Road Trip!

We went to South Carolina this past weekend to visit my sister and her family. Linda & I took the kids to their first concert. Friday night we sent to see The Doodlebops in their first US tour - Daniel & Emma have been looking forward to this for about a month and they loved it!

For the most part, Emma sat in her seat, mesmerized by everything happening on stage. Daniel on the other hand was up and dancing, singing and going back and forth between Linda and me all evening. I'm glad we had the opportunity to take them. On Saturday, while Michael & Darrell played a round of golf, we took the kids shopping. At Toys R Us, there were Stormtroopers standing out front and walking around in the store to help promote the new Star Wars toys. For those of you who know me, I don't like being around characters wearing masks that cover their faces, so you can imagine how I felt about this. Thankfully my children don't seem to care for them either. In fact, every time Daniel saw them, he'd cover his ears and say "it's loud" - he wouldn't even shake their hand. I'm not sure why he thought they were loud, they didn't make a sound at all and he's never seen any of the movies. Emma just stayed closeby.

Aren't these the cutest kittens you've seen?! Daniel found these ears in Rachel's room and just had to wear them. When I took Daniel's picture, the others had to wear them for a picture too. We always have fun at Aunt Linda & Uncle Michael's house.

Pumpkin Patch??

Ok, so this past Saturday we went with friends to Southern Belle Farm (McDonough GA) for our annual pumpkin patch trip. We arrived about 10am and although it wasn't exactly warm (very cool and windy), at least it wasn't as muddy as I was afraid it would be. By the time we left the weather was quite pleasant. There really weren't any pumpkins to speak of, but I think everyone enjoyed the day anyway. Darrell took the kids through the big corn maze - he said Emma wasn't happy unless she was the leader (so what's new?). We took a hayride around the farm that turned out to be educational as well. We learned about the best time to pick cotton, how sunflowers will turn and face the sun as they grow, etc.


The kids got to ride a pony for the first time and they both loved it. I've been trying to get Daniel into a hippotherapy program, but I wasn't sure how he would react to a real horse. I guess I don't need to worry about that now.

They liked riding the ponies, but I think they like the cow train the best. In fact, Daniel would've stayed and riden all day if we had let him.

Who Doesn't Love Chocolate?!

You know, a girl's gotta love her chocolate! Her brother loves it too (as if you couldn't tell)!!



We had frosted brownies for dessert the other night and the kids were so excited! If you look closely you'll see they actually had more on their faces than on their clothes, amazing!

Go to sleep!!!

What do you do when your children refuse to go to sleep? For the past several weeks, after we put the kids to bed, Daniel decides he doesn't want to be in his room alone so he comes downstairs and lays down in the doorway between the front room of the house and the kitchen. Sometimes he falls asleep there, sometimes not. When we go up to bed, we take him back upstairs, put him in his bed and he goes to sleep. Then sometime between 5:30am and 7am he finds his way into our room - and into our bed.

Well, last night my wonderful husband took the children upstairs and put them to bed (they usually do better about going to bed when he takes them). Before he ws even back downstairs, Emma was screaming and crying because she "didn't want go night night either." Daniel got up from his bed and went into her room and they played for awhile. Darrell finally went upstairs and put them in their respective beds. They would not go to sleep! Finally, at 11:00, I went upstairs and told them they needed to get some rest and go to sleep. Emma stayed in her bed but still took awhile to go to sleep. I went into our bedroom to put away the clean clothes, hoping that having a parent upstairs would be enough to keep Daniel in his bed; and therefore in his room. Not so! He got out of the bed, went into Emma's room and tried to get her to play with him. She would tell him, "No, Dan-l, you need to go to bed." I went in and gently helped him back to bed. By the time I got back into our room, he was out of the bed and either heading downstairs, or just standing in his doorway. I popped him on the bottom and put him back in the bed, crying for his daddy. This continued constantly for well over half an hour! It didn't matter if I left the hall light on or off, or if I left his door open or closed. You could tell by looking at him that he was exhausted, he just would not go to bed! I'm not sure if he finally wore himself out, or if he decided I was more stubborn; all I know is that he finally stayed in the bed and fell asleep. I hoped that since he didn't fall asleep until after 11:30, he would stay in his bed all night until time to get up for school. But to no avail, he was in our room about 6:15am again this morning.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to get kids to go to bed, go to sleep, or stay in their bed until mommy or daddy comes to get them up, we'd be glad to hear them!! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Comments Fixed

The issue with not being able to comment on blogs that have switched to the beta version has been fixed - you no longer have to use the anonymous or other choices. Yay!!!

