A Bite For Me...A Bite For Baby

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but Avery is so into her babies right now. All the girls have been starting around 1 year. With Hailey and Karis I figured it was because they always saw me taking care of a baby but Avery hasn't so I guess it is just part of being a Hoefer girl. A love for small babies.....It is so cute to watch Avery. She says, "Bebe" and always wants to kiss her baby. Today she fed her baby oatmeal!! A bit of a mess but it was fun!

Scrapbooking

Since the weather is sooo cold lately we have had to find lots to do to occupy us indoors. Well these two are definitely my children because one of their favorite things to do is scrapbook! Here they are working on some super cute books my mom got them at Costco. Karis is a bit of a maniac, uses tons of glue, goes as fast as she can, slaps down any sticker she can find and moves on to the next page. Hailey is more precise and gets it just so. However I have to hold myself back with both because I want the books to look good....my adult version of good...not 3 and 4 year old good!! I keep reminding myself that art and creativity with kids is the process not the product!! And the books do look good, very creative, and very cute!!

OH Karis..

So these moments with Karis used to occur daily, then weekly, and now I have noticed not as often. I never thought I would see the day where it was quiet in the house and Karis wasn't involved with water, pudding, Vaseline, sanitary supplies, make-up, paint, or a number of other things and using them to create some sort of mess. Well today it was a little quiet but I didn't follow my instinct and go check right away. Well when I did check this is what I saw....hair full of hand soap, water everywhere, and Karis innocently looking at me and saying, "I didn't mean to Mom." Umhm....didn't mean to...anyway since the events are less frequent I thought it was funny and decided to photograph her.

I love our church secretary Trish. She has 5 kids who are high-school age so she has really good perspective. In fact for my dose of sanity all I need to do is walk in the church office. She and Joanne our other secretary greet me with big smiles, hand the girls candy, and laugh at their antics. But Trish always offers so much encouragement, "You're a great mom....you're doing great...." And then she says with a big smile, "And I'm so glad they're yours and mine are all in school."

So last night after church she was in meeting her daughters who had done childcare and we were picking our girls up. Karis was dancing in a circle with no shoes and socks on. Trish helped find the shoes and socks and put them on her. Then Karis proceeded to a large fan and started to stick something in it. Scott stopped her. Then she ran and turned off the lights. Then she ran over and tried to stick something in an electrical socket. Trish stopped her. Then she ran toward the fire alarm....Scott picked her up. Trish just kept smiling and said, "Oh Every family needs one like this, she is just precious, and I'm so happy for you- that she's yours." She didn't add the "and not mine" but I think that's what she was getting at..... Anyway we do love Karis....life just would be so boring without her and God knew I am easily bored when He blessed us with her!

UGGHHH....

That about describes this past week and weekend. Scott took on the huge job of remodeling....pictures will come when it is finished....it took way longer than anticipated......and then we all got a nasty stomach virus. I actually threw up at my friend's baby shower! It was mortifying.....I made it to the bathroom and then quickly left to go home...thankfully another friend had drove and kindly drove me home. So we had a long weekend of throwing up, doing lots of laundry, and trying to take care of 3 girls while feeling very ill and remodeling. Not the best weekend of our lives. We are all doing better now.....

Well what are these pictures of then? Well even when I am sick I get really bored if we aren't doing anything so I organized (again) all the girl's doll clothes. However this time I took a photo of each outfit, shoes, and accessories and taped it to the box so the girls (and Scott and the babysitter and whoever else is helping clean the room at that time- I love the outfits so much that I didn't need a photo) can put the clothes away correctly.

Hailey is all for it.....so when Karis happily started mixing and matching outfits this morning it resulted in some tears.

Hailey: " Karis.....they are all organized and you are messing it up...AAHHH...I am so frustrated....Mommy and I organized it all and those tights don't go with that outfit!"

Karis: Continues happily humming to herself as she unloads several different outfits

Hailey: Falls to the floor sobbing

Karis: "Well I want the purple tights and the ballet outfit." she nonchalantly says not at all affected by the tears.

Before it got too dramatic I intervened and assured Hailey I would help reorganize it later tonight....

My Roll Baking Lesson

My wonderful neighbor and friend Helen Gene came over today to teach me how to bake rolls. She makes the most delicious rolls and I have tried several time to duplicate them with less than satisfactory results. Well now I know the secret: more butter! Anyway here they are before baking....They turned out delicious!

