This morning Wendi called to see if she could drop Scrubs (their dalmatian) off at our house while she waited for housing to come inspect their house. They had a cleaning lady come yesterday and clean the entire house, an empty house, from top to bottom and she didn't want him to make a smudge anywhere (who could blame her?). And I was more than happy to have him come over to play with Brick.

Christopher asked me, after Wendi left, why Scrubs was at our house and I told him so he wouldn't get their house dirty. He said, "Oh, and our house is already dirty, so it's ok if he plays here."

Thanks buddy.

I was planning to use today to tackle the messes that we do have in the house. He just doesn't know that he's going to be helping me.

So there!!

Thursday night we had our residency banquet. It is the best night of the year b/c you get together with all of the residents and their spouses, dress up, leave the kids at home and have tons of laughs. This banquet started out like all the rest, a great meal, some funny and serious awards, followed up with some videos made by the faculty and each residency class. We sat with Matt & Tiffany, Eric & Andrea, Casey & Phil and Casey's dad. We laughed our way through dinner and then when it was time for the awards we learned that Brandon won the Gyn award (a hilarious one to win, but still an honor). I was so proud of him!!! I know he's a great doctor, but I was really glad to let others see that too. (Matt also won a big award and Tiff and I felt the guys were long overdue!)

Then it came time for the videos. The faculty did a great video with clips of their impression of each senior resident. (I missed the intern video b/c I had to run to the bathroom.) Brandon's class never got around to making a video so he and Dave came up with a spin off called Weekend Up-To-Date (SNL meets medicine) and it was great too. The night ended with the senior video which has never disappointed in their 3 years here. Of course they had to go and end it with the song by Green Day, "The time of our lives" and credits that included all of the things that happened during their three years here. Next thing you know they lights are on. I was starting to tear up and then when I looked at the table next to me and saw Joia sobbing I lost it. Her whole class jumped up and ran over to her and they all cried together. I just turned away until I could try to compose myself.

Now, I'm not a third year residency spouse, but I became an "honorary member" b/c I live between three of them and have hung out with them a LOT over the last two years. It has been a roller coaster of emotions for Brandon and I (mostly me, b/c well, I am a girl) over the last few months as we've tried to prepare for this class to move away from us. I can not begin to tell you the bond that these women have with each other. It is truly amazing!! Here they/we are:

Now, I can't write this post without writing a little about each of these women. I'll start from L to R just like the photo.

Jodi - She is the babysitter extraordinaire. The only one without children and was the babysitter of the group. If you ever needed her for anything she was there. She would go above and beyond whatever was asked of her. One of the sweetest people I have ever met. She would come babysit at 6:00 in the morning and then hang out with you and keep you company when you got home. The kids absolutely ADORED her and we never had any doubts about why. Heck, we all adored her! They are moving far away.

Sarah - Her sweet family was one of our neighbors. When Brandon was on a sailboat last year and was hit in the head knocking him in the water, she called me before I had a chance to call her and told me to bring the kids over so she could watch them for me. She is so kind and her husband always had us laughing and her oldest daughter was the girl of the bunch until everyone had #2. Adorable family!! They are moving far, far away.

Wendi - Oh how I wish that I could have known her for so much longer! When I first met Wendi she had just found out she was pregnant and just adopted a sweet baby boy. She was mostly stuck inside her house my first year here just trying to survive with two babies. But we became dear friends very quickly. It is going to be very hard for me to see them pull out of their driveway (another neighbor) when they move this summer. Our youngest babes could be twins, but we laugh and say we are glad they aren't b/c neither one of us could handle it. She has helped me see things through fresh eyes. We were in MOPS together and also in the same Bible study group. I will always laugh at the time a mover thought I was her returning to a friends' house that we were helping. Other than the fact that she is blonde and 6'3" and I'm brunette and 5'3", I swear we could be twins. They are moving far, far away.

Joia - Sweet, happy, Joia. Oh how I could go on about her too. She is one of the happiest, most creative, always up for a challenge, loveliest people I know. Our boys share the same birthday. She will literally find something that someone has thrown on the side of the road, take it home and make it into something awesome. If you are wanting a place to take your kids to play, she's the girl to call. She knows where every park and play area is. I have never seen this woman without a huge grin on her face and that is one of the many things I love about her. You can't help but feel better and happier when she's around. And I'm glad b/c she is going to be around for four more years. Yeah!!!

Andrea - She is the very first person I met when we came to visit the residency during our last year of medical school. She was extremely friendly and made me feel so welcome. I knew that if she was loving it so much, then I would too. She was so kind in letting me contact her while we were trying to move here and find out about different programs and churches in the area. I couldn't wait to get to know her more when we moved here and I'm glad I did. They are moving far away.

Tiffany - I'm not sure if I can write this one without crying and everyone knows it. (shoot, it's already started!) When we moved here, we met her parents before we met her and Matt. They were on a cruise with his family and we hung out with her parents and their son, William, while they were gone. The week they got home, we bonded instantly and haven't separated for two years. I don't even remember that period of of "should I call? will I seem too eager?" b/c we both just dove in head first. Our husbands are just as close as we are. Tiffany and Matt have been an answer to prayer for Brandon and I. It is hard to make couple friends that both people can love being around as much as the other person. I could say that about any of these women, but these two were "it" for us. (and I can say that without hurting anyone else's feelings b/c they knew it as much as we did) They live behind and a few houses down from us. I have even cut a path with the lawn mower just to walk to their house without stickers getting us. They are moving away.

