January 31

Lucy isn't walking quite yet, but she will take 5 or 6 steps before falling and crawling. But she is attempting to walk more every day! Soon she will be running around and keeping up with the others!

70 degrees Tuesday, crazy winds and tornado sirens at 4am yesterday, high of 38 today, snow tomorrow. We get to experience all the seasons in a week in the Ohio Valley!  

January 30

We had unseasonably warm weather yesterday. The sun never came out, so it didn't get as warm as I expected. Nonetheless, we needed a change of scenery, so we went to the zoo. Then I dropped the girls off with Mamaw Pat at gymnastics and took the little ones home for a nap. I woke Elliott after nearly a 4 hour nap (he usually doesn't go longer than 2 hours). I am suspecting an ear infection. I noticed him playing with his ears at the zoo and he said he had "bugs in them". Tonight he said that his ear tickled. Oy!

 

 

 These little guys were worn out.

So were these little guys.

January 29

4 days until Disney! We are pretty excited!

January 28

 

Life Skills 101? The girls gave Gus a bath today. I wouldn't say he loved it, but he didn't try to escape either.

January 27

 

Elliott decided he wanted to sit on the bench near Daddy at Kat's basketball game yesterday (Clay is one of the coaches)

 I got to visit with Aimee and Baby Eligh yesterday too. He's so sweet and tiny. Brenna, he told me that he can't wait to meet you, but that I am his favorite.  :P

Yesterday afternoon Mamaw and Bapaw babysat the kids so Clay and I could go to a UK basketball game. It was our Christmas present and it was alot of fun! I hadn't been to a game since before Julia was born. It's kind of bittersweet to go back now because campus has changed so much. When I saw how young the UK students looked, I felt like an old lady. Julia is now closer to being in college (10 years) than I am from being out of it (graduated almost 13 years ago). Somebody stop time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 26

The kids were so excited to have daddy home! And Clay is so happy to be home! He had a rough two weeks.

Lucy is so excited to see Daddy! In the middle of the night she cried out, so he went in there to rock her for a minute and lay her back down. She didn't like him leaving - she cried for an hour! She missed her Daddy.

January 25

Update:

• Clay is on a plane as I type this - 5 hours and counting!
• Eligh was born! Aimee and baby are healthy and great!
• I booked a last minute flight to Disney - Yeah for not having to spend 28 hours in a car with the kids!!!

 It IS a great day!


Original Post:
Lots of excitement today!

• Clay comes home tonight! 
• One of my favorite people in the world, Aimee, is having a baby today!!!
• And... we are down to 8 more days until Disney! Woot!

It's going to be a great day!

Mamaw and Bapaw had us over for a yummy dinner last night. I told Kat to let Mamaw pull her tooth out for her (I don't like wiggly teeth). Mamaw told her to twist it around as far as she could. Next thing you know, Kat's holding the tooth in her hand!

Lucy fed (smeared) herself mashed potatoes. 

I don't know what she is saying, but she sure does!

 

January 24

Clay comes home tomorrow (Now I have the song from Annie stuck in my head)! There will be 5 happy people here tomorrow evening.

The kids made THIS video over the weekend. It cracks me up. It captures Julia being bossy, Kat being sassy, both fighting, and the dance moves (which they get from their Daddy). I can't watch it and not laugh - especially at Elliott. In Kat's words, "It's e-larious"

 

 

 Don't ask me what I was thinking. Not sure I was (wink). I told the kids to each grab a roll of tp, and then told them to tp a room. Kat said, "This doesn't sounds like a good idea." About 2 minutes later she said, "This is AWESOME!" It really was fun. I am counting it as PE for the day. :P   It was something spontaneous, inexpensive, and fun. I call it a success!

January 23

Two days until Clay comes home - not that we are counting down around here or anything!

Do you see that little nozzle in between the faucet and the sponge? Apparently when that is full of lint, the dishwasher won't drain properly. I learned that last night, thanks to a friend. I was having a pity party over the little things that have not gone right since Clay has been gone, but I put on my big girl panties last night and played plumber and fixed the dishwasher.  

Kat's getting excited for Disney! My favorite part of this article is when she talks about "Allison Wonderland".


Everyone playing together and getting along! Worthy of a picture.

January 22

Movie Night! We have had quite a few of these lately. We are trying to watch all of our Disney movies before our trip. Having sick kiddos and the cold weather makes it that much easier to curl up on the couch in blankets and snuggle.Temperature here yesterday? High of 28 degrees. Orlando? 74 degrees. Yep, I am READY! 11 more days!

January 21

 Kat started crying about her throat again yesterday. Mamaw Pat came over this afternoon and kept the other kiddos so I could take Kat to the pediatrician's office. That place in the middle of cold and flu season is enough to push this germaphobe over the edge. That is the most crowded I have ever seen it! She has strep  - again (or still?). I was just relieved it wasn't the flu. 

