Call me Charlotte

Well, it's been a busy month around here. Most of which I haven't blogged about because, well, it's been busy!
One very special event did take place though. Daisy got her 1st tooth!
All I could think about as I looked at that shiny little pearl of a tooth was Charlotte's Web.

Yep, that's weird, I know.

But I love books. Always have and because I taught little people for so long I have tons of great children's books. Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, a classic, is probably also my favorite chapter book. In fact, Puddin and I have started reading it together at night. It's her 1st chapter book and she is loving it!


So back to Daisy...
As I looked at her tooth I was reminded of this...

"I am sure that everyone one of here in the barn cellar will be gratified to learn that after four weeks of unremitting effort and patience on the part of the goose, she now has something to show for it."
- Charlotte the spider

Believe me, after the days and nights of teething that we went through, Poor Daisy deserved a medal! A speech was the least I could do! This sweet baby girl had such a hard time with the teething! She also is my earliest teether so far!

Thankfully, she is now back to her sweet, easy going self these days.

LOVE HER!

One thing to say...

Potty training 2 little monkeys is not fun.
In fact, it's a very dirty job.
Dirty, dirty job.

Friday Faves

Just in case you were curious, here are a few of my new favorites...
This song has been in my head all day...




This is amazing and inspiring.

I want this. Love it!!!

But I'll settle for this...

Bud and Daisy are happy about this...

I needed this reminder....

Coupon anyone?

We started this. And, yes, I have lost my mind. But we found this little jewel, thanks to a friend, and are hoping for good results!

And finally, the machine is now fixed so I am making a lot of these!

Now Showing!

On any given day you can stop by and find a LIVE! Bible showing right, smack dab, in my living room... minus the camels, of course.
It seems the trio really has a knack for playing "Bible story", directed and casted by none other than Puddin Flowers.
Today's repertoire included a showing of...
Daniel in the Lions Den
David and the Big, Bad Goliath
Jonah and the Big Fish and finally,
Welcome Baby Jesus.
All titles were also given by Puddin.
Thankfully each story can be told with a minimum of 3 characters.
It really is pretty cute to watch.
I think about when I was a kid and played things like Charlie's Angels and The Dukes of Hazard, never Bible stories. It makes me so happy to know that she and her brothers are hearing the Word and their little hearts and minds are being saturated with it.
On that note, we started cubbies last week and we are working on 3 verses for Puddin to memorize this week. 1 John 4:10, Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:8.
I think she will do well but if not, maybe her teachers will let her act out the verses!
Have a happy day!

Sense of humor

My hubby likes jokes.
His whole family does, really.
They always have one on hand it seems, no matter the occasion.
Me- not so much. I only have 1 joke I have ever been able to remember. It was told to me by a 1st grader and for some reason, it stuck. Since it's the only one I can remember, it's the only one I use.
Funny how some people can remember hundreds of jokes and others only remember one!

It seems as though Puddin will be taking after her daddy. Over the past couple of weeks she has started the "knock-knock" phase. While none of her jokes really make sense to us grown ups, she thinks they are funny, which makes us smile too.

But today she entered a new phase, the "get it phase". That's when they tell a "joke" of some sort and quickly follow it with, "get it?!"
Just in case you didn't.

So today as she was coloring at her table and drawing pictures of people, (which she is very good at), I heard her say something that was pretty funny.
Even funnier was that I thought she didn't get it...until I heard her say, "get it Momma?"

Puddin says, "I'm weally picky about noses."
**silence**
"Get it, Momma?"
"I'm weally picky about noses."
**giggles**
"That's funny!"

It sure is!

Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's Nana's house we go! Seriously!

Recently we added a trip to Nana and Papa's house as part of Staycation '09.

Unfortunately, Hubby had to work so it was just me and the crew for this trip.

While seeing family is always fun, anything over 45 minutes becomes, well, HARD.
30-40 minutes is great though! I get some peace and quiet and a relaxing drive, the kids chill and watch a movie. It's all good. Throw in an extra 10 minutes and- watch out!

If I have to drive farther than that, it becomes a day trip. Because it the land of many little ones, a 45 minute drive quickly becomes an hour drive, which quickly become an hour and a half and then 2 hours, etc... You get the picture.

Our last trip to Pulaski, which used to take 1 hour and 15 minutes, took 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Yes.it.did.

