Funny story and a random thought...

Brady and Chloe were playing yesterday, pretending to be animals. Brady was the daddy lion, and Chloe was the baby lion. After being persuaded to include Avery, Brady named him uncle monkey. That name is funny enough on it's own, but hearing Chloe say it is hysterical!! The names have apparently stuck too. Last night at church Chloe wouldn't call them by their actual names, but by their new animal names. She has also learned that Keith and I think it's hilarious when she calls Avery uncle monkey. Avery is less then thrilled with it, but at least he sees the humor in it.

Now for my random thought...I was literally inches away from being hit by a van today in Sam's parking lot!! I actually screamed while trying to get out of the way. I think that's why I didn't get run over. Turns out it was an older lady, and she was backing out of a space. I'm glad I didn't yell at her or give her any dirty looks. I know it's hard to see people when you're backing up. I didn't notice any lights either, or I would have waited. Anyway, it really scared me, and my heart was racing afterward. Luckily Chloe wasn't in the buggy, or I would have really panicked. She was ahead with Keith, who met us there for a snack and a little visit.

Our Sunday pictures

I love seeing the kids all dressed up, and they really enjoy looking nice too. They always get comments from people at church about how nice they look. You can tell that they chose their clothes, and take pride in their appearance. Even better then that are the compliments about their behavior. I think every time we go, someone mentions how well behaved they are during church. I don't always agree, but I guess that's because I expect a lot of them. (sometimes too much!) I'm not saying all this to brag on my kids....oh, nevermind, I am!! I'm really proud of them, and the little people they have become. I feel like if I look away for a moment they're going to be grown! Lately Avery just looks so grown up to me. I can't get over it. We are rapidly approaching the day he outgrows me!! It brings tears to my eyes just to think about it. I actually didn't mean to get all emotional. Oh well, enjoy the pictures and ignore my emotional rant.

Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had a great time at Keith's Granny and Granddaddy's house. We all look forward to it every year, but especially the boys. I'm not sure how many other boys there are, but it's a lot of boys! They all play outside in the dirt pretty much the whole time we're there. It was a nice break for us.

My sister-in-law, Stephanie, and I went shopping on Friday. We had fun and found a few good deals. I'm still in denial about how much money I spent!! :)

Keith and I always shop our way home. We stop at some outlet malls on the way home. We had a great trip, and now we're all resting up from it.

More pictures from the weekend...

We had a great time with family this weekend. We celebrated Chuck and Avery's birthdays. It was fun to hang out. We all live within a couple of hours of each other, but we don't get together very often. The boys were outside most of the time, so I don't have many pictures of them. Emma played with Chloe and Ethan pretty much the whole night. It makes me wish we lived closer, because she's an awesome baby sitter already. Chloe didn't let Emma walk too far away without calling her. Chloe and Ethan had fun together also. They were really good about sharing,(everything except Emma)!! They shared the vacuum cleaner well even though they both really liked it. Chloe wanted to actually vacuum, but all Ethan wanted to do was push the button that makes noise. It was good cooperation!

The pictures of the trees were on our drive to my sister's house. It was so beautiful!! I've been really surprised with the color this year. I just thought with the crazy weather we've had this year, that we wouldn't see much color.

"Mom, I'm throwing up."

This is how I woke up this morning at 4:45. All I could do at first was point to the bathroom and say, " go." Poor Brady was the unfortunate one this morning. I always feel so bad for them, especially since I have to turn my head and gag. This is especially hard for me since I have an irrational fear of stomach bugs. I know no one likes them, but I really start to freak out. You can literally taste lysol in my house. That isn't very appetizing either, but at least I feel like I'm stopping it from spreading. Keeping Chloe away from Brady today will be challenging, but definitely worth the effort if I can keep her from getting it. Our kids usually get sick right before we travel, but not usually with stomach issues. I'm going to pray that if anybody else gets this, they do so by tomorrow.

Pictures from the weekend

This is my first attempt trying to catch them all. The boys inhaled some food and were gone.




Chloe being silly. I'm thinking about having her wear this at every meal so her hair won't get in her food. She usually doesn't want me to put it back, but she'll wear a sock hat.



Chloe finally gets to hang out too!!



