Icing on the cake

My 3 sons... Monkey See, Bud, Monkey Do

Motherhood is exhilarating, exciting, emotional and exhausting.

Some days it's all cake.

Other days, it's a giant piece of cake slathered in the yummiest frosting ever known to mankind.

(yes, I have cake on the mind).

Puddin, Daisy, Bud, Monkey See, Monkey Do- March 2009

One of my biggest surprises about being a mommy to many little munchkins is the relationship they have with each other.

Puddin and Monkey See checking out Bud- March 2009

I ADORE watching them love on each other.

Puddin, Monkey See, & Monkey Do- Sept. 2007

It melts my heart to watch them interact with such joy
and love for each other.

Puddin and Bud, March 11, 2009

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not always rainbows and puppies around here. They argue, disagree, and as of late, a certain someone has taken to pinching. *sigh*

BUT a lot of the time they don't do any of that stuff. THEY LIKE EACH OTHER!!!!

Monkey Do and Puddin- August 2011

Hearing my two year old ask her sister if she had a

good day is precious!

Listening to my four year old pray for his siblings and the

"bootiful weader we awre havin" is a sweet, sweet sound.

Monkey See, Puddin, Monkey Do- 2008

When my two year old busts her lip, (a first for us and very traumatic to say the least) it comforts me to know that her sister is just as worried and concerned as I am.

The concern, joy and love they show for each other every day is, well, icing on the cake!

Monkey Do, Puddin and Monkey See, July 24, 2009

It's a relationship I didn't really visualize when we decided to have another baby. Yes, I wanted my children to be close, to be friends and to love each other, but I didn't really know the joy it would bring me to see it all unfold before my eyes!

Puddin and Monkey See, the first time I really saw them being friends and

LOVING to play with each other! Watching a dream become a reality!

Fall 2007

When we were expecting the boys, I prayed that the Lord would give us the wisdom and the strength to raise our children in a godly home and to bring them up in a way that would be honoring to Him. I also prayed that they would be close in their relationships with each other. I am humbled to see God honor the desire of my heart! What a blessing!

To see them love on each other, encourage each other and find joy in each others company is such a blessing!

Thank you Lord for this gift!

 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the

desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Watching these two, snuggled up in a laundry basket telling secrets! What a precious time!

Got OJ

Baby girl has been running a fever for the past couple of days, nothing serious, just a virus. But, the virus has apparently made her feel the need to be attached to my hip and only my hip. No other hip will do. While it has caused some serious juggling (to say the least) I have enjoyed a little more cuddle time with my little independent baby girl.

Since she hasn't been feeling well and I am feeling the sudden urge to save all of their immunity systems from whatever virus she is fighting, I decided we needed some OJ (the fresh squeezed kind). Problem was, I didn't have the ingredients.... you know, oranges.

Being the problem solver that I am, I loaded the children up and we went to the grocery store to get some. For the most part, it was one of our most successful shopping trips. No tantrums or clean ups necessary.
However, if you race across the parking to ask me if all these young'uns are mine,
and you happen to be dentally challenged,
and you are a "grown up daddy",
then, do not be surprised when an unnamed Monkey is surprised by the lack of teeth and asks you about your recent visits from the tooth fairy and how much money you got.
uh humm.

Back to the story. Yes, we got our oranges and proceeded to add freshly squeezed OJ to the lunch menu today. We have a juicer, courtesy of craigslist, and it's great! Yes, it's kind of a pain to clean all of the parts but it does the job so quickly and, even better, it just happens to be the secret to maintaining a quiet atmosphere at lunch around our house!

You could hear a pin drop, seriously.

And even better.... it leaves the best OJ mustaches ever!

See for yourselves!

Bud's reaction was just too adorable! He's very sensitive to, well, pretty much everything these days so I wasn't sure how he would react. I love this little stinker!

 Happy to be using a big boy cup 

 Thinking about it....

 savoring the taste...

He like it, he really likes it!!

Rewind... The Hunt

Every year we have a 9 ft. artificial tree for our main tree in the living room. We were married in December and the tree is actually from our wedding ceremony. Sweet, I know. But, I was over it. Does that sound too terribly bad?! I have wanted a real tree forEVER! I remember as a little girl we had a live tree and the last one I remember was when I was 6 years old. Life sort of got in the way for my family and a lot of things changed. Anyway, that real tree with my aluminum foil star on the top has always been one of my fondest Christmas memories.

