Wow, I didn't think I would ever say this but I am glad the weekend is over. I had 3 shows so I have hardly been home and I am just ready to have some down time with the kids. The good news is that from my 3 shows I have 6 bookings and a couple of ladies that might be interested in selling. Praise the Lord!!! It has been a ton of fun to get out of the house and meet new people, but I don't think I will be booking 3 shows in 3 day again, I need to space them out a little more.
Other than that, Matthew & Jacob have been sick but they seem to be much better. I hoping to see baby Kate this week if all goes well, if not I am just going to have to find a sitter for my kids so that I can go and spend some time with her! Here are some pictures of my precious little niece!
As I was uploading pictures I just got a message that there is not enough space left for any more pics...So I will try to post more later.
Here are a few of my favorite random pics from the last month.
Matthew 2 favorite things!!! He will get up on the scooter and stand there until Jake, Mom or Dad come and push him around the house. Matthew just climbs right up on the train table sits in the middle of it and plays.
Kyle on his scooter, Uncle Adam & Aunt Kelley got these for the boys for christmas, they love riding them around the house.
Pic of Drew at his 6th bday party. I am happy the boys and I were able to make it back for the trip, they love playing with their cousins!
The boys were invited to their first friend bday party, they loved it!
Jake sitting by this little girl Claire, they are in school together. So before Christmas the kids all made a list of what they were thankful for and Claire said "Mom, Dad & Jacob" TOO CUTE!
Papa was kind enough to drive home with us after Drew's bday. We took him to the S&I museum in the city.
Matthew bouncing on the bed.
This was a very exciting Christmas for Kyle and Jacob. Last year, the boys got excited as they opened presents but this year they knew there was something very exciting things inside each wrapped box. For the past 3 weeks, the boys kept asking is today Christmas. Everyday we got the calendar out and counted the days to Jesus's birthday. I am not sure the boys understand days of the week yet becuase they would always ask is today Christmas when we were done. This year we spent Christmas in Iowa with Jamie's family. On Christmas Eve, the boys opened their exchange gifts and presents from Grandma Betty. Christams Eve started with a bang as the boys got diesel trucks filled with matchbox cars. Jacob rode the truck around the house all night. Mathew loved crawling in all the boxes and wrapping paper.
Christmas morning was also very excited. Santa bought gifts for all the boys and filled the stockings with fun little toys. All of the presents were a hit but the Geo air planes were the biggest prize.
This has been a huge week of celebrations and family time. My wonderful husband Keith turned 35 on tuesday and we were able to go to dinner at Catch 35 downtown! Thanks to Bill & Bobbi for the gift card, we had a wonderful meal. After dinner we drove around downtown to check out all of the Christmas lights and then we went to Toys R Us to pick up Ben's birthday gift and get some ideas for the boys for Christmas. I am super excited for Christmas this year, it is going to be all about the kids. I can't wait to see their little faces light up when they open gifts, they are really going to enjoy it this year.
Keith took the day off of work on wednesday for a little family time and that is exactly what we did. The boys wanted to see Papa & MImi so we spent most of the afternoon hanging out with them, the boys loved it, they constantly ask me to go to Mimi's house, I feel very blessed that they live so close and we are able to spend time with them!
Wednesday night we celebrated Keith's Bday again with the kids. They love birthdays but are starting to get a little jealous that their birthday is not here yet. I made homemade lasagna and peppermint ice cream pie, so we invited Bill, Bobbi, Kelley, Adam & Ben over to help us eat the enormous meal! We had lots of fun hanging out, we were able to play some cards and Kelley & Adam spoiled me by letting Ben have a sleepover at our house. I love having one on one time with Ben and I don't always get that when Mom & Dad or Papa & Mimi are around so it was fun to just hang out with him!
Thursday we went over to Bill & Bobbi's for a huge turkey dinner, it was delicious, we need to have this meal more than once a year! We just hung out, looked at the ads and spent time with the kids. It was nice to just relax and have some downtime, we haven't done that in awhile.
While looking through the ads I tried to convince someone to go shopping with me at 4 am, tons of stores have huge deals on toys on Black Friday and it is worth it to me to try to get the boys' stuff on sale. Keith was the only one interested so Bill was kind enough to come over at 4 am to watch the boys. Keith and I hit 4 stores and came home with some great deals. We even purchased 2 battery powered Jeeps that the boys can drive. I vowed long ago that my kids would never have one of these, I don't think they are very safe and they are pretty expensive so I used to think it was a little crazy to buy one for the kids. But Keith convinced me that the boys will love it, which they will and I can just see the little looks on their faces when they open the box. They were a super door buster at Wal-mart, we felt we couldn't pass them up because of the price, we will see if we will keep them.
