Decorating for Christmas!

The kids, especially Turner, love getting ready for Christmas!   The past few years we have done it the week before Thanksgiving.  We spent most of Saturday getting our tree up and putting everything out.  I love seeimg everyone's beautifully decorated and fancy trees.  We are just not that way.  I don't have any themes and basically let the kids do it all:)  if we have ten ornaments hanging on the same branch...then that is how it stays.  Maybe one day I will get fancy, but not anytime soon!!  We also put a small tree in the big kids room this year and they loved decorating it.
  I love this time of year.  We have so much going on the next month, but I hope we all enjoy gearing up to celebrate Christ's birth.  We have so much to be thankful for amd have been blessed many times in 2013!!

Harper has a Tooth!!

She doesn't want to show it off or let you touch it....but her bottom right tooth has broken through:)  I knew her gums were swollen and kept thinking it would be any day.  Friday morning I did my daily check and was excited...and sad.  These firsts are coming along too quickly!  She is getting close to crawling and then it will ne a whole new ballgame.  But for now, November 22nd at 8 months and 1 week old, we have a tooth:)  Hopefully I will get an actual picture of it soon.

Handprint Crafts!

  We had a great afternoon/night yesterday.  There have been days lately where I feel like all I do is get unto the kids for this or that.  I don't think that happened once yesterday.  Poor daddy had to get a crown, so the rest of us headed to Target.  I picked up a few Christmas gifts and Maddie used her Target gift card she had gotten for her birthday.  Maddie chose two books:)  I let Turner bring some of his money and he picked out a craft set you make using her handprints.

  We came home and daddy did crafts with them.  We used to make stuff all the time and I have slowed down.  Juggling three kids and working part time has proved more difficult than I thought. I have to remember that quality time is more important that quantity.  Their artwork turned out great and it was a fun night!

Peek a Boo-8 months old!

Harper has changed so much this past month.  She now can roll over, pulls up, and is teething like crazy!!  She is still our happy little girl, but a little spoiled.  She used to play so well by herself, but these days definitely prefers her mommas hip:)  It makes it hard to do things, but I know before long she will be walking amd not wanting me as much.  I will take it while I can!
  Maddie and Turner can make her laugh like no other and she loves bathtime more than anything.  If I just walk into the bathroom with her she starts kicking and smiling.  She still doesn't really sleep through the night and for some crazy reason I dont really mind.  I stay tired but those middle of the night feedings are some of the only alone times I get with her.  Crazy I know!!
  She has had a runny nose for a few weeks now.  I took her to the doctor and her ear was cloudy but not infected yet.  By weeks end I had started her on an antibiotic.  Not going to be surprised if she has same allergy/ear problems as her brother and sister.  Which will give me the answer to my experiment.  She is the only baby I nursed/pumped for a whopping two weeks (hardest two weeks of my life!!) to see if it would make a difference in her health.  I guess time will tell:)
  Her favorite foods are rasberries and cauliflower,  but this girl isn't picky.  She really does like it all.  I broke down and bought a few jars of baby food.  Now that she is eating so much, it has been hard keeping up with making it.  Well, she definitely prefers homemade.  So I will carry on for a few more months.
  While everyone was resting today, we had our monthly photo shoot.  I love them and her!

Smores Night...and more!

Turner was so excited about Saturday night.  Our church had a get together with hotdogs, hot chocolate, and a bonfire to make smores.  Kevin had his football banquet and I took the kids by myself.  I prayed no one would get sick from Harper so we could still go.  We made it to the get together.  The kids had a great playing with their friends and I visited with mine.  The weather was perfect.
  I kid you not-20 minutes after we got home I began throwing up.  I don't think I slept at all that night.  Kev took care of the kids, got them to church, and took them to lunch.  By 8 last night, every stinking one of them was throwing up.  I am so thankful I was the first to get sick and Kevin was the last.  One of us was always ok enough to take care of the kids.  It was wild.  So we all spent today at home getting better.  This weekend was one for the books-praying that doesn't happen again!

Kick Off Party!!!

