The Pink Eyed Monster

Well, pink eye strikes again. I had NEVER EVER EVER had pink eye in my whole life until I had kids. What's up with that? It goes through our household at least once a year. I think this is our 2nd or 3rd bout this year. Lexi went to the disco party Friday night. When I picked her up, the mom told me that she and another little girl had bumped heads and Lexi got hit right in the eye so she had given her an ice pack. When we got home, the eye looked fine so I really didn't think much of it. In the middle of the night, Lexi came running to our room screaming b/c she couldn't open her eye. I turned on the bathroom light to look at it and it had all that crusty ooze coming out and it was matted shut. It was the same eye she had gotten hit in. I don't know if that was just coincidence or if during the irritation of getting hit she kept rubbing it and maybe spread something from her hands to her eye??? Help me out here, I'm not a dr! I just know that before she went to the party, her eye was fine. But then again pink eye comes up quickly and with no warnings. Fortunately, I had a whole bottle of drops from our last pink eye bout which was just about 3 months ago. So we've been doctoring her and germ exing our hands like crazy around here so it won't spread throughout the house. Pink eye is like the most contagious thing on the face of the earth! This morning, Cary is going to go do kidzchurch while I keep the girls at home. Then I'm going to hand them off to him while I go teach Sunday School to keep them out of the nursery. Ashton started coughing again. She just got rid of that cough about a week and a half ago and now it's starting all over again. I just LOVE this time of year!!! I think we're going to have to double up on the Flinstone's for the next few weeks!

I've Never...

I've never...

- asked my kids what they want to eat (at home, at a drive-thru, or at a restaurant.) I just put the food in front of them and they eat it or they don't. But they always do. Sometimes they tell me what they want at a restaurant, but I never ask. Even Lexi will tell you my motto: "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

- watched an entire episode of anything on the history channel or discovery without feeling creepy or bored out of my mind!

- listened to a Michael W Smith song all the way through. His voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

- Cut someone else's fingernails. That's so groady. Daddy is the fingernail person around here. I don't even cut my own fingernails come to think of it!

- Made a pot of coffee. I really don't know how! Honestly!

- Smoked

- Traveled to any other foreign country other than Mexico and that was just right at the Texas border. I have no desire to leave the good ol' USofA!

- liked Christmas

- liked pork

- gotten more than one speeding ticket. I got one about 12 years ago for going 42 in a 35.

- taken illegal drugs

- been really comfortable in large group settings. I'm outgoing, but not sociable, if that makes any sense.

Now it's your turn. Finish that statement...I've never...give me one "I've never" statement!

Fa La La La La

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. And I like all my wrapping paper to be brown butcher paper with red or green raffia bows so it looks very westerny under my Texas themed tree. Cause I'm OCD like that!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually a couple of weeks before Christmas but every year I vow to put it up the week of Thanksgiving so the kids can enjoy it longer.
4. When do you take the tree down? Right after Christmas FOR SURE!
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, with a little added ingredient...and I'm not talking about nutmeg!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My gucci purse. I think I was 12. No kidding.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Cary's family, only b/c I'm just not around them enough to really know what they like or what they need or what they already have.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My girls!!
9. What is your favorite Christmas television classic? A Christmas Story
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? a used library book..the library barcode had been scratched off. Seriously. It was from a student named Ava Hunter. Will never forget her!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Jingle all the way
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? December 22nd ish
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? no
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I'm about to eat a 3 yr old, does that count?
16. Lights on the tree? duh, do some people not have lights???
17. Favorite Christmas song? HATE Christmas music....GAG!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Totally stay home for the kids but this year we're going to Texas b/c I need me some "home".
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? YES! And I put reindeer food on my lawn Christmas Eve to feed them all.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Cowboy hat
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People who say "Happy Holidays" and children who tell my children there is no santa. Then I have to do damage control. THERE IS A SANTA people!!!! If you quit believing, he quits coming. I BELIEVE!
23. What theme or color are you using? Texas themed
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? We usually have fajitas or lasagna
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? The dreamer in me would say a car, the realist in me would say some new clothes. But I did already get a washer and dryer, which is FABULOUS!

You're turn!

