Christmas pictures

Lindsay & Shelby decorate the tree...

the mantle with all our stockings...


We even put lights on the outside of our house! There's a first for everything, you know...

Thanksgiving mayhem... and such...

Wow. Time is still flying. Passing me right by. Almost a week has gone by & I'm just now posting my Thanksgiving blog.

Well, it was... interesting. We stayed in the area since Cory was on call & we were planning on having dinner at his parents' house. It was 7:30am when Lindsay came into my room (which was okay, I was awake & reading).

"Good morning, Mommy!"

"Good morning, Daughter!"

"Is it Thanksgiving yet?"

"Yes, it is."

"Why aren't we at Grandma & Grandpa's yet?"

While we did make it in that general direction later in the morning (much later), unfortunately, though, both his parents were hit with the latest stomach bug. Instead of the usual fare we had chicken and dumplins made by Cory.

While he was slaving away in the kitchen I noticed Lindsay coming back from that area with a heavy bottom lip, a hurt look in her eyes.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I wanted to have turkey for Thanksgiving!"

At this, Grandpa, in his Grandpa-ish way pulled Lindsay into his lap and whispered into her ear, "How about turkey hotdogs?"

Her eyes lit up & all was well again!

And it was Halloween....

So, we like Halloween at our house. The day started with Daddy taking off work to go to Lindsay's class' "Pumpkin Party". Then after I got off work we got the girls all dolled up & went to see Grampa at his house & Grandma at work. Here Shelby is learning the art of 'working the bowl'...Shelby really got into the act. She never did say trick-or-treat or thank you, but everyone really loved her! (of course) She loved all the decorations, said hi to a cat, a spider & several scarecrows... And dogs!!! Everyone was so worried that their dogs would scare her, but all she wanted was to pet them! She'd squat down on their levels and say, "hi!" So sweet!

We hooked up with some of our friends and went out to Wylie. She ended up going out with the "big" girls, Kylie's in 5th grade & Kaitlyn's in 2nd... I think. So Lindsay was super excited about that. And hyper!!! She had a blast, though...

We did that for about 2 hours when we decided we'd had enough of that. We regrouped at Shannon & Billy's house where her two oldest were out of the house & her youngest was asleep. My two fell asleep in the car so we watched a couple scary movies...

All in all a pretty fun evening!

Boo!

I've been booed! Sunny Jo
has booed me. Normally I would take offense to being booed, but with the great English language this is a different kind of boo (could we really not think of a new word for things? we just recycle words and give them various meanings? don't get me started on words that are spelled differently but pronounced the same...they're, there, their...or words that look the same but pronounced differently...read, read. ok, I'm done.).

Halloween and all.

So, what's a boo?

I'll quote Sunny Jo who quoted Jenni who quoted...who knows!

Now, this is how the Blogging Boo will work. Go to as many friends as you want and tell them they've been "Boo-ed". Have them link back to your blog to pick up their Halloween Treat (picture) and tell them to "Boo" their friends. Then, put the picture in your side bar so everyone knows that you've already been "Boo-ed" and to send the pic to someone else.

So, are you scared yet!!?? BOO!!

Okay? one more time......

1. Take picture, put on sidebar
2. Tell people they have been booed
3. Link back to who booed you

Okay- Get to BOOING!

So there you have it! Enjoy!

Random things I've noticed...

It's been awhile, I need to post something.

Over the past week, things have come to my attention & I keep thinking to myself that I need to post that! So here are just a few....

First is a website. Not sure how I came across it, but be looking for some pretty great gifts coming your way in the next few months!!!

Second is a website as well. I do remember how I found this one, I was looking up patterns for quiet books to make for my baby girl.... I've heard about people using cloth diapers again, but I have to admit this one didn't come to me!!! I guess I could whip up a few of these for gifts as well!!

Then, this morning as I was working, I found myself flipping through my new, shiny coding book looking for a diagnosis code. Did you know there is a code for "Fussy infant (baby)"? it's 780.91. I think the next time I take Shelby to the pedi I'm gonna mention that one... "yeah, just tack that on there!"

Also, there's something called a 'Smith's fracture'. Yeah, sounds painful...

Halloween

We went to Boo at the Zoo this last Saturday... I didn't get any good shots of the boys, but Karen got one of us all before we left, i'll have to post that when I get it!

Here are the girls in their costume....