Adding Comments

I recently switched to blogger in beta. Although it has some neat features, I didn't realize the problems I'd run into with comments. Here is was Blogger has to say about it:

"Users who have not switched to Blogger in beta will not be able to login to comment on blogs that have been switched. Commenting using the “anonymous” or “other” options will still work."

Therefore, if you want to leave a comment, you'll need to use the "other" option. If you were thinking about switching to the beta version, DON'T DO IT! - at least not until they get the bugs worked out. I apologize for any frustrations this may have caused. If I could switch back to the non-beta version I would.

Weekend Visit

This was perhaps the strangest Labor Day weekend we've had. First of all, my sister got sick the Wednesday before Labor Day with a 24 hour bug. I got sick on Thursday with a 24 hour bug as well (our symptoms were the same although we live hundreds of miles apart). Friday afternoon, although I was not feeling 100%, I felt well enough to go visit Linda, Michael and the girls. So, the kids and I picked Darrell up at work and hit the road. When we picked him up, Darrell said that he thought he was getting the same illness that I had but he would be OK so we headed to SC. Friday night, we went to the local high school football game. Both kids seemed to enjoy it alright. Daniel doesn't like loud noises so you can imagine how much he enjoyed sitting in the middle of the crowd. True to form though, he made a new friend with the lady sitting next to us. He crawled up in her lap several times and gave her many hugs. She and her husband left when there were only a couple of minutes left in the game so they could beat the crowds - Daniel actually cried when she left and tried to go with her.

We experienced several firsts over the weekend. Daniel has always been somewhat scared of Michael - probably because of the rough way he plays - but sometime this weekend, he decided that Uncle Michael isn't as scary as he thought. At one time, he actually asked Michael to pick him up and snuggled with him (of course Daniel wasn't fully awake yet so we're not sure if he really knew who he was reaching for, but Michael will take whatever he can get). I think the kids decided that since Uncle Michael took them to a great ice cream place (Oodles) and to a good BBQ place (Mutt's), he is now their favorite uncle. Tom, if you're reading this, ice cream and BBQ are going to be hard to beat, are you up for the challenge?

With each of us not feeling well, and being away from home, we didn't exactly sleep very well. Although the kids started out sleeping on the floor each night, at least one (if not both) would end up in the bed with us by the next morning - an interesting feat when you think about the fact that we were sleeping in a full size bed (not a lot of extra room). Between the snoring and the children climbing in the bed, we took turns on the sofa hoping to get at least a few hours of uninterupted sleep. Speaking of sleep, Emma slept in a waterbed for the first time (Sunday afternoon nap). As you can see, Daniel & Darrell had no trouble sharing the recliner for a nap. Yes, that's a passy in Emma's mouth. Since we moved her from the crib to a big girl bed, she has decided that she does not want to go to sleep, EVER (naptime or bedtime). We finally broke down and bought her a passy and told her that she is only allowed to have it when she's in the bed. We figure it will be easier to break her of this habit than it will be to make her sleep without it.



Monday morning, Linda and I were in the kitchen making some desserts for lunch. Darrell and Michael took the kids out to see the pigs at the neighbor's house. Aren't they cute? All in all, I think everyone had a good time and we look forward to our next visit; hopefully when we're all well.

wrapping paper and much more

Now that school has started, the fundraisers have begun as well (welcome to public schools). The items available for purchase are wrapping paper and many other gifts and accessories. On Daniel's behalf, we have had an email sent to many people, asking you to support our school. The easiest way to purchase items is to shop online (and the items will be sent directly to you). The last day to purchase items is Monday, September 11. If you are reading this and you haven't received an email from Daniel, then we probably don't have a current email address for you. If you are interested, please let me know and I'll get you the necessary information. I know some of you may have family members with the same fundraiser. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to participate in case you didn't. Thanks!!

Baking with Grammy

If you know Daniel, you know he loves sweets. This past weekend he had a great time baking cookies with Grammy...oatmeal with chocolate chips...YUMMY!! I'm not sure which he enjoyed more, baking or eating, you decide.

Answered Prayer!!

