Summer is over and you can feel it. We were outside the other night, there was a breeze in the air and it for a moment, it was bearable. The girls wanted to go jump on the trampoline but it turned out to be more of a modeling contest...to see who could take the prettiest pictures....they all won. Then Hana pointed up in the sky and said there was a spider inbetween the trees. Sure enough, there was a huge one...no kidding, it was as big as my hand...HUGE!

What to do

We are known not to keep any pet for longer than a year. It just happens. We get animals and then get rid of them for one reason or another. I think we are just plagued with getting bad pets. We have had good luck so far with Bubba. He will be 1 year next week. That is the longest we have kept a dog! Now, not many people know we have a cat. She doesnt like people, she stays in the bedroom, she doesnt play with the kids. But, we have had her for 3 years...that is a long time for us. Well, for the past few months, things have been getting bad for her. She poops outside of her litter box...she throws up at your feet...and now, she gets on the table and eats food off your plate, while you are eating. When do I say enough is enough? Is it really so bad that I need to get rid of her? Will I regret it? Should I just stick it out and deal with it? I need help.

Could it be true?

So, Chloe was out of a high chair a long time ago, she was in a big girl bed ealier this year....no high chair, no crib in our house...and now, for the first time in 6 years, we are not using diapers! She started potty training this week and is doing great! She has not had an accident, and we have been out every day! She wakes up crying to go potty....I just can not believe that 6 years ago, we were preparing for the birth of our first and ever since then, I have had at least 1 in diapers...so for the first time in 6 years, I dont have to go to the store tomorrow and buy them...and I wont for a long time...and I am not even pregnant....I have gone for more than 1 year without being pregnant!!! I am just real excited about this! Kinda sad....my babies are growing up...but excited I dont have to spend $15-$30 a week on diapers ....

First day of school

Hana started Kindergarden yesterday and Maddison started pre-K today. Hana was awesome...she had such a great time and did so good. She has already made friends. Maddison had a little more hard of a time, but when I picked her up, she had a big smile on her face and said she didnt cry anymore and had so much fun. Now, its just Chloe and mommy!

Mommy, pretty

...those are the words I heard as I saw Chloe putting my lipstick back into my purse...

Our flower child

Chloe always seems to be naked. If she isnt in her swim suit (which she loves to wear) she is in her birthday suit. In fact, her happiest is outside, naked, playing in the dirt. If she had a dirt house, she would be in her glory. I think we should just set up a permanant tent outside for her to live in!!!

Faces of summer

We have had such a fun summer...it is hard to believe that only a few more days till school starts and then I will have just 1 child at home. We have taken pictures and here are just a few!

Our new puppy

Yes, I gave in and we are taking care of 2 puppies whose momma died last week (she was hit by a car). They are now 5 weeks old and so cute. They are French Bulldog/Boston Terrier and so sweet. We are only keeping one, our friends are taking the other as soon as they can eat and are old enough to be apart. I have fallen in love with the other one, though.

I only have pictures of Gus Gus...

Our quick trip

Bryan surprised me for my birthday and took me to the Keys over the weekend. I have never been there so we dropped the kids off at my moms on the way and went Friday and came home Sunday. I was told by several people that Key West was just a big party place and if you dont drink (which we dont) there is nothing to do, so I really didnt want to go. We drove there anyway. On the way, it was gorgeous. All the untouch swamp lands. What the REAL Florida looks like. It was nice. We got to Key West and checked in our hotel...gorgeous...and went out to eat. We walked around Duval St. and made fun of the drunks then went back to the hotel and to bed. It was late. When we woke up, I had the feeling that the bed was soooo comfy and I wanted to stay, but there was so much to do and see, so we got up and went out for breakfast. Not the greatest! Waffle house....ants on the table, little kid behind me knocking me in the head and coughing all over....but not a big deal! We explored in the morning. We went to Fort Zachary Taylor and saw all the old Civil War stuff.....it was really neat. All the history that went with it...pretty cool. There was a beach there that we went snorkeling at and played in the water. Then we left and explored some other keys. We went to lots of parks and marinas. It was busy because lobster mini season is this week. We found a little campsite/marina and they had a site left that was right on the water. We decided to camp out that night. So wonderful. It did storm for a few hours, but it was great. We woke up to find a little Key Deer outside of our tent. The rest of the morning was spent exploring more Keys on the way home. It was nice and relaxing. Missed the girls but good to be away just the 2 of us. I am going to attempt pictures here....

