How funny is this ....

I don't know how to use a weed-eater. Karen has tried to show me twice.

Even if I did have one here at home, I couldn't use it.

So, today I mowed the lawn ... and I had my kids out there with scissors cutting all the grass by my windsor stone wall.

Pathetic ... but fortunately for me ... they're all very good sports!

So, atleast my front lawn looks nice. Does it really matter HOW it gets done??

I just got WOW Worship the Red Jewel case today. It is awesome! Money well spent!

For fun ...

Does anyone have any little known facts to share? Just curious. I like them.

Did I ever tell anyone that my friend Grant Hatter and I were born on the same day in the same hospital? We were friends until we left for college. I haven't seen him since. But I think that's pretty cool ... to say I've known him all my life. Little known fact.

Kennedy has a birth mark. She's the only one of my children that does. It is an oval shaped patch of 'white' skin near her belly button. Cute is what it is! Little known fact.

That's two for today.

Oh, here is a fun thing too ... I put Kyle's hat down in the laundry room with all of his other stuff ... I wonder how long it will take him to find it .... he,he

Time to fix dinner ... wonder what we'll have. Too bad it can't be Jenny surprise. Mommy surprise just isn't as much fun.

I try. I really do.

Sopagetti sounds good. We'll see .... probably frozen pizza will win out ....

More ...

Kyle leaves on Saturday for 17 days. I'm foggy about how I feel about it. His parents are coming to spend 3 days with us on the 5th. They'll leave on Kennedy's birthday to make it to Ohio to spend Titus's birthday with him too (the 9th). And on the 9th, my mom is coming to stay until the 16th. Both of these visits are exciting. I am really looking forward to having the company. But Kyle being gone for 17 days! 17. Most days I would tell you I'm fine with him going away ... he,he. But today it seems too long. I don't understand.

I need to come up with fun ideas of things to do with all the upcoming company. I need to get my ducks in a row with the business so that I can effectively do my job while the 'boss' is away. I need to find my children and myself something to do on the 4th of July ... we'll be all alone ... all 5 of us! 5! Still that amazes me!

I'm glad Kyle is excited about Mexico. Why aren't I? He is chomping to get down there. Me? Just glad I've got reinforcements to help while he's gone ... course I do most everything for the children even when he's home ... So maybe it'll be Playtime in July around here actually!

My emotions are so complex tonight.

I watched 50 First Dates the other day. Good movie. Good movie. Kyle and I think that Adam Sandler and his buddies, like Rob Schneider, must have a hoot on the weekends hanging out and talking about screenplay ideas. Too funny.

You know what I miss?

Brandi and Christian, Jeff (and now Abbey), Kris and Jamie, Andy, Jenny, Jason and Lauren ... all in the same room. And now if we could all be together there are new faces ... that is only Bonus to my 'happy' thoughts of what a fun night could be ... Eric and Chris, Cort and Laura, Joe, ..... my heart is heavy. Why am I so emotional?

Here, for an upswing ... a few favorites ...

1. Smell .... Kyle's skin ... not when it's sweaty, just normal. Nice.
2. Episode of TV ... Vitameatavegamin ... from I Love Lucy!
3. Word ... "Mom!" from Koel's lips right now.
4. Rich Mullins Tune ... Sing Your Praise to The Lord
5. Craft ... Making up my own patterns/ideas when sewing. AND Crocheting.
6. Most ideal night spent this week thus far (yes, it's only Monday) ... last night ... all the children were asleep. Kyle was asleep. I turned on the Christian radio station via TV/Satellite and crocheted. Alone. In the living room on my new rug. I sang "Via Dolorosa" outloud and cried! Fabulous!
7. Childhood Singer ... Amy Grant of course. Then Sandi Patty. Then Carman. Then MWS
8. Little known fact ... I still sleep in the same bed I did growing up. Yep.
9. Fabric ... Twall.
10. Designer on Trading Spaces ... Edward.

Now, that's an upswing ... my thoughts are all pretty ....

G'Night ....

Okay ... just finished watching Big Fish. One word. Strange.

That's it, nothing else. Just Strange.

I think "A Mighty Wind" would have been more 'captivating'. Ah ...

I made Macademia Nut Cookies tonight ... mmmmmm..... Too yummy!

Bedtime. Hopefully I won't meet giants or think I'm a fish while I sleep.

Kadi doing something that doesn't happen too often ... just kidding!!!!! Good job Kadi ... notice that she has the head off of her toothbrush .... silly. 

Kennedy and her baby brother ..... Isn't she so pretty? 

Koel got himself stuck in a box .... too funny! 

Here are my boys. Keenan has his ever present Gameboy ... which by the way he defeated his Sponge Bob game yesterday!!! And Koel wanted to be like his brother, so he grabbed the McDonald's 'gameboy' and laid down to play like his brother! 

I bought a large canvas for Keenan and let him create his own artwork for his room. Here is what he did. 