Those Girlies

This afternoon the girls each had a friend over. Hailey had Hannah and Karis had Sydney. Lots of fun was had by all! Of course their own clothes all quickly came off and dress-up clothes were put on! Andrea do you recognize Sydney's dress? I really didn't intend for the flower girl dresses they wore in your wedding to become dress-up clothes but after washing them in the regular wash not realizing they were dry-clean only that was my only option! However they have been put to good use and been danced in for hours!

Busyness...

We have been quite busy the past few days. Scott is remodeling our bathroom and it is going much slower than anticipated! We went to a going away party for our friends Andrew and Jen..the sad news is they are leaving...the good news is they are blogging! http://www.boliviaboundbackpackers.blogspot.com/
I love it when new people join the blogging world!
Well I need to get ready for small group tonight....we have started a new book and I haven't even read yet...and I need to get the girls fed and us there by 5! We are reading "Parenting With Love and Logic". I actually read it years ago when teaching so maybe I will remember some key points once we start discussing and will look like I am prepared.

Safeway Deals and Prescription Deals

So I hope all of you know that Rite Aid constantly has coupons for a free $20 gift card for transferred prescriptions and sometimes for new prescrips. So whenever you get a prescription take it somewhere else first to have it filled. Then the next month have it transferred to Rite Aid and you get a $20 gift card!

Well I was at Safeway and I noticed a sign that said they accept competitor's coupons. I happened to have a Target one for a $10 gift card. (Not as good as $20 but Oh well.) Anyway I asked if they could accept it and she said she didn't think so because no one had ever asked before. (Imagine that!) Anyway...I said, "Well...can you find out?" As Avery was screaming to get out of the cart and Hailey was trying to get in her spot which then resulted in Avery deciding she wanted back in the cart..the car cart by the way.....such a pain but so great all in one.....a pain because they are huge to push but great because the girls love them....although they have learned the hard way to keep their arms and legs inside the vehicle.....since I am totally oblivious as I am searching for the deals and have rammed their poor limbs into many aisles....ANYWAY....she let me use the coupon.

So for $13 I got napkins, 2 gallons of milk, berry flavored cream cheese, 4 12-packs of Diet Pepsi, and a pack of Gatorade- saving $31.10!! They are having a great sale...buy 2 pepsi products get 2 free and free Gatorade! So run and stalk up on soft drinks everyone!!

How Young Is Too Young To Enjoy A Latte?

Well...according to my mom- who has raised 7 children- 9 months is old enough!! Here is Emmett getting his first Latte. Hannah wasn't exactly thrilled but I thought it was adorable...especially because it wasn't my baby drinking the caffeine!
Apparently he enjoyed it quite a bit....

And Karis...well she loved her cookie and caramal apple cider!

Here are the girl cousins- minus Avery and Katie's baby in utero who by the way is a GIRL! We seem to have a plethora of girls around here.....

All I have to say about this trip to Starbucks is next time we are going without the kids! Or as Katie said, "They should put something here for kids to do". Our girls did manage to occupy themselves....Hailey pushed Ella in the highchair all around....they jumped on the couch and Ella went crashing down into the artwork on display....Avery pushed a chair around.....Yeah...I think the baristas didn't mind too much when we left! It was fun though!

Did She Earn The "Green Stuff"?

So Karis never seems to nap anymore...however she really, really needs to at least a couple times a week. Otherwise 4:00 until bedtime can be pretty rough....lots of crying and drama. So if you read my earlier post I made a little deal with her...if she would lay down on her bed until I came to get her she could have some green tea....I know, I know....not every 3 year olds big motivation...but it is something she really loves! So...I thought...wow...it is so quiet...maybe she fell asleep. So I quietly turned the knob on the door to slightly open it and peak in and not awaken her. But...the door wouldn't open....because....she was in front of it happily playing......really playing.....look at this mess! Does this look like much sleep was happening?!
Well I thought....I had been wanting to post some pictures of the girl's room but wanted to wait until it was clean. We clean EVERY night before bed (most of the time) and by then I never want to go get the camera and take pictures....so here you have it....Hailey and Karis' room.