They told us about our church. She got me in MOPS. She told me about Mother's Day Out and our boys have been in the same class for 2 years. The only reason we did not hang out with each other every single day for 2 years is b/c one of us was out of town, running a fever or had a virus. If one of these three things happened, the other was lost. If we didn't talk at least once a day (which I'm pretty sure it was more like at least 3 or 4 times a day) it's b/c one of us was out of town. And we have been known to talk at least once while out of town.

When she called me a few months ago to tell me that Matt might be going to Korea and she and the kids are staying here, she was crying and I was literally jumping up and down screaming. Christopher asked me why I was so happy and I told him William might not move and he looked at me like I was crazy b/c he didn't think William was ever moving to begin with. This was so huge that everyone came up and asked me just how excited I was. Then after way too many months of being told way too many different stories and a majority of the time thinking they were going to be here, they finally found out 3 weeks ago that they are moving to TX. I was just glad they had a final answer and that it was the one they originally wanted. I felt relief for them and didn't care about how I felt. Again, everyone came up and asked me how I was taking the news, but this time even they looked like they were going to cry for me.

I'm one of those people that it takes a while for things to sink in. The night of the banquet was when it hit me. I was sitting next to my best friend who was going to be leaving me in 2 weeks and I wasn't sure I could handle it. I'd already sobbed uncontrollably to Brandon several months ago about it. Our friends were leaving and what were we going to do about it?

They are the last family to move away and I'm dreading the day that July 8th rolls around. I'm not sure if I'm going to hide in my closet or be at their driveway, but I'm sure it will be the latter. I'm not looking forward to having to carry Christopher home with his tears running down my back b/c his best friend is not coming back in a week from vacation. I'm hoping that he won't get it and will carry me home instead. He started to get tears in his eyes when he saw the movers at Della's house and he didn't play with her nearly as much as William.

But God always has a way of providing us with just what we need, just when we need it. If it wasn't for Matt & Tiffany we wouldn't have our church and I wouldn't have met all the wonderful people who go there. God has also brought wonderful people to the residency (last summer and this summer) that I am looking forward to getting to know even better over this next year.

I'm going to miss those that are leaving and I really hope that we will stay in touch so I can hear how their experiences are going in their new homes (hello facebook again). But the thing that is going to be the hardest is not having the friends across the street from me or the friends behind me that we can literally run out the door and play with.

We are going to be the ones moving next summer. I just hope that it's going to be easier than this move is for us! Now, if Motrin would just get rid of crying headaches I'd be a whole lot better!

I woke up to find that Brick had gone to the bathroom on the floor, but it had been hours so it dried. Pulled out the cleaner and got it all up. Or at least enough for the moment. (I'm planning to rent the carpet cleaner from self-help one day while the kids are at school and do the whole living area. It's gross.)

Got myself and the kids dressed, couldn't find my flip flops, so had to change clothes b/c tennis shoes just don't work with a dress. No matter how casual the dress is.

Got everyone rushed out the door and went to pick up William. Rushed through Burger King b/c I didn't have time for breakfast thanks to the dog and the lack of shoes to be found in the house. Kids start asking why they didn't get anything and I did. (I'd already bought them breakfast once this week and nobody ate it.)

Brandon calls to see if I can bring him lunch after VBS b/c the cafeteria was closed today. Couldn't hear why, but knew I'd want lunch to if I were him so I agreed. Called my mom to see if she would be up for driving to D.C. with the kids and I next month b/c I found out the other day it will cost us around $1000 to fly there. I figured we could stop and see family on the way. Middle of our conversation my phone dies. I had 2 bars left. This happens WAY too often. (Now I just want a new phone.)

Arrive at the church and can't find Sophie's backpack anywhere. Can't find a single diaper anywhere either. At least I had a snack and a drink. Get the kids dropped off.

Go to all the rooms to do our last craft of the week and before we know it we are done! I had amazing people to work with and if we weren't going to be moving at this time next year I'd do it again in a heart beat. (Big compliment this week: someone asked me if I was a teacher b/c she thought I was doing a good job. It made my week!!)

Load up all the left over crafts and drop them off where they need to go and head to pick up the kids. I get Sophie and am relieved to find out she was nice today. (Yesterday I found out in a really nice way that our little attitude had come out. Great.) We go to get the boys from their rooms and then discover that I don't have my purse with the cards I need to pick them up. It is locked in the closet I'd been using all week and it's upstairs. We go up there. It's locked. We go back down and finally find someone that can help me. We go back up. Get my purse and go back down. I get the boys and we finally make it out to the car.

