Fun past couple of days.....all 3 jumping on the bed after a bath . They were excited b/c I've been making them split up. They've built a homeless shelter in our backyard..of course they have an awesome fort but seem to enjoy the trash fort better...so far we haven't gotten in trouble from the HOA-killjoys

End of Feb. Activites

A friend asked about the blog which has prompted me to write (thanks J) ....apparently it's been 2 weeks....so much for weekly. Kids were out of school for President's Day on Mon. 16th. Zoey spent the night which involved 2 trips to the park. They had fun. I was getting dinner on the table ....felt like a waiter at Waffle House...and Zoey looked at me and said "REE =becca you are skating on thin ice" out of the blue...she cracks me up. They all listened well and went to sleep in the same room with no commotion. Coleman started baseball again...my dad played catch with him and was amazed at the difference in his skill in just a yr. Paul thought the same when he played catch on Sunday. Coleman has had more school work this week and has demonstrated a GREAT attitude (which he let me know "I"ve been having a good attitude lately, haven't I mommy?") He has had less play...which I wish they could get off the bus and play all afternoon but has been very mature about it. Also, he is back downstairs in his room...talking to us on the walkie-talkie. Coleman has a very tender heart. Walker was having a 2 yr. old moment and I had decided this was a battle I needed to address and win with him..(i'll get to that later) Walker was in trouble from both Paul and I and had been in time out 2x , sent to his room, and a swat on the bottom. Walker is in his room and we are all in the kitchen and Coleman is doing his homework and I notice he starts to cry. After repeatedly asking, he finally said "I feel sorry for Walker..I don't like for him to get in trouble.." He cried on/off....course we felt bad and told him that we didn't like getting on to Walker. Anyway, he's a sweet child.
Olivia....nothing major. She got to go to Morgan's and Bruester's ice cream last week which was a super treat for her. Had a b-day party at Ava's- saw a kangaroo, alligator, monkey...she had a great time, and had a playdate today with Ansley and Isabella. They did arts and crafts , imag. play Star Wars. She loves to to anything with arts/crafts...paint, jewels, making books. She really has wanted some Polly Pockets and she said I'll wait for my b-day (which is in August). For the past yr. , I've been encouraging the older 2 to save their $ for toys/things they want when it's not their b-day/christmas..which has worked out well for me at the store and begging for stuff. And, started with the 3 containers...10% giving, 10%savings, 80%keep/spend/live and tell them if you can get this down now you prob. won't have $ problems. Been trying to teach/exp lain that everything belongs to God, comes from God, so we need to make good choices with not only our $ , but our possessions, and time. Doing everything we do to honor God. The virtue for this month is wisdom...."knowing what is best when you are put to the test" so many things to teach and model..I hope I do a little of it well.....live it not just teach it. Ok, back to the story...all that to say I don't buy them extra stuff much. So I got her some Polly Pockets...her expression of pure excitement and unbelief was so worth it! I told her I wanted to surprise her and that I loved she was a part of our family and I appreciated her sweet spirit, helpfulness, and she doesn't ask for stuff constantly but most of all just b/c I love her. Well, the rest of the day..she told everyone and she glowed!
Walker.........is going thru a phase..have some "2 yr. old moments-" "Hush , Mommy" (in his deep voice-trying to be funny), "Shush dear". Visiting his boat at Target each week...we have to go by where it is and he remembers..."Dat's my boat..no one get it" He understands he has to wait until his b-day to get it. Little more sassy....telling me no, or I tell him he can do something he has asked for and he then says no or throws himself on the floor. He is repeating ANYTHING you say which has me trying not to slip up..even saying "crap"
Caleb is thinking he's rockin' the walking now. He "runs" now when I crawl after him "going to getcha". Several encounters with the toilet-enough said. Very into imitating..high squeal, we squeal, growling, lays his head on your shoulder so you'll blow on his neck, put his forehead/cheek on your lips so you'll kiss him.
Church last week was "he's got the whole world in his hands"....my summary was "america thinking"that God is only in the good and God must be not be involved when things go bad, but in the Bible God was definitely working in terrible situations...so as God followers can we believe that God is in it when He's not tangible or moving in a way we can see. Gave the ex. of the preacher -Otis Moss who grew up as an orphan, black in middle GA in the 1950's and experienced great prejudice but kept his faith.., worked with MLK Jr., and spoke with Andy standing in line at the National Prayer Service for Pres. Obama...said that ALL things work together for good to them that love God....but sometimes Rev.Stanley He takes longer than we'd like and Andy said a few min. later Pres. Obama came around the corner and embraced Otis Moss who had experiences the worse of American behav. to the 1st African American Pres. Andy said " I was a mess" so that helped me....that even though I feel that God cannot possible be in this b/c things seems bad...He is.