Lindsay opted for the Kitty skirt instead of a poodle...

Of course I couldn't have the usual 'ole poodle....

Dad even got into the fun & shaved!! it's sooooo different for me, I'm used to harry man! But he couldn't find any "greasers" who had beards so he shaved it all off!!!

Baby Steps?

Ok. I'm in our bedroom. Cory's in the kitchen. Just a minute ago both girls were in here with me. Now they're not. Now Shelby is crying, very upset. So I look. I go to her room, no Shelby, still crying. Glance back to the living room, no Shelby. Head to the bathroom/brothers' room. And there she is. Standing in the toilet. Of course, no camera handy. (ok, we try to keep the bathroom door shut, but Lindsay was the last one in & she forgot.)

Does this mean Shelby is ready for potty training? Or is she ready to take a bath? Ah, the toddler mind....

tough love

Lindsay had another horrible day last Thursday. So bad that the teacher & principal decided she wouldn't be allowed to go on the field trip Friday. The teacher kinda told Cory was was going on while he was at work, then we called her Thurs evening. She asked us what we wanted to do with Lindsay on Friday. We both said Huh? and she said she needed to know if we were going to pick her up when they left for the farm or if we were just gonna keep her home all day! I couldn't believe that! So Cory took Lindsay to school on Friday & talked to the principal. Mrs. B saw them and he said she looked absolutely furious! And the principal said too, that we needed to pick her up! He told her if we had to, we'd pick her up at 10, but that it kinda defeats the purpose to try to teach her to be good at school when they're not even allowing her to stay at school!

So when I got to work I was telling the story to one of my coworkers. She said she'd call the school board if it were her, then she did! She got to talk to someone to leave a message. In a few minutes he called me back & talked w/ me about it, asked if she'd been suspended. I told him no, and he said that's really the only way that the school could demand we not bring her. So he called the principal to get her side of the story & called me back and said they'd find somewhere to keep her and get her things to do to keep her busy! I went anyway to talk to the principal and we talked for a few minutes. She had the nerve to tell me that it would help if we were consistant at home. I was so mad! Anyway, after the call on thursday cory called her therapist and she said we might need to try her on some medications... but i'm really ticked at the school. But at church yesterday they were all asking who her teacher was and said that Mrs. B is one of the best teachers!!! I just don't know. We're going to see the therapist here in a little bit so i'll probably know more after 5pm!!

----------------------
Ok, so it's now 8pm. We had our appt with the therapist. She said everything Mrs. B does in the classroom is right (which we thought so) except where they wanted us to keep her home on Friday. She was proud of us for stepping up and stopping them from doing that. (I just hope it doesn't backfire and the next smallest thing Lindsay gets suspended!)

We have to take "tough love" a step further. Because of how she behaives in class, she has to make up her learning at home. In fact, we have to have boot camp at home. If she has a temper tantrum at school she has to give up her play time at home. Tomorrow we are cleaning out all of the toys from her room. We have a small box with a few of the things she picked out. If she has a good day, she can play with her toys. If she has a bad day, bad behaviour, the box goes into my closet and she sits at the table doing homework. She 30 minutes to eat, if she chooses to eat then fine, if not she can eat at breakfast. Then she goes back to work & then ready for bed. Really, the only problem I can see with this is Shelby's toys will still be out. Not in their room, but in the living room we keep some things for her to play with. Anyway, we'll figure that out as we get to it.

So. That's where we are at this point. We didn't get to the medication aspect of the conversation, but she did give us a pretty big scare about what will happen if we ignore this.

kindergarten blues

This summer I was told that it would get better, kindergarten would straighten her out. She'll do well there and will grow out of this phase. So far, with next week being the end of the first six weeks, she's had more bad days than good.

I'm at a loss. I was hoping that by picking an experienced teacher Lindsay would snap-to, fall into line. Get on board with all the other kindergarteners. Now I feel like I've really screwed up my daughter's chances at enjoying school. She promises every day that she'll be good. Today I get yet another call from her teacher, I can hardly hear her because of Lindsay screaming in the background. She's saying, or screaming over and over, "I promised to be good"... And then the moaning cry. I don't ask her for promises, I just try to remind her to make good choices & good decisions.