This was a wild a crazy weekend!!  All 5 of us managed to get the stomach virus-my first time ever.  It was awful!  Harper got sick Thursday night and was fine by Saturday.  So Maddie had gymnastics like normal Saturday and afterwards there was a ceremony to kick off 2014's competition season.  It was exciting and we can't wait to get started. I do want to say there is no way we could be doing this without Nonna and Big Da's help.  They have helped us tremendously and my parents and sister have helped with the monthly fundraisers.  This is an expensive sport and we are so thankful to them for allowing us to give Maddie this opportunity.  THANK YOU!  Before the party she showed me her roundoff backhandspring and I was impressed.  Glad to see all her hard work paying off.
  They received their warm up outfits and their new duffle bags.  They also got big sisters which was fun for Maddie, since at home she is the big one:)  We had one more activity that night before it all went downhill.  That post next!

Maddie Turned 7!!!

I can not believe we have a 7 year old!!!  These 7 years have flown by and Maddie has grown up so much in the past year.  She is doing great at school, reading up a storm, working hard in gymnastics, and has learned every book in the Bible in such a short period of time.  She is our determined child and stops at nothing to reach her goals.  She can have a little attitude at times, but is still our loveable little girl.  We decided it was time to scale back on birthday parties.  Now that we have added Harper to the family and money is just tighter, we told the kids we weren't having huge parties anymore.
  Maddie's favorite place is Chuck E Cheese and we let her invite a handful of friends to come and celebrate with her there.  Nonna brought Brayden and Sophia and Mimi, Boo Boo, Megs, Bubba, and Aubrey joined us as well.  The kids had a great time and we saved a ton of money by not inviting every single friend we have:)  After the party the family went to Steak and Shake for dinner.  Turner's last soccer game was that morning and Maddie had gymnastics before her party....it was a full day!  We gave Maddie a hula hoop and a gymnastics track suit.  She received lots of new books, crafty items, clothes, movies, and earrings from family and friends.  She is outgrowing toys-makes this momma sad.  I feel like I played with them forever:)  We had fun celebrating our Maddie Mo and look forward to what this next year will bring!

Turner's Trophy!

Trying to catch up on a bunch of posts today-it is too easy to get behind.  Turner finished up his soccer season a few weeks ago.  He had a great season and was a totally different kid from last year.  I do believe he only played for one reason though-to get a trophy:)  He talked about it the whole season and was thrilled to pieces when he received it after his last game.  I love how excited he gets about things and are very proud of our big boy!  He learned a lot about good sportsmanship this season and did a great job of cheering on his friends.  Love the kids having extra activities, but also love having a break now and then.  Enjoyed it while it lasted, but looking forward to having our Saturday mornings back for a while!!

Samaritan's Purse!

I still have to post about Maddie's Birthday and Turner finishing up soccer, but need to load pics on the computer first.  I wanted to be sure to include today on the blog.  Last year we picked an angel from church to buy Christmas for.  It was great and the kids really enjoyed buying for him.  This year we decided to do the shoeboxes and the let the kids each fill one.
  We went to the Dollar Tree and Dollar General and I let the kids pick everything out themelves.  It was hard trying to explain to them just how much this was going to mean to a little boy and girl somewhere across the world.  I always talk about how tight money is...this was a good reality check for me as well.  We have far more than we need and are so very blessed.  I am thankful we were able to fill two shoeboxes.  I pray that my children will grow up wanting to do and give to others.  I pray that they realize how much they have and not take it for granted.
 

Ram Run!

Friday was a fun day for Maddie!  Her daddy and I both took off work so we could go to her Ram Run.  Each of the grades had 30 minutes where they ran around the school to raise money.  Maddie ran 2 1/2 miles.  I was tired just watching them:)
  Since yesterday was her birthday we brought cupcakes and stayed for lunch.  They had a picnic outside.  I love watching her interact with her friends.  She has grown up so much in the last year.  Mimi came to watch and Maddie just did a little wave.  Last year she would have jumped up to give her a big hug.  These have been the quickest 7 years of my life!  Love our girl!