I was trying to get dinner ready this evening and I knew I remembered seeing Joshua in the office.  He was sitting on the floor messing with the “kids books”.  The kids have about three shelves in the office for their books.  They usually stay rather well organized and on the shelves, except for the bottom shelf that is easily reached by the little boys (Owen and my friend’s son Jonathan)….those shelves usually look chaotic and sometimes don’t have a single book on them because they are all over the floor of the office…and every other room in the house!

As I pulled the chicken off the stove, Joshua ran in and said, “Mom! You’ve GOT to come and see what I organized!”  My heart leapt  for joy at the thought of one of my children having a desire to get things organized…but with three boys, I wasn’t getting my hopes up!! LOL!  This is what I saw:

Not only did he organize them according to their height, but he also pulled all of the books to the front of the shelf which is something I always do. It looks neater and keeps the shelves from getting dusty! Definitely MY kid!

~audrey

A few nights ago my husband had to work late with my father-in-law, so I decided to try and make it a special night for the boys. We went to the store and used the “Red Box” to rent a movie. I didn’t let the boys see what I rented so it would be a surprise when we got home. We also got popcorn and M&Ms for a special movie treat.

MOVIE NIGHT!

I just had to add this one because you can see the light of the glow sticks.

Jesse, Owen and Joshua already in "the zone", watching the movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got home, we closed all of the blinds and made a tent out of dining room chairs and bed sheets. And for the ‘icing on the cake’, I brought out a bag of small glow sticks. We brought all of our pillows and blankets into the tent and settled in for our movie. “Hotel For Dogs” was the feature presentation. It was a cute movie and we hadn’t seen it yet, so the boys actually WATCHED the entire thing. Once the movie was over, they helped me clean up…even vacuumed the popcorn off the living room floor. All in all it was a great little date-night-in! I love having boys. Mine certainly have a special way of making me feel like a princess.

I have to add that today is my birthday and my in-laws kept the boys last night. My mother-in-law said, as Joshua came in the kitchen this morning, the first thing he said was, “Well, today is the big day for the birthday girl!” My sweet little man.

 

~audrey

I don’t know how many of you are on facebook, but I am, and it can be quite addicting and time consuming if you’re not careful. I should start this by saying, I LOVE FACEBOOK. I check my facebook almost every day and I have a few friends that I would probably lose contact with if it weren’t for facebook…that is my disclaimer. LOL!
I have noticed lately that facebook has become a place for a little subtle competition between the housewives. Many of my ‘friends’ are housewives and/or stay-at-home moms (like myself). So, I find it hilarious to see just how many ‘status updates’ are about who worked out this morning, who made a gourmet meal for dinner, who lost weight on their diet this week, who has a “date night” with the hubby tonight, and who takes the best pictures (it seems like at least 50% of my friends have become professional photographers in the last year or so…don’t get me wrong, most of them are REALLY good and extremely talented…it’s just funny how many of them have gone “PRO”). Another thing I’ve noticed is just how many “mommies” are posting pictures of themselves in their bikinis for all the internet world to see. Yes, I’m slightly jealous/envious of their post-partum bods, but I’d like to think that even if I did wear a size 2 after having a baby, and I did choose to wear a bikini, I have a little too much modesty to post them on the internet.
Most of the comments under all of these pictures are of pure jealousy and how much they are “hated” for being so gorgeous and skinny…then the ‘owner’ of the picture comments back, “oh girl, you made my day. all I’ve eaten today is an apple and a diet coke, I feel so fat…” blah, blah, blah.
I do think that it is our job as women/wives/mommies to encourage each other, support each other, hold each other accountable, build each other up…but it doesn’t all have to be made public. We don’t have to SEE the fake boobs your hubby purchased for you a few years back to know that you are a beautiful and successful woman…and throwing your kids into the pic doesn’t make it any less obvious.
Let me also say that I am completely guilty of some of these things (not the skimpy pictures…because I have none! LOL!). I’ve posted plenty of status updates about my children’s accomplishments, where my hubby took me for dinner, a long-awaited girls’ night out, etc. It’s just the phoney stuff that cracks me up…like the perfectly POSED pictures that are claimed to be one of those ones the “hubby took while I wasn’t looking”….um, right.
There is nothing WRONG with anything that I’ve mentioned in this post. I just HAD to state the obvious…all in good fun. Keep the entertainment coming!
Have an awesome weekend!!