As you can see princess is the theme and the walls are green and pink ( I love them....and no I did not do them...I was inspired by a friend's daughter's room and Andrea came and painted for me the week after we moved here to E-burg. What a friend she is!!)

And you can see there is no lack of bitty baby items....thanks to Grandma Ruby and "Regular Grandma" as Hailey calls her.
Looks like we have a lot of cleaning to do tonight! And did Karis get the tea...well...since I am all about 2nd chances I told her if she stays in her room and plays quietly until I come get her she can have some tea!

Deal Or NO DEAL

So I don't know if any of you ever watch Deal or No Deal but sometimes around here I feel like we are playing that game all day long....

Karis: Mom...I want to use the doll Hailey is using
Me: How about if you use this one?
Karis: Nooooo.....( No DEAL!)

Hailey: Mom I want grilled cheese for lunch
Me: We don't have any cheese...how about PB & Jelly
Hailey: Nooooo... I want grilled cheese (NO DEAL!)

Avery: "UHH...uhh..uhh...." pointing at chocolate or something similar
Me: Hands her a cracker
Avery: Throws it down and cries (NO DEAL!)

OR:
Karis: I want some of that green stuff in my water bottle (green tea on the go)
Me: If you lay down today and don't get up until I come in you can have some
Karis: OK Mama! (DEAL)

Hailey: Can I watch Ariel right now?
Me: No we are getting ready to go but maybe later
Hailey: OK.... (DEAL)

Anyway if you don't ever watch the show this means nothing to you..but if you do just picture me bald and the girls standing behind the podium deciding if they should take the deal or not. And if you think about it pray they take a lot of deals today because I am tired!!

My Portrait

So I picked up Hailey from school and she showed me a painting she did.

"That's great Hailey, what is it?" I said.

"It's you Mom." she said in a voice like hello..can't you tell...

"Oh yes....I do see the resemblance....."

The Dishes

So since I am the only one who voted for the 1st one I guess I won't be buying that combination! And I always thought I had such good taste.... :)
So I will go with the 2nd ....thanks for all the votes!

"He's REALLY Beautiful Mom"

Yes...that would be what Karis declared today at the college about a college student sitting nearby. He had a slightly alternative look to him including long wavy hair. He of course heard and didn't look too amused....I thought it was rather sweet but he kind of shook his head like, "Are you nuts?" Anyway.....

I keep seeing funny t-shirts on kids or online that I want to purchase but they are usually priced much higher than I would pay for a t-shirt so I thought I would just blog about some of them:

For Hailey:
"I'm in charge...the parents are just for show." (Scott of course didn't think we should actually admit to such things....

For Karis:
"My parents are exhausted"

For Avery:
"10th percentile but still growing..."
"I'll walk when I'm good and ready" Although now she is walking so it's a little late for that...

And I haven't actually seen this one but I want to make it for me:
"You're right - I do have my hands full-want to help?" Because I probably hear that at least once a day..."You look like you have your hands full!" which I read in a parenting magazine is code for "I'm glad I'm not in your shoes".

Swimming Lessons by Hailey!

Apparently Hailey learned so much at swimming lessons last night that she is now able to teach them! I was standing on the stairs listening and this is what I heard:

Hailey: "Now my name is Katie and you don't know how to swim...now lay here for 15 minutes...OK....now get up and I need to hold you and we will dunk under water....OK...now you don't know how to swim and I do.....now come over here......now I am the teacher....OK you are done...go home"

And of course happy little Karis just smiles and goes along with it!

Swimming Lessons!

Well Hailey has started swimming lessons. She loves to be in the water....to a degree...as long as she doesn't get her face wet. She is rather timid. We have spent the last 3 summers going to my parent's pool at least once a week but she never seemed to get over her fears. Well....apparently she just needed a little instruction. I was totally amazed watching her last night! She let the teacher dunk her all the way under, jumped from the side (which she does love to do with her aunties), and showed no fear as she swam with a noodle. It was great to see and she is sooo proud of herself. She and her friend Hannah are taking lessons and enjoying the social aspect as much as the swimming....

My New Header

So after hours of work I came up with this beautiful new header. Just kidding...I had a little help from a friend....THANK YOU MINDY!!! Don't you love it? She is so talented and so sweet to help me out with this!