Wanna Get Away

I've been in dire need of a vacation for quite some time now. And I think it's finally gonna happen! Cary and I are going to Texas for Christmas and while we're there, I have booked us a little getaway in the town we honeymooned in almost 8 yrs ago, Fredricksburg, in the Texas Hill Country. It's just a few hours from my mom's house and she's going to keep the girls. You have NO IDEA how badly we need this! You can check out our incredible accommodations here. We're staying in the Pioneer Log Cabin, but don't worry, it does have a/c and heat! Heeheee. I'm not really much of a pioneer woman but this is my kind of place! Two more weeks!!!! And who knows...it could snow while we're there! A white Christmas perhaps!

spilled pee, Jesus, and disco parties

I realize putting the name of Jesus in that subject line next to the words "pee" and "disco" seems a bit irreverant. But really, let me explain.

We have a potty in our car. Genius! Or so I thought. Until the potty spilled. And it was FULL. Of pee. I'm a bit of a germaphobe. Actually I don't know if I'm a germaphobe or just plain ol grossed out by public potties. And you know how little girls go potty. They touch everything. Their pants fall to the nasty floor when they sit down on the potty. Or their pants rest up against the side of the potty. It's just so EW! So about 3 years ago, I put a potty in the car. When my kids need to potty in public, we take a trip to the car. So far, it's been a genius idea. Until Saturday. When it got spilled all inside the back of my car. I dried it up, used all sorts of carpet cleaners and deodorizers. I went to the carwash and shampooed the carpet back there. But 80 degree heat and spilled pee in the carpet doesn't really mix. Will the smell ever go away? What else takes urine smells out of carpet?

And on a totally unrelated note, today, Daddy and Lexi had a nice long, sweet talk about Jesus. It was special. Lexi has been asking tons of questions about Heaven, baptism, and what it means to have Jesus in her heart. So Daddy picked her up from school today and they went on a date and he explained everything to her in 5 yr old terms and showed her a kids video that he shows at his Kidfaith Class which he teaches at church. It's a class designed to answer questions for kids about salvation and baptism. Today, Lexi trusted in Christ for her salvation. Only God knows how much she truly understands and grasps, but she definitely has all the head knowledge and knows the right answers. I'm sure this topic will come up over and over again during the next few years with her. But no matter the case, God's word does not return void. These seeds have been planted in her heart and she is truly a child of God. Praise the Lord!

And from Jesus to disco! Lexi was invited to a birthday party by one of her classmates, whom I do not know, but she is her best buddy at school. She loves this little girl and talks about her NONSTOP! But the party, 6-9 pm on FRIDAY NIGHT! It's a dico dance party. I was like, Uh, when did princess parties and Build a Bear parties on Saturday afternoons go out of style??? I resolved to let her go, but I'm going with her. I spoke with the mom and she said I was more than welcome to stay as long as I'd like. Whew! I'm very excited to meet the mom and learn more about this family since it appears as though our children are inseperable at school. But it's definitely a new chapter in our lives. Up till now, Lexi's friends have been children of my friends and now she's making her own friends. Kind of exciting!

SNAKE!

We bought a Christmas tree yesterday. A beautiful tree! $80 bucks. The snake was free! The funny thing, I just warned Cary before he brought the tree inside, "Make sure to shake it really good and look for snakes." I remember a news story from last year about a family who found a HUGE snake in their Christmas tree. Cary just laughed at me..."Oh honey, I'm sure the ride home would have been enough to scare away any snakes." He cut some branches off the bottom in order to put the tree in the tree stand. Guess what? Snake!!! We caught it and put it in an ice tea pitcher. It flattened its head and struck at me. I put the lid back on the pitcher! We took it up to Reptile World, because what Florida town would be complete without a place called Reptile World. The "snake man" quickly identified it as a Florida brown snake. He said it was full grown. Are you impressed that we caught a full grown snake? Well, don't be. It was like a total of a foot long and about the thickness of my pinky finger, if that. We live about a block from a big lake and swampy area. I guess snakes are bound to appear at some point. Just didn't think I'd find one in my Christmas tree.