Since Kat wasn't feeling great, we did a few subjects in school and then spent an hour vegged out on the couch watching the inauguration. Kat wasn't impressed, but Julia seemed excited about parts of it.

January 20

 Tea Party

 Uno!

 Kat's team - Can I just tell you that I am so proud that my girl doesn't seem phased in the least that she is the only girl on the team?!? She's a stud!

 Praying before the game. I am pretty impressed with the Upward Sports program. Kat has learned so much more in this league than the YMCA. Plus it is fun! Watch the video below for their introduction before yesterday's game.

 Hide and seek with Nonna.

Nonna heads back home today. I think we have worn her out!

January 19

 Julia went to Charlotte's house yesterday and learned how to sew a pillow case. She is proud!
 

 Kat's front tooth is getting really loose. I call her "Crooked Tooth Kat" (sounds like a pirate name). 

Lucy has figured out how to get in the rocking chair by herself... but she hasn't figured out how to get out of it.

Nonna arrived late in the afternoon yesterday.

January 18

Elliott woke up without a fever yesterday morning. He did complain of a headache in the evening, but was fine after some Tylenol.

 

 Kat types 18 words per minute (100 % accuracy). Not bad for a 6 year-old. She really likes this typing program (Typing Instructor for Kids).

 The girls haven't played dress-up in quite awhile, but they had fun playing princess yesterday.

 

 Hey Mom, this food tastes really good! Why does this taste like Gus's breath?

 Seriously can't keep her out of his food! 

 

 

Last night Julia and Kat helped cook dinner. We are studying Kitt Kitredge, the American Girl that lived during the Great Depression. I found this cookbook online and we made the macaroni and cheese recipe. That blob of brown is meatloaf. It didn't come out of the pan very pretty (Is there such a thing as pretty meatloaf?), but it was tasty. I know Clay, you are jealous of that "loaf of meat".

Elliott was playing the Michael Jackson Wii dance game and Lucy was dancing too.

January 17

Last night was "Layers Night" at AWANA. The girls each had on three shirts, three pairs of pants, and two layers of socks. Layers night should also be called, "Extra Laundry for Mommy Night".

 

 

 

We worked on an art project yesterday that was pretty easy and turned out cute. I got the idea from (drumroll please).... Pinterest.

My friend Tracy had mentioned on facebook that her boys were sick, so I asked what was wrong with them. They were running fevers. I made a comment that Elliott gets everything that is going around, and guess what!?! At 1am he woke me up crying that his head hurt. He had a 101 temp. Another friend of mine told me that he could be getting sick more frequently because the pneumonia really took a tool on his immune system. I don't know what is causing this, but he has been sick frequently this cold and flu season. This is his 3rd sickness since Christmas! The good news is that he seems to fight the virus fine on his own, he just gets sick easily. I think he is officially homebound until Disney. His 10 days of not going anywhere before we leave is now stretched to 16 days. I am not taking any more chances! Oh, and I plan to get some Vitamin C supplements now too. Anything else I am missing? I just want four healthy kids for a month. Just a month. Is that too much to ask?

January 16

Praise!!! 3 years ago in October of 2009, my friend Sara's little boy, Nate (4 years old at the time), was diagnosed with leukemia. Tomorrow he has his last chemo treatment! He has kicked cancer's butt! He's a super smart, courageous, awesome, and healthy 7 year-old first grader now!

Pray for Clay. He is miserable. He has gotten about 5 hours of sleep each night, is very homesick, is working about 15-16 hour days (no weekend breaks), and it is about 10-30 degrees where he is. Not much fun. He needs more sleep or he is going to get migraines. He will be gone at least 8  more days, possibly 10. Pray for 8!

 

I needed some peace and quiet last night, so I set up a few little stations for the kids. This was a big help!

 Mickey pancakes

 Elliott has been very independent this week. He has been getting himself dressed (even picking out his own clothes) for awhile. On his own, he has started brushing his own teeth (and putting the toothpaste on there), making his bed, putting away his laundry, combing his hair, and tucking himself in (that one I am fighting a little). When I try to help, he says, "I want to do it myself!".

 We met my friend Aimee today and she gave Elliott a bunch of hand-me-down clothes (THANKS BRENNA AND AIMEE!). When I try to get the girls to try on clothes for me, they complain and argue. My wee dude loved it! Isn't that backwards? He looks like a little thug in this picture. :P

 Kat and Julia are typing a newspaper article daily for Clay to keep him up-to-date on the news around here. This is what happened today and Kat type it up for her Daddy. Every time Clay goes out of town for an extended period, something happens to one of the kids or the van. I am cursed!This time the van had a nail in the tire. Hopefully the next 8-10 days are uneventful.