This is the first day in 8 days that I have felt like myself! I had a nasty cold and was so run down. In fact I was worried I would never feel good again. I had so much energy today that I managed to:
- Change all 4 beds and wash the sheets (the girls wanted their princess sheets back on their beds)
- Wash, fold, and put away 4 loads of laundry
- Make a cherry pie from scratch with cherries I helped pick this summer!
- Make chicken enchilada quiche- it is ready to go in the oven
- Call and invite our wonderful neighbors over for dinner- they are in their 70's and they are like grandparents to the girls- we love them!!
-Wipe down the girl's bathroom
- Sweep and mop the floor
- And a lot of this was done with Avery sleeping on my back in the ergo- she isn't feeling great still so she needs lots of holding time!
- And all the normal household stuff- prepare meals/snacks and clean up afterwards
- Take Hailey and Isa to school
-Do puzzles with Karis and watch a movie!

Hailey has swimming lessons tonight so I am going to try and take some pictures to post later.
Hope everyone had a great Monday!

Potty Training 101

She looks thrilled doesn't she?!

OK Let me start out by saying this is in response to a request...I in no means think I am the Potty Training Expert or anything like that. In fact I have had success with Hailey- 25 months and Karis- 20 Months but have no idea what will happen with Avery. So you never know....But this is how I do it......(And I am fully aware that I am the one trained at first...not the children...but I don't care.....it is worth it to me. And we have had no bad repercussions from this....I have read about the control issues that can happen and all but it didn't with mine...not to say that it isn't true.....I am just saying that it didn't happen here in Hoeferburg).

OK first you need a potty seat that goes on a big toilet. I don't use the little pottys because they gross me out. However...we do have on in the van! Because Target's bathroom grosses me out even more. So whenever we are out and about if someone needs to go we just pull over and they go. This works great on long car trips too. No frantically trying to find a suitable bathroom! I have even used it....

Here are my steps:

1. At around 12-14 months starting putting the baby on the toilet just to get used to the idea. Talk about what a great thing going potty in the toilet is and make it fun. If they resist wait a few days before trying again. You don't want them to get scared of the toilet or anything.

2. Eventually one of those times the child will hopefully go potty on accident. If this happens make a huge deal of it and let them use some toilet paper to wipe. My girls are fascinated and were quite motivated by this.

3. Also at this same time frame or even before start to notice when they are pooping and take off the diaper and run and put them on the toilet.

4. There are some ideal times to put the child on the toilet in hopes that they will go: right after getting up from a nap or in the morning especially! Also right before a bath.

5. Once they will pee when put on the toilet it is time to potty train.

Day 1:

First I don't use pull-ups...I use the thick underwear made by gerber. They absorb accidents but the child still feels wet and hopefully motivated to stay dry. I do use pull-ups in the beginning for naps/nighttime/and long car rides.

Get up and put child on potty. After she goes put her new big girl panties on. If she doesn't go continue to put her on every few minutes. This will not be an exciting day..meaning you will need to stay home. Every 20 minutes (and set a timer so you don't forget) put the child on the toilet. She may go a little or not at all. If she pees in her underwear dunk her head underwater and yell..."you stupid child". Just kidding. If she does pee say something like, "Uh-oh...you need to do that in the toilet." Then go put her on the toilet. Don't say anything to make the child feel like you are dissapointed or that they did something wrong. It won't be a huge mess because you are putting her on the toilet so often that she couldn't possibly have tons of pee inside her. Proceed like this all day long. Praise a ton for going pee...some kids respond well to stickers or m&m's...Hailey did, Karis didn't care.

I don't really act like this is a choice...basically today is the day we start going on the toilet and we go from there. I try and just be really confident in my approach and they seem to pick up on it and go with it.

Day 2:

A lot like day one only if you had some success you can go every 30-40 minutes.

Eventually the time gets longer and longer and then one day they will just tell you they need to go. But until then I put them on about every hour and always before leaving the house, right after getting home, before nap and after etc.

So there you have it....no guarantees or anything....just what worked here......

I have heard the earlier the better because younger children are more into pleasing you where as 2 year olds can be a bit more opinionated.