Wonderful kids

There are days that I hear about other peoples kids and husbands and how wonderful they are and helpful...and I think, why isnt my family like that...well, this past weekend really showed me... Saturday was lazy day. Bryan worked around the house and outside, finishing our bathroom and building a bench by our old oak tree. The girls and I just hung around. That night, Bryan was going to take Hana to the video store, he wanted to get Narnia...and then to pick up pizza. Maddison, usually being a mommies girl and not wanting to leave me, wanted to go too! So, they left. A little while later, they came home and Bryan said "your girls are amazing". Usually he is telling me that I dont discipline them enough, they are spoiled, all that. So, when they were at the video store, Hana saw "Bridge to Terabithia" and asked for it. Bryan said "they dont have it" ...."I saw it right over here, daddy"..."no, that one is to buy, you cant rent that"..."Oh, OK"...he said it melted his heart that she didnt ask for it. So, he bought it. I told him that when we go to the store, I never just buy toys for them or whatever, so when they see something they like, they dont just expect to ask and get it. He was very happy!! Sunday, I woke up with a terrible migrane and was in the bathroom with my head in the toilet most of the morning. Usually if I try to stay in bed for more than 5 minutes, someone is in there calling me, wanting me to get breakfast, not daddy, so it never works. No one came in. They all knew I was sick and were so good. I heard Hana tell Maddie that the end of the movie last night was sooooo good, she would love it! A little while later, I heard something about a diaper. Not paying attention, Bryan came in and told me what happened. I guess Chloe had a dirty diaper....Maddison took it off, wiped her clean...had dirty wipes all over the room and could not find a diaper to put on her. I later asked to why she would do that....she said simply, she was trying to help out. Never again will I question my children and wonder why they dont help out!!!

I have been bad about updating here. Girls are growing fast. They start school Aug 20th, which will come very soon. Maddison is a mommy's girl and she will not leave my side. She sleeps in bed with me, will not go to sunday school, cries when I leave the house without her. So, I have been worried about how she is going to take going to pre-k. I found out that she is in afternoon school, which will be better for her. That way, she is not rushed away in the morning right when she wakes up. IT will give her a little bit of time with me before she goes. Hana is excited, especially now that she found out a boy from church is going to be in her class. She likes boys. She gets along better with them than the girls. They are mean sometimes and she doesnt take that very well. The boys have more of a whatever attitude and she takes that better. We better watch out! Chloe is talking a little more now. She has the vocab now that the other girls had at 1 year. It is fun to hear her try to talk. She talks a lot, but you can not understand it. Its more like "MOMMY....blah blah blah...." So, I just say "Really" "Yep"...when we can understand something, we try to repeat it for her the right way and she sometimes gets it. A lot of things are backwards....like chips....she was trying to tell me she wanted a chip...it came out backwards and was more like she was calling me a bad name. I started laughing and she started laughing...even though she didnt know what about. One of these days, I will get more pics up here. I know this was short, but its kinda hard to right a long post these days. I think most of you understand!

Hana lost her first tooth on Tuesday. Just another sign she is growing up and not a little girl anymore.

Summer fun

Its been a month...sorry. Lots of things have been happening. Maddison turned 4 a few weeks ago, Chloe turned 2 last week. My kids are growing. I signed up both Maddie and Hana for school last week. Only 2 more months. We have spent the last month getting over sicknesses...Hana had the chicken "pops"...watching Bubba catch a snake in our back yard....riding ponies at Disney...riding horses at our house (Hana's sunday school teacher brought her horse over)...blowing bubbles...playing in sprinklers....swimming in pools...planting flowers...riding bikes....all the summer fun that you can think of. Chloe has started talking. She thinks she can tell you a story, but you can not understand a word she says. At least she tries. She did learn how to climb up the ladder to Hana's bed...I did not know this until I saw her in there! Maddison learned how to ride her bike finally and thats all she wants to do. She has many bruises and scrapes on her legs...just like a little kid should! Hana just likes to take care of everyone and make sure everyone is happy. We were planting flowers last week and she said "Mommy, you know why I love planting these flowers? Cause they are pretty just like you!" how sweet...she is always telling me I am pretty, every chance she can get. I am going to miss her when she goes to school! So, I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as we are. I will try to get on here more!