Sick and Tired

You know you're sick when you have a dream about dying! I started coming down with something on Thanksgiving Day. And let me preface that by saying I NEVER GET SICK. I'm too mean to get sick! My kids can have sniffles and I purposefully will eat and drink after them just to test my immune system and I never get sick! I have my momma's genes! I can count on one hand the number of times my mom got sick during the 21 years I lived with her. But...I'm SICK! I took Tylenol PM last night which I had vowed to never take again unless I wanted to sleep through like a whole week or something. But my thought was it will help me fall asleep and I'll just sleep through the coughing right? Wrong! I coughed so hard I wet my pants 3 times! (The joys of a post pregancy bladder.) This morning after getting Lexi off to school, I went back to bed and woke up 2 hours later in a puddle of drool. I think I could go back to bed right now and sleep till tomorrow. But then who would pick up Lexi from school, keep Ashton from destroying the house today, do the 5 loads of laundry so that Daddy can once again wear undies under his dress slacks (ew), go grocery shopping because the pantry is literally bare, unload and load the dishwasher, do homework duty, and go buy slippers for Lexi's pajama day and a present for her student teacher whose last day is tomorrow??? WHO would do all of that??? Like TODAY. I need a wife. I'm going to go take some "sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, how did I wake up naked in the bathtub" medicine. Tis the season. Hachoo!

Lexi & Ashton...Dec '08

I had this brainstorm tonight at dinner while I was watching the girls be their usual cute little selves. Ashton, in her big fluffy Sleeping Beauty pink princess dress, half way through dinner, got up and went over to Daddy and nuzzled her way into his arms. Lexi proudly showed off her day's worth of food accomplishments right there on her white shirt. "Look Mommy, I'm a mess. Chocolate ice cream and beans all over my shirt!" As she licked the macaroni off of her fingers. Listening to both girls snicker at me when I announced to Candice and the kitty cat that YES, mommy had made them a tuna patty tonight too. (I didn't want them to feel left out.) It occurred to me, as it does so often these days, that my children are growing like weeds and I have to treasure, absolutely treasure, each and every adorable little thing they do and say NOW, because in the blink of an eye the clock will strike twelve, and our little cinderellas will be gone. So, every few months, I want to take the time to record some things about them that I want to remember 20 years from now. Starting now!

Lexi, 5 yrs and 9 months old, Kindergarten:
Pets: Candice the dalmatian, Mr. Baloo the kitty cat, and a beta fish named Camryn
Favorite thing to play: Anything outdoors, loves to do cartwheels in the backyard and jump on the trampoline, indoors loves to play with odds and ends kind of toys (a paper bowl full of a ball of foil, a rock, a rubber band, and a colored piece of paper taped up like a kite). See...odds and ends I tell you! Loves to color and shows great artistic ability.
Other Notable Characteristics: Very physically gifted (does great at gymnastics and is starting basketball in Jan), a little short fused at times, okay all the time, has great compassion for people and animals, LOVES JESUS AND TEXAS A&M...WHOOP! I've trained her well. Always has a song in her heart, loves to make up songs and they're usually about Jesus, would rather be outdoors getting dirty than indoors playing dress up any day, wears anything I lay out for her and eats everything I put in front of her! Would drink milk all day long if I'd let her. Hates yogurt and cheese.

Ashton, 3 yrs and 9 months old, PreK3:
Favorite thing to play: Dress up!!! This child isn't in the house for more than 10 minutes before she's stripping down and putting on either her princess dresses or her swimsuit or ballet leotard. And her outfit is not complete without the high heal dress up shoes! Lately, she's had an affection for cars too.
Other Notable Characteristics: Very opinionated! Cries EVERY TIME I leave her at school or at church...EVERY TIME! Without fail. Would rather sit in my lap and watch t.v. than to play. Says, "Yap" instead of "Yes". Takes off her shoes every time she sits down at a restaurant or in the car...she hates real shoes....prefers the dress up kind I guess! Calls flip flops "pop pops" and they are the only shoes she will willingly put on when it's time to leave the house. Will not drink milk to save her life (unless it has chocolate or coffee mixed with it) but eats her weight in cheese. We call her our little rat. LOVES Abbey on Sesame Street! Says at least 100 times a day "I a pincess". Loves to sit in the front seat of the car with me in the carpool line and play, "I the mommy, you the daddy" (she's the mommy, I'm the daddy). Every time I get off the phone she asks, "What they say?" Cute as a button!