Grandma....

Dear Grandma,

I miss you.  I miss you LOTS.  I miss seeing your smile and hearing your laugh.  I miss you asking for my girls for koosies.  I miss holding your hand.  I miss watching Lucy and hearing you laugh.  I miss strawberries soaked in sugar (mmmmmm...) and then poured on top of ice cream.  I miss taking you grocery shopping.  I miss spending the night with you.  I miss you.  I miss your big brown eyes.  I miss your soft skin.  I miss how you would refuse a snack or piece of candy, but eat it anyway.  :)  I miss you.  I miss taking you out to eat.  I miss watching you sword fight with my girls.  I miss when you would sing.  I miss your hamburgers and tapioca pudding.  I miss you.  I miss how you would talk about grandpa.  I miss how trusting you were of the people where you lived.  I miss you.  I miss holding your hand when we fell asleep.  I miss how you would say, "Excuse my back" when you turned over.  I miss your hugs.  I miss your kisses.  I miss you.  I miss how faithful you were to the Lord.  I miss hearing you say, "I love you."  I miss how you loved all of us despite all our inadequacies.  I miss seeing you feed the stray cats.  I miss your rocking chair.  I miss your waves as we would leave the nursing home.  I miss seeing you stand at the window watching for us.  I miss you.  I miss you blowing kisses to us.  I miss playing pokeno with you.  I miss you asking to keep my girls with you.  I miss you. 
I know you are with your hubby, your son, your mom and dad, your granddaughter, other family members and the Lord, but I MISS YOU!

 

From my weepy BROWN eyes to yours....

Time... Not on My Side

It amazes me how adding one more child in school changed the landscape of our little home.  Also, second grade has been rocking our world.  I mean we've gone from reading every night and occasionally studying spelling words to reading, math, spelling, etc. etc. every.single.night.  Now... our oldest only really has to do math 4 times per week BUT her teacher mom says... everyday.  Reading... well that's not really the problem, it's tracking the minutes.  I mean how do I track minutes of a girl who reads all.the.time.  She loves to read, but I can't keep up with it. The minimal needed is only 10 minutes per day and sometimes that's all she gets, but I know she's reading WAY more than that, I just can't keep track of it all.  Seriously teachers.... Our middle has homework each night during the week, which is ok, but I will admit sometimes she completes her homework when we get to school in the morning.  I mean really.... I'm trying to be the best mommy I can, but I also need time to do one thing for me which has now dwindled down to just the gym.  And I shouldn't say it as "just the gym" because I LOVE the gym!  I sing no more, play volleyball no more, dance no more.  It's tragic.  I'm trying to keep that one little last piece of me so I'm unwilling to give that part up but it also makes our nights a little bit..... crazier. My poor kiddos... our dinners are non-existent.  If we could eat out everyday.... we would.  Chicken nuggets and cereal are had VERY often in our household.  And now (since our youngest FINALLY is using the potty, can I get a PTL!!!) the youngest brown eyed girl can go to preschool!  Do I want to do that.. yet?  I mean she just turned three.  She is going to be on the young end of school which we haven't even discussed yet.  I'm not even sure I want to send her being on the young end.  Although she is VERY strong willed, so I don't think she'd be pushed around.  I'm really afraid we will be the ones called by the principal.  ;)  hehe..

Thanks for letting me get this all off my chest!   

From our BROWN eyes yours....

EXCITING NEWS!!!!

No, we are not pregnant. hahaha  Our oldest lost her FIRST.TOOTH.EVER!!!!!!!!!  She's 7, in second grade and has friends who have lost every tooth possible and are living off their millions!
Here's a little part of our conversation...

Oldest:  "I'm so excited for the tooth fairy to come!"
Me:  "I am too!!!"
Oldest:  "What if I get like 16 or 20 dollars?"
Me:  "Then I'm pulling out ALL my teeth and giving them to the tooth fairy!"
Oldest: "Can I take a day off school tomorrow for a celebration?"
Me: "WHAT?!?"
Oldest:  "Well... my friend says she takes a day for a celebration when it's her birthday."
Me:  "Really?  Well.. I'm your mom and I said... No."  :)

So here's to losing our first tooth!  I thank the Lord it happened at the sitter because I don't do teeth.  I will clean up vomit, snot, and wipe lots of yucky bottoms, but teeth????? those guys give me the HEEBIE JEEBIES!!!!  Yes.. we had to take a picture because the tooth fairy left us a letter and she HAS to take all the teeth to put in her tooth bank, so sorry you can't keep them. Not even your very first tooth.  :)

Also... we now have loose (wink, wink) teeth in ALL of our girls.