The horses

Girls just wanna have fun

Sick again...

Bryan's little sister turns 9 today and Saturday she had a big party. We drove down to West Palm, 2 hours, Wednesday to spend a few days there before the party. I was able to spend some time with my mom. She took the girls to Build-a-Bear for Maddie and Chloe's birthdays. They had a blast. for a few days, Maddie kept saying she didnt feel good, she had no fever, or any symptoms, just didnt feel good. Thursday, we were at the house, and she was fine one minute and the next, she was burning up. I took her temp, 103.8....dinner was in the oven, I could not leave the house till my mom-in-law got home. I called her doc back home to try to find out what to do. We dont have insurance, so any way to get around taking her to a doctor away from home, I will try....they didnt answer the phone. Her doc sold her practice and is now at the health dept. and that is where we take the kids now. the only thing, they dont care about kids the way a real office would....so, I couldnt get an answer. I gave her motrin, she felt better. I thought it may be an ear infection again, and if that was the case, I could load her up on motrin till we got home and take her in today. Then, Friday, she woke up and said her mouth hurt. I looked and just saw red, her mouth is so tiny. I tried the docs again to see if they would call in an antibiotic for her. No luck, no answer. After a few hours of phone calls, talking to my mom....the doctor she works for just said he would call one in for us!!! Thinking she had strep...we gave her the meds, no other choice at this point. I hate self medicating....but, there was nothing else to do. Sat we went to build-a-bear again for Bryan's sisters birthday party. They had so much fun....we left to go home....Maddie's temp shot up to almost 104 again....got home 2 hours later....she was covered in hives. She was scratching and had huge bumps all over. I gave her more motrin, more antibiotics and put her to bed. Woke up yesterday, her mouth still hurts, still has a fever, no more hives....after being on meds for 2 days, looks like it isnt strep but a virus. She had this last year and her mouth was covered in ulcers...her doc told me that there was nothing to do but ride it out......looks like we have to do the same here. She didnt have a fever this morning, but her mouth still has huge sores all over. She keeps asking for the purple medicine!! Mothers Day....I have a wonderful husband who works hard, but when it comes to doing things, he is not very thoughtful. He loves me to death, I love him, I have just over the past 7 years come to not expect anything big for holidays. And thats fine. My past mothers days have been just aweful, so no big expectations this year. I woke up yesterday and he got out of bed to get Chloe....a huge deal! When I rolled out of bed at 7, he was in the kitchen, making cinnamon rolls...well, taking them out of the can!!! He made eggs and sausage too! Wow....I was so impressed! I did have to clean up from breakfast, but at least I didnt make it! We went to church, I left before sunday school starte cause Maddie's fever spiked again. Put her down for a nap....when Bryan came home, he got in the kitchen and made dinner (our church starts at 1pm and sunday school is over at 4)...he made taco salads for dinner. Once again, I had to clean up, but I at least didnt make dinner!!! He even made guacamole...my favorite and he hats it!!! Its a start! I took a pic of Maddison when she fell asleep on the couch yesterday. She looked so sad with her fever....

Big girl

Chloe got a big girl bed the other day. She loves sleeping. Well, maybe not sleeping, but she loves laying in her crib and cuddling with all her blankets and has always been a great sleeper...she goes to bed at 6:30...and has since she was 10 weeks old! So, we got her a big bed, just a regular twin bed, but big for her. We set it up and the first thing she did was climb up, cuddle with her blanket and suck her thumb. It was all over from there. She loves taking naps, and going to bed at night. There was no problem with the transition. She wakes up in the morning and lays there till somone opens the door and then still lays in bed for a while longer. No more cribs here. The first time in 5 years we have not had one set up. Wow.

