Hiking Trip

Papa, Daddy and all four boys went on an all day adventure to a park right on the other side of the Mississippi border.

That's right....I had the WHOLE day to myself!

I spent some time shopping - alone! I don't remember the last time I did that. I spent the rest of the time trying to get everything ready for my stay in the hospital and bringing home a new baby.

The boys had a great time. You would think after hiking for 5 hours (literally - 5 hours) they would have been out in no time when they got to the car. NO ONE fell asleep in the car. Not even Andrew, and he HIKED over half way. Marmar would be proud. They taught him how to scoot where things were steep.

They all came in when they got home and told me about the snakes they saw (this is becoming a story I am tired of hearing...boys and danger - YUCK). I am ready to make them stay indoors all the time!

For some reason they had WAY too much energy still. Papa told them to wait outside until he got out of the Jeep and they would go for a walk around the neighborhood. He thought they would fight and say no. To all of the adults surprise they were ready to go! They didn't though.

The old men (Papa and Daddy) have taken their Aleve and are lounging comfortably now. The boys are in bed. If we are ALL lucky...they will sleep in in the morning.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Yeah right!

Snakes, Aliigators and.....Playgrounds?

Ever since we moved here the boys have been wanting to see an alligator in its "natural enviroment" (as Caleb puts it). The only place we have seen one is the zoo.

Today Papa took the boys to the playground down the road from our house. There is a playground, frisbee golf course and soccer fields. The playground is seperated by the fields by trees and a pond/creek. They were walking by the pond and Caleb noticed something that looked like an alligator. Papa thought it was a stick at first glance, but it started swimming.

They FINALLY got to see an alligator! They came home and one at a time came in yelling they saw an alligator. Caleb was first. He came in and said he saw it and I asked how big it was. "It was THIS big" he said with his hands about three feet apart.

Then Bryce came in yelling they saw it. I asked Bryce how big it was and he said "it was this big" with his hands seperated about six inches.

Isaac came in yelling about it and Papa and AJ were not far behind. When Papa came in I asked how big it was and he said it was about 18 inches long.

Last weekend Paul almost had a run in with a HUGE water snake. I am thinking I am not liking this playground much anymore. Maybe they need some "Beware of alligators and snakes" signs. Or....maybe it is a given in Louisiana to ALWAYS beware of alligators and snakes.

Papa is EVEN MORE awesome now because they were with HIM when they first saw a Louisiana alligator!

Caleb Knows Math

"Just one more decade and my Daddy will be FORTY!!"

OU-KEY

Instead of saying OUCHEY when Andrew has a boo-boo, he says OUKEY. He has spent so much time outside with Papa playing and running around that he has lots of boo-boos right now (he normally has quite a few anyway). He randomly stops what he is doing and comes up to me to show me his "oukey".

I love you is "Abu"

When most kids his age would be saying "mine" or "my" or "me" he says "I do" Or, if he sees you playing with something or eating something he wants he will run up to you and say "I do".

On the other hand, if it is something he doesn't want (whether you ask or not) he will say "I no do".

I love toddler language (especially when you figure out what is being said)!!

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY!!

Today Paul turns 30!!! I keep giving him a bad time that he is 30 and I am still in my 20's. He just proudly annouces he is the older man chasing a 20 something (which is fine as long as I am the 20 something!!) We won't discuss that I will only be a 20 something for two more months, though.

I was going to take a cake to his office for him, but he is only working half a day. So, I was VERY glad to hear that one of the ladies at work put signs up all over the office that said Happy 30th Birthday Paul. He has had lots of people come and tell him they were working at that plant when he was getting his diapers changed (he is one of the "young ones" up there. I am glad that he is getting teased about it and even more glad that I stay home and he can't do anything like that to me on my birthday!!!

I love you Sweetie, and hope you have a great day!

I Could Get Used to This

It has been great having my Dad here to help. He got here Saturday afternoon and the boys have yet to calm down, but he has been SUCH a big help...especially yesterday when Paul was in Mississippi.

He took the boys on three walks around the loop in our neighborhood, which is no easy task when there are four boys - two on bikes, one on a scooter and one crazy toddler on a tractor going EVERYWHERE! I am not sure who wore out who the most. I do know that I had two kids take a nap yesterday though!

I must say it was hard to force myself out of bed this morning because no kids come in my room in the mornings. AJ did this morning, until he "found" Papa. He was in my room saying "Papa" and when he heard Papas voice in Mady's room he was gone.