Koel's bed is just on the floor ... he doesn't sleep in it yet, so we haven't really put it together yet ... just a mattress on teh floor .... see the curtain???? I love it! It's all planets and stuff! 

Here is Keenan's side of the room ... it looks like it has always been this way ... a bit of a mess .... ah well .... he loves it!!! 

Keenan and Koel's room ... the door ....and Koel's toy area ... 

Here is Kennedy really seeing one of the flowers on the walls ... Chrissy is behind her ... 

Kennedy and Kadi loving their new bedspreads too! 

Here is Kennedy seeing it for the first time ... the little dots on the walls are felt bugs ... dragonflies, butterflies, ladybugs and bumblebees. They love it! 

The girl's new room ... the end of the bed, which has shelves under the stairs is now the barbie house!! Fabulous! 

The Barbie Corner 

Sitting at the desk with Mommy ... Koel 

Okay, now on another note ... I haven't written in here in 7 days! Yikes! That amazes me. Well ... there are reasons ... our anniversary was this past week ... the 24th. 9 years. We celebrated by going swimming just the two of us at the Tiemeyer pool. Then we sat in the hot tub for a bit ... mmmm ... then we ate Dinner at Casa Gallardo. Very nice evening. Without raised voices and totally pleasant. Yeah! I really enjoyed my evening.

AND ... my house is now painted the way it was meant to be ... well mostly ... Keenan's room needs more red paint. I was unaware of the need to use 3 or 4 coats ... or atleast a primer. I will add pictures of it soon.

AND Kennedy and Kadi's room is FABULOUS! Laura and I worked hard from 9:00 a.m. to around 5:00 p.m. yesterday. We painted and painted. Listened to instrumental lovesongs from the 50's and 60's. Then a little Etta James. So nice. We talked and laughed. I enjoyed it thoroughly. AND we were being artistic! What a great way to spend the day ... What made it even better was that Chris and Eric kept the girls while the work in their room took place. They had lots of fun with Chrissy. They even went to the Mills. Kennedy has decided that she LOVES Malls! Oh my.

Chrissy brought them home around 6:00. I went in the room and shut the door ... then I took pictures of their faces when they saw their room for the first time! Hee! What fun! They were so excited. They love it! I'm so glad, but I knew they would. I will put pictures on soon of their room too!

Keenan, Koel and I spent our Friday evening with Jenny. That was fabulous. Keenan was happy to have Jenny around with his sisters occupied elsewhere. That sounds nicer than saying he was happy his sisters were gone ... same meaning though. We went to see Jenny's new apartment. Very nice!! And we went to Walmart. Walmart with Jenn is always a nice time. She seems so much more relaxed now that an apartment is found. I'm glad. Routine come and settle us all in!!

I'm very concerned about Keenan's mumbling. Give me feedback please. Should I seek speech therapy for it? It's only been in the last year or so that it has started. I can't understand him because he mumbles so much sometimes. I feel like I'm nagging him ... I tell him to open his mouth when he speaks and to use his lips. He doesn't and he ends up talking through closed lips and through his nose. It frustrates me. I told him today that since it was not something he used to do that it is a bad habit that he can conquer. I just don't want to hurt him if it really is something he can't help. I think he can though. I think he's being lazy. He did not mumble two years ago.

Koel said "Mom" yesterday. Wait, let's go further back. ...

Pete moved out this week. On Monday this past week, she and Greg came to get lots of her stuff. They drove Kyle's truck and trailer. When they pulled into our driveway, Koel saw the truck and ran waving his little hand .. "Hi Dada" ... "Hi Dada" ... "Hi Dada". It was sooo neat! He wanted so to see his Daddy and say "Hi".

However...when the door opened it wasn't Daddy who stepped out ... it was Greg. Koel just stared. For three minutes, no exaggeration, he stared at Greg. He had to be thinking "Who are you and where is my Dad". It was so funny. I have witnesses. Marty and Karen were outside with me. Greg said Hi to Koel and Koel smiled, but was still highly disapointed ... you could tell.

That is our first real "Dada" story.

Now ... to the "Mom" story.

Saturday morning Keenan, Koel and I ran to Walmart ... me having forgotten a couple of things the night before .... While walking around Walmart Koel started saying "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!". I said "What Baby?" And I got a big ol' hug! Ah ......

Then, later that day after painting had subsided, Koel said "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" and brought me a little board book. Not being able to resist hearing my name from his lips, I sat down immediately and read "The Going to Bed Book" (by Sandra Boynton) to him. He loved it! He smiled and laughed. He even let me turn the pages. That's another first! When I was done, he got up and wandered away. It was sooooo wonderful!

Today there has been more "Mom!" ... he's quite demanding ... :)

Kadi and had a great past few days with only a few minor bumps in the path. And would you like to know why it was so good? A swimming pool. Yep. A swimming pool. At the pool she and I played and played. It was so fabulous. On Thursday I showed her and Kennedy how to put their feet on the wall and push off. They had a ball. Kadi laughed and giggled so much more than ususal. She usually is more concerned about bugging other people. She was so happy. And today we all ended up in the indoor pool (it was only 80 degrees outside) ... the indoor is of course a heated pool .... Kadi and I played and played again. It was so much fun. I enjoyed her thoroughly. Maybe we should get one of our own ... a pool that is. But no ... we have indoor/outdoor pool passes for the whole year! It is such a great deal. So close and we don't have to clean it!