I drive through Burger King (again) and get lunch for Brandon. I run home and call him to tell him I'm on my way with food and my cell phone died so I'm calling from the house. He tells me, "Don't worry about it. I found something to snack on." I growl. (Yes, I actually growled.) He asks me what's wrong and I told him that I had his lunch in the car and I was bringing it to him. He missed that part of the sentence. He was glad he misunderstood me b/c he was still hungry. I told him I'd be there in 5 minutes. We drop his food off and I feel relief just seeing him. We discuss the yard sale I've been planning to have tomorrow and he talks me into putting it off until a later date. I'm glad b/c all I have done to prepare is make a list of the items in the house I want to sell. Nothing has been labeled, pulled out of hiding, no signs posted and no cash to make change with.

I love my husband.

We are home and I'm about to put Sophie down for a nap, give Christopher the iPod to play with and then crash on the couch with lunch and watch some more episodes of The Good Guys. (I found it yesterday and liked it. You should check it out if you are looking for a summer show to watch.) I'm a little sad that I won't be able to get rid of all the stuff I was hoping to never see again, but instead I think I'll take my little coupon to Joann's and get some more fabric so I can finally sew a project I've been trying to get to for a while now.

Now, if I can just get the kids to behave while I'm in there. Wish me luck!

One more day. I don't have any exciting stories to tell about the car ride there or home. It was mostly fake bodily noises and other things similar. Fun stuff, huh? It has really been a lot of fun, but I don't know how moms work 5 days a week and get anything else done. I have always had a huge respect for working moms and this week has just reinforced my feelings on the topic. Yesterday my neighbor Tiffany watched Christopher so I could finally get to the grocery store. I didn't get home until 5:30 and that's not my favorite time to shop for anything.

But I have to say that the worst part about this week (and the only bad thing) is that I really miss Brandon. He is on a really, really bad rotation that is making him work an insane number of hours. He doesn't get home until 7:00 at night and last night it was 8:00. He's there by 6:00 every morning too. Oh, and remember when I told you that he was going to be one of the chiefs his third year? It's been a really bad week for being chief. I know that he has to be there and I don't have a problem with it, but it seems like every... single... time that we have tried to call each other just to say hello and get/give a pep talk something goes off, either a child wailing or a "pager" buzzing and we don't get get through our "hey! how are you hanging in there?" Talking to each other for only 30 minutes a day is not good enough for two people that enjoy each others company like we do. He's on call Saturday too which really stinks b/c that means he really doesn't have a break for two weeks straight. Honestly, I don't know how he does it. Sometimes I just want to drop the kids off at a friend's house and go kidnap him and take him out for ice cream and not let him go back to work the rest of the day.

I feel terrible b/c I didn't get to give him a proper shout out for Father's Day. He is an INCREDIBLE dad to our kids and is always coming up with some way to make the day an adventure for them. I honestly can not tell you just how much Christopher and Sophie adore him. They literally start bouncing off everything when they find out he's on his way home and scream with sheer joy when he walks through the door. It's my favorite time of the day. I may be frustrated with the kids and look like I'm ready to whack someone, but I love seeing them attack their daddy when he walks through the door. Sophie can't wait to help him take his shoes off. Christopher can't wait to tell/show him the latest thing he has built. I feel a lump just typing this.

I'm really excited about tonight b/c we get to dress up a little and go to a banquet for all the residents. They do this every year at the end of the year and it is so much fun! You gather as couples (leaving the children with sitters) and have dinner together, watch hilarious videos that each class has made and give out some very funny awards to the graduating class members. Speaking of, I need to go get cleaned up while I have one kid asleep and the other distracted with a movie. Thank you so much to the Storeys for watching the kids tonight! We'll return the favor any time!

I usually delete forwards when I get them in my inbox, but I happened to open this one when trying to go through my emails. I thought it was hilarious and thought you moms out there would find it just as funny! I'm wondering if I will ever have to write a note to the teacher like this myself one day. I hope not! (Thanks Lisa for sending me this!)

I went to pick up the kids from their classrooms and found out a fun little tidbit when I got to William's room. I about wet my pants. I wanted to find out what William had to say about it so when we got to the car I asked the boys the usual questions:

Me: "Did you guys learn anything new at Bible school today?

C/W: "Yeah!!!"

William: "God's word is surprising!"

Me: "Great! What else did you learn?"

Christopher: "Paul had a snake and threw him in the fire."

Me: "What??? Was he ok?"

Christopher: "Yeah, God took care of him."

Me: "Good. William, did you go on the playground today?"

William: "Yes." (He tells me about how they played superheros and he pretended they were bad guys. He's really into superheros right now, it's cute!)

Me: "Did you play with any little girls?"

William: "Yeeeeessssssss." (he's grinning at this point)

Me: "Did you kiss her????"

William: "Yes." (huge grin by now)

Me: "You did?????"

William: "But don't tell my mommy and daddy. They might spank me. Please don't tell my mommy."

I laughed b/c I knew that his mommy would not spank him and his daddy would probably give him a high five. Oh, and the other little detail is that the little girl he kissed on the lips has been buddy-buddy with another little boy and that little boy is the one who told the teacher.

And so it all begins.

On the way home I asked the boys what they learned at Bible school, they said, "I don't know."
I asked them if they learned about Paul being on a ship during a storm, I got nothing.
I asked them if God comforted him while he was on a boat that was rocking and going crazy in the water and Sophie yells out, "Yeah! And dat man took Nemo and and and da boat and got 'em!"

