Willow writes her name!

I've been working with Willow a little on writing her name and last week she did it! All by herself! She's so cute too, because we will be out and about and I'll hear her say: W-i-l-l-o-w, I did it Mommy" Or, " down up, down up, straight line with a dot, straight line, straight line, circle, down up, down up! Willow, that is my name!" She is so proud of herself and so am I! She just tunred 3- good job Miss Willow pants!

This is what I wake up to!

I don't think it gets any better! I love my sweet little man!

Progress...

We are making progress on the wall, but with a tired husband after work, a hammer & crow bar to work with and 5 kiddos to cart around at Lowes- we are kinda slow. We hope to have it up tonight- we shll see! Tristin had a blast hammering away last night though! He is a total boy!

I'm not ready for this...

The other day while I was cleaning, I picked up an envelope made out to me from Grace and discovered this little gem tucked inside. It reads: Mom- I was scared to tell this to you- but I like someone in my school- Grant. I don't know if he likes me.
Oh, how I laughed- and then amazingly fast, panic overwhelmed my entire being. I pulled her aside yesterday and told her I had found her note about Grant. She smiled and covered her face in embarrasment. I told her, :Sweety, that's fine if you like someone. Just know you can tell me anything and you don't have to be scared. Just know you can always talk to me."

In my mind I flash forwarded 10 years and just shook my head. 3 girl's in a row- Please help me Lord... I'm not ready for this!
(Oh yeah, how awesome is she for writing this all by herself? Way to go 5 year old smarty pants!)

Wonderful water heater...

Pretty much every day I thank the Lord for my dishwasher, running cars, warm house, washing machine, dryer, running water etc... I know how blessed I am- and spoiled, oh, how very spoiled. When I noticed my water heater dripping water Friday morning- I said, "Please Lord, not right now, I'll deal with it after the wedding, I just can't worry about this right now!"  (My friend Kristen was getting married and we had a church to set up and a wedding to attend that day!)
Naturally, I went right into pancic mode and called DeArley, who came over within minutes. She turned the water off, started making calls to cousins, calmed me down, changed a diaper, combed the girl's hair and helped me get the kids out the door for school. Her cousin was over in about 20 minutes, fixed the part and I was on;y out $ 50.00! I borrowed fans, dried out the wall for 4 days and thanked the Lord it wasn't any worse. Brother Coffin came over last night and removed a piece of the wall and did find mold. We will be running to Lowes when Trav get home and replacing the section that was damaged. I am grateful for wonderful friends, fast plumers, fan lenders and a helpful VT who lent her husband so we could discover the yucky mold hiding out in our wall. Thank you wonderful helpers! We appriciate you so much! And yes, Mom, I will let you know...

Grace's Zoo Party...

 

 

 

Grace's party finally arrived and she had a great time! We planned for months collecting things along the way and it was fun to see it all come together. I love my little sweety pie. Saturday she turns 6 and we will go over to celebrate at G-ma & G-pa's. There is nothing better than having the same b-day as your G-ma!

Sing, my child...

A few hours ago we were at the store buying last minute party supplies for Grace's 6th birthday party that we are celebrating tonight. As we were walking, Willow began singing her ABC's. She gradually got louder and louder and just as I was about to tell her to quiet down, a feeling came over me that said, let her sing. I continued to shop as I wiped away the tears. Her sweet little voice was too much for me to take as I thought about the parents who no longer had their precious children.  I pushed my cart around the store in tears of gratitude that I had my daughter right beside me . All of a sudden shopping with her felt like such a gift. I said a silent prayers for all those parents that would have given anything to hear the ABC song again- and in my heart I said: sing baby girl, sing.

Annikan's Birthday!

We went out the other night to celebrate Annikan's birthday! I am so glad that our B-day's are staggered at little, because we need the girl's night out whenever we can get it! Luckily, there were no weird objects in our food to report, just some yummy food this time! Annikan, you are the greatest friend and I love you! I hope your finger gets better too!

5 months old today!

Mr. Man turned 5 months old today. I'm kind of not okay with it either. I just want him to stay little and all he does is grow over night it seems. I know he's the last baby, I'm just dealing with the realization that every milestone will be my last to enjoy as a Mother. It's kinda sad. I'm closing a chapter and yet, I still feel sorta young. (Other days I feel 90, I swear!)

Here is Roman, all smiles, of course. Oh, how I adore this little turkey!

My sweet Angie...

I love my sweet Angie. Today she brought me to tears when she gave me my Christmas present. Here's why: I had my eye on this skirt at JCP, but of course, $ 17.00 was way too much for me to spend on myself. When DeArley, her & I were driving to Kara's baby shower, we were telling her about the Christmas buttons at JCP and how we kept getting free gift cards from them and how I had found this super cute skirt with a cool print, but $ 17.00 was too much for me to spend. Today when I went over to hang out, Ang gave me my present. Inside was my skirt! The amazing thing was- she didn't even know what it looked like! She literally went in, walked around until she found " a cool print" and the price tag said $ 17.00. When she saw it, she knew it had to be the one, and sure enough it was! Seriously, you know you're good friends when you can go in a huge department store and walk out with the skirt your friend barley described! I love you Angie, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!