Now, that is not 2 hours and 10 minutes of joyous, happy, good times and fun....as my 3 "big kids" would say, "no way!"

That was a hard, hard 2 hours and 10 minutes that was topped off with car sickness, diaper blow outs and a screaming roll down a ravine due to fear of an overly spastic beast my parents lovingly refer to as "Molly" the dog.

Good times!
I know you soooo want to take a road trip with us!
So sorry, there are no available seats in our Odyssey!
After all of that- it looked like I may never try the trip again. Until Nana convinced me otherwise.

So, I put on a brave face, sucked it up and started packing- for a DAY trip! I had soooo much stuff to take!

the stuff

Once we got there I had another challenge. The swimming pool.
Ya'll, let me just say that large, small, whatever- any body of water around my children seriously scares me. Seriously!
I am waaayyy outnumbered and they are fearless.

They have this crazy ability to make each other BRAVER, so even if they were scared at first- they won't be as soon as one of them starts to show an ounce of bravery.

My mom was going to help in the pool but due to plumbing problems she had to play handy man for the day. It actually worked out pretty good for the babies. They got to hang out with Nana in the house and got a nap in too.

my sweet, sleepy babies

That left me and 3 crazy excited children with a large body of water.
What a workout! Puddin took swim lessons this summer and is fascinated by mermaids so she was feeling pretty confident. Well, that was all it took. That and the slide that was recently installed in the pool.

oh.my.word.

My nerves were shot.

Thankfully, I had purchased all 3 kiddos suits at the beginning of the summer with attached life vests. I felt a little guilty about it up until the 1st one hit the water.

Yes, hit the water. (after, of course, a little nose picking!)UGH!

Monkey See

Puddin

Monkey Do

They were just jumping in like nobody's business! I was scooping them out as soon as they'd hit the water cause another one was following quickly behind! I had a regular assembly line going. I kept saying, "WAIT! You can not swim!"

After a while they started to slow down(that's when I was able to take these pictures!). I guess being water logged will do that to you. Then Monkey See let out the loudest burp I have heard in all my life!! I guess it's from ingesting all that water and air. After they slowed down a bit I could enjoy it( the pool and fun with the kiddos- not the burp), a little, sort of.

Puddin realized her suit had floaties in it and wanted to practice her "mmmm's" like Mrs. Laura taught her in swim practice.

So she did.

Then she remembered she was supposed to kick her legs.

So she did.

Then, she realized she was "swimming" in the water by herself and she was ecstatic!

She was really doggie paddling and being held up by her life vest but she could go from one end of the pool to the other on her own! I sat on the steps with the Monkeys and watched her cross back and forth, back and forth. Once more milestone for my baby girl! I was feeling a little teary until Monkey See decided he could do it too, and just like that, he was off the steps following his big sister. I know the days ahead holds so many more of these moments- it's kind of bitter sweet.

Anyway, the Monkey's needed a lot more assistance than Puddin but they did pretty good for 2 boys that have never been in anything deeper than a bathtub. Seriously.

They would be treading water pretty good and then would get nervous and flip face down so I'd have to flip them back over. They certainly weren't scared. I guess that's a good and bad thing.

They will definitely be joining their sister next year in swim lessons though. That's a guarantee!






So after all the fun in the pool, we went in, got cleaned up, had lunch, played with cousin G for a while and then it was time to repack and head for home to see Hubby. Oh, how I missed him!

Now, I had to drive through torrential rain storms to get home. Seriously!

It took at least 2 hours to get home. Thankfully, my sweet hubby had stopped and picked up a pizza on his way home so we had a hot dinner waiting for us. We unloaded the van, ate dinner and sent 5 exhausted little ones off to bed. Ahhhhh! What a busy, fun filled, water logged day!

I had conquered my fears, so to speak, and made it through a day I just knew I would not enjoy. And I did have fun with my kids in a swimming pool. having fun wasn't ever really the issue. I really was truly scared of what could happen. I had to be very alert and ready for those kids at all times. Just watching their every move was exhausting, never mind the scooping! I made sure I had bathed them in prayer and then I had to do what I know I will have to do many times again- let go. That is soooo hard sometimes.

Puddin's final words before bedtime??...

"Momma, can we do dat ahgin??? Dat was fun!"

Sure Puddin, we sure can! Seriously!

waiting

So, I'm still waiting for my sewing machine to be repaired. Which is a bummer considering I have a lot of sewing to do and tons of projects rolling around in my sleep deprived head.