At least 1 out of 3 paid attention to what happened in their class today.

Yup. I did it. (Breathe, Caroline!!!) But don't panic, I only trimmed it. And if I'm going to be honest, I did it about 3 weeks ago. I was waiting to see if Brandon noticed before I posted anything on here. Her hair was just becoming a mess and it wasn't a pretty mess either. If you pulled it down it would go halfway down her back, let go and it springs up into tight curls that were not fun to try to comb out.

So, we set up shop on my parents' driveway, plopped Sophie on a stool so she couldn't move and gave her some Oreos to make sure she sat still. I cut maybe an inch off the bottom and then layered the back a little. It was amazing how much the curl came back after doing that. I have no regrets. And I apologize to anyone who disapproves of cutting curly hair on children. I am vain when it comes to how they look sometimes. I will admit it. Here are the photos to document it:

Today started VBS at our church and again I learned that crafts is where I belong, not teaching. Last year I helped teach (if you can call it that) and swore I would never do that again. This year I'm in charge of the 3 and 4 year old crafts. They don't leave their rooms this year so they needed crafts to go to them. I had a huge team and they were awesome! We had fun and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.

On the way home, I thought I'd ask Christopher and William what the Bible point of the day was and they got it, "God's Word is true. Let's go!!" Then I asked them if they heard a Bible story while they were there and to tell me about it. It went something like this:

Christopher/William: "Paul had to go to jail!"

Me: "Oh no! Why did he have to go to jail?"

C/W: "Because bad guys took 'em."

Me: "What did Paul do?"

Sophie: "Kick 'em in da face!" (she did NOT have a Bible story in her room)

Me: "HUH??"

C/W: "Paul was a good guy and bad guys took him, but he listened to God."

Me: "Good. I'm glad."

I think I need to have a little talk with Sophie. Saturday night William tried to do something to her, nothing serious, and she just grabbed him arm and twisted it around. Not sure where she's getting these self-defense tips, but I'm glad she has them??? Tiffany and I laughed at her little arm trick and William didn't bother her again. But maybe we need to work on our Bible stories.

I'm sorry that I don't have any photos from the weekend, but my camera battery died and I can't find the charger anywhere. Very annoying! It wasn't a blockbuster weekend around here. I wish I had some fabulous story about how Sophie magically became potty trained, Christopher started speaking Spanish and how Brandon and I solved the world's problems. Here's what we did instead:

We had been telling the kids all week that we'd take them to breakfast on Saturday, so when everyone woke up. Off we went. Went to the local donut shop for the kids and then the local coffee shop for the parents. It was yummy. Sophie had on big girl panties and no accidents happened. After breakfast we went to a local park on the water and played for a while. We tried to talk the kids into going to the pool on base, but they just wanted to go home and play.

When we got home I saw a little surprise for me at the back door. My neighbor has a Dyson vacuum and was letting me borrow it. I loved it. I want a new vacuum, so I'm trying out different ones. This was my first one. My mom got a new one, but can't remember what it's called. I'm going to try it next time we visit. Ours is over 6 years old (wedding gift) and it's just not keeping up with the kids or the long dog hair that we have. I'm thinking it's going to have to last another 2 years, but I'm still looking anyway.

That afternoon I went to meet some friends at the spa. Yup, that's right! They are all moving in a few weeks and it was fun to get together with them again. I had my first facial and decided that is what I will be spending my b'day, Christmas and money-that-anyone-feels-like-giving-me on. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!!!!!!

Last night we had two families over to grill out and it was so much fun! They are both moving in about 2 weeks and it was our last chance to get together. The kids were up way too late, the moms had some much needed fun and the dads had a great time too. We are going to miss all our friends that are moving and thankful that we were able to meet them.

Today was Brandon's day to sleep in and the kids and I ran to the commissary to get some bacon to make him breakfast, but we ran out of time and ended up eating it for supper. We got both kids to nap, something that hasn't happened in a really long time. What do YOU do with time like that? I worked on VBS stuff and Brandon worked on stuff for the graduation banquet. Fun times. We just hung out at the house and played all afternoon.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and were able to celebrate with the men in your life. See you later!

I was just looking at a People magazine with Sophie (it's about fashion, I never buy these, only to save money not b/c I think it's bad) and we came across a fragrance add for a new scent called Daisy. It has a photo of a girl wearing a teeny, tiny white bikini, holding a big bottle of perfume and lying on top of some hay with a big smile on her face. I don't get the connection either, but I'm sure there was one. Sophie got very upset and started saying, "He fall down Mommy. Why he fall down?" First of all I thought it was funny she thought it was a he and not a she. Then she wanted me to pick him up. I told her I couldn't do that b/c it was a picture. She became very concerned and kept saying, "He get dirty Mommy, pick him up!" I was laughing! We turned the page and she became upset again. I got up b/c I couldn't look at my magazine anymore, she tried to go back and find the picture, but couldn't and came to me crying "me no find it Mommy! he get dirty!!"

All so funny coming from a child that LOVES to be dirty!