A Big Weekend For Karis

Well it started out by giving her beloved "fices" to the cashier at Fred Meyer in exchange for a Leapster. Friday was very hard...lots of tears....bedtime was quite sad. Scott stayed with her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. But yesterday and today have gone great! She has hardly asked for it at all and actually been less whiny....she was always whining for me to go find her fice. It was fun..I would be busy cooking dinner or changing Avery and she would start in her loud passionate voice, "I want my fiiiiiccccceee.....can you find it for me?" This would go on until I found the fice....so needless to say that has been nice...not having to search for it...

Then she got her hair cut!! Doesn't it look cute? After that we went on a date to the Dairy Queen for ice cream...which she ate a few bites of and then declared she would rather have fries. So I ate ice-cream and she had fries...

And then her dream came true....I took she and Hailey to the Children's Theater production of Cinderella! She wore her Cinderella dress, striped socks and black shoes. After the show I told the stage guy that it would be her dream come true if she could get her picture with Cinderella....so he arranged it!! She ran up on stage just beaming and got her picture taken with Cinderella!! What a happy girl she was. Of course Hailey kept saying, "Now Mom...was that the REAL Cinderella?" "Was that a REAL Cinderella or just a pretend one?" Thankfully Karis was too star-struck to notice......

Winter Wonderland

The last week or so it seems it has snowed a little bit almost everyday!! It is so cold but the sun is out so it isn't too bad. Avery went on her first walk in the snow and went almost all the way down the road! Which is quite a ways for such a little girl. She walked very carefully...staring at the ground almost the whole time. Her face got all rosy red but she still didn't want to come in! It is so cold but so beautiful here in the winter!

I Never Thought This Day Would Come...

So ever since Christmas when Hailey got her Leapster Karis has begged for one. She and Hailey have spent a lot of time even fighting over Hailey's Leapster. Well as I was talking to my Mom yesterday I came up with a brilliant plan. I told Karis that if she took all her "fices" to Fred Meyer she could exchange them for a Leapster. Thinking she would refuse I was shocked when she said, "OK....Let's do it Mom".

So we searched through the house and gathered them all into a Ziploc baggie and took them to FM. The plan went beautifully. She picked out a Leapster and a Princess game, we went up to the cashier, and she handed her the baggie. The cashier went along with it. All was well for a good hour or so.....now reality has hit. A few minutes ago she was sobbing and saying, "I don't want a Leapster, I just want my fices Mommy". It is rather heart-breaking...which I knew it would be. Which is why we took all the "fices" out of the house. I knew otherwise I would give in. In fact everything in me wants to go to the store and buy some more....but I know that wouldn't be good. Actually she only cried for a few minutes, I held her, and she is now happily painting. However I am a little concerned for the next few nights...so if you think about it say a little prayer for us....her especially.

The funny thing is I really think Scott and I are as sad about this as she is. We just know how sensitive she is and how hard this is for her so it is hard for us to see. But the more I read about pacifiers the more convinced I am that IT IS TIME!! She is over 3 years old and apparently kids don't just happily give them up at any point so I figure it is just going to get harder. In fact I read on www.askdrsears.com (a great website by the way with excellant parenting advice) that even he thinks you should get rid of them. Which really surprises me because he is usually really into letting kids just be kids etc. etc. So here we are.....no more fices....and hopefully no more fights over the Leapster between Hailey and Karis!!

Guess Which Child I Still Get To Dress!

OK a little contest. Which child still allows me to pick out the clothes? Yes...this is how we went to a birthday party today. Apparently God knew I had a little pride issue with how my kids are dressed (they have so many cute, matching clothes). So He has decided to humble me.....

And yes it is about 22 degrees outside....but they did wear coats at least!

Craft Day!

So we did another craft day with the girls! Mittens and snow was the theme this time. The girls water colored a mitten, made a mitten counting book, used glitter glue to decorate a foam mitten, made a snow picture out of wet chalk, and last but not least used shaving cream to play in the "snow". What fun....

I had to snap this picture of Roc. Isn't he darling?! Poor thing...the only boy at craft day... "Emmett where are you?!"

