Catching up...... A butch of randomness

Care Bear lovin

The other day we were out Thrift shopping. The entire time we were walking through the store Mattie insisted on pushing this pink and blue care bear scooter. Taylor kept trying to distract him with other things but he just kept going back to it. Taylor wasn't all that thrilled about Mattie's excitement over something so "girlie" and didn't want to purchase it even though it was just 2 dollars. I stuck it up on the counter anyway, and I'm sure glad I did because Matt LOVES this thing.. He puts his cars in the little compartment and pushes and rides it all over the backyard. I told Taylor he could spray paint it if he was really all that worried!
Megan and Mathew were running through the sprinklers this evening. I stripped him down ready to take him up to the bathtub. While I ran in to throw his diaper away he decided to jump on his favorite toy and give it a commando test drive.
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New Shoes

Our neighbors grandson has these shoes, and every time Mattie sees them he points them out and admires them. While shopping at Target yesterday we stopped to look for some sandals for the girls. There in the isle were these shoes. Matt was excited but as I looked on the shelves I noticed that they started at size 7 boys. I was disappointed because Matt is a 5. Then as I turned around to push the cart out, I noticed there in a size 9 box sat a pair of size 5 Car's shoes. He wore them out of the store, and has had them on ever since. He looks so cute with them on even if they are super dorky.
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Bubbles!

We found a bubble machine at Wal Mart today! What a blast!

blowing bubbles
chasing bubbles
popping bubbles
pointing at bubbles
Chasing bubbles

Megan likes bubbles too!
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What a big boy!

so my baby boy is growing up entirely too fast! I cleaned the back yard up and got the picnic table ready for summer eating. All the girls were sitting happily eating their breakfast and Mathew being the big boy he is climbed up all by himself and asked to "eat". I handed him a plate and there he sat eating just like one of the big kids. Since then his favorite thing to do is climb up and sit just like the big kids do. I've had to put something against the table so that he can't climb up and scare me to death anymore.


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SLUMBER PARTY!!!!!
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So Ali finally had her Birthday Slumber party last night. She got to invite 5 friends to come over and spend the night.
They had a great time eating pizza, painting each others nails, and jumping on the trampoline in the dark wearing the glow in the dark bracelets.
This is what 9 years old girls look like when they get really hyper and excited. Be grateful you can't hear them because they were so loud that Mattie dropped his sippy cup right after this picture and came running to me crying.
GIRLS!!!!!!!
We found this t-shirt when we were thrift shopping last week. I love it because I've called Ali my Sunshine since she was a tiny baby. Its always been her song. I had to take a picture of her wearing it.
It was fun to watch them jumping with all the glow lights bouncing and flying around.
This was right before the parents came to pick them up.. I felt bad for any of our neighbors that might be trying to sleep in.
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What I learned from a house full of 9 year olds?
That I am so extremely grateful for my little girls. They really are so well behaved, and comparably so much more caring and respectful than some children out there. I sat watching them play and run around last night and listened to them interacting. One girl in particular was such a Rude, bossy, and demanding child that I wanted to take her out front and lock the door. She had to announce that she was a Model, and took acting at least 10 times through out the night. She had her own cell phone and threw at least 3 fits that I witnessed alone.
Another of Ali's Friends we've known since birth. she lives next door to my parents and she's an only child who is in just about every extra curricular activity you can imagine. Her parents have her in the accelerated learning program at school, she goes to after school programs (not the free kind), she's in dance, ballet, gymnastics, soccor, etc etc etc.. this girls schedule is so packed that she doesn't even have time to think. She arrived at the party at 9:45pm.. she's a very high maintenance child and has always been exhausting. Watching her last night boss everyone around , yell and scream (obviously not used to a baby in the house sleeping) drove me crazy. Then their was poor Izzy. This was her very first sleep over ever. Her mother warned me that she had some bowel issues, but hadn't packed any extra underwear or clothing. um... all I can tell you is that after the other girls complained of a horrible odor for an hour, I pulled Izzy aside, took her upstairs , handed her a washcloth with instructions to clean herself and gave her some fresh clothes. She was SO sweet thanking me sincerely when she was through. I have to say I was proud of the girls for not making her feel bad about her problem. (yes, even the Bratty one). I let them all pick from my prize box because I wanted to really reinforce the respecting others, and kindness.
okay, so then there is Alora. . I love Alora. She and Ali have been friends for a few years even though Alora moved 20 miles away. She's a sweet girl and I don't mind her being around so much that we invited her to stay with us another night.
She went with us to see
Chronicles of Narnia
Prince Caspien
today. And is sleeping over and going to church with us tomorrow..
I guess they weren't all that bad, just the two of them that drove me crazy and made me thankful that Ali and Megan aren't' Brats.
By the way, I loved the movie. It was fun to watch . I love watching things that keep me on edge. I was biting my knuckles through out parts of it, and the end even made me tear a little.
Craig and Merry asked to take Mattie for the day again.. I think they're addicted to his absolute cuteness. When they called to check in he was giggling up a little storm in the background. Its really good for him too to be away from Taylor and I once in a while.
They're going to take him next weekend while I'm at work so Taylor can hopefully finish painting Matt's room.
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More Parties at Grandma's and Papa's
We are seriously so spoiled!
this was Last Sunday but Its taken me awhile to catch up on all my pictures.
It was a busy weekend of Birthdays and Mothers day. I felt so special when they presented Ali and I with separate cakes.
Mine was Chocolate yum!
Ali was spoiled as usual and with exactly what she wanted. Lots and lots of Art stuff!
Megan couldn't get close enough to the goods, so she climbed right up onto the table. I tried to scold her but Grandma came to her rescue and told her it was fine.. Grandma's always doing that!
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Grandma's book
I gave Mom her book. I think she likes it.
Papa was pretty impressed with it..
I'm glad..

