I interjected here..."You mean, Abraham Lincoln?"

"Yeah, Henry Home Lincoln...He was the first president. Then, they shot him in the back. Did you know that they shot him in the back, Mom?" *She said this in an outraged tone of voice.

"Yes, Emma...I know that they shot him in the back."

"Well, Mom...after they shot him in the back, did you know that they put him in a penny?"

History according to Emma...(6 years old and in kindergarten). I think I may need to have a talk with her teacher about the accuracy of the lessons that she is teaching. Either that, or I'd better go and have Emma's hearing tested...again!

You want to be a WHAT when you grow up???

Emma came into the room the other day and said, "Mommy, when I grow up, first I will be a dictionary and then I want to be a ballerina."

"A dictionary? Are you sure, Emma?"

Zach chimed in..."Emma, the word is missionary, not dictionary!" Emma disagreed with him for a few minutes until I told her that he was right.

"Emma, a dictionary is a book - a missionary is what you want to be." She thought for a minute, then said, "Okay...when I grow up, I will be a MISSIONARY and then a ballerina!"

Que Sera

"When I was just a little girl, I asked my mommy, "What shall I be? Shall I be pretty, shall I be rich?" She told me tenderly..."Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be. The futures not ours to see, Que Sera, Sera. What will be, will be.""

It has been a rough, rough week here. Snow days have been chewing up my weekdays, the days that I can actually get things done around here. My children are bored, and tired of being stuck at home. The sun has gone missing - has anyone else noticed that there has not been much sun lately? It is really difficult to love winter when there is no sun, no flowers to enjoy, no trees with their leaves, and lots of dormant brown grass.

We have been trying new meds for Reagan and he decided to wake me up at 3:50 am - bright and early. He was all set to go to school - not interested in going back to sleep...I had an Excedrin Migraine for breakfast.

Succeeded in getting the kids off to school without any mishaps.

Then, my 11 year old set of laundry utensils (aka the washer and dryer) bit the dust. Well, technically it was the dryer, but the washer is right behind. We were planning on getting a new set with our tax refund (hopefully there is one) but not quite this early. Try hauling 8-10 loads of laundry to the laundry mat to get it done...A BIG, HUGE shout out to my sister, Kristen, who let me do my laundry at her house today...a special place in heaven awaits her...We went and found a new set today at Home Depot - to be delivered next Wednesday, just in time for laundry day again! I am super excited about the prospect of being able to wash and dry ALL of our clothes in one day again! It took 2-3 hours for me to do just ONE load with our old set.

Yesterday, right after the dryer died, the baby started projectile vomiting all over me, the couch, herself, the floor...you get the picture. I fed her bananas for breakfast for the first time, apparently her system couldn't handle them. I had tons of clothes, towels and blankets that were covered in this stuff, and I couldn't wash them, because the dryer was kaput. Ironic.

In the meantime, I had two 2 year olds running around my house all day - helping me however they could see fit. Kristen went somewhere with Mom all day, and I took Kade - to keep Alyssa busy and entertained. My day went like this. Baby was throwing up...Alyssa "Oh, you frow up? She frow up. Yucky. Ew. Frow up." I asked (begged, really) them to bring me a burp rag that was on the floor in front of them so that I could get off the couch without more goo hitting the floor. Kade responded by bringing me a dog toy. Gee, Thanks. You shouldn't have! After a few minutes, Alyssa got the idea and brought me the rag - still disgusted with the mess that her baby sister made.

By evening, I was exhausted. I stepped over the childgate that led to our room (put up so the above mentioned 2 year olds couldn't raid my makeup, the toilet paper, and other fun things in our master bedroom). The gate was not put up in a stable manner, and it fell - I fell with it. My elbow is bruised, my knee, my jaw, and some other less mentionable parts. My pride was bruised a bit as well.

I fell asleep on the couch and slept like a baby until 1:30 am - when I woke myself up and toddled off to my comfortable bed.

I fell off the wagon...

The blogging wagon, that is!

Due to the increased demands of school starting and juggling 5 munchkins, along with a more rigorous work schedule, I have had "blogger's falling behind" syndrome.

I plan to resume more regular updates when stuff calms down after the holidays...and I also smell a new camera in my future...maybe Santa will be good to me this year? We shall see!