My oldest child is boy crazy. Let me back up. The girls (Maddie and Hana) are over the whole Playhouse Disney cartoons and now are into watching the big kid shows, like Corey in the House, Ravin, Suite life of Zack and Cody, and so on. They love High School Musical and the Disney movies. So, I found out that this week at Wild World of Sports at Disney, they are filming a show for the summer called Disney Games...like a field day with all the actors from all the shows, competing each other in various things. We took the girls last night to watch a little of it. Being a tv show, there is a lot of down time. We saw some of the kids in the field, but then, after an hour of waiting, they did the dunk tank. Kyle Massey, from Ravin and Corey in the House, got up and the girls screamed in excitement. It was funny cause I was laughing at all the boy crazy girls and then thought, not much longer and that is my kids. He waved to the girls, got dunked, they laughed like crazy. Lots of others got up and they cheered and waived to them. They were so excited to see the REAL people. They were a little upset cause Hannah Montana (Mylie Cyrus) was sick and was not there, but the whole rest of the cast of the show was. We went over to a part in the stands where the kids kept going and giving autographs. They saw the Cheetah Girls, and just could not believe it was them!!! Brenda Song was there, some other kids that I dont know the real names. One girl from one of the shows finally gave the girls her autograph and Maddie reached out and gave her a big hug. She was so happy! The only disappointment was for Hana, she didnt see Corbin Bleu...one of the stars of High School Musical. She talks about him non stop. And, he wasnt there. :( So, watch Disney Games this summer, we were right behind the dunk tank and the girls got in lots of the shots!!!

Long night

Yesterday all of us came down with a bad cold...lots of coughing and stuffy noses. But, of course, Maddie always gets it the worst. I put her to bed at 8, she told me she was tired and wanted to go to bed. I was snuggling her and she said, get out, I am sleepy! For her to say that to me is strange, since she is always begging to be in my bed. Anyway, I worked out for about 45 minutes, took a shower, did my nails, sat on the couch to watch some tv and about 10:30 I heard a small cry. I went to her room and she was sitting up in bed crying. I picked her up and she was on fire. 103 temp...then she started coughing harder and crying harder and I knew what that meant...so I ran her to the bathroom and sat by the toilet where she continued to vomit. Poor baby...always happens when she gets too upset. After cleaning her up, we put a wet cloth on her head, pulled out the sofa sleeper and went to bed....I gave her some motrin a little while later...all night was tossing and turning and crying cause her head hurt...finally at about 5am, it broke and she fell asleep till 8 this morning...slept through all the noise of Bryan going to work and Chloe up at 6:30...and she is fine now. She is currently in her room playing dress up and being herself. I made an appt with her doctor for tomorrow just in case the same thing happens tonight...dont want to take chances with the weekend coming....its always something!!!

Our neighbors

We have some interesting neighbors. There are longhorns... ...and donkeys....

...a watussi, which in not even a year old yet...and some ponies and a water buffalo...dont have pics of those! Every day we have to go over to the fence and feed them our weeds and whatever left-over carrots and apples we have. If we dont, the ponies will stick thier hoofs through the fence, the watussi will moo at us and the donkeys will make the funniest noises. It is good for the girls, they are begining to enjoy the outdoors, finally. So, come meet our neighbors, everyone is welcome!

Before and after (well, after and before!!)

We have one room done...the living room. And, its not really done. We need window treatments and need to hang some family pics...we need to get a rug...the tv looks extra small where it is, not a priority for me...but its more done than the other rooms!!!

ANN-A-VER-SA-RIES

Lisa, do you remember that commercial? Something about a guy talking about special events and the girl was in the background trying to remind him about one specific special day...ok, whatever... So, yes, today is our anniversary...6 whole years...date night was supposed to be tonight but may have to be cancelle. Chloe has had a fever for a few days and got her in to the doctor...she has strep...not fun. I just hope none of the other girls get it...or worse, Bryan. I think he is worse when he is sick than the kids are!!! EDIT: So we did go out...to a wonderful place called Texas de Brazil....wonderful all you can eat steakhouse, about 20 different kinds of meat coming around on skewers to your table, a little pricey, but totally worth it!!!

Hanging out

Hana and Maddisonwanted to take some pictures...They did pretty good!