Albertsons Deals

OK here is a little money saving tip: Albertsons is having a great deal on Quaker stuff. Buy 10 items for $20 get $5 off. So I spent a total of $14.95 and SAVED $45.20!! And that included buying some other stuff! Here's how: Sunday's paper had some great Quaker coupons so I just bought the items I had coupons for. Making most of the items between 75 cents and $1!! Pretty good for granola bars, oatmeal, and cereal! Also from Super 1's cereal sale last week I snagged some boxes of cereal with coupons for FREE Chocolate Chex mix....well I just so happened to also have 50 cents off coupons for the Chex mix...so basically Albertsons paid me $1.50 to bring home 3 bags of Chocolate Turtle Chex Mix!! So go to your nearest Albertsons with you coupons and stalk up on Quaker items!!

Random Stuff

1. Thanks for all the comments Everyone!! I love it. Don't worry I don't expect people to comment on every post but it is nice to know there are some people out there reading!! Way to go Gary...getting even the men to comment!!
2. Does anyone know how to save blogs? Meaning I mostly write these to help me remember things that happen but I have this fear that the whole thing could shut down or get lost or something. I mean- it's free- how long could this really go on?
3. OH and the parenting book I am reading is called "Grace-Based Parenting" by Dr. Kimmel (I think). Our church was doing it as a class and Scott and I signed up but didn't make it to the class. So I went ahead and started reading the book anyway. Now I really want to take the class so I can discuss it!! Hopefully they will offer it again soon. It goes along with Scott and my way of thinking about parenting really well but it has some great things we hadn't thought about. And some good reminders too....
4. Thanks everyone for the nice comments on the Bee Movie post. I appreciate the encouragement!
5. Thanks for all the help with the dishes colors. I have decided to go with black and white. Just kidding...still deciding!! Look for my poll and help me out again if you don't mind!
6. And we didn't throw the cereal away...are you kidding me?! Just the boxes!! We actually recycled them! And last I counted we had around 50 boxes of cereal. Way to go Futrells with 71 boxes!! Wow!

The Bee Movie

So forgive me if this is a really long post. If it bores you just skip it- unless however you spend a lot of time with us. If you do and you don't want to read all of this...just please don't ever mention the Bee Movie around Hailey! Here's why:

Several weeks ago I went to the store and bought 10 boxes of General Mills cereal all with pictures of the Bee Movie on them. With that I earned 2 free movie tickets. I was quite proud of myself and even blogged about it. (You faithful readers probably remember this. And by the way I am finding out about more and more readers yet you never comment. So if you know who you are- please occasionally leave a comment!!) Anyway....I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for Scott and Hailey to have a little father-daughter date. I remember my dad used to take Becky and Me out - in fact I vividly remember him taking us to our first movie. That is a whole other story.

So Scott and Hailey head out to the movie. He even goes all out and buys her candy/pop/popcorn. Apparently she was totally into it but about halfway through said she had a tummy ache and wanted to go home. So Scott takes her home and she did look sick. I thought maybe her ears were hurting again. A few hours later she seemed fine.

Fast forward to the last couple of weeks. Hailey has seemed really quirky about some things to us. We were thinking it must be a stage. She always wanted the pantry door closed. In fact as soon as I opened it she would say, "And don't forget to shut the pantry door Mom." It was constantly being shut by her when I was in the middle of cooking. She also started refusing to walk through the garage! She would insist on walking through the front door and then in the garage. It was getting a little annoying because we had to let her out the front door, open up the garage door, get the little girls in and come back and lock the front door. And if it was dark she would insist one of us walk with her. As soon as we got home she would say, "Don't forget....I go around and through the door....don't put the garage door down." I was ready to say forget it...just come through the door like the rest of us. But now I am really glad I didn't!!

Another thing....she usually loves going to the store with me. Last Thursday I went to the 12 hour cereal sale at Super One. (Incredible cereal deals by the way.) She freaked out and got in the cart and buried her head the entire time. As I stacked boxes of cereal around her and proceeded throughout the store thinking she must be getting sick or something. Then she started saying she never wanted to go grocery shopping again. I asked her why and she said, "Well...as long as we don't buy cereal I will go." Very quirky I thought...but anyway....

So last week Scott finds a little bee buzzer in one of the cereal boxes. He gives it to Karis thinking what fun little toy. Karis agrees and starts trying to buzz Hailey with it who totally freaks out...crying....screaming...running away. I quickly get rid of the buzzer but only after trying to show Hailey it wasn't scary. "See Hailey- come here...this is all it does...bzzz." Screams from Hailey..... A couple days later we get a free bee spoon from the cereal box and Scott leaves it out on the counter. When Hailey gets up I show it to her...."Isn't this cute - it's like from your date with Daddy". She goes hysterical...."Throw it away Mommy and I don't ever want to go on a date with Daddy again!!"