On a completely different note, what do you do when you know that you are not going to have anymore children and you have all these clothes lying around? I know lots of people have them in bins and stored in their houses and stacked up to the ceiling, but I don't really care to do that. If I don't need it or haven't used it since we got married I want to get rid of it. (Exceptions are fine china, crystal and silver - which I'm still not sure why I have it, but I am from the south and think half of the people invited would have had a heart attack if I hadn't registered for it.) I've let friends borrow them and they've come back. I can save some girl stuff for my sister, but the Sophie was born in January and AM was born in July so they can't even share stuff. Do you just give it away? Sell it in a yard sale? Will anyone think I'm a terrible person if I don't hang on to it until the kids are in Jr. High and then drag it to Goodwill? Here's what I'm doing:

Next Saturday: yard sale with kids clothes out front.

I'm not the kind of person that likes to hang on to things. They are things. They are not going to Heaven with me when I die and I had fun while they were mine, but it's time for them to move on. I've got my friend Wendi to back me up on all of this. She feels the same way I do and I think that's only part of what makes us good friends. Earthly stuff doesn't matter. At all. We have this policy, you borrow it, you break it, we'll work out getting a new one if it's more than $30. Other than that, who cares!

I better run, Sophie is trying to dress up like Spiderman, Christopher has been playing ipod for over an hour and I need to get us ready to go to our last MDO and a gym class. Oh! Big news, twice Sophie has gone to the potty without me telling her to AND without a timer going off. Yeah!!!!!

Like I said before, we are really trying to work on getting Sophie potty trained and so I can stay more on top of it I set the timer every 20-30 minutes (depending on whether she went the previous time or not) to remind myself to take her. I have been misplacing the house phone more than I should and end up pushing the page button so I can find it. I guess setting the timer has worked for Sophie as much as me b/c at least 2 times yesterday, I hit the page button for the phone and Sophie would literally POP up from wherever she is and yell, "me need to go potty!"

This afternoon we'd been away from the house for a couple hours and when we got home I couldn't find the phone (again) and hit the page button to find it. As soon as it started beeping up popped Sophie and off she went to the bathroom yelling, "me need to go potty mommy!" I'm not going to worry about whether or not she will feel the urge to pee every time she hears a beeping sound, not yet at least. But I can just picture her 20 years down the road and it still working.

Here are some photos of what they've been up to lately:

The kids were SOOOOOO excited to wake up Sunday morning and see their daddy was home. Brandon got the kids each a pair of shakers and a necklace made out of wood. They had to dance around to music with the shakers and the jumped all over the house making noise. It was great!




Then everyone decided to see how many people and dog could fit into the hall closet. Couldn't believe it, but they all made it.



This morning Christopher told me that he could make an airplane out of legos all by himself. He sure did! He made a couple of them.


We went to play at Wendi's house with her boys for a little while and then came home and realized the sprinkler needed to spray more than the grass. It was so fun! Just like when we were kids and you didn't have a fancy sprinkler, just the regular ticking/spinning ones. Then we chased each other around with the hose. The guy that drives around on Tuesdays to check the yards and writes up the ones that need work was driving by while we were playing and he slowed down even more and said, "I'm thinking about pulling over and getting in myself!" We did NOT get written up today. : ) My camera was fogged up and I scratched the middle clean. That's why the photo looks like this.



The day that Brandon came home I found the kids playing in the hall. They had pulled out all the extra blankets, pillows, curtain, suitcases, etc. that we have stored down there and drug the stepstool on top of all of it and were trying to climb inside. I stepped in and helped. They both actually fit on here at the same time. Then we cleaned it up and pulled out the stuff I wanted to put in the yard sale.


Speaking of, if you have ever had a yard sale and have any tips, PLEASE let me know. I've never done this before and really need to, but I have no clue what to do, how much change to have on hand, etc. Better run, Sophie is complaining about another boo boo. That seems to be very frequent these days.

Oh, we had potty day for her today and we did really well. Only wore a diaper at nap time and just pooped in her underwear which I've been expecting all day. Had two accidents, if you want to call them that, b/c one was outside in her bathing suit and the other was in the bathtub. They don't count in my mind.

Brick did it again.
Let me know when you are headed over to clean it up.
: )

I let Christopher sleep with me last night, I'm tired of sleeping alone, and when Sophie came in to wake us up I asked the kids who wanted to go get donuts and I got a "MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" in perfect unison. I've had today planned out for a while b/c it's the day Brandon gets home and I knew that we would need to have plans to keep us busy instead of just winging it.

We loaded up with our milks and drove to the little donut shack and each got our own little bag. We ate as we drove to Lowes. I was on a mission to get rid of the roaches that have decided to take over our house the last two days. On our way home I saw a sign for an estate sale and I had never been to one so I thought I'd try it out. Even with the kids along. We had our little lecture before getting out of the van and it worked for about 5 minutes. I did find a beautiful treasure that I just couldn't leave without:

Isn't it great??? (Excuse the vacuum/roach catcher next to it.) It has the perfect amount of "breaking in" and the colors are amazing. The photo doesn't do it justice. Oh, and get this, everything there was 50%, so I got this for only $65!!!!! I would have paid an arm and a leg for it anywhere else. Brandon, please don't kill me for buying it, but I seriously couldn't resist! I'm planning on having a yard sale with friends in a few weeks, is it so bad that I already spent the money I haven't made yet? My mom makes quilts and so I have a love for them for this reason. I just wish I knew the story behind it. Not that there is one, but every thing hand made has to have some kind of story.