They are on a walk now (except Bryce who was playing with his railroad and didn't want to go). I could get used to these little spurts of quiet and someone taking care of all the kids every need. I am sure I would quickly miss it though.

We appreciate all your help more than you know Papa!!

He's READY!

It is so funny that Paul is so on the edge of his seat with this baby. I guess because I have had contractions off and on for so long. Or maybe, it is because it is his little girl, I don't know, but he cracks me up.

Last night we didn't sleep well because I was tossing and turning with contractions. He knew I was taking my dad to the hospital today, just so he could see how to get there. When we got home I IM'd Paul and told him we went to the hospital. I get back a "YOU DID?" "oh"

It immediately dawned on him that I meant we went to show Dad where to go, but it was quite funny that he instantly thought I meant I went because I was in labor.

More From the Mouthes of Babes

Papa and the boys were out playing when I got home from the dr. They decided they were going to go for a walk around the loop around the neighborhood. After a bit, I heard the doorbell. It was Caleb giving me the mail.

He went back down to where Papa was and told him "I had to get the mail for Mom. She is about to go in labor any minute and doesn't need to be in public."

I am not sure if I should think that is sweet that he is taking care of me or if he is embarrassed by me!!

38 Week Appointment

I just got back from my LAST drs appt. ONE WEEK TO GO!!!

Her heart rate was around 145 bpm, and as always she was busy moving around the whole time. I have dialated to a 1 1/2 which is progress from the nowhere I was over a week ago, but not really where I want to be either. She still has not dropped.

The dr said she was not concerned because I have had four kids and never had a problem with induction, but if this was my first baby, she would probably want to wait a little longer to do the induction.

I have been having contractions this morning. Hopefully they are actually doing something!

Either way....I have to be at the hospital at 5 Monday morning....FIVE AM!!!! They were apologizing for it being so early. I told her the sooner I went in and got going the sooner I had her! I doubt much sleep would be gotten that night anyway!

AJ's Second Birthday

Here are the pictures from Andrew's birthday today. The cake part was much more interesting this year than last year. I put the cake in front of him to blow out the candle. He blew it out and then started knawing at the corner of the cake. When I tried to take the cake to cut it, we had a bit of a tug-of-war with it. He finally let go so we could all have some!

He also enjoyed the ice cream, although he kept getting brain freezes. He would take a bite, shake his head no and after a minute shake his head yes to let Daddy know he was ready for more. Oh, the faces he was making with it though.

We were so glad to have Popeye here with us for his birthday. Oh....Popeye is Papa. Andrew calls him Popeye instead of Papa. I don't know why....but it is funny!

I'll take that

Let me taste. YUM

Tug-of-war with the cake. It IS his birthday cake!

Brain freeze

Brain freeze

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew

Andrew turned two today :(

Daddy shaved his head yesterday :(

He is looking and acting all little boyish now :(

I will post pictures and more later....gonna go play with him and his tractor.

SOLD!!!

We sold the house!!!!

Our counter-offer split the difference of what we were asking and what they initially offered. Their realtor called our realtor this morning and said that they did not want to pay that much and asked for $2000 more off. Our realtor said we would did not want to accept anything less than what we countered and her clients agreed to the price.

They got their preapproval letter yesterday. They are going to their realtor tonight to sign the paperwork.

We are trying to stay calm and not get to excited until closing, because things happen all the time that screw up house sells, but YAY!!!!! This is a HUGE stress off of us. They are wanting to close by May 15th....keep fingers crossed and prayers said that it all works out!

As previously mentioned, last Thursday...the REALLY bad day....our gate that goes across the driveway (the new one) broke. The wind blew so hard that it bent the brackets and the post the brackets were attached too.

The guy that put the fence/gate up was supposed to come out Friday. He is pulling the same stuff he pulled with the fence and he never showed up, never called. He had told me that if the gate was bent from the storm insurance would have to be called and a claim made, but he would come give us an estimate for the insurance company.

Down here, you don't make insurance claims unless you REALLY need too. Insurance is horrible here and it doesn't take much in the way of claims to get dropped. We would rather "save" our insurance for when we have hurricane damage or something a little more serious that a bent fence post.

