A Cheeky Moment!

It never fails, just when I think I can not be surprised, my kids go and do something so crazy that it leaves me speechless. Cady is very much a little artist, there is not a single wall or item in the house that has not been drawn on. I just found her signature on the side of the microwave just yesterday. It doesn't matter how many times I take her markers and crayons away. I try my best to tell her its only OK to draw on her art paper and then show her the giant stacks of paper (Every type and color imaginable) that are right out in the open for her to use any way she wishes. She still continues to draw on everything. I admit that most of the time she is actually quite creative. Once, she took her white pony (a stuffed animal) and turned it into a white and green zebra, most likely to play zebra's with her little sister (A huge zebra nut).

Lately, my artist has ventured into the area's of body art. At first it seemed fairly innocent, a little face on her wrist or on her leg. Then she started decorating her little sister. So Monday was a crazy day. I had my pre-op appointment and had left my husband at home to watch the girls and to wait for Koda to get home from school. The girls had finished their lunch and asked their dad if they could go downstairs to play. He said sure and didn't think anything of it. He say's he heard them playing and laughing the entire time while he tried to do some of his work from home. Later that evening I return home and got dinner made and everyone fed. Vannah was tired so I decided to get her ready for bed. I noticed that she had a mark on her shin and it worked its way around to the back of her leg. I sighed and quickly scolded Cady and Vannah for drawing on each other but I wasn't to horribly upset. I told her to turn around so I could see if there were any other marks and that's when I got a cheeky surprise!

I don't know how one can honestly prepare themselves for such a surprise. At first I had a look of complete dumbfounded shock on my face. A noise that was a cross of OMG and sucking air came out of my mouth. Being the excellent mommy that I am, I reached for my phone and took a pic to post to the world because that's what mommies do. And you better believe it when I say that this photo has a permanent home in little Miss Vannah's baby book! Oh how I love my crazy little kiddos!

just some random pics!

Well, I wish I had more time for this blog but at the moment things are extremely busy and I really haven't had much time to do anything other then clean and clean and clean and help other people. December 18th I will be heading to surgery and having a hysterectomy. Yes, I said it. I am evicting my uterus and I am glad to see her go. I love everything that she has given me. My babies are beautiful and growing up wonderfully. But I am completely over having all my "female" problems and looking forward to getting on with life. So, as a result of this surgery coming up, it has been extremely busy. I am two weeks from the big event and have become a huge germ-a-phobe. And currently, I am sick with a nasty throat cold or something.  Anyways instead of dragging on about the surgery and how busy it is. I figured I would just share some of our pictures from the last month.

3 bed bugs watching movies at Kings Point Resort on Thanksgiving night!

Vannah's rainbow tutu she got for Christmas (day after Thanksgiving) at Grandma and Grandpa's. She will not take that tutu off for anything!

Vannah at King Point Water Park

Cady at Kings Point Water Park

Vannah the red nose cutie pie!

I am sure I will have many more pictures to share later. As stated above, its extremely busy at the moment, so bare with me if it is a while before I can get another post made. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!

Koda's Snack Suprise

When I first got pregnant with my oldest, Koda, I knew I was in for things like poopy diapers, spit-up, and vomit. Those are the things that give us mom's that super power called an Iron Stomach! Although  I admit that I can not handle vomit at all. In fact, as I type the word vomit, I can feel myself wanting to gag. But that is a different story and we need not go there. Anyways, I was recently reminded of another reason that mom's have the Iron Stomach ability. At some point our children will want to make us a meal or a snack. Its great for kids to be given this opportunity to create something for us and Koda decided to make me a snack. So he grabbed 1 saltine cracker, 2 slices of bread, some peanut butter, and a handful of mozzarella cheese. With his ingredients and a daddy to help him (Keith thought this was hysterical) Koda made me a very special sandwich  The pride on his face was beautiful. So I had no choice, I had to take a bite. I believe in trying everything before deciding if it is good or bad and I try to teach my children this as well. So I tried it and surprisingly it wasn't that bad. It wasn't something that I plan to ever make again, but it wasn't something that was going to send me running for the toilet either. And thank goodness for that because my proud little guy stood right next to me watching me eat every last bite. Of course I did take a picture of the inside before I ate it to share with the rest of the world

Thank you Iron Stomach, you have once again saved the day. I am so proud of my boy and of myself. Whew!

Cady's Heart Appointment!