"

Valentine and Caleb's B-day

Theses are some of the things that I want to remember from Walker this week. At Barnes and Noble for story time sitting on that little bench paying so close attention to the story, singing and using hand motions with the songs, going up on stage when the woman asked for volunteers..looking at me for permission. Looking at the bucket of crayons spilled on the stage...saying "Dat's a BIG mess". Getting books off the shelf and saying "this is a GREAT book". He didn't understand why were leaving B&N without any books. Decided to go the library where he wanted to get his "big green tractor book" of course it was checked out and a very nice librarian man asked how we were and Walker told him "my tractor book gone..it's bye bye" so he helped us find some new tractor books and Walker held the books to his chest and very sincerely said "Tank you" He reminded me I didn't buckle him in. "Am I next" when I was changing Caleb's diaper . "my jammies are so soft in my hand" Putting his laundry up in his drawers happily and volunteering. Leaving playgroup at Maress' and saying "Walker had a great time" I love it he refers to himself in the 3rd person. " my hurt me" " Wivy (or Coleman ) bein' ugee to me or mean to me" Looking around the corner with Paul in the bathroom and telling him "good job, daddy" Saying "i'm mommy, you walker...get out of my bed " as I"m lying in bed and I told him to go wash my clothes and fix me something to eat and he switched back quickly.
Caleb turned 1 on the 13th....had nana, poppa, april , uncy, zoey, elyse, and kiddos over for pizza and cake....did some light decorations more for the older kids..my rule..you must know it's your b-day in order to get the full decoration treatment. Caleb dived into the cake after almost burning his hand. He's toddling around and babbling and loves to spit out his food all over..that's his latest trick
Went to the kid's valentine's parties...they are still so excited when I go to their class. Typical stuff..decorating cookies, making crafts.
I was having a stressful Mon. night....doing 2 homework activites in 2 different rooms, cooking dinner, tracking down a renegade 2 yr. old with a water bottle..I was wondering why everything was wet, cooking dinner (I'm using cook and dinner terms very loosely) , and dealing with a very grouchy, tired, hungry baby. I think Paul was working late. The baby was holding onto my pant leg screaming and and I placed him once again in the family room with toys and tried to get him interested and walked away...here he crawled after me until Olivia got his attention..and I looked in there b/c it was quiet and she was entertaining him and making him laugh...meanwhile Coleman had Walker in the other room playing with him...my stress level started going down. So, I went and got our special plate and put it on the table for Olivia and told her what a big help she was and I hadn't even asked her ..she had a helper's heart that night ...she was delighted and wanted to know when the plate would come down again..I prob. don't use it enough. Now there are plenty more times when I lose it, yell, or don't have patience and humble going to them and saying Sorry mommy wasn't patient and lost her "temperature" (liv's term) but it was a nice night. Played charades this week...kid's loved it. Olivia's was spider and everyone was guessing all around it when Walker jumped up and said "SPIDER"..we all started laughing....very funny to see me trying to act the Battle of Jericho.
Coleman telling us that he know what courage, leadership, and wisdom were in class...the teacher asked him how he knew these terms and he said my daddy "teached" me
Olivia still praying for G-ma Gallugher (who is dead) that she'll be good in heaven and not throw things at people.
I told myself in the hospital w/Caleb it was going to go quick ..but the newborn stage, feeding, sleepless night stretched out endlessly before me but here we are....a year later....I'm looking forward to much more sleep.

End of Jan. Activites

We survived Coleman's 8th b-day although he got in trouble the night before for "not listening" ( for the upteenth time that night )I was decorating the house that night while grumbling about ungrateful kids but when he got up the next morning and said "wow" all was forgiven. He loved his 500 facts about animals book and the bag of Dove chocolates. I told him he could have as many chocolates as he wanted that day. Of course, he asked "Can I have one after I finish my sausage biscuit?" To which I replied, " of course it's your birthday". His smile was brilliant. I must describe his favorite breakfast which is 2 biscuits, 2 sausage patties, cheese slice and honey. He compiles all this into a double decker sandwich which is very messy We decorate the house esp. the kitchen with streamers, balloons, and decorations. The tackier the more the kids love it and we put banners outside with balloons...they love to look at it when they come back by on the bus. (we always wait about 4-5min. for the bus to turn around and head back to the school and we stand on the porch and wave.....I'll be so sad when they don't want us to wait and wave to them....and most days I get teary eyed watching Coleman waving both hands as fast as he can and Olivia waving and as far as I can see them as I walk down the front walk...I keep waving until the bus is out of site in case they can still see me....I've gone off on a tangent :D...AND they are both still not embarassed to kiss and hug us at the bus stop before they head off...it's absolute sweetness) OK , back to the day. Paul ran up a cookie cake for his class and Walker and I went up at lunch and smuggled in Chick-fil-A (i take it out of the bag and put in ziploc baggies in his lunch bag ...while I have my large Chick-fil-A coke walking in...so far...we haven't been "caught". It's ridiculous they serve pizza, chicken nuggets, fries , and ice cream in the cafeteria but you are not "allowed" to bring in fast food. All right , there is my rant. Rest of the day was preparing for his rib dinner and making his cake ( my 2nd attempt...my last attempt was his 2nd birthday and it looked AWFUL) so I've always bought cakes so in the spirit of Dave Ramsey I made a sheet cake and after consultation with my sister-in-law and Jennifer (the great cake decorating queens in my life) made a jersey cake with M&M detail ....it turned out great (I will have to say Paul help me ice it and gave me a great start ). Dinner was great with Nanna, Poppa, Uncy, Aunt April, Zoey(the ever popular cousin), and our family. It's nice to have family close to celebrate. Coleman loved all his gifts.. $ from Meme and Aunt Sherri, outing with Nana Poppa, volcano and space shuttle kit and the surprise whittling set from uncy, april , and zoey, and the Wii star wars lego set from us. Walker was obsessed with presents and kept asking where his presents were. I also received a birthday gift as Walker went home with Nana...at one point when we were getting things ready for them to leave I couldn't find Walker and my dad said he's already in our van ready to go...he loves to go to their house and my very generous sister-in-law took Caleb home. It was lovely to get the 2 older kids in bed and Friday by myself was GLORIOUS to run errands and meet a friend for lunch.
Stone/Snow Mountain..........3 friends came over at 3:30 to go play in the snow and tube. While we were packing they were playing Wii and they decided to skip Snow Mtn. and stay at home and play Wii....IF I had only known that would have been great but rustled them into the van b/c I had paid for the tickets with a promise to return early and play more Wii. It was a fun time b/c the boys had fun..but I thought about how many parties my mom had planned -paybacks ;D. I was exhausted by 9:00 and in bed while Paul took the boys home and so relieved it wasn't a sleepover. Birthday week-end continued with Coleman having unlimited t.v., Wii time, and no chores and freedom over food choices (within the house)