~audrey

We’ve had our garden in the backyard for two weeks now and everything is growing beautifully.  We should have lots and lots of veggies by the beginning of July.  We even had to add another 4′ X 4′ section to allow more space for our pumpkins, cantelopes, and watermelons.  However, little by little I’ve noticed something has been nibbling on my squash leaves.  I decided to ask for help from my facebook friends and fellow gardeners.  We’d like to keep this garden as organic as possible.  The response was great.  A few people told me about planting marigolds around and in your garden to keep away harmful pests.  Another tip was purchasing ladybugs from a local nursery to release in the garden and the ladybugs basically kill the harmful pests.  The thing to remember is, some insects are good for your garden.  Some insects will leave your plants alone and feed on the harmful insects.  The final tip was to mix up a ‘recipe’ that you spray on all of your fruits and veggies:

1quart hot water

1 garlic bulb

1 small onion

1 tbspn cayene

1 tbspn liquid handsoap

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a blender and let it steep for an hour, then add soap. Pour into a spray bottle and spray on all of your fruits and veggies.

 

I planted the marigolds today.  I may try the spray a little later in the week if I notice continued nibbling.

 

Have a great weekend.  We’re going to have rain here this afternoon, so we’ve been working our tails off in the backyard since about 8am.  I’m sure our neighbors love us!! My hubby is building an addition on the back of our house and the saws and air compressor are pretty loud for a Saturday morning! 

 

Â
~audrey

Hmmm, let me start at the beginning…

 

My best friend and I have had all six of our babies together.  Our first two are five months apart, our second two are five months apart, and our third two are four months apart.  My husband is the second of four children.  My best friend’s husband is an only child.  Truth be told, her husband was kind of “done” after the second child, which gave them one boy and one girl.  In the spring of 2006 we both got pregnant with number three.  Within one week of each other, we both miscarried.  Very traumatic and very crazy that we BOTH miscarried!  Within the next few months we were both pregnant again with baby number three…again…due between Feb. and June of 2007.  I’ve always wanted (at least) four kids.  My best friend, on the other hand, was quite happy, and pretty “done” with three, aside from the occasional “baby fever”.  On top of the stresses of having three kids in four years, she has been very open about her struggle with depression.  It runs in her family and is obviously worsened by post-partum hormones.  It goes without saying that your sex life is affected a little bit tremendously when you have several little ones in the house.  We’ve gone to great lengths to hold each other accountable in this area.  We’ve set goals for the month…”Okay, did you reach your quota for April?”  I know, it sounds rediculous, but we really do desire to meet our husbands needs in this very important area, and sometimes it’s just NOT THAT EASY!  My best friend has often times been much more successful than myself in the love department, but she’d been in a little bit of a ‘dry patch’ and to put it bluntly, they’d only had ONE successful ‘encounter’ over the course of about six weeks.  I give you all of this information because it makes the fact that she’s PREGNANT even more amazing…or hilarious…or scary (if you don’t think it can happen to you!).  She has been incredibly sick with this pregnancy.  Very tired, lots of puking, not always in the best mood (can you blame her!?).  So she went for her eleven week appointment yesterday.  The doctor could not find the heartbeat with the doppler so he ordered an ultrasound right away.  She grabbed a wad of tissues, sent a text to her husband, and braced herself for the worst.  I can only imagine the thoughts that were running through her mind a mile a minute as she waited for the sonographer to call her name and either give her the worst news of the year, or show her a tiny beating heart on that screen and put her mind and nerves at ease.  She never expected what happened next…

…the sonographer placed that “magic wand” on her belly and began to slowly move it around.  Up and down, side to side.  I imagine my best friend was holding back tears and fighting the urge to puke all at once as she waited…

…”Well, everthing looks great!” the sonographer announced, “Baby A is measuring 11 weeks and 1 day and baby B is measuring 11 weeks and 2 days.”

Yes, that’s right…T W I N S !!!!!!! 

Because it is not ME experiencing this, I am COMPLETELY elated, over-joyed, excited, beyond myself!!  My mother and her twin brother are number four and five in their family and I’ve always gotten excited at the thought of having twins…now I get to do it vicariously through my best friend. 

She, on the other hand, is still in a state of shock.  When does it really set in that you’re about to add TWO new human beings to your house, your family, your “home school”, your car, your budget?  Do you ever really get used to the idea before they arrive and you’re thrust into an adventure like you’ve never imagined?  Is there really any way to be completely prepared for twins when you already have three children ages five and under?  Or maybe, just maybe, she’s hoping it’s all a strange dream and is just waiting to wake up  with her skinny jeans on, a flat stomach, a smile on her face, and the voice of God saying,

“Gotcha! You’ve been punk’d!”

Assuming that is NOT going to happen and there WILL be two precious little babies born sometime at the end of October, beginning of November, I am taking on the job of helping her get her life, household, mental readiness, meals, homeschool, and twin nursery as ORGANIZED as possible.  She WILL succeed at this new challenge.  She WILL enjoy her prenancy.  Her husband and children WILL survive the next five months, and these sweet babies WILL come home to a well-oiled machine, ready to take on two more hungry mouths, two more diapered butts, two more infant carseats, two more beds to change, and two more hearts to nurture and love.