October has turned into one of the craziest months we have had and I am sure as the kids get older we will have more and more months that are just as crazy or possibly even crazier. Since I am a stay at home mom, my calendar has pretty much been open for the last 6yrs. When I would make an appointment I would rarely look at my calendar because it was usually open. Well this month I have actually had to learn how to schedule pretty much everything. Between visits from the repairman, Dr. appointments, conferences for the kids, birthday parties, and furniture/appliance deliveries....I am sure there are other things as well but my brain is fried trying to just keep everyday in order. Its just been crazy. 

This week we had one of the big Dr appointments for Cady. She was born with a heart murmur. More precisely Pulmonary Valve Stenosis, which means that her pulmonary valve doesn't open all the way. It hasn't gotten better but it hasn't gotten worse. More importantly, her heart is handling the murmur very well and is not thickening. So a good appointment and now she does not have to go back to the Pediatric Cardiologist for another 4 yrs, YAY! Oh and the nurse was nice enough to give Cady a copy of the ECG, how cool is that!

Oddly enough this day was one of our quieter days. But Vannah thought otherwise and passed out right before dinner. She ended up sleeping straight through the night and well into the morning. 

She didn't even wake up when we moved her to her bed. Sometimes I really wish I could fall into such a deep sleep and wake up really refreshed in the mornings. I am completely jealous.

When Glitter Attacks

       Silence, the first sign of trouble. I should have known immediately that something was up. But those rare moments of peace are hard to pull away from. Normally I have one of my three always under my feet asking for food or drink or wanting to color or watch a movie. So when I have a moment to actually sit down and relax, maybe sneak a snack or a cup of tea, I really cherish it. But in the back of my head I always know that it will cost me.

       It was silent in my house. I convinced myself that the kiddos where all playing nicely together down in the toy room or watching a movie since it was to hot to be outside. I was lounging upstairs, really enjoying some mom time, when Koda came running into the kitchen. I knew something was up before he even muttered a word. All I did was raise an eyebrow and he said "Mom, the girls made a mess with the sparkly stuff" I quickly went through my mind trying to figure out what the sparkly stuff could be. As I walked down the stairs I noticed that my crafts dresser which has the baby proofing latches on it had every single drawer pulled open. With a great big sigh I walked to the girls bedroom and saw a beautiful sparkly mess.

They had found my glitter!

Isn't it beautiful!

For the next 20 minutes I worked on vacuuming the giant mess up. Not only was the floor covered but so were the beds and numerous toys. When I shook Vannah's blanket it looked like a magical rain pouring to the floor. So much sparkles everywhere. No matter how much I vacuumed, the glitter was always there and probably will remain for years to come. 

Later that evening I was playing with Vannah when I noticed glitter on her hair. At a closer glance I discovered that she had so much glitter in her hair that you could not see her scalp. I brushed her hair and washed her hair and the glitter is not coming out. Its going to be a while before this mess is fully cleaned up.

Yes the girls did get in trouble for getting into mommies stuff. They got to help clean up and lost some toys due to the glitter and glue.  I never once got mad.  Sometimes all you can really do is laugh. I know I will never forget this adventure and will always look back on it and smile. 

This shirt fits her very well!

Vannah Smiles

Vannah had a huge milestone, she had her first visit to see the Dentist. Being that she is my child, I was worried she could have inherited the my soft enamel and would be in for a life of dental repairs. But as it turns out, only one of my 3 kiddos got my teeth. Poor Koda is only 6 and will be having his first root canal done in a few weeks. Vannah on the other hand has fantastic teeth. In fact the only thing the Dentist could really tell us to try to improve on was flossing her teeth better. Vannah will be 3 come the end of June, so I thought flossing would be an impossible venture. As it turns out, it is remarkably easy with the help of Fun Flossers. Now Vannah is reminding me that she needs to floss.  Anyways, Vannah had a wonderful appointment. She was the last of the 3 to go back but she had a fun time playing in the waiting room.

When she was finally called back, I could tell she was a little nervous because she was a little on the quiet side. She quickly warmed up to the dental hygienist and told her all about her shoes and that she had an owie on her teeth. I had been talking to her about going to the visit the entire week before and somehow she thought she had an owie on her teeth.  The lady was supper nice. Not only did she talk to Vannah about what she was going to do, she also showed her everything and let her touch and feel the tools.