So here's the girl with one less tooth... well, I guess that's not absolutely true because her big tooth had already come in behind.  Man... we are in for BIG orthodontist bills. 

From our BROWN eyes to yours....

So Many Things to Share....

I'm going to rewind back to August 9th.  That was the day the hubby and I got married 10 years ago.  I can't believe it's been 10 years either.  So this was the year of tin/aluminum according to the Internet where everything published is the truth, right?!  :)
So this is what I got my hubby...

I know... just what he wanted... a photo shoot!  I can read him like a book.  hehe I thought it would be fun to have our 10 year pictures taken without screaming, crying, whining, beautiful children in the background.  It was just him and I and our photographer.  We weren't able to take tons of pictures because it was raining.  Funny thing is it rained on our wedding day 10 years ago, too!  :)  Good luck I think!  After the photo shoot we ate at Montgomery Inn!  It was YUMMY!!!!  I had the same old ribs and chicken with Saratoga chips and that delectable warm bbq sauce.  We ate there on our first anniversary too!  :)  On our first anniversary our server brought us a bowl of applesauce with a candle.  It was so sweet and memorable.....for me.  The hubby remembers hardly anything.  :)

Then, on the actual day of our anniversary I gave the hubby this

So I know I have a little 'splainin' to do.  :)  Hugs and kisses... obvious right?  A&W was aluminum.  And then there's the tin box.  Ok... mom, mom l., and like everyone turn away now or skip to the bottom. 

I read a wonderful post here.  You should do the same, like right now.  Yes, right now... then come back.  Ok.  So it's about how a mom and dad used to put a dollar in a metal box each time they.... had fun. (wink, wink) It's a really beautiful story, so I decided to copy, but instead used the tin aspect for our 10 year.  I thought it would add a little fun to our relationship and in the end, we will hopefully end up with a really cool 20 year!  :)

Then, the hubby surprised me with tickets to the REDS GAME!!!!  It was...... AWESOME!  We also got this

Isn't that amazing?!?!?  They will give you certificates for 1st game, foul ball, anniversary, etc.  The hubby wanted to get this and I'm so happy we did.  It meant so much!  While we were at the game, we saw our doctor on the KISS CAM!  How funny is that?!?!?! 

I have lots more to share about our lives this past month, but they will have to wait since I have to get up and go to work tomorrow and educate 80 beautiful little firsties.  :)  They are counting on me and I'm counting on getting some z's.  :) 

Tomorrow is the hubby's 40th!  What?!?!?!  Happy birthday, honey!!!!  I luh, luh, luh, luh, love you!

From our BROWN eyes to yours.....

A Birthday on the Horizon!

This Friday my baby will be 3!  Can you believe it?!?!?! THREE!!!!!  Each year around my ladies birthdays, my mind starts to wonder back to the day I actually had them.  I guess partly because I LOVED the feeling I had on those days, but also, I'm afraid I will forget.  I know you are thinking... how could you ever forget, but I'm afraid I will.  Sometimes I will go back on the computer and look at pictures from those days just to be filled with happiness and the joy I felt on those three days.  The feelings of excitement, worry, love, and worry and worry and worry.  :)

So......let's rewind to 2010.... Picture this...... (hahaha) It's August 30th....I was already feeling overdue because our two other daughters were born at 37 weeks and I was pushing 39. I've just woken up on the couch because that's where I slept for about 1/2 of my pregnancy because the bed was just not comfy at all.  I shower and get ready for school.  I go downstairs and am getting breakfast ready for our oldest and myself.  I'm standing at the pantry when... WHEW... I was stopped in my tracks by a crazy contraction.  Now, I had had my fair share of contractions, but nothing to write home about. And in that moment I knew we were going to have a baby by the end of the day.  I did what ever good mom would do.  Got my girls up, dressed, teeth brushed and out the door to start our day.  I took our middle to the sitter, drove to school, had my oldest eat a little breakfast, took her down to the preschool room and told the office and principal that I was not staying because I was pretty sure the baby was coming today.  Now I know what you are thinking, didn't you want to have the baby at school?!?! The answer was...um,  no.  :) 