 

I love you best friend! 

~audrey

I suppose this is a tribute to my sweet Grandma.  After living her entire adult life with diabetes, her kidneys are failing and her body grows more frail everyday.  She has withered away to a mere 115 pounds and sleeps around the clock, only to wake up for a few bites to eat or to say hello to a visitor.  The doctors don’t give her long to live.  They say when she stops eating, she’ll go quickly.  We beg her to eat, but her weak body would simply rather rest.  The boys and I met my brother in Greenwood yesterday, where my grandma lives in an assisted living facility.  We had a nice visit.  Something about the presence of children brings out life in the eyes of the eldery.  They brighten up and smile from ear to ear as my three little boys walk slowly down the hall, staring at all the men and women in their electric scooters and wheel chairs.  I can’t help but wonder who they all used to be.  Doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers?  All that is left is a frail wrinkley body and a small amount of silver hair.  Some are missing limbs, some can hardly hold their own head up, but almost all of them have lost the sparkle in their eyes.  They look lonely and defeated.  I don’t want my grandma to die alone.  On my way to Greenwood, my mind wandered back 15-20 years when I used to spend weeks at a time at her house during the summer.  She was the best cook I’d ever known.  I think I always went back home with a little belly from all of her delicious baked goods and extravagent breakfasts.  I remember waking up to the smell of buttermilk biscuits and Grandma’s famous chocolate gravy….oh my goodness. 

Her house always smelled good and was always clean.  She had plastic fruit and silk plants in every nook and cranny of her little three bedroom house.  Aside from her family, my Grandma had a great love for jewelry and shoes.  She had a large jewelry armoire that she would let me explore everytime I visited.  She always gave me the freedom to try on every ring, every bracelet, and every necklace.  Her earrings were too heavy for my young ears, so I would simply pick up every pair and hold them up to my ears in front of the mirror, imagining how beautiful she must look as she wears each pair.  Her closet was lined with shoe boxes.  Front to back, top to bottom, and side to side, shoe boxes everywhere.  She has a small foot and I always LOVED it when I found a pair that fit my feet!   Often times she’d let me keep a pair of her shoes or a piece of her jewelry.  You see, I was not only the first girl on either side of the family, but I was also the very first grandchild to my Grandma and Papa (my dad’s side of the family).  I grew up always feeling like the favorite.  I’m sure my brother and two other cousins felt the same way.  Grandma and Papa had such a special way of treating us that always made us feel like “the only child”. 

I can remember Grandma chasing my brother and cousin Michael around the house with the fly swatter when they’d done something worthy of punishment.  I remember countless trips to the mall, where Grandma would get her hair done and then buy me a new outfit.  I was with my Grandma at the Hot Springs mall when I tasted my first Chick-fil-A sandwich.  That was the beginning of a lifelong, bitter sweet relationship…with Chick-fil-A!

I used to sit in the living room with Grandma and help her fold clothes while we watched soap operas.  Her cookie jar was always full.  At Christmas time, she had a large, plastic, light-up nativity scene that she would put in the front yard by the bird feeder.  I loved her house at Christmas.  There were always SO many gifts and she always had funky lights on her tree, like the kind that blinked to the beat of Christmas carols.  I grew up thinking Grandma and Papa were rich.  In reality, they were simply a middle class couple.  My Grandpa was retired from the army and was working as a manager for Roadway, and my grandma often did odd jobs, like work in the gift wrap department at a local department store.  They always had good food on the table and showered us with gifts for every occasion, or for no reason at all.  They were/are the best grandparents in the whole world.  I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tell them just how much I love them and just how much they mean to me. 

Our visit yesterday was a sweet one.  I plan to go back by myself sometime next week.  Although she’s had poor quality of life for the last couple of years, I hate to see her go and dread the day that I receive that news.  I find joy and peace knowing that she’ll have a brand new body as she enters the gates of heaven and I’ll see her again in eternity. 

God Bless you, Grandma.  I love you forever.

 

~audrey

Really I meant to post this two days ago (Monday), because that’s the day I’m talking about, but I seem to be “a day late and a dollar short” on a lot of things lately.

We woke up to the sound of rain yesterday. I like those kind of days. The t.v. stayed off, we did lots of school, and we met Ashley and the kiddos at Monkey Joes at 11:30.  The kids were excited to see eachother. Since Ashley has been SO sick, we haven’t been able to get together as much as usual. By the time they put their shoes in the shoe cubbies, we didn’t see them again for a while. Unfortunately, Jonathan is often referred to as Curious George, and if Ashley doesn’t see him for more than a minute or two, her radar goes off and she knows he’s likely into trouble…well, she was right! This is what we found when we went lookin’ for our sweet little monkey (who’s daddy just happens to be a basketball coach

And again, a few minutes later, Ashley heard his little cry for help as he got stuck right at the end of the obstacle course:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…looking back, I realize that a good friend would’ve jumped in there and rescued him so that his pregnant, nauseous momma didn’t have to…but she’s so quick, I didn’t even have time to offer…honest!!