The one thing that I really wish was 50% off was the house. Honestly, I didn't even get a great look at the front of it b/c we walked right into the garage, but the driveway was long, circular and covered in lush green bushes, flowers, grass and oak trees. Oh, how I love oak trees! The back of the house had a lush green yard that just lead you right on down to the water with a dock already in place. The house would be perfect for our family. But who wouldn't say that about a house on the bay, right? I dream of green grass like this (in case you've never read a post on here before) and of living on the water. I don't care for sand, I'd much rather do a cannonball right into the water instead of dragging stuff over hot sand down to it.

Brandon gets home tonight, hopefully the kids will be in bed asleep b/c we are going swimming this afternoon to help wear them out. I can't wait to have him home again. Hope you have a great weekend!!

Christopher was just singing I've Been Working on the Railroad. I didn't know he knew it. If you have ever heard him sing it's really funny b/c he does it in the funniest southern accent you have ever heard. He never sings when you ask him to, only when he thinks everyone is ignoring him. It was one of the funniest things I've witnessed in a while!

Our MOPS group was hving a playdate at the beach today. We were a little late b/c I had to go to a meeting, but we finally made it. To say it was hot was an understatement. And the water was filled with seaweed. It was fun considering it was the first time I had ever gone to the beach alone with the kids. Sophie always wants to be carried when we go so that's why I've never tried this before today. But I knew that it wasn't going to be much of a crowd so I thought I would go and be supportive. Overall we had a great time, except Sophie wanted to swim all by herself with no life jacket and was yelling at me to let her go. I didn't bring the jackets b/c I didn't think I would need it. Bad move. I think she needs swimming lessons and I hope it's not too late to sign her up. Christopher could use another round considering he wasn't quite two the last time he had them. The worst part was when we decided to leave and had to haul everything back to the car. That included 2 kids, 1 cooler, 2 big metal trucks that just HAD to come with us, and 1 beach bag. Then we had to strip down at the car and put the kids' clothes back on. (No place to rinse the sand or seaweed off either) and it was sweltering!!!! My sweat had sweat thanks to the numerous cars that stopped to wait for my parking spot. They each gave up on me. I wanted to give up on me too at that point. Don't think we'll be going back without Brandon again. I prefer the pool anyway.

Last, and most exciting, our best friends the Khans, had baby #3 this morning. That makes 3 boys for this sweet family, but Christopher says 4 boys b/c he counts Burt too. He is precious and I cannot wait to get my hands on him! We were hoping she'd have the baby by the weekend b/c we were going to be in Montgomery to pick Brandon up in Birmingham on Saturday, but thankfully he got his flight switched so he will be flying here instead. It was going to make for a very long weekend of driving for us, and I'm sad b/c we have to wait to meet the little guy, but thankful the kids and I won't be driving all weekend.

This is the first time that we will not have a baby with them. Brandon and Burt became friends first, then Melissa came along and finally I married into the relationship. Everyone always talks about having babies together with your friends, but we never did. Just kind of happened. Then it became a joke. We had our first kids, both had boys, less than 5 weeks apart. Then we had our second kids, a boy and a girl, 18 days apart. It's going to be new for all of us to only have 1 baby
when we get together. I think 6 kids at once would put us over the edge. We thank God that he brought our families together and look forward to watching the kids grow up together. Congratulations Burt, Melissa, Nicholas and Joshua!

Most people have pizza show up at their house.

I get the following:

Sophie poots in her diaper and poop shoots out the bottom onto the carpet. (I have no idea how this happened.) She was running to the potty at the time and so it dropped along the way. I get to clean that up. The kids are running circles around me while I'm cleaning. Literally. Glad they find carpet cleaning so exciting.

Next thing I know the kids are fighting because Sophie flushed Christopher's poop down the potty before he had a chance to wipe. He came out to tell me (his pants are still down) because apparently this is a big problem. I told him to go wipe and he can flush that by himself. He throws himself on the floor protesting my idea. Pants still around his ankles.

Meanwhile, Sophie has gone pee pee in the potty, comes running out to tell me (completely naked) and Christopher jumps up off the floor with excitement and everyone's asking for candy.

Sophie runs back to, I think, put her diaper on because I told her to go get it and she decides to unroll and place into the toilet what Christopher describes as "a million pieces of this stuff!"

I fish the mound of toilet paper out and throw everything from above that needs to be thrown away, away. Nobody gets candy because the wasting of toilet paper cancels out the celebration of going on the potty.

They get a refill of milk instead.

Now they are back in her room playing or reading or something, but it's quiet and happy. I just asked them what they are doing: Christopher: "We're putting stickers on her bed so it doesn't wobble." Me: "Umm... ok."

Who knew so much could happen in the time it takes to order a pizza.
I'm just glad we already ate.

Sophie was reading her favorite book, Eat Your Peas, and fell asleep one night. If you haven't ever read this book, I suggest going to your local library and checking it out. It's really cute!