Today she had to be carried away from the lunch table for being so disruptive (she had to be carried because she threw herself down on the ground when she was asked to move to a different table), she had a hard time at game time, when the teacher uses a game to reinforce the lessons, she played in line and again during naptime so she missed out on recess.... which is when I got the call with the howling. Last Friday she got her library book taken away because she hit another girl or got in a fight over it or something. It's just a constant, one thing after another with her.

She's in therapy. So far we've come up with oppositional defiance disorder. No magic pill, just "tough love". I don't know how much more tough we can be! I've told the school to paddle her, they haven't. (I know they don't want to, but if it's an end to this behavior?) We spank her when we get home, but really, what good does it do to spank her at 6pm for something that happened at 11am? Just makes us feel like monsters. Not to mention that even with the door shut it hurts Shelby's feelings to hear her sister scream & cry.

Everytime that I've talked to her teacher, it's that she can't give her all the attention because there are 18 other kids in the classroom who deserve to be taught. I just don't know what to do. And I'm tired of feeling out of control with an out of control child!

Balloon Fest

Birthday Party

Birthday cake for the birthday girls Sweetie swinging
Hannah Montana even showed up!
Big brother watching on...

What a fun party!!!

Birthday, er, Balloon Fest

Every year, usually the weekend closest to my birthday they have Balloon Fest. I forgot it was this weekend until Cory & I were on our way to work (he takes me to work, we carpool... saves money) and I saw in the sky several balloons. I love them, they make me happy. I get balloons every year for my birthday.

I work on the 4th floor, so these are the shots I got on my cell phone.....




Yup! Most of them went around but this one went right over the building! I can't wait, tomorrow we're going to go out, maybe see them at dusk. They are all on the ground, blowing & glowing... Neato!

Such smart kids!!

This morning I dropped Shelby off at daycare. She's in the 1 year old class, and has been for at least 2 months, even though she just turned 1 this past Wednesday. So she's like the youngest kid in her class.Still with me?

Well, this morning, like I said, I was dropping her off. Her teacher told me that she's a very smart child, which I knew, but I love hearing it from other people!

She said the other day they were sponge painting and while all the other kids were trying to eat the sponges, Shelby was the only one who figured out the dipping in paint and stamping on paper!! The. Only. One. And she's the youngest in the class!! She's so smart!!

Then, later I was taking Lindsay to an appointment. She talks. A lot. Probably as much as I did at 6! Yeah, that much! Anyway, I'm driving along & she's chatting along.

Lindsay: Do you know where you're going?
Me: Yes I do.
L: Then why does that arrow tell you which way to go?

Yes. I've been a good girl & using my blinker in my new car!

Anyway.... here's some pictures while you are shocked and in awe at how smart & perceptive my darlings are.....

This sticker was in the Tattoo guy's shop. I have a monkey, she's my grandma. Don't make her sad.

Lindsay at the Picture Park. It's the one with all the weird art.Shelby at the Picture Park. Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph this child with her smiling at you?! Do you?
OK. I love to go garage saling. This sign made me laugh. No, I didn't bother going to their "sall".
My sweet hubby! He makes me smile!
The look says it all... "Touch my donughts & I will smack you with my sippy cup".

Pooped...

So, Thursday we went to the fair. I blew $20 and Lindsay & I rode three, yes, I said three rides. She loved it! I loved it. So I'm okay with the spendage. However, next year I'm going to have to find out which night is cheap armband night so we can ride more things.... And of course, we did the carnie food (love me some corndogs!) and played a couple games (hate the one-note playing trumpet!)... Not so sure that Shelby was all that impressed, but we did manage to keep her contained to her stroller, so good times there.

Friday we went to dinner with Grandma & Grandpa. Newish place in town, Brick Oven Pizza. Totally yummy, usually. Not so much on Friday, but, well. Ya know.

Saturday was spent cleaning. I hate cleaning. Which is usually why I have to do so much when it's my turn to host for our bunco group. But I did thing, like vaccuum the curtains (stupid cat) and cleaned off the vent-a-hood thingy. Yeah, that does sometimes happen more than once a year, but still. It's drama. Speaking of drama, it was also Lindsay's birthday! She turned 6 years old. We went to DQ for some birthday ice cream... We're having her party next weekend when her brothers will be here.

Sunday we cleaned, as well. That's the day of bunco, so there's always a mad dash of "stash the junk". Which we're really good at. But we got a new shower curtain (since Lindsay tested the scissors a couple months ag... "See Mommy? They do work! Why did you throw them away?") and a new mat. For bunco dinner I made psuedo-lasagna, which everyone loved. Yea. And all that went well, too.