On my way home, I decided to call the OB's office.  I had an appointment already scheduled for 4:30 p.m., but I thought maybe, just maybe they could see me earlier and we'd be on the road to a baby.  Well.... they put me on with the nurse.  UGH!  She said, "how far apart are the contractions?" I said, "I don't know, I haven't had time to time them because I was getting my girls ready for school/sitter, driving/etc. etc."
nurse "We don't want to stop anything that's been started"
Me "This is my third baby, I know that I'm going to have this baby today."
nurse "We will see you at 4:30"
Me (in my head) "I hope I have this baby at home to show you I knew I was in labor"

I called my hubby and of course my mom in tears.  Then, went home.... watched something, had pizza rolls for lunch and then fell asleep on the couch for a little while.  My hubby came home and we went to the appt. at 4:30. 
The doctor was like... "How many contractions have you been having?"
Me "Well... I've had about 5 just sitting in your waiting room."
Doctor while checking me out down there said, "You're going to the hospital.  You're 5 cm." 
Me "I TOLD THE NURSE THAT THIS MORNING AND SHE.... blah, blah, blah"

So OF COURSE I already had the bag with me because I KNEW we were headed there.  Mama knows best, right?  By the time we got there the contractions were...... taking my breath away.  :)
We went through the whole check in process, check me process again, and we were escorted to our lovely room where we would spend the next few hours.  Of course, I asked for the epidural.  I know people are against this, but don't judge.  I have a pretty HIGH tolerance of pain, but labor pain is like no other pain.  When that cart came in I swear I saw angel wings on that lady.  :)  By the time I had the epidural, I was 6cm and continued progressing nicely.  My water was still intact which was also new for me since it had broken with the other two.  I should have put two and two together back then that this third was going to be a challenge because of her entrance.  :)

My hubby decided to go home at about 8:00 to take a shower. When the doctor came in he said we would wait for him to get back before he would break my water.  I looked at him with a glaring eye like... seriously?  Anyway... hubby came back quickly-ish, my water was broke and at 9:50 p.m. our third bundle of joy was delivered.  I remember when she came out, I had no idea what she was because we did not find out the gender until birth for all three girls.  I remember asking "what is it?" hahaha  She was the most beautiful little lady.  She was thin even though she was our heaviest baby weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz. 

There is nothing better than the feeling of your newborn baby being laid on your chest for the first time.  The beautiful miracle the whole process is, is like I said, a miracle from the Lord.  The Lord blessed us with a SPUNKY, bright-eyed, smiley, strong-willed little lady and I thank him everyday (sometimes in the moment of praying for patience with her). :) 

Happy 3rd birthday little lady!


From our BROWN eyes to yours....

Workin' 8:00-3:30 (if only..... hahaha)

Tomorrow mommy goes back to work.  Now you may be thinking that tears are streaming down my face, but I'm here to tell you they.are.not.  Listen.... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my girls immensely, but the Lord knows that I am not meant to stay at home with them all the time.  It is in His plan that I love other children during the school year.  There was a time that I questioned this plan, but in all the decisions that have been made in our lives, He continues to lead me to the path of loving more children than just my own.  He knows I love my girls like I love cereal, cheeseburgers, and ice cream.  :)

 

So this year I want to implement a little prayer before we leave for our day.  This will give us time to thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to enjoy another day with each other and to ask him for his blessings throughout the day.  So I whipped these guys up tonight and am getting ready to laminate them.  If you click on the pictures you can print them out for your home.  :)  I'm especially loving the Angel of God prayer.  I remember saying this throughout my years of catholic grade school.  I have even found myself saying it throughout the years when I've traveled here and there.  :)

       

From our Brown eyes to yours.......

Love is.......

 

One day a few weeks ago we found this sweet little note on our door.  :) 

Enough said, right????

 

 

From our BROWN eyes to yours......