We had one of the new resident families over to eat one night and baby Judah was set on the floor to kick around. Next thing we knew Christopher had come up and put his Mr. Potato Head glasses on him. He thought it was as funny as we did!



Yesterday Christopher and Sophie were playing with his "decorative airplanes that used to be hanging in his room but are now toys" and he came running up to me and showed me the latest feature he'd put on the planes. Gunshooters (aka clothespins). Didn't have the camera so when he wanted to play again this morning I dug the camera out of the bag it was hiding in and snapped some pics. Tigger was also added and had his "hair" with one of Sophie's rubberbands.




Hope you all have a great day!

I thought I'd let you know that the couch stayed in time out over night and when we woke up this morning (due to a wet bed) I was asked if I could move it back. It has stayed in it's original place all day with zero fights breaking out. I think I might be using this method more often.

I also had some funnies I thought I'd share with you. I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday afternoon and she told me that she just couldn't seem to get that Lady Gaga song out of her head. WHAT??? She went in a store and it was playing one of her songs and now it was stuck in her head. I froze and then laughed b/c my mom just mentioned Lady Gaga and I couldn't tell you a single song she sings other than the one that sounds like it's saying her name over and over again. She had watched Glee the other night and that's how she knew it was LG singing. Now if you know my mom you know just how hilarious this comment is.

Later in the conversation she was telling me about the funeral that she and my dad had gone to for a very dear family friend of ours that passed away over the weekend. She was 90 years old and her husband passed away several years ago. I was able to go back for his, but couldn't make it They were an incredible couple (he was my dad's first partner when he began practicing) and if you ever had the pleasure of meeting them you most likely never forgot them. She raised 5 boys and was Italian and Catholic. Maybe that helps give you an idea of just how great she was. Anyway, this is a funny story b/c everyone was waiting at the graveside, but nothing was happening. Nobody was talking, the casket never came out, nothing. Finally, everyone realized that the keys were locked inside the hearse... with the casket still in it! They had to wait for someone to bring an extra set of keys so they could get her out. One of her boys came over and told my parents, "It's just like her to not want to get out for her own funeral." They all laughed. She was loved by so many people and such a sweet and happy and kind woman. She was just having too much fun to go home. I hope I'm like that.

Ok, I did something I don't think has ever been done before in the history of the world. (Besides your dentist retiring and you don't find out until a year later b/c you hate going.) I put the couch in time out. I'm serious. They both want to sit on the same side of the love seat every time they sit down and I'm tired of hearing about it so this was my solution.

I'd had enough when they made me get out of the shower this evening b/c Sophie was screaming so bad I was sure that her arm was caught in something or there was blood involved. The only thing that kept me from panicking was that Christopher didn't coming running to get me to help her. At first I figured they were just fighting and I'm trying to let them duke it out between themselves more. The crying got louder so I stuck my head out and yelled to Christopher to tell me what was wrong. I couldn't understand him and the cries got louder so I grabbed a towel and went running into the den (a room surrounded by windows mind you) to find them fighting over who was going to sit on the right side of the couch.

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?

I told them to stop fighting and went back to shave the other leg. They were still fighting when I got out and so I gave them the following options: one of them moves to the other side of the couch or I was going to move the couch to where nobody could sit on it.

You guessed it, nobody moved. They just stared at me daring me to move a couch in just a towel with the whole neighborhood to see. They are both more stubborn than I thought b/c I got to 5, nobody moved so I pulled them off the couch and shoved the couch to the other side of the room. They were NOT happy about this, but I didn't care. They interrupted my shower.

Now, about an hour and half later they have teamed up and are racing down the hall and diving onto Christopher's PBK chair. Christopher is yelling, "Bring the heat girl! Bring it on down" before she runs down the hall and I am sitting on the couch looking like I've gone mad b/c I am clueless as to what is going through their little heads. They move into his room to play trains and getting along perfectly. Christopher comes to tell me that Sophie has pooped and asks her to come to me so I can change her. He even checks her diaper to make sure his nose was working correctly. He says sweet things to her while I'm changing her and now they are playing with stacking blocks and making houses and being very sweet to each other.

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!

Thank you God for giving me a great ending to what has been a crazy day!

Today I was going to use my "kid-free" time to get a whole lot of stuff done. I made my list yesterday b/c it was so much stuff there was no way I'd remember it all. I get side tracked easily on Mondays b/c I don't have any kids for several hours.

We are loaded up and on our way to church for MDO. I'm really looking forward to the time b/c the kids seem to be fighting constantly these days. (You know, the whole, "he hit me!, she hit me first!, he kicked me first!, she's on my side!," etc.) I grab my cell phone and my ear piece, put it in my ear and realize it's the broken one. Throw it in the car door still on so it can just die out and put the new one in. Call the place that cuts my hair and get no ringing or dial tone or anything. I keep calling. Can't figure out what's going on. Realize it's b/c the "broken" one is working again and I'm the idiot. My phone rings and it's the hair place laughing and asking me if I'm having phone problems. I laugh and tell her more than just phone ones. I try to make an appt. with the girl who has cut my hair for the last two years only to find out that she moved to Oregon...... in February. I knew it'd been a while since I'd had it cut, just didn't realize how long. It was definitely before Christmas b/c I have had zero time since December 1st hit. My appt. is at noon and so I drop the kids off, run to Target, then to Walmart, then Old Navy (just for fun) and then head back to get my hair cut. Go next door to grab lunch then off to a nail place for a teacher gift and then to the Dollar Tree before going back to the church.