Which leads me to today. I'm SOOOOOO tired. My arms are sore, my fingers hurt & my neck has a crick. And for some weird reason I'm itchy all over. Early last week I started getting bumps on one leg. They look like fire ant bites, but I haven't been around any! They've spread to the other leg and both arms. It's weird! But they ITCH!!! Oh, bother.

Anyway. So now I've got to get the word out about the party next weekend. If you'd like to come, it's going to be at Gill Park (hoping it won't rain) about 2pm. That's the little park on Willis between S 11th & S 14th. It's for both girls, Shelby's birthday is on Wednesday.

Okay. Enough rambling. Bye!

Cory's new Tatoo

Well, here it is!! Hope he likes it since it's stuck there from now on!!!

Picture update

Ok. Here's Shelby. She likes to crawl into and out of things... Here she's mastered the stroller...













Here is Lindsay's first day of school. It was a great start... Hopefully to a great year!


















Cool pic of Seth... he's getting so much older.




















My working man... Here he's pondering the plumbing... hmmm.... Where to dig next?!



















Not my favorite pic of Zane, but he's not really a picture-taking kind of guy... go figure!!!

Here's a pic of Austin with one of his friends.... Like I said, he loves football but he's into all things sports!!! Don't ya love his sunglasses? His mom said he reminds her of CHiPs in them!!!

Fortune Cookie

So lunch today was with the girls at work. Hey, my boss paid for it, so I couldn't very well turn her down!! Here's my fortune:

You will find your horizons suddenly broadened.

Things going on...

Ok. I was informed by my mother that it's been awhile since I've updated... um. Yeah. I was still pregnant with my almost 1-year-old.

So. Updates.

Shelby. She's easy. She'll be 1 on the 17th. She's walking, saying a few words. She's a beautiful baby. She does have a temper & isn't very patient when she wants something. And she's a climber.She loves to get on top of things. Unfortunately, I'm very nervous when she does. But she's still got lots of bruises...

Lindsay. Fun. She'll be 6 this Saturday. She started school 2 weeks ago yesterday and it's been interesting, to say the least. She's, shall we say, an emotional child. Cory & I had a meeting with her teacher this morning and she did have some positive things to say... She's very smart & eager to learn. She listens during teaching time, and she calls on her a lot. I think to give her some positives because there are some negatives. Lindsay doesn't like to share much as far as turns and stuff like that. She doesn't like to lose in games and that tends to be the time when Lindsay looses it. Literally, there's no other real way to describe what she does. Tantrum I guess works, too. But we're working on that, all of us together and, well, at least today was a good day!

Zane. Zane is in 2nd grade this year, with something new, a Mr. for a teacher! He at least doesn't have anything negative to say about it. He seems to me to still be struggling with his reading. He won't voluntarily read anything, I really had to encourage him to even read a menu or the game he got with his lunch on Saturday. Once he tried he figured it out, but he didn't even want to try, he was waiting for me to read it to him! He certainly won't be starting any novels anytime soon.

Seth. Here's a new story every time I turn around! Let's see, last I heard he's going to France with his French class, a $2,000 opportunity that his mom won't let him miss! But that's good for him... I'm sure he will enjoy it. He's always thinking about what car he's going to be driving. Oh, yeah, he's not quite 13, in the 7th grade. Cory said he spent the trip back on Sunday pointing out cars, saying whether or not they fit in his "drivable" category. He's got high expectations, to say the least!

Austin. Austin is Cory's other son, he's 13 in the 8th grade. We only recently started having visitation with Austin, Cory only met him for the first time last May. But he's a neat kid. Loves football, plays it in school & loves UT & the Cowboys. Makes shopping easy, I tell ya! We were supposed to see him this last weekend but Cory was sick, kept getting a fever so we decided it might not be a good idea for him to come. He has an immune defficiency so it's not a good idea for him to get exposed...

Cory. Cory's going to get a tatoo this afternoon, kinda a delayed birthday present... I think he's anxious, but now I can post a picture of it! Maybe even a video of the torture! Woo-hoo! Pain! Like I said, he was kinda fever-y on Thurs/Fri, but he's better now, no telling what that was.

Me. Well, I'm the same, taking care of the kiddos & hubby! That's why there's not been much blogging going on.... But I promise to be better! (didn't say how much better, just better!)