After shopping Keith and I promised the boys we would put up the Christmas tree and train. We were able to get both of them set up and I started working on the rest of my decorations. I am sure I will have all of it done by today as we don't have a ton of decorations. I love Christmas, the power of giving is amazing to me, I love this time of year!
Today we are heading to ChuckECheese to celebrate Ben's 2 birthday. Hard to believe the little guy is turning 2!
I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but I am hoping to get some more pictures at Ben's party today.
So that all happened on wednesday, by friday Kyle was feeling pretty good and Jake seemed fine so I sent them to preschool. By friday afternoon Matthew was running a fever and had a cold so I took him into the doctor and we found out he had an ear infection and the same cold. Now, I had 2 kids on antibiotics and I was just praying that little Jake would be ok. On saturday the boys seemed ok so we promised we would go to the movies to see Madagascar 2. Well this was a huge mistake, Jake starting having coughing attacks and got sick right before we were going into the movie. Keith wanted to take them back home but I insisted that we take them, we were already there and we had promised them we would go. Jake started to get a fever while we were at the movie and after it was over I took Keith and Kyle home and then too Jake to urgent care. We found out that Jake had pneumonia. He was put on antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments.
By monday Jake and Kyle seemed much better but Matthew was still pretty fussy so I took him back into the doctor. When the doctor listened to his lungs they heard wheezing and he ended up on breathing treatments for his cold. By the end of the day monday I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted with the boys waking up multiple times during the night. On tuesday my parents had called for an update on the boys and once they found out how bad things were around here my dad graciously offered to come out and help. I immediately took him up on his offer and he packed his bags and was in the car within an hour. I am so thankful for my family, who else could you ask to drive 8+ hours to come help you take care of sick kids and even stay up all night comforting them so that Keith and I could get some sleep. My dad was a huge help, I could not have gotten through the week without him and the boys loved spending time with Papa.
Last wednesday I took Jake back into the doctor for a follow up and he checked out ok. On friday I had to take Matthew back in and we found out that his ear infection had gotten worse and his lungs still hadn't cleared up all the way. The doctor changed his antibiotic, put him on a steroid and told us to continue the breathing treatments. Thankfully today everyone seems much better, it is amazing how much better Matthew is doing. Keith and I are praying that we will be healthy and have everyone sleeping all night by thanksgiving.
I am thinking that I will ask for $$ for my birthday and christmas this year and put it towards a new lens. Kelley / Kim any suggestions for a wide angel / all purpose lens?
The boys have a bible verse that they focus on each month at school, but when you ask them about it they usually look at you like they have no idea what you are talking about. I think it has been about a month ago now but one day I was sitting with Jake and he takes both his hands put them on my face (to make sure I am looking at him while he talks to me) and says, "Mom, I praise you because you are wonderfully made." I tried to get him or Kyle to say it again, but nothing...it makes me laugh because they are all boy, they will never volunteer information and when I ask them questions they will say ok or fine.
One night this week I was reading a book to K&J and it referenced Genesis in the book. When I said Genesis, they both said at the same time "Genesis 1:1, God created the heavens and the earth." I was super impressed, I haven't been able to get them to say it again, but I know that it is ingrained somewhere in their little minds. At the end of the year the boys have a little program where they will recite all the bible versus that they have learned this year, I am so excited I can hardly wait!
So I don't normally complain on my journal but I need to get a few things out! I am so happy that yesterday is done with and today is a new day. First off the boys and I went to the zoo, no one mentioned to me that from now until March, tuesdays and thursdays are free days at the zoo. Somehow I also missed the fact that the kids did not have school yesterday. With all this going on and the 75 degree weather the zoo was packed and crowded. I know I am more than just a little spoiled by the fact that we have a zoo membership and we are fortunate enough not to have to go on the free days and I am a stay at home mom who can go during the week and not on a weekends, but I hated all the people and the fact the boys couldn't see any of the animals because so many people were just standing there. Ugh, so that is how my day started and it kind of put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.
And then there was the election, all I am going to say is that I am very worried for our country and my children! Instead of worrying about something I can't control I am going to try to put all of this energy to good use. I am first going to find out all there is know about our newly elected president and what "changes" might be in store for us over the next 4 years. And then we will go from there!
Tomorrow should be fun but I am just not into Halloween this year. Kyle & Jacob are dressing up as Handy Manny, a disney character, he is Handy Man but I wasn't able to buy his exact costume. So we have a few things for them but I don't feel like there costumes are entirely put together. Matthew is going to be Tigger or a cheetah, I will decide tomorrow when I see which costume fits him better.