Things I want to remember about Coleman:
1) He'll come up behind me and rub my back and say "How are you doing mom?"
2) He'll come up to just get a kiss
3) He'll spend hours working on small clay creations...birthday cake, grapes, pizza
4) He is very generous with the younger kids...making them laugh, helping when they are crying, helps buckle/unbuckle, helps hold Walker's hand in stores and keeps Walker from having a melt down.
5) I think he tends to get frustrated like his mom with new activites if he doesn't right off understand it.
6) I love lying in bed, snuggled up watching t.v.
7) He tries to cheat for me in Sorry so I won't lose
8)Watching him interact with Olivia-they seem close and love playing with each other (for the most part)
9) Comparing our hand sizes
10)Talking about getting older...and he'll move away someday..." no I won't mommy..I want to live with you"
11) Telling me how he took up for his friend on the playground who was getting ganged up on.
12) says crashcan, lose instead of use, injury instead of energy

Success with potty training....Walker has been out and asked to go to the potty ..no accidents while out but does have some accidents at the house....he is totally trained it seems with the poop...celebrate the small victories. This morning he was negotiating it seemed to go to Monkey Joes if he went to the potty. He listens very well (alot of the time) and asks or brings me a fruit bar /fruit snack and asks permission to eat it. Says please/thank you without prompting alot. I really enjoy running errands with him by ourselves (caleb at home napping with dad working at home). Walker enjoys getting out, seeing the world, asking questions, talking to everyone he sees...he delights me and makes me laugh. He likes to snuggle after nap time..."hold you too, or hold me too" Although when tired, he is known to throw himself on the floor with drama.

Olivia is very tuned in to my moods...which is a sad thing sometimes. When I am stressed or getting on to them..she very quickly apologized and gets to whatever I've asked her to do and she usually fits in a quick.."thank you for this delicious food" "or thanks for being a great mommy" ( and not in a manipulative way) all of which make me look at my attitude and tone....meanwhile Coleman is usually in full melt down trying to explain why he did what he did instead of saying "sorry " "yes m'am" She still prays for Grandmas G. in heaven that she'll be nice and not throw things at people and pray for Po that he'll be OK in heaven and not lonely. She seems to take in the life lessons I occasionally try to teach...we are working on inward beauty...it saddens me she already doesn't like things about herself..that have seemed to come from her peers on how she is different. She wants straight hair and desparately dislikes her curly, frizzy hair and unfort. she has the Ussery hairy arm gene which all the women.....aunts, cousins have. I try to explain that she is in good company and if it wasn't her hairy arms it would be something else. I guess she said "I was the hairy-est in K and now in 1st grade" and made some comments that her friends had made. She was trying to describe something that you could put on her arms to take her "fur" (that's what she calls it) off. I explained she was too young for that but someday she could do that. I said well at least it's blonde hair. We did the whole it's not what's on the outside deal but inside.

And lastly, Mr. Caleb started officially walking Jan 27th. Even after the 1st 3 kiddos it's still just a thrill to see them learn to walk and maintain balance and then swagger around bowlegged. He has been taking 1 step but went b/t Paul and I with 2-4 steps several times. He is developing a temper of sorts. He will crawl over and get on 1 knee and reach up for you to pick him up. Takes it all in..esp. when the older kids are home. He loves to go in their rooms and play...esp. when they are there. Switched him to a forward facing car seat about 10 days early and he seem mesmorized by his new view. He is eating mostly table food with some Stage 3 thrown in for convenience for me but his fave right now is just a piece of bread broken up in pieces.

Whew...that was a long one but got some good memories down.