Then the cleaning process and inspection on Vannah's teeth began. Now getting an almost 3 yr old to keep her mouth opened wide is rather a task. Not only did Vannah need to keep her mouth open but so did I. The moment my mouth would close, Vannah would start to close hers as well. It was discovered that Vannah did in fact have an owie. She has a great big canker sore right up in front on her inner lip. They said it looked like it was probably a toy poked her (With three crazy kiddos it is probably not to far off the mark). They also said that her teeth are very clean and that she is doing a fantastic job of brushing her teeth. 

Not a surprise to me, Vannah would spend hours and hours each day brushing her teeth if I would let her. Its one of her favorite things to do and she loves her Dora The Explorer toothbrush. And now she loves going to the dentist too. 

Just look at that beautiful smile and pearly whites!

Girly Girls

I love having girls. I mean I love my boy with all my heart and he is a blast but the girls are so much fun because I get to do all the girly things with them. And my girls are very girly. Just this past weekend we took a trip to the hair salon and had a whopping 6 inches chopped off of Vannah's Hair. This was her first trip to a beauty parlor and also her very first haircut. She loved every moment of her pampering and sat there perfectly for the entire thing.

 I'm pretty sure that she thought she looked absolutely beautiful just having her hair clipped up. And she really enjoyed being able to see herself in the mirror the entire time.

Of course the salon was packed and everybody wanted to talk to the girls. Cady was pretty sure all these women were completely nuts but Vannah loved having conversations with all the women LOL. Afterwards she said "I'm beautiful now"

Chalkboard

We are currently remodeling our home. The current kitchen will be moving to a completely different part of the house in the next year or two. Up until now, I had been just putting up with my current ugly kitchen and not wasting any money on fixing it up. Well that was fine until the kids and I started hanging out in the kitchen on a regular basis. We have an entire basement full of toys and a giant TV with countless Disney movies and other stuff that could keep a room full of kids entertained for DAYS. But in reality, the kids crave attention and love to be where ever I am. As annoying and frustrating as it can be when I am trying so hard to get projects and cleaning done, I also know that it is wonderful to have my kids wanting to be around me and I know that they are learning. So I got to thinking about my horrible kitchen and I realized that it is the perfect place to try some stuff out. See what I really like and what I don't. How I can make the kitchen a fun place that can keep my kids near me and out of my way at the same time. So a small tiny remodel is now taking place in our kitchen. The first project, I turned an ugly door leading up to our upstairs (the upstairs is only used for storage right now) into a chalkboard. I purchased Chalkboard paint from a local hardware store. After I got the chalkboard painted with 3 coats of paint,  we had to wait 4 days before it was ready to be used. Today is the big day and it is a huge hit with my kids.  Hopefully this will stop my artist from decorating her bedroom walls.

Just Like Her Mother

Along time ago there was a cute little blonde haired girl who loved to draw. One day this little girl found a magical black marker, she knew it was magical because her parents always called it a magic marker. She took this magic marker and quietly hid behind her parents beautiful leather mahogany sofa  where she discovered its true powers. The marker effortlessly glided across the back of the sofa in big graceful strokes. In no time the magic marker had created an entire village of magical stick people and animals. It was a masterpeice that nobody would ever find unless they moved the couch. Which oddly enough happened the very next day.  Fast forward to today. The little girl has grown up and now has an artist all her own. And all she can think is "Thank God I don't own a leather sofa!"

Cleaning With the Girls

The plan for today is to clean the house with the help of Cady and Vannah. This could be interesting because they are not the most productive helpers. Vannah's idea of helping mommy clean is taking all the toys and books I have just put away back out to play with. It doesnt matter what the toy is, the moment she see's me put it away she runs over and says "WOW". Its as if she has discovered a long lost artifact and she now must closely examine it to make sure it authentic. Cady on the other hand thinks of cleaning as the most disgusting chore there is and refuses to help. Strike that, she will grudgingly help and will carry one little tiny toy back to its location at a time. Such as lego's, it is one block at a time, if two are stuck together she doesnt bother with it.  But I am hoping that by bringing the iPod into their room and playing some music we will be able to make it somewhat fun and maybe actually get something accomplished today. And if not, we at least gave it a try.

Meet the Kiddos

The three craziest little kiddo's you could ever meet. They may look all sweet and innocent but they have made me change from a wonderful mother into a crazed lunatic in a matter of moments. Actually they are great kids that have made my life full. I really don't know how else to explain it other then saying full. Every single day is an adventure and I never know exactly what is going to happen. I decided to do a blog so I can share the adventure of my three little angels.