So, since I can't post any pics of new stuff being made, ordered or sent out, I thought I would leave you with this for today.

Say Cheese!!






Seriously, he is always like this! Such a happy, happy baby!

Shoes and quiet

I may have a problem down the road. I have mentioned before how Monkey Do loves shoes. He really does. Well, so do Puddin and Monkey See.
So today when this came on Sesame Street they all stopped in their tracks... silence...peace and quiet. AMAZING!
I may have to put this on a continuous run cycle.
They were mesmerized!
Enjoy!

Bi-lingual babies

So, just to warn you- this is another Monkey post. But not nearly the same kind as last!

Last week Monkey Do and I had a few problems. Really, just one.
It seems my first born son, the one with a smile that can light up the great state of Texas, the one who oooozzzzes personality, the one who can throw a ball with amazing accuracy for a baby of his age and has a slight fancy for girly shoes and all things pink, the one who loves Barney with all of his great big sweet and tender heart, does not, will not , say he is sorry to his Momma.

This is a problem.

Last week he did something or other to torment his sister a few too many times so I scolded him a couple of times and we moved on. I ended up having to take a toy away from him because he had decided to use it as a weapon... so he could torment....his sister some more.

Well, I laid it on the counter and went on with unloading the dishwasher. OH- I do not like unloading the dishwasher!! But since "Alice" doesn't live here it's left up to me to do it. **sigh**

Anyway- back to the story.

So I laid the toy (plastic golf club ((I know it shouldn't be in the house and no- I have no idea how it got in the house)) on the counter and went back to the dishes when I noticed that little Monkey had it again and was swinging like mad! So I took it away again, and this time sent him to time out.

This was also the 1st day of the start of story time and the 1st day in a couple of weeks everyone was well enough to go out without fear of infecting the 'Boro with the "Flowers Family Sickness".
Needless to say, we were pumped to get out of this house!

So Monkey Do is in time out doing his 2 minutes of hard time... screaming. The buzzer goes off and I go to him, kneel down and and tell him he is in time out for taking the toy I had taken away from him and for swinging it around the house. I asked him to say he was sorry and give me a hug.
Ya'll, that little Monkey looked at me, frowned and turned his little face from me.

He refused to apologize.

We were at a standoff.

So, I calmly said he would just have to stay in time out until he could tell Mommy he was sorry for misbehaving.

I went back to finishing up some chores, and dressing the other 4 kids, and packing the diaper bag, all the while I would go back to him every 5 minutes and ask for an apology. Every time I would walk away without one. After an HOUR of this I was really, really starting to question what was going on! He was sitting in time out- not getting up- just sitting there, mad as a hornet and refusing to tell me he was sorry! Now, I don't want him to apologize for something if he's not sorry, but I wanted him to be sorry!! I also didn't want us to miss story time!! I really needed to get out and enjoy the weather!

Unfortunately for him and me, he gets his stubborn streak from his Mommy. Apparently he has learned from the Master as some would say. (Not one of my finer qualities and definitely something I am working on. Especially now that I have my own mini me lurking about).

So Puddin and Monkey See are ready, they are wanting to leave the house of sickness for fresh air and a good book.
But-
We can't,
Cause we are in a standoff and Mommy will not loose this battle. I've seen enough episodes of Super Nanny to know what would happen if I did give in and although she seems like a nice lady- I soooo do not want the Super Nanny to ring my door bell!

I kid you not- an hour and a half later this battle finally ended. Thanks to Switzerland....aka Monkey See.
I've always heard about the "twin language" but had never experienced it. Lets just say it's alive and well here. But because the boys talk pretty well and I can understand them I had never really noticed that they are able to speak "Swahili" when talking to each other.
Now, I can' t be certain that is the language the were speaking*wink* they are really smart but since I've never really heard Swahili- I'm just guessing. I do know it was completely foreign to me!

I had gone into my room for a minute and when I came back into the kitchen the boys were standing hand in hand in the kitchen waiting for me. I was surprised because Monkey Do had not gotten out of time out this entire time. So , I told Monkey See that his brother had to say he was sorry before he could play and that he needed to go back to time out unless he was going to apologize. Both boys just stood there holding hands and smiling.