So, this year- I bucked the system and left our wedding day tree in the attic. A beautiful Saturday rolled around and hubby wanted to know what we would be doing for the day. My response... cutting down a Christmas tree! The look I got back was priceless. I think my enthusiasm won him over though! So we loaded up the youg'uns in our antler clad minivan and set off for the Christmas tree farm. It was *magical*! We had so much fun! (except for the part where we trekked through a field where most of the trees had already been cut. I was "driving" the double stroller and between the ruts and the stumps it was a tough go!)

Here are a few pictures from our trip. Btw- I think we just added a new tradition to our Christmas-ing! Our poor wedding tree may never see the light of day again!

Our arrival at the Christmas Tree farm

Surprise! Santa was here too! Puddin is delighted!

Monkey See is not so sure! All month long he would say, "i not wike Santa... you tewl him I want a speed wacer car".

And their off!!! (Puddin is waaay off in the distance and Monkey's are in hot pursuit!

But where are the Wonder Twins???

Hangin back with Momma! (poor things really wanted to be out and running free with everyone else but there were so many stumps I was afraid they would fall. Plus- they run every which way but loose and it is just plain exhausting!)

A little sword fighting with daddy and some found sticks...

checking out the trees..."Momma- I think these are waaay too little!"

Posing for a picture! (what's with the leg, Puddin?)

And again... the leg. This must be her signature pose... oh my!

Still hunting

we found it!!!

(the one directly behind us)

Ta-Da!

Daddy gets to work

so pretty!

Done! They packed up and headed off so quickly!

Daddy stopped to pose with the babes.

*hubby* He had to carry the tree he-man style since I was pushing the stroller and our littles are just too little to help carry it... for now!

Having some hot chocolate after all of the hard work!

lip smackin good!


Even the babies had some in their sippy cups!

Definitely a fun day! And we will definitely be back!!

Froggy Went a Courtin'... a repost

ok- I'm still planning to share my mother's day recap, it really was blog worthy, but it's been another late night and I'm up to my eyeballs in fabric, and I am sleepy! I'm trying to get some goodies ready for an upcoming show I'm doing, and I'm filling the etsy shop, and I'm finishing up a couple of orders. If you are waiting for me to ship- sorry! Hubby has been swamped at work too and, well, life has gotten in the way. We will be shipping on Friday though so be on the lookout for your packages then.
Until then, here is one of my favorite posts from May 2009. Oh, the memories this brings back! Stroll with me for a moment down memory lane...
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May 26, 2009

** Just so you know...no dogs or frogs/toads were injured or mistreated in any way.

We are back and semi rested from our 1st family (all 7 of us in tow) trip to Pulaski. After you get past the car ride (2 hours) which involved much crying, a lot of vomit and a little whining as well as some gnashing of the teeth and clawing of the face, the drive wasn't so bad.

Upon arrival, 2 of our children then proceeded to roll down a very steep embankment after they were frightened by my parents beast dog they affectionately refer to as Molly. Thankfully the children were saved by their crazy, screaming mother (screaming for their father to get rid of the dog!!) and their brave, super hero father who chased the dog until she was caught and imprisoned. Whew!

Once we finally unloaded everything but the kitchen sink from our van the day went into full swing and involved a LARGE pool and a LOT of people. Momma was NERVOUS to say the least. But my little people did great and had lots of fun. I will post some pics from that later.

What I really wanted to share was what happened after everyone left. I washed a load of diapers and while I was waiting for my moms washer/dryer to do it's thing I gave the kids a bath and hubby started to reload the van. During this time it had started to rain and the yard started filling up with toads and frogs. So hubby comes back in telling me about this HUGE frog out on the steps. I REALLY wanted him to catch it! I wanted the kids to get to see one up close and experience the whole frog thing. So,off he went. He came back with not 1 but 3 frogs!!!
We were so excited we loaded those puppies up in a shoe box and added them to the load of stuff in the van. The kids never knew their were frogs under their feet the whole way home!

So this morning I remembered the frogs! We were getting ready to leave to go to my Bible study but we first had to see the frogs. I told them I had a surprise for them and we headed to the backyard. Oh what fun!! They had a great time with the frogs/toads (I'm pretty sure they were toads). Monkey Do started out brave but was more comfortable with a little distance. Monkey See liked poking them with the bubble wand and Puddin puffy heart loved them! She sang to them and baby talked them, she even found a hole they could live in! She was very sweet.

So enough from me- enjoy the show! (I have turned the music off but if you click on the picture of Tex Ritter and then minimize the screen that comes up you can here the music selection that goes along with the slide).