OK...so the pieces start to come together....for Scott anyway....not me the oblivious one. We keep the extra cereal in the garage by the door. The rest is in the pantry......So last night we ask her..."Are you afraid of the cereal with the Bee Movie on it?" She starts crying, and runs under the bar and buries her face. Scott and I nearly start crying. We have never seen her this terrified. So the big, brave Daddy who has now earned the "Lifetime Hero" award in Hailey's world goes out to the garage, takes all the cereal out of the boxes and throws the boxes, "far, far away". The whole time Hailey is crying while I am talking with her, praying with her, and reciting whatever scripture regarding fear and safety that I can think of. She kept saying, "I don't ever want to talk about it again. Don't talk about it OK?"

So......we all went out to ice-cream. She still wouldn't walk out the door but we did notice her straining to see where the cereal boxes used to be. She was looking to make sure they were all gone. We are hoping she forgets about this soon....but until then....we will just let her walk through the front door and try to keep her from seeing any Bee Movie items. Thankfully it didn't seem to be a huge blockbuster hit with tons of paraphernalia produced so hopefully that was the end of it!

And since God's timing is so exact and He cares about even childhood fears He allowed me last week to read Chapter 8 in Grace-Based Parenting..."The Freedom to Be Vulnerable". The author was talking about childhood fears and how as a grace-based parent we shouldn't downplay our kid's fears or try to just give them just the facts....because their fears are very real, and they are very emotional and they don't have perspective like we as adults do. In fact there are many examples of people in the Bible crying out to God with their fears and Him comforting them...which is what we are to do with our children. Had I not read that I probably would have been, "Hailey...just walk through the garage...this is ridiculous.....come on.....we're in a hurry....let's go." I am so glad the Holy Spirit convicted me to just let her do her thing and to walk along side her because I think to have forced her past the scary Bee cereal boxes would have really traumatized her!! So there's my really long post. I hope someday she will be able to laugh about this but for now NO MORE BEE MOVIE on the cereal!!!

Two Reasons I Need To Watch What I Say

So very, very rarely I get frustrated with our precious little puppy and have very, very occasionally whispered under my breath, "Stupid dog". PETA please don't come and get me, that is as far as the abuse goes.....

Apparently I was louder than I intended because I heard Karis say the other day in her sweet little Karis voice (those that know and love her know exactly what I am referring to-she has this really cute, little voice) "Oh that stookin dog". OOPs....and then as I was changing Avery and she was screaming Hailey says, "Oh that stupid child". OH NO! I said, "Hailey we don't talk like that." To which she responded, "Well you do Mom...you say 'stupid dog'." OH dear- what have I done!!

I considered threatening time-outs if they said it again. They occasionally have to make a trip to the stairs and sit there for the number of minutes per age. However I figured the biggest offender would be me...and I really don't want to sit on the stairs for 33 minutes....on 2nd thought.....that might be kind of relaxing...."Stupid dog!" Off I go....

Opinions PLEASE

OK so I am probably going to be getting some new dishes in the next few months! I am quite excited to update my dishes! So would you please look at this link and tell me what four colors you would do. I want any and all advice so I can decide!! I am for sure going for red I think because we have red walls but I don't have to. I want it for everyday use.
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=16497&PseudoCat=se-xx-xx-xx.esn_results

This One's For You Matt & Kristi

What I overheard:

Hailey: "Hey- Let's play Matt & Kristi....you be Matt- I get to be Kristi."

Karis: "Yeah let's play but I get to be Kristi."

Hailey: "NO....I am Kristi- you are Matt and we both have newborns that just came out of our tummies."

K: "How about we both be Kristi?"

H: "No....I am Kristi you HAVE to be Matt."

K: "OK...I'll be Matt....so I will lay here and just watch a movie."

H: "We will both watch a movie with our babies cuz that is what they do...and we live way far away- right?"

So here they are on the couch playing Matt and Kristi.....Karis has a striking resemblance to you Matt don't you think? Especially the outfit....And Hailey is holding her baby just the way I have seen you hold babies Kristi!