In the meantime, updates will be trickling in...

Back to your regularly scheduled program.

Oh my goodness, she's already TWO!!!

It seems like just yesterday when Miss Alyssa Claire was born - she grew into a little girl so quickly...

Alyssa is a fun little girl to have around. She is very independent - dresses herself, tries to change her own diaper (not so fun), changes shoes often, does little chores, chatters incessantly, watches Mamma Mia! (it is actually her favorite movie, and she dances to the songs, too!), nurtures anything smaller than she is.

I am really enjoying watching her cute personality emerge - some days are more enjoyable than others!

We had a family party for her birthday last Sunday evening. I made a ladybug cake - turned out good, but it was really a pain in the neck to do! She got a new scooter (to grow into, it is a bit big), pajamas from Aunt Kristen, a puppy dog from Aunt Karen, and a little cd player (fake) from Grandma and Grandpa...

Tonight, on her actual birthday, we let the kids decorate their own cupcakes.
She got another pair of pajamas (a girl can't have too many, you know!) and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD - she thought it was great that she got her very own movie...nearly took it to bed with her! As soon as she opened the jammies, she wanted to put them on - we've got a little clotheshorse on our hands!

I can't imagine our family without our sweet little Alyssa! She constantly has us in amazement and hysterics over her various antics!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Alyssa Claire! We love you so much....
P.S. This is a picture of Emma's cupcakes (bleck)...have a little bit of cupcake with your decorations, right? We had a blast!

"I'm Gonna Die..." Poor Little Guy...

On September 3rd, we took Reagan to Vanderbilt (again) to have surgery on his throat. He has never been able to form his words correctly because of a submucous cleft palate (repaired last year) and his uvula not being long enough to close properly. This caused most of his words to come through his nose, which made it nearly impossible to understand him.

The surgery wasn't until 3:30 pm, which was pretty crummy because that meant that he could not eat all day long. He was allowed to drink juice until 10:30 am, though, so that helped a bit. We also bribed him with a trip to Target and let him pick out a few GI Joe action figures.

When we got to Vandy, he was scared. He remembered his last surgery and was not cooperative about getting his vital signs taken, etc. so they decided to do all of that after he had his "happy juice" medication that calmed him down and readied him for the surgery.

A child life specialist came in to talk to him - she had a bag of medical equipment so that she could explain things to him. She pulled out a blood pressure cuff and asked him if he knew what it was for. "I'm gonna die..." he exclaimed. "I don't want to die..." She was a bit taken aback and we pretended to take his Mickey Mouse's vital signs.

After that, they gave him his medication and he started to get a bit strange. Reagan on a normal day can be funny, but Reagan on Happy Juice is hysterical! He gets very silly, laughs a lot, and says weird things. When it really kicked in, he couldn't walk a straight line without falling over, so we put him in the bed with the rails up.

The surgery went well, it was so sad after he came out, though. He was in extreme pain and I left him about 9 pm with Clay. We expected him to be in the hospital for days like last time, but he was able to come out of it more quickly and we got him home two days later.

The day that we went to pick him up, Emma went up to him and said, "Talk to us, Reagan...Can you talk normal now, like us?" Funny thing is, Emma's concept of normal and our concept of normal are completely different! Go figure!

Happy Anniversary!

I guess this is another "time flies when you're having fun" post...On August 23rd, we celebrated our 13th Anniversary! It doesn't feel like it has been that long at all, but if you look at our wedding pics and how young we were (20 and 21) and our pics now and how old we are (you do the math, LOL!) it definitely looks like we've been married a while.

Clay brought me some beautiful coral roses. We each gave each other a trip - he got to go white water rafting with some of the other guys in the ward, and I get to go to Lexington, KY with my mom and sister next weekend to see some historical sites. I know, lame that we gave each other the gift of getting away, but whatever works, right?

This year, we were going to go to a movie, but there wasn't anything really good playing. At the last minute, we decided to go miniature golfing - it has been eons since either of us went, and we have never actually gone together. We ended up having a really good time! It was a beautiful, cool, August night and we talked (instead of watching a movie and not talking). Afterward, we went to Steak and Shake and shared a small meal (and a mint, chocolate cookie shake) MMMMMMmmmmm!