I had my friend Cindy and her daughter Lilly over to our house for a play date yesterday. Matthew and Lilly were playing with our phone...we didn't think too much of it, we have free long distance so I was sure they couldn't do any damage. Well not even 5 minutes later I put Matthew down for a nap and as I was coming downstairs Cindy says to me "Jamie, there is a policeman at the door what should I do?" I just said "well open the door and see what he wants." So I have to back up for a minute and tell you that Keith is having a little college reunion with his frat buddies and all I could think of was that they had gotten themselves in some kind of trouble....Back to the story. The officer says "is everything alright here mam?" I am sure Cindy and I both looked clueless for a second and then he explains to us that he is just answering a 911 call from our house. The police station has called us back after one of the little ones made the call, but I looked at the number on the caller ID, didn't recognize it and let it go to voicemail. Needless to say I was mortified that the officer had to come all the way over to our house for a false alarm. The good news is that he was really nice and their response time was amazing!!!
Looking back on this moment I find if quite hilarious that Cindy asked me what to do...like should we hide the kids and make a run for it. I have known Cindy for 7 years now, we are both mothers and new christians. During our younger days we weren't as conservative as we are now but we never really got into trouble so I find it quite funny that she asked me what we were going to do.
So onto my next trauma while Keith is gone. This morning I am playing with the kids and the phone rings and I was sure that is was Keith so I didn't even look at the caller ID before I answered the phone. Well it wasn't Keith, it was the K & J's preschool teacher. OH NO is all that I could think, I was sure that the boys had done something at school and their teacher was calling to tell me I have horrible kids who misbehave and are mean to the other kids. Well the teacher was calling me to clarify an issue that a parent had casually mentioned to me in passing. There is another set of twin boys in the class they are almost five and I hate to say this about any little children but they are little crazy for me. Keep in mind that these boys should be in the next class up but I am guessing that they are still in the younger class for maturity reasons. My boys and the other twins were not sharing trains so the teacher put them away for the rest of the day. The other mom mentioned this to me while I was picking up the boys on friday and I didn't think twice about it, not sharing is pretty normal behavior for 3 year olds and I was sure the teachers handled it just fine. Well the teacher told me that she never mentioned anything to me because K & J were fine, they got over it...But she did call the other twins mother because they did not handle the situation as well as K&J and there were some other things going on with these 2 little boys. (I hope this makes sense because I don't feel like I am doing a great job of explaining it.) Ok, to make a long story short the teacher called me to tell me what happened only because the other mother told her that she had said something to me.
While we were on the phone teacher told me again that my boys are very quiet and well behaved. They normally don't have any issues and things are going great. This is a huge relief because you just don't know if you are doing a good job raising your kids all the time!
I am guessing that as a mom of 3 boys this will not be the only call that I get from school or the only time a police officer is at my door. I just pray with God's grace and wisdom Keith and I can help our boys grow into awesome men, husbands and fathers and hopefully they won't get into too much trouble along the way.
I am so proud of Keith and Steph, they did an awesome job. It takes tons of training to get ready for a marathon, it was fun to be with Keith when he crossed the finish line, all of his hard work paid off!
I am also extremely proud of my sister Steph. This was her second marathon and she plans on doing many more. She convinced me to run the marathon with her which seemed like an impossible task but she encouraged me throughout the training to keep me going. The best part about finishing is that the training is over and my family gets our weekends back. Now I need to figure out which life goal is next on the list.
Keith's sister Stephanie will be running as well, this is her second marathon. She ran in Atlanta this past spring, she is amazing, I don't know how she does it. Please pray for Keith and Steph this sunday as they run...for strength and endurance and no injuries.
Kyle and Jacob continue to mature everyday, they love preschool and learn new things all the time. They are very sweet and gentle with Matthew and they have nicknamed him "Bu Ba." Kyle and Jake even help me with Matthew at times, they will grab me a diaper, help him with find binkie or tell him no when he is doing something he is not supposed to do.
This is their new favorite activity. The boys take turns pulling each other around in the wagon. Matthew just sits there and laughs the entire time.
Matthew & Nana
My sis Michelle & me
Aunt Tammy, Matthew & Uncle Doug
Jake and Kyle, our future football players. When I saw this picture I was shocked by how old my boys look!
Jake ( I had to look closely at this pic to make sure it was Jake and not Kyle).
I have to say a huge thank you to my Mom and sister Michelle, they worked hard getting everything ready for the party and to Bill and Kelley for all of the great photos they took during the party.
On Sunday we tried the cupcake again, Matthew seemed much more into it this time but he still didn't eat very much.
Keith and I are thankful for Matthew, he is an awesome little guy and so precious, he fills my days with joy! He is starting to hug me and grab on tight if he thinks I am going to put him down. And when someone else holds him and he sees me or Keith, he will reach out to us, I just love it!
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