So, I asked Monkey Do if he wanted to say he was sorry.
Still smiling but refusing to say anything.
So, I sent him back to time out.
And that's when it happened.
Monkey See did not let go of his hand to let him leave.
Instead he looked at him and said, "blah, blah, blah, blah" MUCH, much sweeter sounding than that.
Still, nothing from Monkey Do.
So, Monkey See, repeats his request again and I kid you not- that stubborn sweet little
Monkey Do looked at me with the sweetest smile on his face and said the sweetest words,
"sowy mommy!"
I melted. Literally.
I scooped him up, smothered him in kisses and said thank you for apologizing!!! I also scooped up his brother, the peacemaker, and covered him in kisses too! It was really pretty neat to see this all in action.

Since then I have noticed that sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes they do communicate in their own way. How awesome must it be to have another person who always gets you! I love that they have each other and that I get to be a part of it. Even if we did have to miss story time!

Calling all blog techies!!!

Ok- I changed my blog design and I really like this one.
The other one was just ok.
So, now I want to change the header on my blog and I found a great header to use but I need to change the text and the picture and I can't figure it out!!!
So, if you know how to do that would you please be so kind as to leave me instructions in the comments box??
Thanks so much!

I should spare you the details but in the spirit of "keeping it real", I won't...

Ok, let me first say, there are no pictures for this post.

Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Why no pics, you ask?

Well, a couple of reasons.

First the images are forever seared into my brain and there was just no need for pictures.
Secondly, for the sake of rescuing my child, there was no time to grab the camera for "posterity's sake".

So, if you are brave enough and still want to know what on earth I am talking about, read on. If you think you've already heard enough, I understand if you leave now.

here goes....

This afternoon I heard one of the Monkey's wake up from his nap around the usual time. For his privacy, which Monkey will remain nameless for this story.

Anyway, right after he woke up so did Daisy, in a fit no less. She is teething and it's just not her cup of tea. So, I had to comfort her before I could go and get the boys up. While I was doing that Puddin also woke up and needed a little snuggle time. All of the kiddos nap at the same time, which is GREAT! But- that also means they tend to wake up all around the same time too.
Usually, it's not a problem. Having siblings means you learn to be patient. In the grand scheme of things, the wait time for the Monkey's today was really nothing...it took me about 20 minutes before I could get up to their room.

A lot can happen in 20 minutes.

A familiar smell greeted me as I entered the room. It's pretty typical to happen at nap time and is just something I have gotten used to, as much as a person can get used to that.

As I approached my sweet Monkey (both boys were now awake and wanting out of their cribs) I noticed something in his bed.... on his hands.... and face..... and hair....

Something that should not be there...

Yes, I'm am sorry to say, can't believe it myself...
it was
pooh.

My initial reaction????

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I screamed.

Then I quickly yanked him out of the bed by his armpits.... the only clean spot it seemed and whisked him straight to the tub.
Then I realized he still had on his shirt so I yanked that off of him as well and started scrubbing as best as I could.

If I could have gotten my hands on bar of lye soap and a bristle brush I would have!!!!

Ya'll, this was just plain B.A.D.
Once again, it reinforces my belief that boys are just so, soooooooooo different from girls!!!!

The whole time I was scrubbing the poor baby all I could say was , "No, no, no, no!!!! We don't ever, ever touch pooh!!! No, no, no, no!!!!!"
My poor baby's reply???? " Why, Momma?"

SERIOUSLY???!!!!!!

So after the initial cleansing phase I realized he was now basically sitting in toilet water. YUCK!!!!
Quick pause for Mommy to quickly freak out, again! (Just so ya'll know- he seemed quite stunned by my reaction. And in his defense, I really don't think any of my children have ever seen me react to anything in quite that way!)

After I rinsed the, um, toilet water out and quickly rinsed the tub, I ran another bath and yep, you guessed it- scrubbed him AGAIN! Then I remembered his poor brother, in his bed, undoubtedly wearing his own poopie diaper, patiently still waiting for his mommy who was in the process of having a mini melt down as she scrubbed the skin off his twin!

So I drained that water, ran a new batch of water, ran to get the other Monkey, who thankfully was still wearing his poopie! After I cleaned him off I stuck him in the tub with the stinky Monkey and more clean water.

All the while Bud and Daisy are awake and past their feeding time. That means crying. Bless Puddin's heart, she was trying to help! I kept hollering down to her, "Sing to them!", "Give them their mi-mi's!" And she did. She drew them pictures, danced for them, told them stories and just flat entertained them until mommy came back from the edge of insanity!!! She is no doubt, the greatest big sister, EVER!!!