Just a quick note to thank everyone for their prayers these past few months. Darrell has accepted a job offer and will begin working at Apex Plumbing Supply next week. We especially thank Uncle Andy for his part in making this happen (I pray the Lord will grealy bless you and Darrell as you work together once again). We truly appreciate our friends who have lifted our family up in prayer. I wouldn't say these past few months have been "a piece of cake" exactly, but God has blessed us with the peace of knowing that He is still in control and He will provide for ALL our needs. He is so good! Thanks again for all your prayers and support!!!!

First Day of School

Daniel started back to school today. Although he usually comes into our bedroom around 5:30 or 6am every morning, I had to wake him up to get him ready for school today. This year his bus will pick him up just after 7:30am (instead of the 9am time from last year) so I guess I'll have to get back into a routine of getting up early.



Before he would go look for the bus, he wanted to call Grammy. Once the bus arrived, he hopped right on and left without a tear. As you can see from his paper, he had a great day at school today! I'm sure this year will be full of great days at school.

"No passy beach"

This year we went to St George Island FL for our summer vacation. This year the crew consisted of my parents, my sister and her family, and us. We rented a house with a private pool that is only 3 doors from the beach (across one street). The kids loved playing in the sand and in the pool - mom preferred the pool to the ocean (much closer to the a/c, no salt water and a lot less sand).





If you like a vacation where you do absolutely nothing, this is the place for you. There are a few souvenir shops and restaurants on the island. Since the closest Walmart was about 2 hours away in Panama City FL we made only one trip there. While in PC, we went to dinner at a place called The Treasure Ship. Although it was very crowded, the wait wasn't so bad because there were things to keep the kids occupied. There were a couple of people doing face/body painting - Daniel got a dolphin on his wrist, Emma had a ladybug on her arm and Rachel & Abigail both had a puppy painted on their arm. There was a pirate making balloon animals, too - Daniel got a parrot, Emma a butterfly, Abigail a puppy and Rachel a turtle bracelet. The stocks made good pictures as well.







The closest major city is Apalachicola FL. This is where we went grocery shopping (our choices were a small IGA store or an even smaller Piggly Wiggly). Apalachicola also has a few good restaurants; as well as more shops and boutiques. We celebrated Abigail's birthday with lunch at the Owl Cafe. That morning Michael and Andrew took Abigail & Rachel out on wave runners.



Darrell, Michael & Andrew were able to play a round of golf a couple of times during the week (the closest of which was about 25 minutes away). Andrew and Michael when surf fishing several times, but I think they only caught a few small fish they didn't think were big enough to keep; as well as a couple of crabs. There was a playground on the island and once Emma found it she wanted to go every day (good therapy for Daniel as well). She always decided that week that she likes ice cream (or ice crame as she says it) and she would ask for it morning, noon, and night.




We did our own little photo shoot with the kids on the beach. Here are a few of the pictures we took. You can find more pictures from this "shoot" and others from our vacation by clicking on our photo gallery on the sidebar.





All in all I think everyone had a good time. Although next year I think we're going back to Gulf Shores - much more to offer in the way of entertainment, eating and shopping.

About the title of this post, for a couple of months before we left we kept telling Emma that she wasn't going to have a passy at the beach. Any time you'd ask her about the beach, she'd say "No passy beach." We had planned to let her have one on the way down (for our own sanity) but once we got to the beach, we were going to try to not let her have it all week. Well, when we left on Saturday morning, we took her straight from her bed and into the car. She had no pacifier in her mouth and we didn't even make sure we had one with us in case of an emergency. She only asked for it a couple of times during the week, but she didn't push the issue. We just told her that she was a big girl and didn't need a passy any more. All seemed well until we got home. We didn't get home until after 11pm Saturday. As soon as Darrell put her in the bed, she said "passy?" Darrell had seen the pacifier on the floor but he was able to get it out of the room without her knowing it was there. Sunday morning, I went in to get her out of bed and she had a pacifier in her mouth (apparently she'd had two with her when she went to bed the night before we left and one had fallen out during the night, but one had stayed in the bed). I got her to leave it in the bed when she got up, then I put it away later. She's only had a pacifier during a nap one time this week. So, it looks like we've finally given up the passy. Our next goal is to try to have her potty trained before Mother's Morning Out starts back in September. I'll keep you posted.