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Cason Sitting (as opposed to "baby" sitting)

since January Taylor and I have been watching the Cason girls each week one, two, and sometimes three times a week.. Its hard some days managing 6 kids under the age of 8 all at once. Ang drops them off around 6:30 in the morning so getting the two girls off to school some mornings can be a bit stressful. (Especially when Mattie is being demanding). While the girls are at school they usually eat and just hang out with Taylor or I, playing or doing projects. We usually have to arrange for someone to get Megan for us because we can't fit all the kids in the van, and walking all of them to the school and back is not fun. (Trust me, We've both done it). Jeanne (My neighbor) is a Godsend because she takes the girls to school in the morning and picks up Ali for us in the afternoon. Its been difficult for me because I am such a schedule person. I have Mine and Taylor's schedules mapped out months in advance and thrive on knowing what my days are going to be, even if it means I get to sit and watch my favorite TV show that night. sometimes when it changes on me, it throws me for a loop. Ang isn't as scheduled as I am, so she likes to change her schedule around to fit her week. that means doing some graveyards. She then drops the girls off around 6:30 in the evening and then gets back around 8 in the morning. When that happens I just throw them into the nighttime routine right along with my own three, including the bedtime stories and tucking in. I usually make her sleep a few hours in the morning before driving home so she doesn't kill herself at the wheel.
When all is said and done I usually adjust just fine. I have to say I'm pretty good at managing everyone, and they mind me very well so they aren't a problem. When Ang works day shifts by the time she arrives in the evening they've woken up, eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner, done homework with the girls, played with half the toys in the closet, done at least one art project, and watched at least 2 movies. I bathe the three of them and do their hair right along with my own three before Ang arrives a little after 8pm. It can be pretty exhausting for both Taylor and I. Most days though we get through just fine, and the girls love having them around to play with. They're just like cousins, and sharing everything comes natural to them. Megan is always asking "are the Cason's coming tomorrow?" and she thinks it is pretty cool when they sleep over. I like knowing that I am helping my friend out and that she appreciates how much I do for her.. That's a good feeling for me, and I know how expensive daycare can be because I paid $900.00 a month for my two girls when I was a single mom. that just about killed me! She does not have to worry about that huge expense. I Also love those three little girls immensely. I treat them just like I do my own when they are here, even kissing and hugging them when I see they need it.
Ang in turn watches Mattie and Megan for us a couple times a month so that Taylor and I can get our hours in at work. We've worked around each others schedules for so many years now, its nice to have a couple days off together a month I know we won't have to do this forever, but for the time being, we'll all keep working together to make it work. ...
We've got our entire summer schedules written out already. I've already started mapping out the days for outings, and hopefully a few camping trips. I'm looking forward to getting out more this summer. My parents opened their pool so on the days that we're home we're going to walk over and swim whenever we get too hot.
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Living room
I wanted to give our front room a make over. I moved everything around all by myself. including the 300 pound piano!
I think it looks pretty good..
what do you think?