Keith actually caught all the boys at the table, but we couldn't get everyone to look. Oh well, at least they're all in the picture. They had so much fun together. They were outside by 7:30 Saturday morning, all bundled up. I'm sure they woke someone up, but I was just glad they were being crazy outside instead of in my house!! They all smelled lovely after playing outside all morning. What is it about boys and playing outside? They could be out there for five minutes and come in stinky!! We had to roll the windows down on the way to take them home.

Happy Birthday Avery!

I can't believe that Avery is 10 years old!! It doesn't seem like it's been that long since he was this little. We've had a great day, which is why I'm just now getting this on here. I have tons of pictures from the weekend, but I'll have to get those on here another day. When we got home tonight from our family birthday get together, he said it was the best birthday ever!! It makes me so happy to know that. This year has been rough for him in some ways, with the move and issues at school. (I think it's hard to make friends when there isn't any time to do so.) He's been really great, even with everything we've had going on. He's an awesome kid, and I'm really proud of him. Somehow, tonight he really seems older. I'm not sure what it is about him, but he just seems more mature. I guess it's bound to happen some time!

Sleepover

I have some happy kids tonight. Five happy kids, to be exact. The boys both have friends spending the night tonight. They really miss their friends from their old school and church, so we're finally getting around to having them over. This is something we didn't have room to do at the other house. This is one of the main reasons we moved, to have more room to do stuff like this. It's nice to follow through on this promise to the boys.
You probably noticed that I said I have five happy kids...well, Chloe is quite excited and happy with our guests as well. When I tucked her into bed, she said, "I love my kids, all my kids." Normally she just says boys, so I knew that 'kids' meant the boys' friends as well. I'm not sure how tomorrow will go. I don't think she's going to like being left out. I guess Keith and I will have to make an extra effort to entertain her. Hopefully I'll catch the boys being still long enough to get some pictures.

What a weekend!!

This weekend we had six kids!! Some friends of ours went on a retreat, so the kids stayed with us. We had a blast! The first thing you need to know is that their kids are really well behaved. It was ridiculously easy. The most hectic time was meal time. I love the picture above, because I feel like it really describes the experience. I know the kids had a great time. They used to see each other every day, so I know they enjoyed hanging out again. Going out with six kids was interesting, but fun. I just kept counting them the whole time. It was also funny to take them all to church this morning. Most people at church don't know us yet, so they just saw us with six kids. You know they had to be wondering if they were all ours. The lady behind us commented on how well behaved they all were, and asked if they were all ours. Anyway, it was a great weekend. Here are some pictures from the weekend. I know it's a lot, but I took bunches of pictures.













I'm going to be in trouble when Avery finds out I put this one on here!! :)

FYI

If you drop something glass onto a tile floor, it will shatter into a million pieces. As my friend Wendy recently told me, it will shatter like sand. She was right.

Another piece of advice: a shop vac comes in handy when you drop glass onto a tile floor.

Why, oh why, did it have to be the lid to my pot? Why couldn't it have been a glass or plate?

Funny girl...

This is a conversation between Keith and Chloe last night. Chloe was sitting in Keith's lap, and he was brushing her hair after her bath. They were watching football.

Chloe: I used to play football.
Keith: You did?
Chloe: Yeah, when I grow up.
Chloe: Oh, he got a touchdown!

I thought it was the cutest conversation. She's getting so big, and her vocabulary grows daily, but it's funny to hear the things she gets mixed up. You can also tell we watch a lot of football. Sometimes she'll say she doesn't like football, but other times she'll get excited and say, "Go Titans!" She says Titans regardless of what team is playing.

Another funny story:
We were walking through Sams yesterday, and Chloe spotted a pineapple. We bought one the day before at Kroger, so she recognized it and said, "Apple pie!" It just cracked me up. I've never thought about if you switch it up, it sounds like apple pie. I still learn something new every day.

Chloe playing the Wii

Trunk or Treat

We had a great time at trunk or treat at church last night. I love when it actually falls on Halloween, because then we don't have to trick or treat another night. The kids all had a blast getting to play with their friends they don't get to see much anymore. We decided it was worth it to drive 45 min. so we could visit with everyone. It's a nice reminder that we really do have friends!! I don't take many pictures, but I did at least get one of each of the kids. We got back so late that the kids haven't had time to go through their candy bags! That means they won't know what I sneak from them today while they're at school!! :)