After the Monkeys were both in the water I realized I still had a mess to deal with. So, yes, I left them in the tub. Alone. I KNOW that is a huge no-no and one I have rarely ever done. But, they were a little freaked by my behavior so I didn't think things would get too crazy, and I only had a couple of inches in the water. Plus, that mess wasn't going anywhere until I took care of it.
So I headed back to their room. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!!!! I had to strip the entire bed and if I had had a sandblaster on hand I would have used it on that bed. To say I was "grossed out" is the understatement of the year!

Once the bed was stripped I went back to bathe the boys again. yes, that was the 3rd of 4th scrubbing for the stinky Monkey.
And this is where I lost it...bad...and literally.
I realized he still had some on his ear. YUCK!!!
I got that off and as I did, my sweet, sweet child that I gave birth too, nuzzled, sang too, prayed over, covered in kisses, and overall adored, leaned over and burped.

And I threw up.

Let me say there was never any evidence that he ingested the pooh, but just the thought of it was simply more than I could take.

So there you go. Keeping it real for the whole world to read. Sorry to leave you with that image but don't say I didn't warn you!

Down on the Farm

Today we went and had the boy's 2 year old pictures made. We went to friend's farm and it was everything I wanted and MORE! I am so excited to see the pictures I can barely wait!!!
Kate did send me a teaser though. To see a small sample of our fun today click here.
BTW- Kate is awesome and yes, they are the cutest kids on the planet!!

The tale of the Dead Sewing Machine

There really is no "tale", the title pretty much sums it up.
My sweet machine is dead, sort of. I guess it's better to say it's on its last leg.
It is sitting in the shop right now, waiting to be repaired, I hope.

If you are waiting for an order... I'm working on it as best as I can. It's taking a little longer than usual because, well, the machine is dead... for now anyway.

I'm especially bummed because I had a HUGE project to work on that I was really
excited about! But now, it has to wait... until the machine is better.

I do have several things in the works so look out! As soon as ole bessie is better I'll be sharing some super duper cute stuff!!!! (Just in time for Christmas orders too!)
BTW- I will be closing Christmas orders by November 15th this year. Last year was great but I really need to spend more time with the family and less time on the machine around Christmas!! Thanks for understanding!

5 months

****UPDATE****
Babies pooped out tonight before I could get the "5 month shot". I will work on that tomorrow!

Sweet little Daisy is teething! Today I can feel her teeth starting to cut through! She and Bud are 5 months old today!! UNBELIEVABLE! How can they be that old already?? It seems like March was just last week! I noticed over the past week they are also trying to roll from back to belly. They aren't rolling from belly to back yet...but that probably has something to do with the fact that they don't get a lot of tummy time.

They sleep on their backs and when they are awake I get a little nervous putting them on the ground on their bellies with 3 other wild children running around! We do have a play yard but it is being used around our exercise equipment right now. So tummy time is limited to when Puddin and the monkeys are sleeping and the babies are awake and I have a few minutes to sit in the floor with them.

I'll post a 5 month picture later tonight. Right now Bud is sleeping and Daisy is having issues...teething! poor baby! She never cries so when she is whiny I know she really doesn't feel well.
Gotta go for now!

Yes, I'm still here.

The kids have been sick.

4 of the 5 had vaccines last week and 2 have been dealing with side effects.

So, things have been busier around here than normal which means there is little time for me to catch up on blogging.

Plus, I have a huge order to fill and a sewing machine on the fritz! UGH!

***thinking happy thoughts now!***

So, with all of that, I'll leave you with some happy thoughts too....

Puddin and the Monkeys watching something... Backyardigans, I guess. Yes, Monkey See is picking his nose. Just keeping it real!

A much cuter picture of my little Monkey!

Baby Bud- he loves to cheese for the camera!

Sweet Baby Daisy... such a pretty girl!

We are so blessed- these babies truly are very smiley! They usually have a smile on their faces (which is really nice considering there are 3 other wild things running around here!)

HELLOOOOOO!

Well, My computer is finally home!
Oh, how I have missed her!
She became suddenly sick last week and has been "hospitalized" since Thursday!
And, man did I have a lot to say this weekend!!!

For now it will all have to wait- I'm late for an appointment. I just needed to stop in and say hello!