I'd crossed off my errand portion of the list, but the other half was phone calls I needed to make for VBS and doctor/dentist appts. I park the car, pull out my list, cell phone and start dialing. I get the VBS helpers taken care of. (Hopefully! I had to leave messages with them.)

Then I pull out the card we got in the mail from the dentist reminding Christopher and I we need to make our next appt. The date to make it in was.... July 2009. Yup, we got it in the mail over a year ago. We have seriously been so busy (and I hate going to the dentist) that I haven't had time (or motivation) to make the call. It's a tiny office and not enough room for a stroller or three people to be in one room and Sophie would have to come with us.

I call the number and get a message that tells me that our doctor has retired and all of his patients have been moved to a doctor in Destin. Seriously? Who knows when he retired!! I'm not going out to Destin for a teeth cleaning, so I guess we'll have to find a new one. (Joia, I heard yours was great, so I need to get his name.)

I go in and get the kids, we whine all the way home b/c I didn't have a snack, I offer to stop at Dairy Queen and am denied. (Seriously??? Who turns that down???) We drive by the pool to see if we can swim yet (they have strange hours) and finally the three of us are excited about the same thing at the same time. We rush home (at 35 mph) and grab our suits and life jackets and head to the pool. We swam for 2 hours and I had to make them get out and come home. They are exhausted and so am I, but it was so much fun! Finally the majority of the day was really good.

I'm going to reheat my leftovers for supper and look forward to an early bed time with my new book I got myself at Target. I picked up a cute dress that was on sale that I could wear to the graduation banquet we are going to in a few weeks, but I put it back b/c I found one of my favorite chick authors had a "new" book out. Priorities baby! I need a funny, mindless read more than a new dress.

Ok, Brandon is gone, as you all know, and last night we had a little something happen at the house with Sophie (nothing bloody, don't worry) and I had to call my neighbor to help me out. It was 9:30 and I know they don't stay up late, but I also knew the husband does not have a fear of critters, he actually kind of likes them. (W- can I say that?) Anyway, she wrote about it on her blog and I'm going to let you read what she wrote instead of posting it myself b/c her story is WAY funnier than mine! Click here to read it.

I hate it.

It sucks you in and before you know it you have completely wasted time you could have spent doing something else. Anything else. Like watching a movie or reading a book or going to sleep.

I hate it b/c I feel like the whole world can read every conversation I have with someone. Not that I say anything important or private, but I feel like it has gone even farther away from the "personal touch" than ever before. Now, you are probably thinking, well, you blog and you email and you have some sort of iPod don't you? The answer is yes to all of those. BUT the blog is how I scrapbook and keep family and friends up to date on what is happening in our lives. Email is how I keep from calling you at 2 a.m. b/c I just remembered what I wanted to ask/tell you at 2 p.m., but forgot. And my kids play with the iPod, not me. It keeps them quiet, unless they are fighting over who is playing with it.

Yes, I have a FB account and I've used it more in the last 6 weeks than I have since I started it 6 years ago, but that's b/c it was the only way to get in touch with some people I needed to talk to and right now it's the best way to stay in touch with Brandon while he's gone. But when he gets back I'm going to be going back to my old ways again. It's just too overwhelming for me. I don't know how the rest of you do it.

My next question is why? We can call each other. We can email each other. We can catch up on a blog to see how your kids are doing. Why do we need one more way to contact each other? Nobody has this much time, do you? I know I'm alone in my feelings, but if you have noticed my activity picking up on FB it's about to change. I just can't keep it up. Too exhausting! I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

Not that any stuck around to listen anyway.

But I'm ok with that.

I have a few photos left from our week at the lake, but I'm too tired to go through and put them on here. The big steps I have to tell you about are Sophie and her shrinking fear of water. She has been swimming a lot already this summer and she has gone from holding onto you with a death grip like you've never felt before to swimming across a pool all... by.... her.....self!!! Yup. I couldn't believe it myself. On Wednesday she went from holding Grammie's hand while jumping to me in the water to jumping all by herself on top of me to jumping without hands and going under. I was so proud of her! THEN, on Thursday we stopped to see my dear friends, the Websters (visiting from KS) and her parents have a pool. We all decided to swim and about halfway through our swimming Sophie decided she didn't need me to hold her life jacket anymore. She was so proud of herself that I just about had to jump in and pull her out. Her little legs were just kicking away. I think I had tears in my eyes, but wasn't about to let them show. I was speechless. And I'm not usually.

Now that I've had my bragging moment I read the funniest post I have read in a really long time. I hope she doesn't mind me linking up to it, but I thought it was so hilarious that everyone who is a mom of 2+ kids would find it just as funny as I did. Please take the time to read it b/c you will NOT regret it!!! Click here to read it.