Paul is going to try and fix it on his own because I refuse to give this guy another cent. If he can't fix it I will find another fence company, but I am pretty sure he can do it. Here is what the brackets and bolts that hold the motorized arm onto the fence post look like:

The brackets should sit flat against each other and the post and the screws are not supposed to be bent at all. This shows how strong the wind was that it just twisted them all and those are heavy thick metal brackets!!

This is what I found when Andrew was sitting a foot away from his Daddy. Luckily they were outside.

I immediately took him to the bath. We tried nail polish remover, soap, dish soap and oxy clean. The dish soap seemed to do the most. This was what we ended up with after the bath:

He got mad when I said we were getting in the bath and cried throughout the bath. I am not sure if he was mad that we were washing away his art work or that he could not rub off the black (he kept rubbing his knees).

Bus Drama

Bryce came home crying today because he did not get candy on the bus (Isaac did). I asked if he got in trouble on the bus and he said yes, but could not speak to where he could be understood. I told him to go to his room until he could calm down.

He just came out and said he was ready to tell me what happened. I asked what happened and he said someone told him to yell at the top of his lungs a bad word.

Yes.....we HAVE already been through this!!

I asked what word he said...he said "skit bull"

I can assume what he meant, but just like last time, the fact that he can't repeat the word is proof enough that someone TOLD him to say it.

He is still in trouble though. We have already been through this and he was told not to do something that someone tells him to do if they are not willing to do it themselves.

I am wondering if the two and a half to three hours a day I am saving NOT sitting in lines is worth all the stuff we put up with on the bus!

Another Offer on the House

We got another offer on the house in Arkansas today. It is a CLEAN offer this time. Not the crap we got last time.

They offered less than we were asking (no surprise there), but they are not asking for us to pay anything. They are even paying for their own home warranty!!

We are countering the offer, but after speaking with the realtor and hearing some of the buyers info (how much they are putting down, etc) it sounds as though they are expecting a counter. They had three houses they were looking at, but ours was at the top of the list.

Our only concern right now is there is not a preapproval letter yet. They have verbally been preapproved, but there is not a letter. As part of the counter, we put that we need a preapproval letter within 5 days and the listing stays active in MLS until we receive the letter.

Keep your fingers crossed and say lots of prayers for us. It would be GREAT to get this stress off of us!!

Usually, I would not purchase this picture. I didn't think it was a great picture when I first saw it. Then, Caleb changed my mind. He had this conversation with me when he gave them to me and I had to wait all day to laugh (after he went to bed and I was telling Daddy about it).

First, here is the picture:

























He hands me the picture and tells me that we HAVE to buy the pictures. He said it was the BEST picture he had ever had taken and he looked "very mature" in it. He went on and on about how great the picture was and how he smiled the exact way they told him to.

I just agreed with him and said it was a good picture and we would see (trying to hold in the giggles). I put the picture away so I could tell Daddy about it AFTER they went to bed. He got a good laugh to.

I am still not sure what he was aiming for, but he looks like a gangsta or homeboy or something. I don't know, but I SOOOOO love the picture now and I laugh everytime I look at it and think of the conversation, so now...I have to buy them!

Another Year Coming to an End

School year that is.

After the boys Spring Break next week, they will only have 18 school days left. Three of those are half days. There are five field trips (four of which are for two kids and all in one week), 2 art shows, a musical performance, two honors programs and three parent/teacher conferences.

Let's hope for a QUICK recovery because it is going to be a whirlwind month before all the kids are home everyday!!

I am shortly going to have a FIFTH grader, SECOND grader and FIRST grader!! :(

Some Questions You Just Don't Ask....

For fear of the answer you will get.

Some things I am just better off not knowing.

Last night, instead of taking the dog out when he was whining in the middle of the night, Caleb and Isaac chose to ignore him and he peed on their floor. Caleb came out complaining about it this morning and I told him to go put the dog in the fenced in area for the dogs and NOT to let him run around because the gate was open (still broken because the man won't get his booty out here and look at it).

I look out the window to see the dog running towards the gate and Caleb peeing off my patio.

When he came in I gave him some towels and told him to go the mess until I could get the shampooer out and take care of it.

Later, I walk in the bathroom after all the boys had showered and the towels I had given Caleb to clean the pee up with were on the bathroom floor. There were no other towels out.

So, the question I DON'T want to know the answer to.....What did the boys dry off with? Did they use the towel that Caleb cleaned up dog pee with?

See, I told you....somethings you just really don't want an answer to!!

Kite Flying