After Monkey Joes, the boys and I were trying to figure out what to do about lunch…we had NO groceries in our house and did not feel like going shopping. We almost NEVER go to restaurants…especially just me and the little boys. But this day, we decided on Salsa’s (local Mexican restaurant). We had such a great time and really probably spent what we would’ve spent to feed four people at a fast food joint…the boys all three shared a kids meal because it’s too much for just one kid. Owen LOVES salsa. He eats it with chips, but only uses the chip as the scooper…he doesn’t actually take bites of the chip!

Then, Joshua begged me to take a picture of his FULL belly, so here it is. I wish that’s what my belly looked like when I was full!! LOL!

A great day with friends and a sweet little “date” with my loves.
~audrey

1- I didn’t realize until noon yesterday that it was Thursday!! I was thinking it was already Friday.

2- When the boys finish their chores today, we’re heading to Target and Old Navy.  I need some new flip-flops and something about Target is therapeutic.

3- I’ve made bread twice this week.  The second time was this morning and I did it for the sole purpose of making my house smell good…it worked. 

4- I really need to change the sheets on the boys bed because Owen’s diaper leaked the other night…but I completely forgot!!  (I’ll do it today!)

5- I’m very excited that I’ve lost almost twelve pounds since my thyroid surgery seven weeks ago.  Keep it coming…or should I say going?

6- I make my four and six year olds do a lot of chores.  It teaches them responsibility and lightens my load a lot.

7- I started painting my master bathroom a few months ago and still have not finished.  It’s REALLY hard to paint with three kids in the house!

8- I’ve discovered that I’m not a very good friend to insecure, needy people…they are very draining, both emotionally and mentally.

9- I found out that our home study will be complete this weekend and we should be foster parents in the next month or so…FINALLY! 

10- I strive to be an incurable optimist.

11- After a hard core week of eating healthy, the boys and I enjoyed a breakfast of whole wheat pancakes, powdered sugar, and homemade strawberry preserves.  oh…my…gooness…it was divine.

12- I love my husband more and more everyday.  He is my steadfast pillar of strength, peace, and comfort…aside from the Lord of course, but I’ve seriously never met another man as gentle and kind as my husband, while still being strong, brave, and rugged.

13-  I’m beginning to see more and more lately, what life is going to be like with three sons.  They seem to have gotten a booster of testosterone in the last few weeks and can literally climb my door frames, wrestle until there is a bloody nose, and eat until there is no food left in the pantry.

14- ok, my toddler is screaming, my four year old is whining because I won’t let him wear cowboy boots with shorts and a t-shirt, and my six year old can’t find any clean shorts…it’s time to go!

 

Have a great weekend!

~audrey

Today I took the boys to Washington Farms to pick strawberries. We met my friend Mary and her two girls mid-morning and had a blast! It was about an hour and a half from our house and we were praying HARD for sunshine. The forecast said severe thunderstorms in the afternoon so we went early and prayed for the best! It was absolutely perfect. The sun peaked through the clouds a few times and there was a gentle breeze to assure we would not get too hot. After we filled our buckets, there were goats to see, fun on the slides, and a “corn box” to play in. Definitely our best “field trip” yet! We’re going to make a family trip back to the farm in the fall for pumpkin season…hayrides, corn mazes, bale jumping…fun times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~audrey

Today marked another year of attempting a vegetable garden. I say “attempt” because we’ve never actually eaten a veggie or piece of fruit from our own garden. Each year I either plant them too late or I let one too many days go by without watering the garden and they die! Well I’m determined this summer and I think we’re off to a great start. The boys and I went and bought veggie plants and seeds while Josh worked on the renovations on the back of our house. The great thing is, we were all five out back together all day long. It was a perfect “work outside day”. And the bonus is, I don’t think anyone got sunburned! We have an 8′x4′ garden that is divided down the middle because we have about half plants and half seeds. This is what we planted: cantelope, watermelon, squash, zuccini, cucumber, cayanne peppers (for my hubby), pumpkins (for the kids), green beans, onions, carrots, broccoli, and two different types of lettuce. I wish I had gotten some pictures of the boys helping, but there wasn’t a single moment when my hands were not completely covered in dirt so I left my camera inside until we were finished. :

As I type this now, dinner is on the stove and the mud puppies (aka, my children) are in the bath. They will soon transform back into my sweet smelling angels and should be dreaming in their beds in an hour! What a great Saturday.

~audrey