My most fun thoughts of Kennedy this week ... Her face when she saw her room. She loves it. She was so happy. It is so girlie.

My eyes are burning ... somewhat from Chlorine, but also ... I'm just wiped from painting and swimming.

This sortof catches me up for the past week ... the rest is the stuff of memories in our minds.

Katherine Bishop, who is 3, said the sweetest thing today ...

Darla Speck and Wendy Lankford were leading the children's worship time. I was there too ... observing more or less until time for my class to start. They sang "You're My All in All", with sign language, and then asked the children how they could honor God today.

A few responses were "Obey parents", "Be nice to sisters and brothers" ... typical answers. All good, but normal Sunday school responses.

Wendy then asked Katherine what she thought would be a good way to Honor God today ...

Katherine smiled and sweetly said ... "Smell the flowers".

Wow.

What a beautiful thought. Honor God today by taking the time to 'smell' the world He has created for us to enjoy.

So, why is it that I wear an 8 in Tennis Shoes, a 7 1/2 in sandals/dress shoes, and a 7 in flip-flops??? Funny.

AND .... Koel just has selective hearing! His hearing test went very well! He pretty much heard everything. The boy just ignores us. The audiologist did suggest though that we have him get a speech evaluation. Just to be sure there is not a problem. I'm fine with that. And, because of Kyle's hearing loss, she suggested that when he gets older that we get his ears tested again with headphones on. They don't use those on kids his age ... naturally. She said because of the test yesterday we can know for sure that he has normal hearing in atleast one ear. More than likely in both ears, but to know for sure .... I'm relieved just to know he can hear me.

I need more time to spend with my children. I'm so much in the office. That is making me sad today ... of course, now I'm on here, but I'm getting off of here immediately to do more work ....

So, I went to change Koel's diaper before going to Walmart and I ...

REMEMBERED!!

I wanted to write Tonya to let her know I need candles! So ... I'm going to have a Gold Canyon Candles party very soon ...... Yeah!!!

You know those moments when you had something in mind to do ... and then you get to where you think you're supposed to be ... and you don't remember what you were doing???? I am in that situation right now! I set out to do something from the kitchen to my room ... and got into the hallway and forgot what it was. I'm so sad. I'm just SURE it was important. Oh well ....

We're on our way to Walmart this morning. Kennedy has made a list. She is so funny! She wants fruit and batteries. Hey, atleast it's not candy and barbies!

BTW ... she really likes My Scene Barbies for anyone wondering about birthday items. She's on the website constantly. I'm also thinking good ideas for her are ... girlie playstation 1 game ... Craft projects from the craft isles of places. Maybe a small sewing machine of her own ... she's very into doing the things Mommy does.

Alrighty ... going to go round up my troops ....

Still haven't remembered what I was up to a while ago ................

Here is a picture of their quilts that they don't know they have yet! It really is brighter in color. The pink is deep and the purple is really purple. The green in limeish ... it is sooooo pretty! They are getting the sham and the quilt each! I can't wait!!!! 

This is the plan for the girl's room. Isn't it FUN? I'm very excited. They don't know what I'm going to do, they just know I'm going to do something. It is really very exciting! 

Okay, so not only did I paint the office and put it together today ... we also took the bunk beds apart and moved them into my old room. THEN, after the office was all finished up ... Kennedy, Kadi and I struggled and were able to piece back together the bunkbeds. IT was tricky!!!!!! That's not an easy task. Here are Kennedy, Kadi and Koel sleeping quite nicely in a new room....well, it still has yet to be taken care of .... the next picture will show what they're getting ..... 

I recovered the Glider rocker. It looks so much better in person ... but still better than it did!!!!! It matches my pillows, my ottoman, and my piano bench. Nice. 

And here's my pretty rug ... its sole purpose is to cover over a phone cord ... it's quite pretty too. It is a bit larger than it appears in the picture. 

The view from the kitchen door ... The color is Summer Pecan ... isn't it scrumptious?? I just love how Rich the roof feels with this color! 

Here is the office. In front of the curtain is Keenan's dresser which is still waiting to go downstairs. The curtain is TWALL!!! I love TWALL!!! And I love that rod. And I love my big black bookshelf.  

Here is the desk area. Notice my I Love Lucy sign! He,he ... Vitameatavegamin is THE best episode ever!!!! 

Here is the other window/dresser and small lamp. It is sooo cute way up there. I know it looks really dark ... but it is lovely. I just feel so peaceful in there. Like I can really relax. I'm very pleased! 

Here is the foot of the bed and the closet. Again ... I just LOVE it! 

Here is my new bedroom. Yep it's navy blue. I LOVE IT!